Presentation from Product Camp Boston 2014.

1. First time as Product
Manager
Shobhit Chugh
VP Product, High Start Group
@shobhitchugh shobhitchugh@gmail.com

2. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/47850814760834849/

3. About Me

4. Congratulations!
You got your first time PM Job

5. It might feel like this at
times

6. It might feel like this at
times

7. It might feel like this at
times

8. It might feel like this at
times

9. But sometimes

10. The 4 Rs of Product
Management success
Clarify your Role
Establish Relationships
Build your Reputation
Deliver Results

11. The 4 Rs of Product
Management success
Clarify your Role
Establish Relationships
Build your Reputation
Deliver Results

12. Welcome to your first product
management role
http://www.mindtheproduct.com/2011/10/what-exactly-is-a-product-manager/

13. Three Primary Product
Management Roles
1. ADVOCATE for the Voice of the Customer in the
company
2. ORCHESTRATOR who coordinates the activities of
the various resources to define, develop and deliver
product that customers need and generate profit for
the company
3. ENTREPRENEUR who articulates the product’s
vision and manages his/ her product as a business

14. Clarify your role!
Varies by company
Do not accept vague descriptions. Ask questions.
LOTS of questions
What are the deliverables needed at each stage?
How important are they?
Who does them?
Why should you them?
Decisions
What decisions can you make?
What decisions do you need to drive with a set of
stakeholders?

15. The 4 Rs of Product
Management success
Clarify your Role
Establish Relationships
Build your Reputation
Deliver Results

16. Relationships
Stakeholders
Customers
Manager(s)

17. Stakeholder Relationships
Establish early – first 30 days
Take all stakeholders out to lunch.
Do NOT talk about product
Get to know them
Next ask them about stuff relevant to their jobs
What are their top goals?
What does the company need to do better?
What do they need to do better?
Where does product management fit in?
Ask them who else you should talk to?

18. Customers
Insist that you have personal relationships with top
customers
Type of relationships matter! Customers are not for
dictating you requirements. You are peers. You are here
to listen to their problems and help solve the ones that
align with your company strategy
First go on customer meetings (early!)
Go from silent listener and observer -> contributor
Then establish your own meetings
Product council with customers
Prospect calls
One on one customer feedback sessions

19. http://www.pinterest.com/jefflash/product-management-comics/

20. Manager
Guide
How does work actually get done at the company?
What processes are important?
What meetings and decisions are important?
Supporter
Promote what you are doing to the executive level
Help influence the right people
Coach.
Honest about how you are doing?
Workload?
Attitude?
Results?

21. The 4 Rs of Product
Management success
Clarify your Role
Establish Relationships
Build your Reputation
Deliver Results

22. Reputation
Establish your personal brand
Earn your seat at the table

23. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/480055641500953367/

24. Personal Brand
What do you want to be known as?
What activities promote it?
What activities detract from it?

25. Example personal brand -
Strategic
What helps?
Lay out vision and communicate endlessly
Outlines how do we get there
Get to the root cause of problems + solve for long
term
What hurts?
Jumping to action and conclusions too fast
without enough thought
Focusing on next week vs. next year
Agreeing too soon

26. Earn your seat at the table
Everyone else is responsible for something concrete
You have a vague objective – ensure the success of
the product
So you need to earn your place
Market knowledge. Do you know customers better
than anyone else?
Competitors knowledge. Are you subscribed to their
blogs? Emails? Read every announcement?
Product knowledge. Do you know product in and out?
Top differentiators? Challenges?
Strategy knowledge. Can you articulate how things
line up with the strategy of the company?

27. The 4 Rs of Product
Management success
Clarify your Role
Establish Relationships
Build your Reputation
Deliver Results

28. Results
Deliverables
Decisions
Difference

29. Deliverables
There is an LONG list of things you could be
doing at any point in time
All of these are NOT required
Again, confirm what is critical, what is good to
have, and what is useless crap that just takes
your time

30. Decisions
What decisions can you make?
Does it tie with strategy? Vision?
What you should avoid making?
Tactical e.g., what bugs to prioritize
N = 1
Those you can set guidelines for
What you need to drive?

31. Meetings!!
4 types
Share Information
Make decision
Generate ideas
Get Feedback

32. Meetings!!
Prepare
ONE Objective
Agenda
Slides
Assume they know less than you and have forgotten
EVERYTHING you spoke about the last time
Pre-brief
Manage the flow
Agenda + how important is it to stick to it?
Questions from beginning or presentation first?
Send follow up notes

33. Difference
Making a difference comes down to one thing –
FOCUS
In the beginning there is a temptation to do
EVERYTHING and take on tons of new
initiatives. Ask yourself for each initiative
Is it my role?
Can I make a significant difference?
Is n>1?

34. The 4 Rs of Product
Management success
Clarify your Role
Establish Relationships
Build your Reputation
Deliver Results

35. Thank you so much for the
standing ovation!
Shobhit Chugh
@shobhitchugh
shobhitchugh@gmail.com

36. What do engineers want?
Vision
Less thrashing + more clear specs
Want to know that it matters
They get blame when things go wrong but much
less recognition. Recognize them. Individually

37. Other advice
Have a set of advisors
Within the company
Outside the company
Senior + peers

38. Guide to first 90 days
30 days – observe, learn
60 days – participate
90 days – act, change