During this presentation, Rachel discussed the first 90 days as a new Product Manager. She talked about helpful tips to look out for during the interview process and how to make the first three months in your new position count!

1. The First 90 Days as a Product Manager by
DojoMojo Head of Product
www.productschool.com

2. FREE INVITE
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3. COURSES
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Learn the skills you need to land a product manager job

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6. COURSES
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7. TONIGHT’S SPEAKER
Rachel Windzberg

8. FIRST DAYS
MATTER!
GETTING A
HEADSTART ON
GETTING
STARTED

9. A TALK WITHOUT AN AGENDA? NO WAY!
• A bit about myself
• Before you even get started
• First 30 days
• From 30 to 60
• 60 to 90 and beyond

10. I’VE HAD A LONG AND WINDY ROAD!
Semiconductors engineer for 4 years
Employee #15 at Fiverr (Digital Marketing / Product Research)
Came to NYC for my MBA at Columbia
Consulted with BCG
Product manager at Younow and Datadog
Currently, Head of product for DojoMojo

11. 2ND DAY AS A DIGITAL MARKETER

12. WHY ARE
WE HERE? Learning
Confidenc
e
Success
Trust
Happiness

13. WHAT CAN YOU LEARN AT EVERY PHASE?
Research
Interview
Offer
First days

14. YOU RESEARCHED THE COMPANY.
BUT WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
Market?
Role?
Team?
• What is the nature of the market you’re looking for?
• How mature is that market?
• What is your learning curve?
• What role are you looking for?
• What is the level of impact that you’re looking for?
• What are the downsides/upsides to this role?
• How is the team structured?
• What are the backgrounds of members?
How different is it to where you are?

15. WHAT CAN YOU FIND OUT DURING YOUR
INTERVIEW PROCESS?
• How did the team grow?
• How open to feedback is the team?
• What is the approach to providing feedback?
What is the culture?
• Where do you fit in the org-chart?
• What do you know about the people in your team?
• How do decisions get made?
What is the org chart?
(for smaller orgs)
• Anyone you would like to talk to?
• Can you find someone outside of your evaluation process?
What else do you need to
learn to be sure about the
fit?

16. GREAT! YOU HAVE AN OFFER
NOW WHAT?
• What would your first day look like?
• What are the expectations from
you during your first 30 days?
• How much time do you have to
prepare?
• Who haven’t you met that you want
to?
• How does it compare to what you
want?
• Why are you signing?
Before you sign After you sign

17. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FINDING
A JOB AND A SPOUSE?

18. COLLECT LEARNING FROM YOUR LAST ROLE
• As Sheryl Sandberg says “Don’t leave before you leave”
• As you prepare for your next role reflect
• What went well?
• What I wish I had known when I joined?
• What I would have done differently if I could?
• What are things that new team members did that you found
impressive?

19. GETTING READY FOR THE FIRST DAYS
• Collect learning from your last role
• In bigger orgs, your first day might be a month or two away
• In smaller orgs, your project(s) might already be waiting for you
• Coming up with a plan can help

20. YOU CAN’T MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION TWICE
SO MAKE SURE YOU’RE READY!

21. MY FIRST 30 DAYS PLAN
• Fresh eye report
• Talk to team members outside the leadership team
• Interview leadership team
• Market research
• Interview 10 customers
• Find an “ally”
• Dig into some data
• Review product roadmap
• Share findings
• Don’t forget to find a quick win!
Make a plan to share the plan

22. MAKE A PLAN TO SHARE THE PLAN
What does your boss/team care about the most?
Are your priorities in the initial plan inline with your
boss’s plan?
How much time do you expect executing each item
take?

23. FRESH EYE
REPORT
• Inspiration
• Careful! Try not to hurt
anyone in the process
• Present to the team
• What are quick wins that
you’re identifying?

24. INTERVIEW AT LEAST 10
TEAM MEMBERS OUTSIDE
THE LEADERSHIP TEAM
• Ideally step out of the office for coffee –
have fun!
• Why is this important?
• How can this be done effectively?
• What to do with the results?
• What are you looking for?
• Don’t forget to find out who your team
members reach out to when they need
help!

25. INTERVIEW LEADERSHIP TEAM
Is the leadership story consistent with the team story?
What are gaps that leadership should be aware of?
What are discrepancies between leadership and team?
What metrics/projects do they care about?
How often should you meet them?

26. MARKET RESEARCH
Most of us have
done this
before…
What are trends
you should learn
more about?
What are specific
questions you’d
ask customers
about?

27. INTERVIEW 10 CUSTOMERS
• Why is this important?
• Don’t just stick to the super users
• Why are they using your product?
• What are their alternatives to your product?
• Don’t forget to review first with CSM/support

28. DIG INTO SOME DATA
When is the right time?
What is the north star metric?
For smaller orgs – what data is missing?
What are performance trends?
How does data compare with what you’ve heard?

29. REVIEW PRODUCT ROADMAP
How do the
features align
with
OKR/business
goals?
01
What features
seam easy/hard?
02
What does the
team think of the
roadmap?
03
Is it inline with
data analysis,
customer
interviews and
market-
research?
04

30. SHARE FINDINGS
Why is this important?
What do you think are important points of focus?
What are yellow/red flags you should think through with the
team?
What is the feedback to your findings?

31. FIND AN ALLY

32. DON’T FORGET A QUICK WIN!
carefully – something that’s well define and easyPick
yourself in the teamEstablish
confidenceGain
successCelebrate

33. GETTING
FROM 30 TO 60
• Review first 30 days
• Process improvements
• Feedback collection
system
• Rethink your calendar
• Rethink metrics

34. 60 TO 90 AND BEYOND
• Think strategy
• What’s the roadmap?
• Identify capability/tech/market gaps
• How should your team/org evolve?
• Iterate…

35. WHAT HELPED ME GET READY?
Books Mentors Coach

36. QUESTIONS? STORIES? THOUGHTS?

37. Part-time Product Management Courses in
San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, New
York, Austin, Boston, Seattle, Chicago, Denver,
London, Toronto
www.productschool.com