Hacking Your Way to The Top: Essential Skills for

Product Leaders

Tathagat Varma Knowledgepreneur

http://thoughtleadership.in

What is your “top”?

PM Stats…

Execs didn’t understand

PM!

No PM role, or not well

defined

75% 48%PMs

undergone training

2%

Evolution of PMs… Factor Then Now

Business Rela+velylongbusinesscycles,Lowcompe++on,Longevity,Protec+ons

Vola+lebusinesscycles,Intensecompe++on,Ephemeral,Open

Tech Largelystabletech Mostlyevolvingtech

R&D MostlylargeR&D/Capex/IP/FirstWorld

Mostlyfrugal/Opex/OpenSource/Global&Distributed

User Rela+velyconsistent/basicuserneeds

Highlyfragmentedandconstantlyevolvinguserwants

Market Longmarketwindowsinlargelyprovenmarkets(MRDs~3-5years)

Shortmarketwindowsinnewmarkets(whereistheMRD?)

Product Longgesta+oncycle(1-3years),Globalproducts

Shortgesta+oncycles(1-3quarters),Localproducts

Focus Focuswasmostlytech LargelyProduct+UX+Design

Specs Market-research/MonolithicPRDs Hypotheses-valida+on/Dynamicproductbacklogs

Dev Forecastdriven/Predic+ve Feedbackdriven/Adap+ve

Talent TechiesgrewintoPMs GrowingtrendofhiringPMs

So, who is a PM?

What do PMs do?

What do PMs don’t do!

•   They don’t sell •   They don’t do design •   They don’t write code •   They don’t launch products •   They don’t create marketing campaigns •   They don’t support customers •   They don’t fix bugs •   They don’t do siteops •   … •   …but…knowing and doing it doesn’t hurt!

So, how can I get to the “top”?

Do your job Develop passion

Develop a fixed Medici mindset

“T”

T-shaped PM

CorePMSkills

MarketResearch UX Engineering

BusinessAnalysis

Finance&Pricing …

Tech Compe++on

Find opportunities solve messy problems

Wait for orders Take initiative

Think conservative creative

Start writing

Be a expert critic coach maker

hZp://www.sloma.org/images/makers2014.png

Learn by doing experimenting shipping

Avoid Mitigate Accept Embrace failures

Be a scribe newscaster storyteller

Work hard smart hard really hard!

Influence with without authority

Manage Control Trust the team

Fear Enjoy the ride!

Recap

•   Product Manager is an orchestration role. Be a leader, not a boss!

•   While expertize of various functions is not really required, knowledge of them could be handy

•   The “top” for a product leader is making the dent in the universe!

•   You surely need to know PM skills (IPL could help – and yes, this isn’t a paid endorsement J)

•   More importantly, a product mindset is a must!

References

•   Good Product Manager / Bad Product Manager, http://a16z.com/2012/06/15/good-product-managerbad-product-manager/

•   The Myths of Product Management, https://medium.com/@cwodtke/the-myths-of-product-management-7376eaf549a3#.ruyqduarj

•   The Product Manager’s Essential Reading List for 2016, https://medium.com/@sicross/the-product-manager-s-essential-reading-list-for-2016-c7fd4c0491bf#.ej9qnsx0d

•   So you want to manage a product?, https://productcoalition.com/so-you-want-to-manage-a-product-c664ba7e5138#.sdzh5mmhz

•   Where do product managers come from? An analysis of 1,000 PMs, http://hackingrevenue.com/product-management/where-do-product-managers-come-from/

•   Do Product Managers need a Technical Background?, https://www.productmanagerhq.com/2014/08/do-product-managers-need-a-technical-background/

•   Behind Every Great Product, http://www.svpg.com/behind-every-great-product •   Learning by Shipping,

https://blog.learningbyshipping.com/2015/01/11/ces-2015-recap-for-makers-and-product-managers/

•   What is a Product Manager? A Different Perspective, http://www.productmanagerclub.com/2016/10/12/what-is-a-product-manager-a-different-perspective/

•   http://www.slideshare.net/280group/product-management-survey •   Gapingvoid for some great visual ideas!