Product Management - What is PM and How to Start?

Product Management 101. What is product management and why is it a growing role in the marketplace? How do you become a product manager? What is the role of a product manager? How do you get started in product management? How to get hired as a product manager?
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In this interview with Product Manager, Justin Ziccardi, we talk about Product Management, a rapidly evolving discipline that, according to Hired.com is the highest paid tech role for 2018.
Justin Ziccardi has almost 15 years of product management experience across emerging startups and fortune 100 companies. He currently leads product management for hardware and software at Tonal, a San Francisco based startup building the world's most intelligent fitness system.
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1:15 Introduction to Justin Zaccardi
2:45 What does a Product Manager do?
3:25 Three Fundamentals of Product Management
4:20 Product Manager's Responsibilities
6:23 Minimum Viable Product
7:41 Communicating with teams
10:58 "Jobs to be Done"
11:30 Milkshake Manifesto, Clayton M. Christensen
12:28 Adjacent Possible
13:33 Four Qualities of Successful Product Managers
15:17 The Day in the Life of a Product Manager
17:15 How to get into Product Management
21:33 Client Work vs Agency Work
23:53 How much do Product Managers make? hired.com/state-of-salaries-2018
Qualities of a Good Product Manager:
1. Translator: Can speak business, design, and tech. They can turn the "why" into a "what". Meaning they can translate intent into action.
2. Can Prioritize: There are always a hundred possible things a business or organization can do. However a good PM can help direct and prioritize talent and resources to have the biggest impact.
3. Unorthodox problem solver (Curiosity+Empathy+Challenger): A key thing that PMs focus on is solving the problem, by any means necessary.
4. Multi-disciplinary: By knowing a little bit of how things work- in business, design, tech- PMs can have a better 30k ft view of problem-solving. They can help facilitate the resources to move towards solving a problem, simply because they have an idea of what's possible. This allows the PM to superpower the team and let them do what they do best.
5. Vision and Intuition: PMs keep in perspective of the end goal. This allows them to plan ahead and keep the team productive and aimed towards the right goal.
6. Get SH*T DONE: At the end of the day, a good PM should be able to get things done through resourceful means. You can practice and demonstrate it by shipping your own product. That could be as simple as a small community website up to a product that solves a big problem.
#ProductManagement #Airtable
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Host- Chris Do
Content Director- Matthew Encina
Cinematography- Aaron Szekely, Mark Contreras, Ricky Lucas
Live Editor- Jona Garcia
Editor- Stewart Schuster, Mark Contreras, Aaron Szekely, Ricky Lucas, Jona Garcia
Social Team: Elle Money, Alex Burlui
Futur theme song- Adam Sanborne

[@thefutur]

Run your projects more efficiently and effectively with Airtable. Try it for free and save $50 in credit by signing up with this link: 👉 bit.ly/2WNUua1

[@herrdesigner]

Fun Fact. I met this guy some years ago in Morocco in a Coworkingspace! I thought I would never see him again. Now he is at my Screen talking about cool stuff. :)

[@comicalfoods6625]

This sounds right on point! I'm working on product managing my first comic book with a group of 4 artists. I started off with a big vision and story. Then hired a team of designers (artists) to work on concept art, layouts, all the way to finals. Communication & organization are so important during this process to avoid redoing pages. Unorthodox problem solving takes the most mental energy out of me especially when there's unexpected delays, writing blocks, financial issues, etc. Most of my time I'm going over progress, reworking layouts, prioritizing monthly goals, organizing artwork, and keeping in touch with the art team. Getting Shit done is going slow but steady and it feels amazing when the team posts up final work on the drive! Big Thanks to theFutur for sharing their processes and inspiring me do what I love to do...create stories!

[@Spiritofabrand]

The length of this is perfect and the way this is cut to relay the information is super clear- really liked this presentation. thanks for sharing!

my gosh! This adds so much value to my life, can't thank this show enough

[@Suzytnwl]

The questions were great and the interview was really helpful in understanding the job. Thank you!

