It is a pretty bold statement to suggest that CEOs and Product Managers have a lot in common. So, let me explain.
A CEO and Product Manager have these characteristics in common:
A CEO and Product Manager have these characteristics in common:
- Strategic (they want to win the war, not simply the battle)
- Think and see big picture (forest, not just the trees)
- Paranoid about the competition and differentiation
- Focus on profitability and long-term customer value
- Excel at collaboration and communication
My Product Management Experience?
I started my career in software development. My undergrad degree is in computer science. I spent the first 8 years of my career writing software; most of it in Operating Systems. I was hired by Digital Equipment Corporation to work on VMS in the early 80's and had an opportunty to move into a software product management role after about a year with the company. I had a strong desire to learn who was buying our products, what they needed them for and how we delivered them.
I joined a new departement that was focused on "core applications". This group was responsible for developing or acquiring applications that were considered core to successfully selling VMS and Ultrix workstations. This was a unique opportunity to play an entrepreneural role in a large public company.
The product management role at Digital put you in a position to be the CEO of your product. You had a tremendous amount of responsibility and not nearly enough authority. You owned the product, not the people who build, market, sell and support it. You owned the business plan, market and product requirements, competitive analysis and pricing. You were responsible for the life of the product; from concept to retirement.
I loved the role and thought it was the perfect training ground to be a CEO someday.
I joined a new departement that was focused on "core applications". This group was responsible for developing or acquiring applications that were considered core to successfully selling VMS and Ultrix workstations. This was a unique opportunity to play an entrepreneural role in a large public company.
The product management role at Digital put you in a position to be the CEO of your product. You had a tremendous amount of responsibility and not nearly enough authority. You owned the product, not the people who build, market, sell and support it. You owned the business plan, market and product requirements, competitive analysis and pricing. You were responsible for the life of the product; from concept to retirement.
I loved the role and thought it was the perfect training ground to be a CEO someday.
Product Management is a Challenging Role
It takes a unique set of skills to be successful at product management. You need the technical skills to gain the respect of the development community, the evangelism skills to sell your ideas and the business skills to shepherd the product to market. It is a difficult role. It can be frustrating and at the same time very rewarding; especially for people with entreprenual desires.
I started the blog post because I ran across a fantastic curated article on NewsCred entitled "Product Management 101: Must-Read Blog Posts, Books, Videos+Articles" and wanted to share it.
If you are a product manager, or aspiring product manager, this is an aweseome resource.
I started the blog post because I ran across a fantastic curated article on NewsCred entitled "Product Management 101: Must-Read Blog Posts, Books, Videos+Articles" and wanted to share it.
If you are a product manager, or aspiring product manager, this is an aweseome resource.
Final Thoughts
The role of product management can vary quite a bit from company to company. Company size has a big influence on the role as does the leadership team.
Product managment often reports to engineering. It isn't uncommon for the engineering team to look at product management through a project management lens and assign them to manage the product release process. This is not something a aspiring product manager has any interest in doing.
Product managers are business people with technical/market skills. They own the success of the product in the market. They are responsible for product readiness by ensuring marketing, sales, services and support are ready for general release. A product manager will forecast revenues, set expectations with management and will closely monitor and manage the success of the product throughout its lifecycle.
Product managment often reports to engineering. It isn't uncommon for the engineering team to look at product management through a project management lens and assign them to manage the product release process. This is not something a aspiring product manager has any interest in doing.
Product managers are business people with technical/market skills. They own the success of the product in the market. They are responsible for product readiness by ensuring marketing, sales, services and support are ready for general release. A product manager will forecast revenues, set expectations with management and will closely monitor and manage the success of the product throughout its lifecycle.
RSS Feed