From this presentation you will discover what hard and soft skills of an Entrepreneur are and how to start as a Product Manager.

1. www.productschool.com
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8. Jordi Valls
Founder & CEO
TONIGHT’S SPEAKER

9. Why is there a growing demand of Product People?
→ Software is eating the world
Software development has become core in
any industry.
→ We need somebody to integrate this core
area to the rest of the business. Building
software isn’t (like some business people
think) like producing in a factory line.
→ It demands a different skillset to make it
work, and it’s not a specialist skillset

10. → The opportunity is huge to
create new things with software
→ Since software is key, you
want somebody who can
understand it well.
→ Entrepreneurship demands a
holistic approach (humanities
are proving to work well for
future entrepreneurs).
Why is there a growing number of entrepreneurs?
→ Software is eating the world
Software development has become core in
any industry.
→ We need somebody to integrate this core
area to the rest of the business. Building
software isn’t (like some business people
think) like producing in a factory line.
→ It demands a different skillset to make it
work, and it’s not a specialist (business)
skillset

11. Product Management
Martin Eriksson, MindTheProduct

12. Product Management
Martin Eriksson, MindTheProduct
Entrepreneurship

13. The skills
Your goal is to connect the dots and remind everyone We
are all in the same boat.
Being respected by specialist when you are not (at
everything) is your main challenge.
AND, for entrepreneurs:
Finance (cashflow), fundraising, sales, MAX
ACCOUNTABILITY, hiring...

14. Taken from A visual vocabulary for product building by Dan Schmidt
Hard skills ● Be good at writing
● Good at multitasking
● Great /The Best at productivity
● Product/Software development
process: Agile.
● UX!!!

15. My first 50
days as Head
of Product
How to start in Product Management
medium.com/@vallsjordi
Try to understand
how the decision
process and meet
with most people
individually to learn
more about their
positions.

16. How to start in Product Management
Get perspective +
Finance + Sales +
Fundraising + hiring

17. ● Personal Communication: to the team, and to
your users.
● Empathy: If it’s like SJ is ok.
● Patience
● Leadership: Inspired communication of a
vision.
● Curiosity: You have to be a polymath.
● Open mind
● Zero Ego
Soft skills
I’ve been called “The therapist” of the company
● Creative thinking
● Human behaviour and psichology for the
market and for people management.
● Culture
● Intuitive prioritisation (day to day)
● Authority. It’s tricky, the best is to win it
through respect. If you play dirty, it will come
back. BE HONEST.
Remember: You can’t do your job if they don’t believe in your contribution

18. ○ Size matters: Propper size to contribute.
■ Smaller: More opportunity to
contribute anywhere
■ Bigger: Opportunity to understand big
processes
○ My ideal path: Start very small, and grow.
But it depends on your profile.
○ Ideally, to jump to Product, have some
experience with mkt, design, business and
development. Ideally, try to build a startup,
seriously
Your next product job
Path to:
○ Look for places where you can contribute
(even if it has to be for free). Be as close to
other entrepreneurs as posible.
○ Create “projects” (events, personal ideas…)
○ Start something that could be a company.
Specially if you are under 20.
○ Think about how your perfect resumé would
look. Understand the power of “brands” and
how to explain you personal experiences in a
positive way.
Entrepreneurship

19. Interviewing for a startup
(Might not be valid for bigger companies, for that, “The PM interview” book)
What the CEO wants to hear: You understand the business and want to learn
about the industry. You are a proactive person. You understand his vision of the
company.
What the CTO wants to hear: You respect technology and engineers. You have
understand basic engineering (at least) but are very humble about your
knowledge. It won’t be your contribution.
What other leadership profiles will want to hear: You know something they don’t
know (although they might have an strong opinion on) and they expect to hear
things they haven’t heard before.

20. Most important thing for entrepreneurs
Persistence
Lateral/creative thinking. Curious
Patience and emotional intelligence
Know WHY you are doing it and that you will still be happy if you fail
Discipline, not like a Navy Seal, but like a surgeon or an architect
Persistence
Be kind and humble, the world is too small

21. Resources
Udemy - Becoming a Product Management
Product School
Mind the Product (Join their Slack too)
Books: I post some in my instagram @vallsjordi. AND MANY MORE!
Learn the frameworks: Jobs to be done, prioritisation, Lean…
I love Medium
Intercom blog
http://firstround.com/review/our-6-must-reads-for-creating-and-accelerating-trust-on-
teams/?utm_campaign=new_article&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter
https://productcoalition.com/becoming-a-product-manager-the-road-less-traveled-25554c9b2cbf
https://medium.com/speroventures/hacking-your-product-management-career-cce227a9c39a
https://productcoalition.com/becoming-a-product-manager-the-road-less-traveled-25554c9b2cbf
https://productcoalition.com/grandma-i-am-a-product-manager-afe56a18fbb2
https://medium.com/@mattrmclaren/what-makes-an-excellent-product-manager-e096a0ed60f8
Most importantly:
Meet with other product people
and entrepreneurs!

22. Thanks!
jordi@valls.me
@vallsjordi
Remember:
Your goal is to connect the dots and remind
everyone We are all in the same boat.

23. www.productschool.com
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