Journey to Product Management by Etsy's PM
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Product Management is more of an art than a science. So, how do you become a Product Manager? Kevin Gu, Product Manager at Etsy, talked about what he has learned before and during his journey in product management. He also discussed what a Product Manager really does, what makes a successful PM and shared his principals as a PM.
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Journey to Product Management by Etsy's PM
- 1. Journey to Product Management by Etsy’s PM
- 2. FREE INVITE Join 10,000+ Product Managers on
- 6. Include @productschool and #prodmgmt at the end of your tweet Tweet to get a free ticket for our next Event!
- 8. #pmlife Kevin Gu @ Product School
- 9. Agenda My background How I started What I think a PM is Principles that help my job The PM I strive to Be
- 10. My background 2004 20142009 2011
- 11. How I got started
- 12. Becoming a full-time PM is much harder
- 13. Finding the right role is still hard, don’t give up
- 14. Pms Do what?
- 17. Help teams ship the right product
- 18. Principles I try to follow
- 19. Focus yourself, then your team
- 20. Prioritization is everything Important, Urgent Not Important, Urgent Important, Not Urgent Not Important, Not Urgent
- 21. Your team is never fully staffed
- 22. Positivity is your savior
- 23. Reflect on your wins and losses
- 24. Don’t ignore your stakeholders
- 25. Network within the company
- 26. Tell a story
- 27. Have as many difficult conversations as possible
- 28. The PM I Strive to Be
- 29. A great PM is a 5 tool player As a PM, someone who can get things done strong product sense develop business strategy lead a team solve technical problems
- 30. Books that have helped me Making Things Happen - Scott Berkun The Lean Startup - Eric Ries The Hard Thing About Hard Things - Ben Horowitz Creativity Inc - Ed Catmull Smarter Faster Better - Charles Duhigg Interview Prep:
- 32. Thanks!
- 33. Part-time Product Management Courses in New York
Editor's Notes
- Thanks for coming!
- We currently have a slack community of 10,000
- For those of you new here to our meetup, Product School offers 8-week, part-time courses on how to be a product manager.
- We also offer a program called Coding for Managers. This course is for professionals without a technical background who want to learn how to code, build a better rapport with engineer teams and increase visibility with hiring managers.
- If you'd like a free ticket to our next event, be sure to tweet a picture of your presenter using @productschool or check-in to the event on facebook. Following the presentation, please come show me and I'll take your email to send your free ticket.
- Etugo Nwokah
- Every PM I’ve ever known does their job a little differently PM is more of an art than science; as an artist you always work towards perfection, but never achieve it I want to keep it casual, feel free to ask me questions along the way
- University of Waterloo Computer Engineering Microsoft LinkedIn Etsy
- Total of 6 internships, 5 of them as an engineer Last internship was PM at Microsoft My initial hook: business strategy, product design and leadership
- I didn’t have Product School back then, so you guys are definitely better off 2009: interviewed for a PM position at a small startup called Facebook Failed the Google APM interviews twice I spent 2 years at Microsoft working on small features here and there Finally in 2012: Lead a product team of 10 engineers at LinkedIn
- Over 8 years, I’ve been interviewed for >60 different roles in my career I’ve interviewed >30 different candidates So when you are interviewing outside Product School, just be prepared for rejections, but practice for and learn from each interview I would say half of the time, it’s about the right fit, not just how you do on a interview. Do your experiences match what they are looking for? For candidates without a lot of experience, I would recommend exploring Associate level roles at large companies, where they invest to train you on the job
- Can anyone summarize
- If you extensively laid out everything a PM does, this is what it looks like Strategy -> getting the product into customer’s hands Takeaway: PMs do a little of everything
- And because PMs do a little bit of everything, the perception of a PM also ranges widely Everyone and every company ends doing PM a little differently
- Help = do w/e is necessary to help the team ship e.g. buying donuts and coffee to boost morale Ship = my manager used to say “nothing matters until it’s in production” Right = identifying the right problems to solve, finding the best solutions and defining those solutions as clearly as possible
- As a PM there are always a million things to work on: run data queries, write specs, meet with stakeholders, talk to customers, read up on the competition If you are not focused, your team won’t be either I typically use the same framework to prioritize tasks for both myself and my team. It’s important to understand how the things I’m doing are contributing the goals of my team.
