Main Takeaways: You don't need to start in a given domain as the biggest expert in that domain - you just need to lead with curiosity. You can be effective by having good core PM skills and remaining focused on a key set of repeatable questions and processes focused on understanding the business space &, most crucially, who are the customers and what are their pain points & needs. You also have to start by understanding the org you're moving into - especially who are the key domain experts to partner with early and what is the org's understanding of Product Management.

1. How a Product Manager Pivots Into a New
Domain by Microsoft Sr PM
www.productschool.com

2. CERTIFICATES
Your Product Management Certificate Path
Product Executive
Certificate™
Product Leader Certificate™
Product Manager
Certificate™
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3. Corporate
Training
Level up your team’s Product
Management skills

4. Free Product Management Resources
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bit.ly/product_resources
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6. How a Product Manager
Pivots Into a New Domain
David Siegel, Sr. PM @ Microsoft

7. Who Am I?
My Background:

8. My Background: Edtech
Fintech /
Private Equity
PR, Analytics & ML
Data for Commercial Aviation
Mobility Tech
Various – legal, marketplace, accommodation…
Legal
Gaming, Core Big Tech

9. What is a PM?
Core Skills (at least):
• Research & Experimentation
• UX / Design
• Technical Facility / Comprehension
• Business & Product Strategy
Other Crucial Skills:
• Collaboration
• Storytelling
• Empathy
• Ability to Influence
• Flexibility & Adaptability
• …

10. What Do You Want To Do?
Goals: What do you want to
do (and why)
Who do you know?
(Connections lead to
conversations)
How do you work? (Style,
Structure…)
What are your PM
Superpowers? Kryptonites?
(Honest self-knowledge)

11. Every Domain
• State of the Industry
• Porter’s 5 forces, etc.
• Competitive Landscape, Business Strategies
• Product Strategies, Opportunities
• Future Strategic & Technical Horizons
• Customer / Problem Space

12. Getting the Job

13. How to Get There?
• Where are you now?
• What are your goals? Where do you want to go?
• Learn PM Fundamentals
• Study / Learn
• Consult
• Work on Strategy muscles
• Generalist vs Specialist PM

14. Learning New Domains
Start With The
Customer (Customer
First!)
What’s the problem space? Imagine
you’re a consultant.
Learn from your
network.
If you get into
conversations, let other
people talk first. Lead
by learning.
Break down the
business space vs tech
space:
How are different orgs approaching
solving the problem? (What are
they doing & how)
vs
What is the strategic opportunity
different orgs are pursuing?

15. Doing the Job

16. Doing the Job
Meet everyone & map the org
as soon as you can.
01
Be friendly, available &
enthusiastic.
02
Connect with the domain
experts!
• Customer Support
• VP of [Domain]
• Domain Experts turned PMs and/or
Product Owner
• Soon, you
03

17. How to work with Domain Experts?
Three kinds:
1. People who want to help you learn (Few) – will help you learn, teach you.
Leverage them carefully but often.
2. People who need/are willing to help (Some) – send you links, etc. Won’t have
meetings to walk you through and teach you. Limited patience for your lack of
knowledge, but some patience.
3. People who need you to know (Most) –They just want a Yes or No. Bring #1’s to
meetings w/these folks at first to help mediate so decisions will get made quickly.

18. Domain Knowledgeable People
The Fourth Kind:
• People who don’t think you should be there b/c you’re not a domain expert.

19. How Different Orgs Work
Product-led: Don’t assume everyone
knows what this means
Documentation Needs: Different orgs
& biz types have diff documentations
needs.
What’s the skinniest version of an artifact that would
usefully solve the problem documentation is being
needed to exist to solve? (to reflect/track
agreements stakeholders arrive at in
discussions/emails)
Hierarchical Structure: Locus of
power!

20. Leadership & Flow in New Domain Orgs
• Many legacy orgs have never had a “real” PM function.
• Different Risk/Failure Tolerance!
• For a PM: Risk + Opportunity
• Be experimental and take calculated, bounded risks.
• Create value by crafting quick wins via things like design sprints, new product prototypes –
everyone finds positive metric moving convincing.
• Partner with key execs & domain experts to craft these once you have a handle on who the
customers are, why, what they need.

21. Benefits: What Do You Learn?
• How is work/strategy conceptualized in different domains?
• How are customers differently accessed/accessible?
• What do product experiments/prototypes mean in different domains/orgs?

22. Thank you!
David Siegel, Sr. PM @ Microsoft
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmarcsiegel

23. www.productschool.com
Part-time Product Management Training Courses
and
Corporate Training