What does a Product Manager do, should I become one, and, if yes, how? Alison Go, PM at Facebook, discussed the intricacies of product management at companies, large and small, and across various industries. She talked about the day-to-day of the PM role - both the triumphs and pitfalls of this dynamic and challenging job. 3 key Takeaways: 1. What product management is at different companies and different industries 2. What a successful Product Manager looks like 3. How to move from a non-technical (or technical) role to product management

2. About me
Journalist MBA
Tiny
Startup
Amazon
Rent the
Runway
Facebook

3. What does a PM do?
CEO
Project
Manager PM

4. What does a PM do?
• Decision maker
• Problem solver
• Evangelist
• Therapist
• You're not the next Steve Jobs
Influence without authority

5. Do you need a CS degree?
No.
But you will need to understand how technology works.

6. So now what?
It's possible and even common for PMs to not have technical
backgrounds ...
But it's still pretty hard to get your first PM job ...
But it helps to have a plan!

7. Steps to your first product job
• Step 1: Do you really want this job?
• Step 2: Understand what kind of product job you want (and can get)
• Step 3: Calibrate the best path to get that first role
• Step 4: Resume/cover letter
• Step 5: Nail the interview

8. Understand: Different types of PM jobs
Top Down Bottoms Up
ConsumerEnterprise
Retention Growth
Data
Scale
User Stories
Clients
Fast
"Throw stuff at the wall"
Slower
Persona-based
Rare
Self-starter
Most companies
Political savvy

9. Your first PM job (4 ways)
• Associate/Rotational PM program (Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Yahoo)
• Or "Associate PM" role, if you can find them
• Have business experience (MBA, biz dev, etc) and go to companies that
like business experience (Amazon)
• Found a startup and go to a company that likes founders (Facebook/
Amazon/other startups)
• Internally transfer at current job/multitask at early stage company

10. What makes a good PM
• Results
• Problem solving
• Communication (written & verbal)
• Decision making/understanding trade offs
• Empathy
• Resilience/grit/ownership

11. Your resume
• Results
• Problem solving
• Communication (written & verbal)
• Decision making/understanding trade offs
• Empathy
• Resilience/grit/ownership

12. The interview
• Results
• Problem solving
• Communication (written & verbal)
• Decision making/understanding trade offs
• Empathy
• Resilience/grit/ownership

13. Thanks!
Questions?