WHAT IS A PRODUCT MANAGER?

The role, the responsibilities and the

unexpected perks
 “Product managers”

YOU’VE HEARD THE WORD

BEFORE, BUT YOU DON’T
QUITE KNOW WHAT THEY DO.
(Good news! It’s less boring than it sounds.)
LET’S START HERE

Image credit: Martin Eriksson

 Product managers are…

MULTIDISCIPLINARY
“A good product manager must be experienced in
at least one, passionate about all three, and
conversant with practitioners in all.”

Martin Eriksson, Co-Founder at MindTheProduct

@bfgmartin
 Product managers are…

STRATEGIC
“Your job is to deliver a product that
is valuable, usable and feasible.”

Marty Cagan, Partner at Silicon Valley Product Group

@cagan
 Product managers are…

PERSISTENT
“Articulate what a winning product looks
like. Rally the team to build it. Iterate on it
until they get it right.”

Todd Jackson, VP Product & Design at Dropbox

@tjack
 Product managers are…

COLLABORATIVE
“You don’t need to have all the answers. But you do
need to surround yourself with smart, experienced
people and ask the right questions.”  

Janna Bastow, Co-Founder at ProdPad

@simplybastow
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 ?
THE BIG QUESTION
EVERY PRODUCT MANAGER ASKS:

“What problem are

we trying to solve?”
WHICH LEADS TO QUESTIONS
LIKE…
What is our product vision?
What do customers want?
What do customers expect?
What’s actually doable?
What will help us meet our business goals?
 Product manager responsibility #1:

SET A PRODUCT VISION

 Product manager responsibility #2:

MANAGE IDEAS & FEEDBACK

Image credit: Peter Thiel

 Product manager responsibility #3:

PLAN & PRIORITIZE

Image credit: Janna Bastow

 Product manager responsibility #4:

BUILD A PRODUCT ROADMAP

 Product manager responsibility #5:

LEAD THE PRODUCT

EXECUTION

•Make sure every team is crystal clear how they’re

supporting product goals

•Support marketing, customer support and dev

teams, especially for cross-team tasks

•Ensure clear deliverables product specs, user

stories and release plans
Product manager responsibility #6:

SHIP!
 Product manager responsibility #7:

GET FEEDBACK &

SHIP SOME MORE

• Collect feedback and satisfaction

• Monitor behavior & usage analytics
• Make a judgment call on next steps
Product manager responsibility #8:

SHIP AGAIN!
 PRODUCT MANAGERS
USUALLY EXCEL IN ANOTHER
PRODUCT DISCIPLINE FIRST
Product marketing
Software development
Customer success
UX Design

(Although even this does not guarantee you’ll be

a good PM.)
 BECAUSE BEING A GREAT PM
REQUIRES SERIOUS PEOPLE
SKILLS.
You’re managing people over projects.

You’re managing expectations over deadlines.

You’re a cheerleader - and sometimes you

have to make tough decisions!
 EXPERIENCE
IS IMPORTANT
Because you need to understand
how everyone’s jobs work so
you can work with them.
 Great product managers are:

NATURALLY CURIOUS
GOOD AT MANAGING PEOPLE CREATIVE
HUMBLE
INQUISITIVE
BIG PICTURE THINKERS
PRACTICAL
DELIBERATE
AND VERY, VERY ORGANIZED.

Plus, they’re crazy passionate

about the product they’re building.
(Otherwise it’s pretty hard to do.)
 IT ATTRACTS PEOPLE
FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE.

Trained violinist Former pizza parlor manager Former rocket scientist

Andrea Saez, ProdPad Matt Bilotti, Drift Simon Cast, ProdPad

@dreasaez @mattbilotti @simoncast
LET’S GIVE IT A POETIC END, EH?

“The honest brokers who balance customer needs with engineering realities,
market requirements with financial goals. We were the handful of matrixed
product champions and driver-drivers who push great things out the door.
Truth-tellers in the executive suite.”

-Rich Mironov,
author of The Art of Product Management
@richmironov
THANKS FOR READING!
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MANAGEMENT TIPS RIGHT HERE