Product Management - Basics - Chapter 1

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Mis-cocnception:

PMs are the CEO of a product: This is a fallacy because unlike CEOs PMs do not have authority over most of the things needed to make their product successful. Be it user research, design or marketing, sales and support.

Moreover the ambit of PM role varies based on number of factors like size of the company, size, type of product, stage, industry, and even culture of the company etc. So a PM is not the CEO of a product.

Three Main factors to be considered:

- Core Competency: Master the core competencies

- Emotional Intelligence: High EQ

- Company Fit: Work for the right company

Aim is to lead User adoption of a product, drive revenues and if possible disrupt a market. All this while keeping the cadence between Engineering and Design Team.

Core Competencies (should be mastered):

Some basic examples-

conducting customer interviews and user testing

running design sprints

feature prioritization and road map planning

the art of resource allocation (it is not a science!)

performing market assessments

translating business-to-technical requirements, and vice versa

pricing and revenue modeling

defining and tracking success metrics

Emotional Intelligence (Higher the better):

Relationship Management

Self Awareness

Self Management

Social Awareness

Company Fit: Very important to join the right company