Welcome back to The Lens, my newsletter on Product Management and related topics. I include some of the content I came across that you may find useful if you are interested in getting into Product Management or just interested in learning more. If you like what you read, please forward it to someone you think may get value. Thank you.
For the users:
In one of the earlier editions, I wrote how Product Managers are being referred to as Problem Managers - and thinking this way although minimizes all the activities a typical PM does on a day-to-day basis, it does help in reframing mind on the most important task of a PM. Another important aspect that goes hand in hand is to address the question of a ‘user’.
I learned segmentation and marketing first in MBA, in the introduction to marketing class. Similar to the quote ‘Those who stand for nothing, fall for everything’, if your product is for everyone, it is for no one. For products/businesses in the early stages, the selection of users will be natural. If you are a PM for established products, it will help a lot to think and understand about the core users the product was initially built for, the core problem it solved, and how those have evolved over time.
How can you find this information? Internal and external discovery and research. By speaking to earlier Product Managers, founders, marketing team, research team, and most importantly the customer-facing teams such as sales, and customer service. Externally, by looking at similar offerings in the market, and by reading any reviews or feedback channels already available. In addition, for new or established products, by analyzing the usage metrics and researching the existing user base.
How can you use this information? To identify profitable users and to prioritize the needs of those users. As Steve Blank says, your job is not to make every customer happy. To write copy that speaks to your core users. Or in case you are targeting two completely different users and use cases, provide them different paths. While designing the user experience, to help create personas.
I will have more to say on this in the future with more examples, but wanted to start laying some foundation. Let me close with this tip of public speaking which I used when I first started to give presentations - almost 20 years ago. Of course, I realized recently that, it has a name - The Starbucks Strategy. When you are overwhelmed by the size of the audience - imagine you are speaking to “one person”. Make eye contact with one person and speak, and then look at someone else and repeat. This works because you can focus, true for public speaking, true for a product.
Types of Product Managers:
For those seeking to get into product management, you may want to start listing your strengths and interests. As there are many different types of ‘products’, different interests can lead to different careers. Some are more technical, and others are more business oriented.
The below spider graph can help you visualize your strengths and where you fit in. (source).
In addition, 6 types of Product Managers post provides a good overview of some of the different types of product managers, superpowers and kryptonite for each type. This is also important when you are building a product team and hiring new PMs. One example from that post:
Mobile PM
Superpower: Expert at unique mobile use cases, mobile ux/design, and app store processes. Ideally, has a personal relationship with the Apple review team!
Kryptonite: Believing that understanding mobile is enough. Must build capabilities in one of the areas above as well, because understanding the native ecosystem will be a skill that every PM has in the future.
Example job function: Leads iOS and Android native app teams
Aliases: Native, Apps
I leave you with these thoughts. Let me know if you have any feedback. And do share with whoever is in the early stages of their PM career or is interested in getting into Product Management.
Bonus:
Fantastic post on lessons learned in 45 years in software industry by Joel Goldberg. My favorite - beware of the curse of knowledge. Link
Remote Leadership lessons from Sarah ( Senior Manager, Trust and Safety at Facebook) : trust, life of meaning, ‘notice’ to cultivating collaboration. Great read. Link