In this captivating session at ProductCon, Nikhyl-Singhal, VP of Product at Meta and the founder of The Skip, will share invaluable insights on managing your career like a well-crafted product. Discover the power of long-term thinking, the art of career additive transitions, and the importance of taking ownership of your professional growth. With an emphasis on networking, mentorship, and building superpowers, this talk will equip you with practical strategies to propel your career forward while keeping a smile on your face. Prepare for a dynamic and entertaining session that will leave you inspired and ready to unleash your PM career's true potential!

1. Turbocharge Your PM Career:
Unleashing 5 Game-Changing Tactics
by Meta VP of Product
productschool.com

2. Accelerate your Product Management Career
Certifications
Product Manager
Certification™
Product Leader
Certification™
productschool.com/online

3. Team Training
Level Up Your Team’s
Product Management Skills
productschool.com

4. Resources
Free Product Management Resources
Events Courses Podcasts
Newsletters Communities eBooks and
Reports
productschool.com/resources

5. Five rules that will
unlock your PM career

6. About Nikhyl
Stanford BS/MS 1990-96 (CompSci)
Co-founder & CEO
● Cast Iron Systems (acquired by IBM)
● SayNow (acquired by Google)
Product Executive
● Google (Director for Hangouts, Photos)
● Credit Karma (Chief Product Officer)
● Meta (Facebook VP, Home & Groups)
Career coaching & Mentorship
● 100+ leaders, mostly in PM
● Focus on diversity, future executives
● Skip Podcast and newsletter
(http://skip.show)

7. Rule #1: Product manage your career like a product
◉ Avoid: short term optimizations when careers are decades long
◉ Products have a roadmap that connect to a vision
Consider your “skip job”, then “stay vs. go” or “is this the right offer”
◉ Product phases = Product-Market fit, (Hyper)growth, Market leader
Career phases = Act I: Learning, Act II: Leading, Act III: Giving
◉ Data, user research, customer feedback drives growth
Feedback, coaching and self-awareness required to advance
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8. Rule #2: Ensure each transition is career additive
◉ Promotions advance you at the company, stories advance in career
”What you build, what you overcame?” > “What was your level?”
◉ Growth rate > level of current responsibility
Faster you learn new things and add impact, more effective you will be
◉ Culture & learning > company mission, product
Avoid eliminating “boring” companies, products you don’t love or use
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9. Rule #3: Whom you know will matter as much as what you know
◉ Phase I of career: what you know, Phase II: who you know
Yet biggest regret on departure is person didn’t meet enough people
◉ Avoid: networking → too transactional, inauthentic
Instead: build meaningful relationships with the best you encounter:
Peers, leaders, up-and-comers, cross-functional teammates, customers
◉ Find 30 mins each week to offer help or gain perspective on a challenge
(easy for extroverts, actionable for introverts)
◉ This generates luck, creates opportunities, wisdom, gives back
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10. Rule #4: Find a strength area, then make it a superpower
◉ Areas of expertise:
Product crafting, growth, domain, market, organization, team
◉ Elite careers require world-class skills in 1 or 2 of these areas
◉ No matter what, ensure you are not deficient in any of these areas
◉ Avoid just fixating on managing people (team skills)
Market today requires ICs and builders more than managers
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11. Rule #5: Bet on yourself
◉ Avoid: outsourcing your career to your manager or your company
◉ Managers focus on what they require and value, not your needs
◉ Promotion ladders inexact science, based on company needs
◉ Instead, focus on:
○ Superpowers you’ve built, Stories you can tell
○ Feedback you receive, Soft skills like empathy and self-awareness
○ Mentors who can help in specific development areas
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12. Maximize your career
Follow the Skip Podcast, newsletter, communities (http://skip.show)
@nikhyl on Twitter and LinkedIn
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13. Part-time Product Management
Training Courses
and Team Training
productschool.com