Learn more about paths to become a Product Manager from this presentation

1. www.productschool.com
Intro to Product Management by
Product School CEO

2. Join 35,000+Product
Managers on
Free Resources
Discover great job
opportunities
Job Portal
prdct.school/PSJobPortalprdct.school/events-slack

3. C O U R S E S
Product
Management
Learn the skills you need to land
a Product Manager job

4. C O U R S E S
Coding
for Managers
Build a website and gain the
technical knowledge to lead
software engineers

5. C O U R S E S
Data Analytics
for Managers
Learn the skills to understand web
analytics, SQL and machine learning
concepts

6. C O U R S E S
Learn how to acquire more users
and convert them into clients
Digital Marketing
for Managers

7. C O U R S E S
UX Design
for Managers
Gain a deeper understanding of your
users and deliver an exceptional end-to-
end experience

8. C O U R S E S
For experienced Product Managers
looking to gain strategic skills needed
for top leadership roles
Product
Leadership

9. Carlos Gonzalez
T O N I G H T ’ S S P E A K E R

10. Software Engineer ->
Product Manager ->
CEO
The Product Book

11. How to Become a
Great Product
Manager

12. Software Engineer -> Product Manager -> CEO
My Path

13. Computer Science Student -> Software Engineer -> Founder/CEO ->
Business School Student -> Product Manager -> Founder/CEO
My Real Path

14. What’s PM?

15. Design Engineering
Business

16. Design Engineering
Business
PM

17. Paths to PM

18. 1- Software Engineering
2- Entrepreneurship
3- Consulting
4- Project/Program Management
5- Marketing
5 Most Common Paths to PM

19. What else?

20. 1- Other Types of Engineering
2- Finance/Operations
3- Support/QA
4- Sales
5- Design
5 Alternative Paths to PM

21. Other PM Roles

22. 1- Business Analyst
2- Project/Program Manager
3- Product Marketing Manager
4- Product Designer
5- Product “X”
Stepping Stones

23. Design Engineering
Business
PM
PRODUCT
DESIGNER
PROJECT
MANAGER
PRODUCT
MARKETING

24. The PM Career Path

25. CEO -> $$$$ or $ if you are the Founder
Head of Product / CPO -> $$$
VP of Product -> $$$
Director of Product -> $$$
Senior Product Manager -> $$
Product Manager -> $$
APM -> $

26. Types of PMs

27. B2B vs B2C
Startups vs Large Companies
Technical vs Customer-Facing
Marketplaces vs SaaS
Web vs Mobile

28. The Perfect PM

29. 1- Technical Background
2- Domain Expertise & Business Acumen
3- Communication Skills
Top 3 Skills

30. 1- You DON’T need a CS Degree
2- You DON’T need to code like a pro
3- You NEED to understand the Product at every level and have the
ability to earn the respect of your engineering team

31. Technical Background

32. 1- Online (Udacity, CodeAcademy, iTunesU)
2- Offline (Product School, HackReactor, CodePath)
3- Find a mentor (CodeMentor, Thinkful, Bloc)
4- Ask your engineering team or friends
5- DIY
How you can get it

33. 1- Build your own website or mobile app
2- Contribute to an open-source project
3- Finish a course and do all the homework assignments
4- Ask your engineering team to let you fix some easy bugs
5- Ask your engineering team to give you access to run SQL queries
How you can prove it

34. Domain Expertise

35. 1- You DON’T need an MBA
2- You DON’T need to sell like a pro
3- You NEED to know everything about your industry, competitors
and customers in order to build something that they love (and makes
you money)

36. 1- Use industry-related products
2- Read or study industry-related content
3- Attend industry-related events
4- Meet industry-related people
5- Join LinkedIn/Slack/Facebook Groups and Follow Twitter
Influencers
How you can get it

37. 1- Build experience in the same industry, or find a way to relate your
experience to the product
2- Use those products and be ready to give feedback and elaborated
suggestions about how to improve them
3- Find a smart way to connect with hiring managers, product
managers and other domain experts
How you can prove it

38. Communication Skills

39. 1- You DON’T need to be a Public Speaker or Book Author
2- You NEED to help your team
3- You NEED to create value for your customers and capture part of
that value

40. 1- When possible, choose in-person or phone interactions over emails
2- Read your emails twice before you send them
3- Document what you do and keep track of the next steps
4- Create accounts on Medium, Quora, Twitter and other relevant
forums where you want to have a voice
5- Have an active role in events, hackathons, nonprofits, and other
group activities that require team communication
How you can get it

41. 1- Write consistently. Done is better than perfect
2- Take notes and use technology to keep track your work
3- Take care of your online presence
4- Highlight additional activities or side projects
How you can prove it

42. The PM Job Process

43. Resume Sent
Phone Interview Scheduled
1st In-person Meeting Scheduled
Challenge Sent
2nd In-person Interview Scheduled
Offer Received
30-50
10-15
5-10
3-5
1-3
1-2
Treat your job search as a job itself

44. www.productschool.com
Part-time Product Management, Coding, Data Analytics, Digital
Marketing, UX Design, Product Leadership courses and
Corporate Training