The experience you’ve outlined of Product Management is not good: Product Management lives and dies by it’s ability to deliver in a high-impact way — “trying to get our first sale made” is not a good phrase to hear from a Product Manager, neither is “pushing an investment case”.
From what you’ve described, you’re someone with BD competency and an interest in Product Management, which you’ve been able to dip your toes into within your current role but haven’t gained meaningful experience of delivering successful software.
I think you’ll be best off picking a company with a strong product team, and join in a pure BD role with the opportunity to dip your toes into Product Management — and develop your skills within a positive environment, and evolve from there.
The key, when you’re new to Product Management, is to get into a company with a strong product, because even when you’re outside of the product org (i.e: pure BD role) you’re going to learn more about building a product than you ever will from being a product manager of a garbage product.
If you show up to a BD interview at a product company, and you bring with a history of successful BD, and a passion for Product and a long term aim to be deep into Product, you’ll be a standout candidate.
I appreciate the candor. It's hard to hear but I do really value the honesty. I don't present the "first sale made" stuff in my resume but it has come up in a few interviews.
My thought was that because this is a niche space maybe the lack of a sale wouldn't be a problem but it sounds like I need to focus on what you have mentioned, a product company BD role that allows me to learn the product and dive deeper into it.
I should say, for the avoidance of doubt, despite my negative tone: I think you’re in a good position, Product Management has a low bar for transitioning — and greatly benefits from soft skills — and so as long as you’re in the right organisation, with a good product culture, you’ll be able to progress your career very quickly.
The downside of the low bar for transitioning is that struggling companies will shoe-horn anyone who expresses an interest into Product Management and they’ll really, really struggle. A software engineer in a struggling company can live in relative ignorance, not so for a product manager, a product manager’s ability to work effectively is dependent upon the company functioning effectively.
If you can get into a good product company, in any role, you’ll be on the right track!
I never really appreciated this. The correlation between individual growth and company success is much looser for a software engineer than a PM. You can learn a ton for your first two years as a software engineer at a company that isn't going anywhere. Less so as a PM.
Comments
The experience you’ve outlined of Product Management is not good: Product Management lives and dies by it’s ability to deliver in a high-impact way — “trying to get our first sale made” is not a good phrase to hear from a Product Manager, neither is “pushing an investment case”.
From what you’ve described, you’re someone with BD competency and an interest in Product Management, which you’ve been able to dip your toes into within your current role but haven’t gained meaningful experience of delivering successful software.
I think you’ll be best off picking a company with a strong product team, and join in a pure BD role with the opportunity to dip your toes into Product Management — and develop your skills within a positive environment, and evolve from there.
The key, when you’re new to Product Management, is to get into a company with a strong product, because even when you’re outside of the product org (i.e: pure BD role) you’re going to learn more about building a product than you ever will from being a product manager of a garbage product.
If you show up to a BD interview at a product company, and you bring with a history of successful BD, and a passion for Product and a long term aim to be deep into Product, you’ll be a standout candidate.
I appreciate the candor. It's hard to hear but I do really value the honesty. I don't present the "first sale made" stuff in my resume but it has come up in a few interviews.
My thought was that because this is a niche space maybe the lack of a sale wouldn't be a problem but it sounds like I need to focus on what you have mentioned, a product company BD role that allows me to learn the product and dive deeper into it.
I should say, for the avoidance of doubt, despite my negative tone: I think you’re in a good position, Product Management has a low bar for transitioning — and greatly benefits from soft skills — and so as long as you’re in the right organisation, with a good product culture, you’ll be able to progress your career very quickly.
The downside of the low bar for transitioning is that struggling companies will shoe-horn anyone who expresses an interest into Product Management and they’ll really, really struggle. A software engineer in a struggling company can live in relative ignorance, not so for a product manager, a product manager’s ability to work effectively is dependent upon the company functioning effectively.
If you can get into a good product company, in any role, you’ll be on the right track!
I never really appreciated this. The correlation between individual growth and company success is much looser for a software engineer than a PM. You can learn a ton for your first two years as a software engineer at a company that isn't going anywhere. Less so as a PM.