At Product Camp Silicon Valley 2013, We had an energetic (semi-structured) discussion about what individual contributor Product Managers do, how this is different from Director-level and VP Product roles, and ways to address various real-world (political) issues

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Understanding the
Next Job Up…
and Getting Promoted
Rich Mironov

2. • Veteran product manager/exec/strategist
• Business models, pricing, agile
• Organizing product organizations
• 6 startups, including as CEO/founder
• “The Art of Product Management”
• Organized first Product Camp
ABOUT RICH

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market information, priorities,
requirements, roadmaps, epics,
user stories, backlogs,
personas, MRDs…
product
bits
strategy, forecasts,
commitments, roadmaps,
competitive intelligence
budgets, staff,
targets
Field input,
Market feedback
Segmentation, messages,
benefits/features, pricing,
qualification, demos…
Markets &
Customers
Development
Marketing
& Sales
Executives
Product
Management
WHAT DOES A PRODUCT MANAGER DO?
W W W . M I R O N O V . C O M

4. IDEAL CANDIDATE

5. • PM role is different from Director PM and VP PM
• The promotion funnel is narrow
• Not an entitlement
• Not (just) by being the
best at your current job
• Do you want that next job?
• Can you demonstrate skills/scope
beyond your current role?
ROLES AND PROMOTIONS

6. MYTHICAL PM ORGANIZATION
Dir PM Dir PM
Pricing
Analyst
Sr PM
PM/PO
Sr PM
Competitive
Analyst
Sr PM
PM
PM/PMM
Product
Owner
Channel/Part
ner PM
VP Products

7. • Knows more about product, market, roadmap,
competition, use cases, personas, trade-offs than
anyone else
• Talks benefits with customers; talks tech with
engineers; talks strategy with execs
• Relentless communicator of the truth
• Timeline: Next 2-4 quarters
• Gets great (individual) products
out the door
PM AS INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTOR

8. • Focus on processes, resources and teams
• Cross-functional cooperation and priorities
• PLM-level trends and market input
• Standardization and simplification
• Mentor your replacement
• Scope
• Next 6 quarters
• Broad product strategy and budget
• Keeps the trains running
DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

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Name a few ways that
a line Product Manager
can show off her
Director skills

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Director-level roles in
other functions or
organiztions?

11. • Focus on aligning strategy, organization and products
• Is the company succeeding? Is PM succeeding?
• Company-wide issues and disconnects
• Market success (= revenue!)
• Scope
• 3 year trends
• Thoughtful member of exec team
• How do we build organizational
support to do the right things?
VP PRODUCTS

12. How could a PM
Director signal interest
in a VP PM role?
Risks?

13. • Organizational levels have different roles
• Decide what you want
• Demonstrate skills one level up
TAKE-AWAYS
13
W W W . M I R O N O V . C O M

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CONTACT
Rich Mironov, CEO
Mironov Consulting
233 Franklin St, Suite #308
San Francisco, CA 94102
RichMironov
@RichMironov
Rich@Mironov.com