[@rhemabethany5329]

PM represent! so happy to see this kind of content ;) keep 'em coming!

[@Kaabstract]

Great work guys!! I have been watching videos about PM and this one is just very nice!

[@alexdespotovic1698]

This is such an important video for everyone involved in any kind of product development. As a product manager for medical device development in healthtech, I can say that the Futur is doing an amazing job of helping me understand the creative components of product development and the increasingly recognized role of designers not only as those who draw/illustrate, but those who can actively contribute to solving a particular need or problem regarding products. Thank you for everything that you're doing, you are providing exclusive information from a practical perspective, and keep it up!

[@shelbysir3421]

Aleksa Despotovic Im going to make a video about the design/pm relationship soon if you’re interested in following along!

[@thefutur]

What's an idea for a small product you can ship? What's a problem worth solving?

[@maidenmilkcrate914]

the livestream with dustin lee (the part about artworks in the public domain, re: dover publishing) triggered some latent curiosities. i turned around to my piano, music stand full of sheet music written hundreds of years ago, and had a few thoughts: (disclaimer im a musician and this is a long comment apologies, its late) “modern” (western) musical notation is 300+ years old. it is a highly utilitarian format, precise and colorless. if you abstract out far enough, it is a coordinate system denoting pitch (what note do i play?) and duration (how long do i hold it?). queue up the piano roll/midi track. what isn’t immediately perceptible (even for the musically literate) are features such as structure, pattern, contour, “topography” / the lay of the musical land / heinrich neuhaus’ “musical image”. when deeply seen/sounded, these features make music memorable and, dare i say it, sublime. traditionally it takes years (decades, lifetimes) of focused study to integrate these other aspects into play, to not mistake the trees/staves for the forest/composition, but did it always have to? this is what musical play looks like from the mind of the great classical violinist, Yehudi Menuhin: imgur.com/Gp5OCLA *facepalm* i think it’s worth a go. the possibility space seems to be constrained only by readability and precision (re: pitch, duration) for the performer. i have a long love affair with “die kunst der fuge” so i’ll probably start with some passages in there when i have time. thanks for all the learnings yall rock! much love #tenpercent

[@zachux9343]

Love that you guys created some content around product management. PM skills are great skills to integrate into a creative practice.

[@shelbysir3421]

ZachUX amen! I couldn’t agree more, and am adding to it.

[@_aiborie]

Aye! We use Airtable at work and it's pretty handy. Good content as usual, and those salaries, dayum. Just ship it attitude also got me mindblown! Got me thinking what have I've been doing all my life.

[@tumelo7477]

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this! Thanks a million xx

[@elcocovelazquez9793]

You people upload good material, faster that i can digest. ♥

[@thefutur]

You can always queue it up ;)

[@elcocovelazquez9793]

@@thefutur a full weekend-futur-content-marathon!!!

[@aiguwurhuoosazae33]

@@elcocovelazquez9793 HAHAHA Just created a playlist to go full marathon this weekend

[@Urbanchic22]

This was an awesome chat. I really appreciate the info being shared and tips on how I can transition to becoming a PM.

[@leoniewong2842]

Great interview with lots of valuable insights! Thanks for making this video

[@devashishsohani7430]

Really I liked it...I was always confusing on these topic...thanks jaccarty

[@jonsnowchannel89]

Clear understanding for product management through field experiences.

[@dreamfightersbn]

Thank you for sharing. I'm glad I found Futur. It feels like my curiosity has expanded to a new point of view. I'm more confident in my work thanks you to guys

[@thefutur]

What's currently peaking your interest?

[@dreamfightersbn]

@@thefutur Hey! well i have been moving upwards from infographics and animation, i have just started a new job as a design consultant. mostly to do with logo and posters. i want to explore product design now. This video helps to just start and do research, well watching your video is one of my research now.

