In this conversation, Tanja Lau interviews Justin Groep about his journey from working as a barista in South Africa to securing a product management role in a challenging job market. Justin shares insights on the importance of networking, strategic job hunting, the value of feedback, and the resilience required to navigate the job application process. He emphasizes the significance of community support and mentorship in overcoming obstacles and encourages others to pay it forward by sharing their knowledge and experiences. Don’t forget to check out all the valuable links and resources he offered as part of the shownotes below - including the templates he created to keep track of his job hunt!

OUR GUESTJustin Groep (PM at Neho)

Justin’s product journey began as a barista in South Africa—daydreaming about tech and yearning for something more. Over the next four years, he dabbled in building websites and photography, which landed him a role at a digital agency Soda Studios, gradually paving his way into product. He broke into product as a PM of the mobile app at Urban Connect. In this fast-moving Swiss corporate mobility startup, Justin had his first real opportunity to dive into product management. Today, he is thrilled to have found an amazing product role, shaping the future of real estate at Swiss Prop tech, Neho Real Estate. On the side, he runs Kaffiabo, a passion project that keeps his love for coffee alive and connects him back to his roots.

USEFUL RESOURCES

• Notion about me page: Justin Groep (shareable profile)

• Justin’s template for tracking my job applications: Notion job tracker template - “The Job Hunt 🦾”

Youtube:

• Diego Grendaos -https://www.youtube.com/c/pmdiegogranados 

• Exponent -https://www.youtube.com/@tryexponent

Newsletters:

• Lenny’s Newsletter -https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/ 

• Itamar Gilad -https://itamargilad.com/newsletter/ 

• Pawel Huryn -https://www.productcompass.pm/ 

Podcasts: 

• Lenny’s Podcast -https://open.spotify.com/show/2dR1MUZEHCOnz1LVfNac0j 

• How I built this with Guy Raz (Founder stories) -https://open.spotify.com/show/6E709HRH7XaiZrMfgtNCun 

• Product Thinking with Melissa Perri -https://open.spotify.com/show/3TV1jXZqlSFCzZ3xqvcG96 

  
  

Books:

Product Specific:

• Escaping the Build Trap – highly practical and applicable.  

• Lean Product Playbook by Dan Olsen - intersection of UX and finding product market fit

• Inspired – Didn’t resonate at first but gave Justin a good product vocab (when re-reading it after a year in product, it all made a lot more sense)

• The Lean Startup by Eric Ries– helped Justin understand experimentation and iterative product development.  

• The mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick –  taught him how to conduct user interviews 

  
  

On a personal level

• Peak by Anders Ericcson and Robert Pool - Understanding deliberate practice and how to grow in a skill

• Grit by Angela Duckworth - While struggling to persevere after a reaching a plateau this was an interesting take of what justin need to do to keep going

• Drive by Daniel Pink - Pretty much research on the science of motivation. To help my reframe my growth and development journey.

• Deep work by Cal Newport - In order for me to develop and cross the “casm” into product. I need to work and go about my daily work differently and change my relationship towards things like Social Media.

  
  

  
  

RECIPE

As always, we serve this episode with a recipe you can cook while listening to the conversation. Justin’s tip: 

Mixed leaf salad with mozzarella, mint, peach & prosciutto: https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables/mixed-leaf-salad-with-mozzarella-mint-peach-prosciutto/

Some slightly roasted pine nuts are a nice little addition to this recipe.