Skills needed to be a successful product manager in a software tech industry.

1. Product Manager Interviews
Suhas Manangi

2. 3 Main Skills
EXECUTION ANALYTICAL PRODUCT SENSE

3. 3 Main Skills - Execution
EXECUTION ANALYTICAL PRODUCT SENE
1. Get things done
2. Align all stakeholders
3. Influence and motivate team members
4. Manage expectations – time, deliverables etc.
5. Release management

4. 3 Main Skills - Analytical
ANALYTICAL EXECUTION PRODUCT SNSE
1. Deep dive into customer problems
2. Market sizing and impact analysis
3. Prioritize
4. Understand data – learn SQL
5. A|B testing

5. 3 Main Skills – Product Sense
PRODUCT SENSE ANALYTICAL EXECUTION
1. Customer empathy
2. Market opportunity
3. Creative/UX designs
4. Create value
5. Vision and roadmap

6. Attributes of a good PM
1. Think big
2. Communicate
3. Simplify
4. Prioritize
5. Forecast and measure
6. Execute
7. Drive technical trade-offs
8. Champion good design
9. Write effective copy
Junior PM is good at some of
these.
Senior PM is good at most of
these.

7. Attributes of a good PM
1. Think big
2. Communicate
3. Simplify
4. Prioritize
5. Forecast and measure
6. Execute
7. Drive technical trade-offs
8. Champion good design
9. Write effective copy
1. Think big
Won’t be constrained by the resources
available to them today. They will describe
large disruptive opportunities, and develop
concrete plans for how to take advantage of
them.

8. Attributes of a good PM
1. Think big
2. Communicate
3. Simplify
4. Prioritize
5. Forecast and measure
6. Execute
7. Drive technical trade-offs
8. Champion good design
9. Write effective copy
2. Communicate
Make a case that is impossible to refute or
ignore. They will use data appropriately,
when available, but they will also tap into
other biases, beliefs, and triggers that can
convince the powers for the case.

9. Attributes of a good PM
1. Think big
2. Communicate
3. Simplify
4. Prioritize
5. Forecast and measure
6. Execute
7. Drive technical trade-offs
8. Champion good design
9. Write effective copy
3. Simplify
Knows how to get 80% of the value of any
product with 20% of the effort. They do so
repeatedly, launching more and achieving
compounding effects for the product or
business.

10. Attributes of a good PM
1. Think big
2. Communicate
3. Simplify
4. Prioritize
5. Forecast and measure
6. Execute
7. Drive technical trade-offs
8. Champion good design
9. Write effective copy
4. Prioritize
Knows how to sequence projects. They
balance quick wins vs platform investments
appropriately. They balance growth projects
and bugs projects appropriately.

11. Attributes of a good PM
1. Think big
2. Communicate
3. Simplify
4. Prioritize
5. Forecast and measure
6. Execute
7. Drive technical trade-offs
8. Champion good design
9. Write effective copy
5. Forecast and measure
Forecast approximately benefit of projects,
and also measure benefits once projects are
launched. Factor those learnings into their
future prioritization and forecasts.

12. Attributes of a good PM
1. Think big
2. Communicate
3. Simplify
4. Prioritize
5. Forecast and measure
6. Execute
7. Drive technical trade-offs
8. Champion good design
9. Write effective copy
6. Execute
Get things done. Grinds it out. Do whatever
is necessary to ship. They recognize no
specific bounds to the scope of their role. As
necessary, they recruit, they produce
buttons, they do biz dev, they escalate …

13. Attributes of a good PM
1. Think big
2. Communicate
3. Simplify
4. Prioritize
5. Forecast and measure
6. Execute
7. Drive technical trade-offs
8. Champion good design
9. Write effective copy
7. Drive technical trade-offs
Doesn’t need to have CS degree but
understand technical aspects and
complexities. Partner with engineers to
make the right technical trade-offs

14. Attributes of a good PM
1. Think big
2. Communicate
3. Simplify
4. Prioritize
5. Forecast and measure
6. Execute
7. Drive technical trade-offs
8. Champion good design
9. Write effective copy
8. Champion good design
Doesn’t have to be a designer but should
appreciate great design. Articulate directions
to their designers.

15. Attributes of a good PM
1. Think big
2. Communicate
3. Simplify
4. Prioritize
5. Forecast and measure
6. Execute
7. Drive technical trade-offs
8. Champion good design
9. Write effective copy
9. Write effective copy
Should be able to write concise copy that
gets job done. Each additional word dilutes
the value if the previous ones. Find perfect
words for the key copy such as buttons,
labels, call to action etc

16. Practice Resources
• Udemy course for Generic PM interviews:
https://www.udemy.com/amazon-product-manager-interview/
• 3 books for Technical PM interviews or PM interviews in a software
company/team:
1. Cracking the PM Interview: How to Land a Product Manager Job in
Technology
2. Decode and Conquer: Answers to Product Management Interviews
3. The Product Manager Interview: 164 Actual Questions and Answers
• Outlook of manager of PMs: https://vimeo.com/297832206
• 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

17. Product Sense
Key Question: Can this person turn big ambiguous problems into great products? (Typically, 1 deep hypothetical question)
Focus Areas:
● Identifying needs: taking a big space, breaking it down into smaller parts, reasoning about what people's needs are and enumerating
opportunities.
● Focus on value and impact: developing a product vision based on the value we can provide, reasoning about why we should or shouldn't do so
and communicating the most important value. (Note: deep understanding of FB's mission isn't a requirement, give them that context if the
question is FB-specific).
● Making intentional design choices: coming up with product designs (major workflows, surfacing, functionality, perhaps some rough wireframes),
applying high-level goals and priorities for the product consistently to the concrete product/feature ideas being designed.
● Handling critique, new data and constraints: listening to feedback, new data and additional constraints, being able to internalize and iterate
based on it.
Ask yourself:
● Can you establish meaning and value proposition?
● Are you logically breaking down the problem?
● What are the product problems and ideas? Are you able to prioritize them? Do you have ideas on any solutions to these problems?
● Can you identify challenges you may run across while building this product?
● Do you have a consistent point-of-view?
CIRCLES Method
https://www.impactinterview.com/2016/06/circles-method-product-design-framework/

18. Analytical
Key Questions: Does this person prioritize and execute well? Can they get things done? (Typically, 2-3 hypothetical questions)
Focus Areas:
● Setting goals: coming up with goals for a product, deriving those based on what the product is all about. Being mindful of how the goals
(especially quantitative goals) can be gamed or how they can sometimes be counter indicative of progress. Setting a goal/goals that the team
can directly impact.
● Navigating trade-offs: taking a complex trade-off and exploring the trade-offs in a structured and critical way. Showing consideration for a wide
variety of factors (e.g. organizational, cultural).
● Analyzing/debugging problems: taking a methodical approach to understand a problem, being able to take a high-level problem and breaking it
down into smaller pieces to isolate the root cause.
● Setting teams up for success: showing strong organizational skills, assessing whether a team is executing well, providing clarity of focus.
Ask yourself:
● What is your goal or mission based on the information that you have?
● What is your criteria for success?
● What are the specific metrics that you would measure in order to progress towards your goal? Are they relevant?
● How will those metrics affect your decisions?