Trying to Product

As a product manager, you can feel overwhelmed by the endless deluge of information, products, and technology that drives the business world. You could flip through so many different websites, articles, podcasts and other resources that it feels like you're drowning in an ocean of data rather than swimming through a sea of knowledge. 

In this episode, Alex and Parv team up for a special episode about motivation. They talk about how it is so hard to stay motivated when you're a PM, and then how you can stay motivated with some really helpful tips and techniques.

Tune in to listen to this and more!

[00:53] why it is hard to stay motivated as a product manager according to Alex.

[02:24] Interesting ways to stay motivated on less interesting projects.

[04:12] Focusing on small wins to stay motivated as a PM.

[08:12] why PMS have multiple projects.

[08:39] moving around in the space of the unknown. 

[09:56] how you could work around the space of unknown and stay motivated.

[12:04] What Parv does to stay motivated.

[14:24] Does feedback play a part in keeping us motivated?

[17:35] Acknowledgement encourages motivation 

• “Almost every really boring project has some ultimate goal that sounds a little better than what you're actually working on day to day.” [01:53]
• “Sometimes understanding the vision, the goal, and where you have to get to. And I think that helps you push along on some of these smaller tasks, even though they might seem inconsequential at the time.” [02:34]
• “It is hard to find those regular and frequent wins as a PM. Gratification is very, very delayed.”
• “So I think one tact is to have that passion project that you're able to get through.” [10:10]
• “If you find too much meaning in your product, you get too motivated. And that can very easily lead to burnout, which we really want to be mindful of.” [13:49]
• “When you think about product management as a role, I mean, I sometimes think of it is as one of those thankless roles where you're doing stuff day in and day out, and not always receiving the appreciation or the feedback on that.” [15:44]
• “Acknowledgement, turns into a discussion turns into time connecting with your team turns into like a relationship. It all just snowballs into positive motivation.” [18:03]

Resources

Connect with Parv:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParvSondhi

Connect with Alex:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexcox245

Email: [email protected]

Send us Questions

Email: [email protected]

Call to Action

We all agree it is the hard one when you're working as a product manager due to the nature of the role to stay motivated. Please let us know what are some of your ideas on how to stay motivated as a PM on Twitter?

We would love to hear from you!

In this episode, Parv and Alex discuss how to find your superpower as a PM. Every PM has specific attributes that kind of mesh together to give them a sense of the PM product. 

This time, Parv and Alex discuss the comparability, various characteristics they've observed over the years, PM skill set, among other intriguing topics. As two experienced PMs, it's quite easy for Alex and Parv to spot the various key factors that make someone successful in the PM role.

Tune in to learn this and more!

[00:54] Alex's thoughts on his qualities as a PM in comparison to other PMs he has seen

[05:08] It's hard to measure soft skills in a PM. 

[06:150] The toolset, skill chart, or armory of a PM 

[08:06] Why Communication and storytelling skills are important for PMs 

[11:35] Ideation and innovation PMS.

[14:04] Proactive PMs who gets things done.

[15:26] Management and motivating a team as PM Skillset

[17:36] Managing up and down

[19:18] Mentoring as a PM Skillset

[20:13] Being insightful by asking the right questions

[21:32]How to identify the base problem 

[23:02] How to reach the mountain's summit be an excellent communicator, insightful, and all-around great PM.

[25:44] How to find your superpower as a PM

[27:46] Comparison between the life of a PM and RPG game

• “We’re prone to comparison. And we're always trying to figure out if who's the best pm and who's the worst and hoping that you're not the worst.” [02:56]
• “It’s so easy to compare. But it's also so hard to measure for such like a metric-driven roll.”[03:54]
• I don't think like any of these skills that we talked about are necessarily ones that can't be learned.”[22:21]
• “And sometimes it's also identifying which ones you don't give a shit about. And don't care if you are that good at them.” [24:53]
• “Comparison doesn't really lead to anything fruitful. But focusing on finding your superpower does.” [28:11]

Connect with Alex:

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexcox245/

Connect with Parv:

Twitter

https://twitter.com/ParvSondhi

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/parvsondhi/

How to Pivot Industries as a Product Manager

Everything is moving so quickly these days, and industries are constantly disrupted by startups. With this comes the feeling of ‘you'll never learn everything’. Fortunately, part of being a Product Manager is dealing with ambiguity and being in that mind space of acknowledging that you might not know the problem necessarily, but will still try to understand it and solve it. So, as a product manager, how do you pivot industries in this rapidly changing space? 

