Rose Yao shares insights from a decade-long career at Facebook and Google, helping create products like Facebook Profile, Newsfeed, and Gmail. Presented at Declassified, a speaker series bringing together industry insiders to explore the future of technology. (July 2015)

1. P R O D U C T M A N A G E M E N T
W I T H R O S E YA O
J U LY 2 0 1 5 | A X I O M Z E N | VA N C O U V E R , B C

2. P M C H E AT S H E E T

3. • They are the fast talking MBA type
• They all worship Steve Jobs and want to be him
• They are not technical, they just make gantt charts
• They love process and emails
• Everyone has to do what they say
T O P 5 M Y T H S A B O U T P M s

4. G o o d P M B a d P m
C E O o f t h e i r p ro d u c t M a k e s e x c u s e s a n d
a v o i d s t r u e o w n e r s h i p
R e s p o n s i b l e f o r d e c i s i o n s
o n w h a t t o b u i l d a n d
e x e c u t e
D o e s n ’t m a k e h a rd
d e c i s i o n s
C o m m u n i c a t e s e ff i c i e n t l y
a c ro s s a l l p a r t s o f t h e
c o m p a n y
A d h o c c o m m u n i c a t i o n s
s t y l e t h a t d o e s n ’t s c a l e
P e o p l e w a n t t o w o r k w i t h
t h e m
P e o p l e s t o p v a l u i n g t h e i r
i n p u t

5. G o o d P M B a d P m
C E O o f t h e i r p ro d u c t M a k e s e x c u s e s a n d
a v o i d s t r u e o w n e r s h i p

6. G o o d P M B a d P m
R e s p o n s i b l e f o r
d e c i s i o n s o n w h a t t o
b u i l d a n d e x e c u t e
D o e s n ’t m a k e h a rd
d e c i s i o n s

7. G o o d P M B a d P m
C o m m u n i c a t e s
e ff i c i e n t l y a c ro s s a l l
p a r t s o f t h e c o m p a n y
A d h o c
c o m m u n i c a t i o n s s t y l e
t h a t d o e s n ’t s c a l e

8. G o o d P M B a d P m
P e o p l e w a n t t o w o r k
w i t h t h e m
P e o p l e s t o p v a l u i n g
t h e i r i n p u t

9. Ty p e s o f P M s G o o d f o r B a d f o r
S c r a p p y Yo u n g
G e n e r a l i s t
S m a l l t e a m s n e e d i n g e x e c u t i o n
h e l p w i t h s t ro n g s e n i o r
m e n t o r s h i p
S m a l l t e a m s n e e d i n g e x e c u t i o n
h e l p w i t h s t ro n g s e n i o r
m e n t o r s h i p
B u s i n e s s P M B 2 B p ro d u c t s o r a n y t h i n g w i t h
s t ro n g p a r t n e r s h i p o r s a l e s
c o m p o n e n t
M a s s m a r k e t c o n s u m e r p ro d u c t s
i n f r a p ro d u c t s
D e s i g n e r P M
P ro d u c t s w i t h s t ro n g d e s i g n
c o m p o n e n t a n d h i g h q u a l i t y b a r
F a s t s c r a p p y a n d b re a k t h i n g s
p ro d u c t s
I l l d e f i n e d a m b i g u o u s p ro d u c t s
E x e c u t o r
R o u g h p ro d u c t s w i t h i n i t i a l
m a r k e t f i t d e f i n e d
g ro w t h o r i e n t e d p ro d u c t s
1 0 % B l u e s k y p ro j e c t s

10. Ty p e s o f P M s G o o d F o r B a d f o r
S c r a p p y Yo u n g
G e n e r a l i s t
S m a l l t e a m s
n e e d i n g
e x e c u t i o n h e l p
w i t h s t ro n g
s e n i o r
m e n t o r s h i p
S m a l l t e a m s
n e e d i n g
e x e c u t i o n h e l p
w i t h s t ro n g
s e n i o r
m e n t o r s h i p

11. Ty p e s o f P M s G o o d F o r B a d f o r
B u s i n e s s P M B 2 B p ro d u c t s o r
a n y t h i n g w i t h
s t ro n g
p a r t n e r s h i p o r
s a l e s c o m p o n e n t
M a s s m a r k e t
c o n s u m e r
p ro d u c t s
i n f r a p ro d u c t s

12. Ty p e s o f P M s G o o d F o r B a d f o r
D e s i g n e r P M P ro d u c t s w i t h
s t ro n g d e s i g n
c o m p o n e n t a n d
h i g h q u a l i t y b a r
F a s t s c r a p p y a n d
b re a k t h i n g s
p ro d u c t s
I l l d e f i n e d
a m b i g u o u s
p ro d u c t s

13. Ty p e s o f P M s G o o d F o r B a d f o r
E x e c u t o r R o u g h p ro d u c t s
w i t h i n i t i a l
m a r k e t f i t
d e f i n e d
g ro w t h o r i e n t e d
p ro d u c t s
1 0 % B l u e s k y
p ro j e c t s

14. W H AT D O E S A P M D O
A L L D AY ?

15. P R O D U C T C Y C L E - W H AT
• Goal: decide what to build as
quickly as possible.
• Most time spent in a small room with
design/engineering and user research
• Execution focused on quick
prototyping
• Communication to get quick
feedback on direction
20%
20%
60%
Communication
Execution
Product
Strategy

16. P R O D U C T C Y C L E - B U I L D
• Goal: let’s make the idea real
• The time shifts over time from
strategy to execution
• Dozens of small decisions made
everyday
• Start adding more XFN
communications and planning
30%
50%
20%
Communication
Execution
Product
Strategy

17. • Goal: launch!
• Communication responsibilities
goes up with XFN teams
• Product positioning and marketing/
PR work on strategy side
• Helping eng team prep for post
launch on execution side (polish,
dashboards, etc)
50%
30%
20%
P R O D U C T C Y C L E - L A U N C H
Communication
Execution Product
Strategy

18. Questions?