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
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.