Join us to learn more about:

• The fundamental aspect of your PM skills and general knowledge [2:56]
• If time is a metric in pivoting Industries [4:33] 
• The timespan to ramp up on starting in a new Industry and then ramping up to the level of feeling competent [7:30]
• More fundamental knowledge and recommendations on pivoting Industries as a PM [12:55]

… and so much more!

To Connect with Parv:

Twitter:https://twitter.com/ParvSondhi 

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/parvsondhi/   

To Connect with Alex:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexcox245  

Email: [email protected] 

Imposter syndrome is incredibly common in product management. Yes, even if you’re 5+ years into the job with a proven track record and experience. And it’s not just product managers — the uncertainty runs deep across our entire industry.

Imposter syndrome is definitely something that exists outside the field of Product Management. But sometimes it can feel like a big enemy within the product management space as well. So grab your diary, lean up against a tree if you're outside, or bring it inside and open a window to get some fresh air and truly absorb this conversation. This is an episode you simply cannot afford to miss.

Let’s delve in!

[00:59] What Alex thinks about imposter syndrome and whether he has ever experienced it while working as a PM 

[06:51] Why you cannot become a PM by following any particular program, degree, rules, or set of courses. 

[08:13] How imposter syndrome can emerge from delayed gratification. 

[12:55] Why impostor syndrome can result from an inability to step back.

[18:01] Why the PM role is ambiguous in nature 

[20:17] Strategies Alex has used to battle imposter syndrome at work and in general 

[21:40] How Parv has approached imposter syndrome in the workplace and generally by understanding the expectations.

[24:23] How being open as a PM helps tackle imposter syndrome

[26:18] Why we should support and mentor new PMs.

• “Imposter syndrome is probably something almost every PM feels at one point or another in their career.” [01:00]
• “It takes a lot of courage to even admit that sometimes that there is a thing in product and that impostor syndrome.” [02:32]
• “I think every Product Manager who I've spoken to struggles with impostor syndrome periodically. I think it's just that space and the type of work that we do as a PM that makes us so susceptible to impostor syndrome.”[04:44]
• “You just don't have the same journey leading into a product management role. And you're bound to be in a position where you have some grasp over concepts, but then some things you just wouldn't have heard of, because there's just no formal education.” [07:18]
• “There's so much constantly that we're doing that, it just makes it easy for you to feel like a you're not just doing enough.” [13:30]
• “Our currency is information, and you have to be learning, constantly be doing something. And that major influx of information can be overwhelming sometimes.”[14:42]
• “40% of product managers experience imposter syndrome frequently or all the time.”[19:17]
• “Only 8% of product people say that they've never experienced impostor syndrome. [19:28]
• “Being vulnerable is like a great way to get around it. Imposter syndrome.” [25:39]

Resources

Connect with Parv:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParvSondhi

Connect with Alex:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexcox245

Email: [email protected]

Send us Questions

Email: [email protected]

Interviews in the product management field vary from company to company, and they could be structured or unstructured, depending on the company. Regardless of the type of interview, it's essential to know what to expect in such interviews to avoid making mistakes such as giving scripted answers or giving answers that only suit the interviewer but not you.

In this episode, we take you through the types of interviews you'll encounter as a PM, including the common questions to expect from such interviews. We also share our personal experiences and take-home lessons from the interviews we've been to. Most importantly, we share some tips on preparing for PM interviews to help you secure that dream job as a PM and mistakes you should avoid making during interviews.

Tune in to listen to this and more!

[0:42] Parv's interview experiences

[2:03] Alex's preferred type of [interview

[4:14] Alex's favorite interview and interview question

[6:40] Parv's resume

[9:48] Getting into a flow state as a PM

[10:58] Parv's first interview question

[12:23] What you ought to focus on when preparing for PM interviews ( structured or unstructured)

[17:26] Common questions asked in structured interviews

[20:23] Debugging

[22:27] Metrics

[24:31] Estimation questions

[27:48] Favorite product question

[30:18] Behavioral questions in structured interviews

[33:19] Panel presentation

[34:31] Parv's take home from interviews

[36:11] Tips on PM interview preparation

[41:15] Parv's worst interview mistake

[42:55] Alex's worst interview mistake

• Unstructured interviews have been more of a good conversation and digging deeper into my pm style, my pm skill sets, and both technical and soft skills. -Parv
• Unstructured feels like a lot lower pressure; you get to learn a lot more about the company itself, what they're thinking about and how they're thinking about products and their future roadmap. -Alex
• I feel like those types of interviews I've done have been both like me sharing my ideas and my thoughts, but also learning from the respective people on the other side of how they handled that kind of situation and how they've been thinking about that problem. - Parv
• But as a PM, you're always in that situation where you can go wild. And it's an ambiguous situation and an undefined problem.- Parv
• When it's an unstructured interview, it could be very, very different from your previous interview. Each round could be very different from the last round. -Parv
• Preparing for structured interviews feels like studying for a test. But my experience with these is that it was a beneficial experience as a PM to structure your thoughts in these ways. -Alex
•  It wasn't until I started studying for these structured interviews that I began to appreciate better how metrics are squishy, many of them, and how they impact each other. -Alex
• Banner presentations and take-home assignments are becoming more common in the PM interview. And that's something that we should have on our radar when preparing for pm interviews. -Parv
• Being a great PM means you go that one level deeper. You ask that one question that no one else has asked in the room. -Parv

