Main Takeaways: -Pick the right megatrend -Understand technology, deeply! -Invest in your soft skills -Learn how to analyze data -Learn a general-purpose programming language -Be proactive -Learn how to say NO -Become a power user of your product -Care about people -Prepare for a marathon, not a sprint

1. www.productschool.com
10 Lessons from Over a Decade in PM by
Google Product Leader

2. CERTIFICATES
Your Product Management Certificate Path
Product Leadership
Certificate™
Full Stack Product
Management Certificate™
Product Management
Certificate™

3. Corporate
Training
Level up your team’s Product
Management skills

4. Free Product Management Resources
BOOKS
EVENTS
JOB PORTAL
COMMUNITIES
bit.ly/product_resources
COURSES

5. 10 Lessons in
Product
Management
By Dana Soltani

6. Story behind these lessons
● Product Managers (PM) learn some critical skills along the way that shape their
career.
● These skills differentiate star PMs from ordinary ones.
● Many PMs learn these skills by learning from their mistakes.
● That’s how I learned many of these skills!
● However, deliberate planning to acquire these skills early on can accelerate a
PM’s career.

7. Lessons

8. Pick the right
mega trend
● The demand for your PM skills
will ultimately depend on the
market for the products you
know how to manage.
● Like a rising tide, technologies
at early stages of mass
adoption will lift your career
for decades to come.
1

9. Underatand
technology,
deeply!
● Almost all products have
become progressively more
technological.
● As a PM, you need to
understand the technology
that your product is going to be
built on to write executable
product requirements.
2

10. Invest in your
soft skills
● As a PM, you often have to
influence your product
outcome without direct
authority over people.
● PMs have to navigate difficult
conversations and resolve
conflicts constantly.
3

11. Learn how to
analyze data
● PMs are expected to base their
decisions on facts and data.
● Not knowing how to analyze
your market & product data,
you will have to depend on an
analyst that might not be
available to you.
4

12. Learn a
programming
language
● There will be plenty of
occasions where you need to
prototype something on your
own.
● A general purpose
programming language, like
Python, helps you build things
and stay current with the latest
developments in technology.
5

13. Be proactive
● Unmitigated blockers are
common sources of conflicts &
product delays.
● Anticipate blockers and
dependencies and have a plan
for them in advance.
6

14. Learn how to
say NO
● As a PM, you will say “no” more
often than “yes”.
● How you say “no” is as
important as when you say
“no”.
7

15. Become a
power user of
your product
● Nothing replaces your
firsthand knowledge of your
own product.
● If you have hard time learning
and using your product, your
users are likely to experience
the same.
8

16. Care about
people
● People around you will be a lot
more helpful if you care about
them.
● Your level of care about your
users will emanate from your
product.
9

17. Prepare for a
marathon
(not a sprint)
● Becoming a great PM takes
long-term planning and
patience.
● Take small and steady steps.
10

18. Thank You!
https://linkedin.com/in/danasoltani
dana@outflyers.com

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