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3 years ago Iâve changed my career path, from Software Development to Product Management. From time to time people approach me and want to know how I made it. They ask the same question in different forms: How to become a product manager? What do I need to learn in order to become a Product Manager? 3 years in, I can answer this question for myself and help you get an answer for yourself.
Based on my own experience and journey, I will share with you what did work for me. I am certain that there are other ways to become a Product Manager, and I urge you to keep reading and searching for the best way for you.
Iâll cover 3Â topics:
- Why do you want to become a Product Manager? A look inside
- Learning resources (books, podcasts, online reading, and more)
- Practice
Start with Why?
Why do you want to become a Product Manager? This is a personal question that you have to answer to yourself.
The following questions might help you to answer it for yourself:
- Thinking of your career for the next 10 yearsâââwhich type of decisions do you want to make? Which type of assignments do you want to do?
- If youâre like me, becoming a Product Manager means that you move from the producing circle of the organization, i.e. code, design or test, to the decision makers circle. Are you fine with that as a person?
If your reason for becoming a Product Manager is that you want to be the CEOâââunfortunately, youâre in the wrong place.
As for me, these were my reasons:
- I wanted my focus to be on solving problems for the users rather than solving technical problems
- I wanted to practice and master soft skills, including speaking in front of people on a daily basis, convincing and managing to make a difference with no real power, building consensus around an idea and more
If youâre still interested in making this move, continue reading for getting the best online materials for becoming a Product Manager.
Continue with learning
In the following part, you can find some materials for learning about Product Management. These helped me understand some of the basics in Product Management, including onboarding, UX (which stands for User Experience), UI (which stands for User Interface), prioritization, data-driven decisions, and marketing.
In this section you will find recommended:
- Books for Product Managers
- Podcasts for Product Managers
- Online reading for Product Managers
Books
Read (or listen to) books. Some of the smartest people in the world summarized their whole life wisdom into a book and willing to share it with you for a small amount of money. Accept their gift.
Product Management for Dummies by Brian Lawley
Product management plays a pivotal role in organizations. In fact, itâs now considered the fourth most important title in corporate Americaâââyet only a tiny fraction of product managers have been trained for this vital position.
Cracking the PM interview by Gayle Mcdowell
Cracking the PM interview (available in Chinese as well) by Gayle McDowell
Learn how âPMâ role varies across companies, what experience you need, how to make your existing experience translate, what a great PM resume and cover letter look like, and finally, how to master the PM interview questions.
Hookedâââhow to build habit forming products by Nir Eyal
HookedâââHow to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal.
How do successful companies create products people canât put down?
âŠA four-step process embedded into the products of many successful companies to subtly encourage customer behavior.
Zero to one by Peter Thiel - This book really inspired me.
In Zero to One, legendary entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel shows how we can find singular ways to create those new things.
The Hard Thing About Hard ThingsâââBuilding a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz
While many people talk about how great it is to start a business, very few are honest about how difficult it is to run one.
Intercom on onboardingâââyou donât have a second chance for the first impression they say.
User onboarding is the most important step in scaling a product companyâââit helps you convert new signups into successful users.
Online reading
Explore these online materials, which will help you master your skills as a Product Manager:
UX and UI:
- User onboardâââSamual Hulik teardown onboarding processes for the best and trendiest apps.
User Onboarding is the process of increasing the likelihood that new users become successful when adopting your product.
- Interaction design about UX âinteraction design website writes about UX
Great read
- Good Product Manager bad Product ManagerâââWritten 15 years ago by Ben Horowitz from a16z VC
MVPs
- The Hardest Lesson for Startups to Learnâââthis piece written in 2006 by Paul Graham, co-founder of one of the best startups accelerator Y-Combinator
Data
- Mixpanel blogâââSignalâââMixpanel, which is a product analytics tool for product people writes and interviews Product Managers and other industry leaders
People skills
- re:Work with Googleâââre:Work is a collection of practices, research, and ideas from Google and others to help you put people first. Inspiring reads on management
- What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build The Perfect Teamâââa great read on a research task Google conducted on why some workgroups thrive and others falter
Practice
- The ultimate guide to interviewing a Product Manager
- The PM interviewâââA virtual PM interview questions, and also a promotion for the book âCracking the PM interviewâ
- 90 PM questionsâââ90 questions arranged to fit your background
Podcasts
I use to listen to podcasts on Product Management to get inspiration and to learn about the industry. Find the time to listen to podcasts to get inspired:
How I built this by Guy Raz and Ted Radio Hour by Guy Raz
âHow I Built Thisâ podcast by Guy Raz
How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealistsâââand the movements they built
Guy has another great show called âTed Radio Hourâ.
âThis is Product Managementâ podcast by Mike Fishbein:
Join 15,000 weekly listeners to learn from the brightest minds in product management.
âIntercomâ podcast:
Conversations with practitioners from the worlds of product management, design, startups, and marketing.
Practice
Being a Product Manager requires practice, and you should invest approximately 20 hours before deciding if Product Management is for you. I want to share with you an exercise that Iâm doing all the time and taught me a lot.
From a birdâs eye, your daily routine includes 7 steps, which we will cover next.
Before we beginâââSelect a product
Start by choosing a website or an app that you want to be the Product Manager of. ExamplesâââSnapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Google calendar.
Did you choose? Here are the steps:
Step oneâââFind problems
As a Product Manager, problems are all around you and you just have to know how to search for them. Some examples of how to find problems:
- Investigating the metrics of your product, think of hypothesis on why the metrics are not as great as they can be
- Reading user feedbacksâââsupport tickets, social mentions or store reviews
- Interviewing your customers, either directly or through people in your organization (customer success managers, business developers, etc.)
Step twoâââPrioritize and validate the problems
Being a successful Product Manager requires prioritizing the problems you will focus on and finding the âbestâ problems.
The âbestâ problems are problems that can have the biggest positive impact on the users and can be solved in the shortest time.
Step threeâ Find solutions
Come up with solutions to the problems you found, 3 solutions for each problem will be a great start. Some tips for making sure your solutions are valid:
- Explain yourself why this solution will solve the problem
- Back your solutions with data
- Challenge yourself by being your ideaâs biggest criticizer
- Donât get emotionally attached to your solutions
Step fourâââResearch for competitors, adjust your solutions accordingly
Other Product Managers invested time and efforts in solving the same problems you are facing. You should use their wisdom by researching their product. Take screenshots, videos, and understand their rationale. Finally, remember that they are humans and can make mistakes as well.
Step fiveâââDraw
Using pen and paper, using Balsamiq, using Axure, draw your idea. This step is relevant mostly for solutions that require UI and UX. Read about UI and UX.
When creating your designs, think about how your designs will convey your message. Designs will help you explain your idea even to the most technical people easily.
Step sixâââDefine MVP
MVP stands for Minimal Viable Product, and you should read about it (Hereâs a great book by Eric Reiss). As a Product Manager, you want to meet the clients as fast as possible to validate your problem and the solution. An MVP doesnât have to include one line of code, doesnât have to include any designs and doesnât have to validate both problem and solution.
I.e. this article is an MVP for validating that the problem of developers that want to move to Product Management jobs and donât have guidance is real.
Step sevenâââPresent
In order to polish the problems and solutions you found, present your thinking process to others and observeâââwhere was it hard for you to resonate your decisions? Did you get new ideas? Improve accordingly.
Repeat the exercise with another product, until you feel comfortable enough with the process.
If you like this one, be sure to clap, share and follow meâââit means a lot to me!
How to become an outstanding Product Manager + free practice was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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