Connect with Alex:

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexcox245/

Connect with Parv:

Twitter

https://twitter.com/ParvSondhi

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/parvsondhi/

Mistakes We Made as Product Managers

Just because you are a product manager doesn't signify that your opinions carry all the weight, in actuality your team works with you and not for you. This is just a sneak peek of the many mistakes we make as product managers. We all make thousands of mistakes and as a product manager, inherently, part of the role is making mistakes. We should constantly be learning from them, trying to be better, and improving all sorts of different attributes of being a product manager. 

Join Parv and Alex as they chat about:

• How under communication as a PM breeds dependencies [01:29]
• Pitching an  idea backed up with strong data rather than just intuition [05:54] 
• The common thought that roadmaps are locked [12:13]
• Knowing your KPIs and levers you can pull to hit the metrics [13:25]

… and so much more! 

To Connect with Parv:

Twitter:https://twitter.com/ParvSondhi 

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/parvsondhi/ 

To Connect with Alex:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexcox245 

Email: [email protected] 

Quotes

Always make sure to communicate very frequently, even if you think it's the most simple, mundane piece of information, it could be a relatively high-impacting piece of information for someone else. 

If you don't understand the product, there's nobody who's going to have that knowledge.  You're the PM, you should hold as much of the information as possible.

In the modern business environment, product management is the job profile that is most in demand. Due to their responsibilities and contributions, they are among the highest-paid professionals in a company. 

Suppose you're wondering how you can become a product manager.

In this episode, we take you through the various means of getting into product management, including internships, switching roles inside a company, and learning the course online and offline, among many other means.

Tune in to learn this and more!

[1:16] Through internships

[1:51] Associate Product management position

[4:43] Switching inside a company

[7:46] Customer support role

[9:47] Starting or joining startups

[14:27] Offline skill development

[17:04] Hackathons

[18:20] Taking online courses

[20:26] Through networking

[21:44] Having an MBA

[26:43] Putting in the reps

[28:12] Doing case studies to get your work out there 

• In switching within the organization, subject matter expertise is one key thing you have over other folks.- Parv
• A lot of the time, a lot of the things you're doing in your current role have some connection to being a PM.- Parv
• The most important part of being a PM is understanding your customers and users.- Alex
• Any role can become a PM.- Alex
• Sometimes it might be harder to jump in from some roles directly to product management. But it's still doable. - Parv
• One of those things with product management is there's not really a formal education around it. - Alex
• I think meetups and networking can actually open the door. - Parv
• If you truly want to get a job somewhere, you take one of their products, break it up, redesign it, and show them how it could be better and why it could be better. -Alex
• And startups are probably, in my opinion, the best way to get into the product, whether you make your startup or work at someone else's. -Alex
• It can't be overstated enough that the more products you ship, the better you get at product. -Alex

Resources

Connect with Parv:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParvSondhi

Connect with Alex:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexcox245

Email: [email protected]

Send us Questions

Email: [email protected]

One of the things about PMs is that we're sort of like, on an island. 

In this episode, Parv and Alex discuss how being a PM can be both enjoyable and taxing. Whether you like it or not, being a PM means you'll spend a lot of time working alone. We believe this is a worthwhile topic to discuss, especially concerning the present climate and the pandemic.

Tune in to listen to this and more!

[1:00] Alex's thoughts on why working as a PM can be quite taxing given the current pandemic.

[O4:27] Cons of the PM role.

[06:55] Possible reasons why PM role is lonely 

[08:43] Breaking that barrier and lifting some of the issues around being lonely as a PM

[10:06] Most PMs work in isolation.

[12:02] Positives of working in isolation as a PM.

[14:14] How does one progress as a PM?

[15:52] PMs make tradeoffs.