- How many people have seen this before? It’s very popular in consulting I apply this matrix to everything: to-dos, emails, meetings, tasks for my team I typically spend 60% in top left, 20% in top right, 20% in bottom left
- from 200 to 90,000 people, you never have enough engineers to build all the features you want even after you prioritize using the framework, you still need to Beg, borrow, outsource, a lot of times PM forget they themselves can be help to team, DIY with some help
- Positivity is really what keeps you sane on the job the first time I launched a product at LinkedIn, my team and I were really excited; it was featured in Techcrunch. After launch, the visits didn’t grow as fast as we wanted, I became really depressed. My team saw and told my manager. My manager pulled me aside and said… everyday something will go wrong don’t let any particular issue weigh you down; your team can see it and they will feel the same Research backs this up: emotional contagion Another thing I learned later on: don't hide problems from the team; they are the ones who can solve the problem and might be happy to do so Nowadays, I’m known as “Mr. optimistic” at work
- You will rarely have a day where everything goes smoothly reflect on both the good and bad, recognize patterns for next time AB test solutions to a problem at work, just as you would launch a feature reflection helps build a knowledge base
- Anyone watch HoC? One of my favorite shows. I actually learned a lot of leadership and decision-making from that show, not the killing part of course… One thing I learned: even the President has to drive consensus, in his staff, in congress And PM is no different. In fact PM is about much more about decision-making through influence, not power When you are making important decisions about the product, everyone has a different opinion It’s your job to bring all the stakeholders to a consensus, it could be a decision, or if too controversial, at least a path to making a decision
- It goes back to my last point about building influence. People usually talk about relationships with clients or customers, but they are equally important within the company You never know when you need to work with that person on a project and it’s always better if the meeting is not the first time Add interesting people to coffee/lunch; If conversation goes well, ask if you can have a recurring meeting Identify mentors and mentees
- great product leaders in the company is the ability to influence others by telling a story. How many people have seen Steve Jobs present? That is the mastery of storytelling. But even amongst my coworkers, I've seen a strong story used to convince others of a strategy, motivate a team and sell a product in meetings, at presentations and even during conversations. Start with the problem. In the past, my natural tendency to persuade someone was to start with my recommendation. But every story needs to have a beginning and I was jumping ahead to the end. Now I always start any discussion by making sure all parties are standing with me on the problem. Keep it simple. I've recognized the only stories that colleagues remember after a presentation are the simple ones. Simplicity is now my approach to any conversation at work. As often as possible, I try to explain my ideas in one sentence, with two circles on a whiteboard or a picture from the web. Be humble. Last and most important for me: always be open to feedback. I try to involve my listeners and ask them to contribute to the story. I've found that a story is never perfect and any constructive feedback is crucial to delivering it better next time.
- My manager: “if you are talking to someone and you feel awkward, it’s probably the right conversation” Difficult conversation: giving negative feedback to someone you work with It’s never easy, but it does get easier the more you do it -give just-in-time feedback; I had worked with an engineering manager who I was very unhappy with, but I was too hesitant to give feedback -practice what you are going to say beforehand -I always picture the worst case scenario: a shouting match, but it always surprises how well people take the feedback Similarly, always proactive ask for feedback and be open to it; I like to get a 360 peer feedback every 4 months
- Everyday I strive to be a better PM, to be a great PM. And what does it mean to be a great PM?
- In a meeting, the CEO of LinkedIn explained to me that he thinks about great executives and PMs the same way, as a 5-tool player Anyone heard of that term in baseball? In baseball, a player who can run, catch, hit hard, hit often and throw In Product Management, a 5 tool player is...
- Thanks for coming!