Main Takeaways:
-Pick the right megatrend
-Understand technology, deeply!
-Invest in your soft skills
-Learn how to analyze data
-Learn a general-purpose programming language
-Be proactive
-Learn how to say NO
-Become a power user of your product
-Care about people
-Prepare for a marathon, not a sprint
6. Story behind these lessons
● Product Managers (PM) learn some critical skills along the way that shape their
career.
● These skills differentiate star PMs from ordinary ones.
● Many PMs learn these skills by learning from their mistakes.
● That’s how I learned many of these skills!
● However, deliberate planning to acquire these skills early on can accelerate a
PM’s career.
8. Pick the right
mega trend
● The demand for your PM skills
will ultimately depend on the
market for the products you
know how to manage.
● Like a rising tide, technologies
at early stages of mass
adoption will lift your career
for decades to come.
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9. Underatand
technology,
deeply!
● Almost all products have
become progressively more
technological.
● As a PM, you need to
understand the technology
that your product is going to be
built on to write executable
product requirements.
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10. Invest in your
soft skills
● As a PM, you often have to
influence your product
outcome without direct
authority over people.
● PMs have to navigate difficult
conversations and resolve
conflicts constantly.
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11. Learn how to
analyze data
● PMs are expected to base their
decisions on facts and data.
● Not knowing how to analyze
your market & product data,
you will have to depend on an
analyst that might not be
available to you.
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12. Learn a
programming
language
● There will be plenty of
occasions where you need to
prototype something on your
own.
● A general purpose
programming language, like
Python, helps you build things
and stay current with the latest
developments in technology.
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13. Be proactive
● Unmitigated blockers are
common sources of conflicts &
product delays.
● Anticipate blockers and
dependencies and have a plan
for them in advance.
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14. Learn how to
say NO
● As a PM, you will say “no” more
often than “yes”.
● How you say “no” is as
important as when you say
“no”.
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15. Become a
power user of
your product
● Nothing replaces your
firsthand knowledge of your
own product.
● If you have hard time learning
and using your product, your
users are likely to experience
the same.
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16. Care about
people
● People around you will be a lot
more helpful if you care about
them.
● Your level of care about your
users will emanate from your
product.
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17. Prepare for a
marathon
(not a sprint)
● Becoming a great PM takes
long-term planning and
patience.
● Take small and steady steps.
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