[20:21] Isolation and the mental health of PM 

[23:20] Parv and Alex PM recollections

[27:00] Pair Product management

[28:14] Continuous feedback and iteration during PM Onboarding

[29:50] Having a PM buddy

• “When we think about product managers, they are usually working with so many different people across the organization, you're constantly talking to like design, engineering, legal privacy, compliance, like so many different folks around. But somehow it can still be quite isolating to be a PM; it can be considered sometimes a lonely profession.”[02:00]
• “I don't think in my career, I've ever seen a project with multiple PMs, it just that even normal work, a pm ratio on a team has like one to 10.” [02:52]
• “Pm is a fantastic career path. For those who want to wear multiple hats. It's fun, it's engaging. “ [04:19]
• “PMs have individual mandates that they're driving, and there's just a lack of overlap between roles and responsibilities.”[08:55]
• “The biggest thing about PM in general, I think it's just making sure you have really solid relationships with the team, because your entire ability to get anything done ever is just solely based on your relationships with the team.” [16:03]
• “And if you're facing an issue, most likely the other PMs would have also either faced it or might be facing it.”[24:00]

Resources

Connect with Parv:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParvSondhi

Connect with Alex:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexcox245

Email: [email protected]

Send us Questions

Email: [email protected]

The product manager role is a general and broad term. The job of a product manager is to discover a valuable, usable, and feasible product.

Most people go online looking for product management roles, never realizing that there are so many different flavors and types of product managers hidden underneath every title. Various categories of PMs branch from this term, each with its unique roles, responsibilities, and qualifications.

In this episode, we give you a detailed breakdown of various categories of product management roles. We highlight their roles, responsibility, and who best fits that position to help folks considering being PMs but don't know which category fits them best.

Tune in to listen to this and more!

[1:12] Consumer PM role

[2:00] Roles of Consumer PM

[5:10] Enterprise PM role

[5:31] B2B and B2C products

[9:40] Platform PM/Technical PM role

[12:26] Is having an engineering background vital in communicating with the engineering team?

[14:40] Data PM/AI PM role

[17:04] Responsibilities of data PMs

[21:48] Machine Learning

[23:02] Growth PM role

[24:00] Roles of Growth PMs

[27:45] Alex working as a PM

[29:55] Alex's favorite book - Traction

[32:00] Product Marketing Manager

[32:53] How the PMM role overlaps the PM role

[34:44] Operations PM

[37:58] The potential Blockchain PM role

[39:36] Which role Parv would switch to from Consumer PM in the future

• Many companies hire consumer PMs mainly because experience is so important. -Parv
• Any PM can do any of these different categories. It's just a matter of really focusing and trying to learn the ropes and talk to the experts on your team. - Alex
• I feel like consumer PM is a smaller slice in this whole pizza of Product Management. - Parv
• A lot of marketing professionals end up transitioning to product managers through a product marketing manager role. -Parv

Resources

Connect with Parv:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParvSondhi

Connect with Alex:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexcox245

Email: [email protected]

Send us Questions

Email: [email protected]

Books

Traction - Gino Wickman

What is Product Management

Depending on who you ask, a product manager is either a wonderfully fuzzy job title that means many things to many people. No one can seem to agree on what product management is (or should be) and if you're just starting out in your career, take our advice: defining product management might be a frustrating exercise, but perhaps it is best to accept that the term is ambiguous by design. 

In this episode, Alex and Parv will jump into what product management is. Tune in and learn more!

 [00:52] Misnomers used for Product Management

 [01:22] The CEO of a product

 [05:20] The Venn diagram’s semi-accurate Description of Product Management

[12:01] Product managers—are they similar to project managers? 

 [14:42] how does Alex define a product manager? 

[21:58] how are product managers' daily tasks so varied?

[22:44] how product managers break walls and barriers for their teams/Unblocking

[23:27] PM as a champion of the team

[26:40] Three main lines that encompass what a product manager does

• “As a product manager, one of the most valuable skills you gain is the ability to lead and influence. But the one thing you also have to make sure as a product manager is that you are leading and influencing, but you don't hold any real authority.” [02:38]
• “So you don't sit at the center. But I feel like you kind of hover and browse through those circles simultaneously, depending on the time of the day and the meeting and the context and what you need to be thinking about.” [07:13]
• “One of the biggest misnomers is that product managers are like project managers.” [12:01]
• “The smaller the company, the more hats the pm wears, and then it doesn't really stop it product or project or marketing or design, it just you do everything as needed to be done. But as you get bigger, you have more teams that you can help leverage.”[13:04]
• “PMs are often kind of jack of all trades are genuinely curious people who always are interested in learning.” [13:46]
• “PM is one who takes the blame but passes on the praise.” [25:04]

Resources

Connect with Parv:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParvSondhi

Connect with Alex:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexcox245

Email: [email protected]

Send us Questions

Email: [email protected]