Gayle McDowell gives a presentation on cracking the product manager interview. She discusses common interview questions and frameworks, including behavioral, case study, and estimation questions. She emphasizes focusing on the user, structuring responses, and showing product insight. McDowell also provides resources for further preparing for PM interviews.
10. Yes! Slides are online!
● go.gayle.com/PMprepslides
gayle@gayle.com
subject: PMprep
11. The many names of a PM
● Product Manager
● Associate Product Manager
○ Typically new grad
○ Rotation, training
● Project Manager
12. What does a PM do?
● Manage the product, not the people
● Build a great product for the users
○ Who are the users?
○ What are the features?
○ When will we launch?
23. The MBA
● Some anti-MBA sentiment in SV
○ Be humble!
● Advantages:
○ Recruiting opportunities at big companies
○ Networking
○ “Checks off” the business skill box
24. Should I get an MBA?
● Highly dependent on where you go
● Don’t rely on it
○ Big companies: on-campus recruiting
○ Smaller companies: proactively recruit/network
● What else ya got?
○ An MBA isn’t enough
49. What’s your
favorite __?
● Mobile App
● Website
● Physical Product
● Company Product
Never, ever walk into a PM interview
without prepping these!
50. Know:
● Why do you love it?
● Who are the users?
● Why do they love it?
● Who’s the competition?
● What are the alternative
products/solutions?
● What issues are there?
How would you improve it?
54. How much money does Gmail
make in a year?
How many airplanes land
in a day?
How many golf balls can fit
in a bus?
55. What We’re Looking For
● Smarts
● Ballparking Skill
● Comfort with Numbers
It’s not at all about the final answer
56. How to Tackle
1. Ask questions to resolve ambiguity
2. Outline / Structure Your Approach
3. Break down the components
4. Sanity Check
■ Do your numbers make sense?
How to Tackle
57. How to Tackle
● Define the problem
● Ask questions
● LOOK for ambiguity
● Make assumptions explicit
1.Asking Questions
58. How to Tackle
● Be aware of other approaches
● Consider alternate sources
2. Outline/Structure Your Approach
59. How to Tackle
● Assume numbers when necessary
● State assumptions explicitly
● Round numbers to make your math easier
● Move along quickly!
3. Break Down Components
60. How to Tackle
● Do your numbers make sense?
● What if this number were accurate?
4. Sanity Check
62. Step 1: Ambiguous Information
▶ Just in the US? Or Worldwide?
▶ Profit or revenue?
▶ Past year? Or average over history?
▶ Gmail only? Or include Google Apps?
1.Ask Questions
63. Step 2: Outline Your Approach
1. Estimate # of Gmail users
2. Estimate annual clicks
○ Top clicks
○ Side clicks
3. Estimate $ per click
○ Top clicks
○ Side clicks
2. Structure Your Approach
64. Step 3: Break down components
Estimate # of Gmail users in the US
1. Assume 300 million people in the US.
■ Exclude 0 - 12 years old and 65 - 75 years old
■ → ~ 200 million
2. Assume 80% of people use email
■ But 50% only use their work email acct
3. Assume 80% use a “major” email provider
■ Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL, etc.
… and so on …
3. Solve
65. Step 4: Sanity Check
▶ Suppose you get US rev. = $5 billion.
▶ No, because…
■ Google’s annual revenue is ~$30 billion
■ $16 / US citizen (not just gmail users)
4. Sanity Check
66. 3 Big Mistakes
● Getting lost in
minor details
● Forgetting other
sources
● Crazy assumptions
68. How would you launch
Amazon in Turkey?
How would you price
a new e-book reader?
User signs up drop after launching
new profiles. What would you do?
69. Lots of Types
● Problem solving
○ Acquisition rates dropped.
Why?
● Strategy
○ Should we do X or Y?
● Marketing
○ How would you market X to
Y?
● Pricing
○ How would you price X?
● Launching
○ How would you launch X in
country Y?
● Brainstorming
○ Name as many things you
could do with X
70. Generic Structure
1. Understand/define the
problem
2. Structure
3. Solve
a. Use Instincts
b. Make reasonable
assumptions
● Drive the discussion
● Empathize with the
user
● Show insight
71. Some Useful Frameworks
● Customer Purchase Decision Making
Process
● Marketing Mix (4 Ps)
● SWOT Analysis
● Five Cs
● Porter’s 5 Forces
not a test of
frameworks!
72. Useful Metrics & Knowledge
▶ User Acquisition
■ #, growth, active users, etc
▶ Activity
■ What are people doing?
▶ Money
■ Customer acquisition costs
■ Revenue
■ $ growth
Useful Metrics
75. If you forget everything…
▶ Know who you are
■ (and who we think you are)
▶ Focus on the user
▶ Structure your responses
If you forget everything else...