Thanks for this video from Chile with love 🇨🇱❤️

[@BrianHaferkamp]

This is very good information. Thanks for posting it. I've shipped one app for production and I'm working on another right now that will be released at the beginning of 2020. The "ship-it" mentality is really important because you need to know quickly what people want. They often don't know what they want until they see the product and work with it. It's not just about first to market, it's about first to market with an eye to morphing the product into something users want. Being quick to the market with my first app helped me start gathering data that led to a relatively quick v2 (a rethinking of v1). The first version was for me, the second version was built with and for others. There really isn't a better way for an individual or small company to start working on pleasing users until the users have something they can give feedback on. The Futur, thanks again. Great content, as always.

[@BrianHaferkamp]

@@MatthewEncina I initially created the app for myself and had no idea how others would respond to it or what they would want to see. I'm only one person. I created a mechanism for feedback in the app itself and several people who liked it spoke into what they would want to see changed or added. That was a big driver of v2. I didn't put the feedback look into the second version but it was very helpful in the first.

[@JOGOCoaching]

Good one. Thanks for posting this video!

[@mohammarvalentin9894]

Very helpful ! Thank you

[@uplicoouplicoo3348]

This is really inspiring

[@AnjaliSingh-ym2rs]

This milkshake story is from a book, either product book or lean startup (both are great!) p.s- thank you futur for all your amazing uploads

[@rukanmalas]

as always best content

[@LukasBazyluk1117]

Informative conversation, thank you! I wonder how product designer and product manager roles are similar and intersect these days. Anyone else is seeing a convergence? Seeing job listings describing product design as if it were product management more and more makes me wonder...

[@AlexRechevskiy]

Lucas B it’s a good question! Product Manager is an overall architect of the product (including roadmaps, strategy, and both the user and business side), where a product designer could be a UX designer, which is someone who works on designing the end user experience aspect of the product.

[@deepakkumar-gv7qp]

well informative video about PM role

[@kataplasmadesign9409]

I have like 4 products cooking, a book, a group coaching program, a masterclass a DIY kit... and I might be missing something haha

[@ed3R77]

17:13 there are masters in project management/design management, which is (I believe) basically the same thing.

[@jaimesmith1086]

Thanks for creating this video. I am wondering If I can get your thoughts on this - I recently discovered product management but my impression so far is that I can be paid well (sweet sweet tech salary), don't need to code, don't need any special certifications/MBA/MS Computer Science (or any specific degrees for that matter) or specific experiences. Seems too good to be true. Wondering if I am missing something?

[@frankthetank9513]

How does product management compare to project management? Obviously one deals with products, but what are the similarities and differences?

[@Loudtechie]

wow 👏

[@LUCAS-go7jl]

Thunder - thunder - thundercats - hoooooooo!

[@waeez1799]

Let's see what is it.

[@8505angel]

Loved the talk! I have lots of questions about this particular topic, is there anywhere I can reach out to someone that can help me sort them out? Thanks in advance! :)

[@AlexRechevskiy]

Angel Torres there are other videos out there talking about how to get into product management, depending on your background and geography, and also how to prepare for your PM interviews. Good luck!

[@yahelswisa6919]

Robin Hood for the ease and convenience. Vanguard for the bigger holding account with great index funds!

[@karidyas00]

So wait, what's the difference between a _product_ manager, a _project_ manager, and a _producer_ ? Is it just the thing they happen to be managing, like product is for products and tech, project is government/engineering/miscellaneous and producer is for media? They seem to have very similar job descriptions of knowing a little of everything, making sure everyone is doing (and can do) their jobs efficiently and keeping an eye on the big picture timeline.

[@timschrock]

Could this include B2C businesses too? Eg: my daughter is sourcing clothing and reselling them and now they’re including graphic tees with her designs on them.

[@markcontreras3572]

I think that B2C is the majority of PM projects.

[@daliaelsayed18]

followed

[@kingdomcitizenship5613]

So a PM is basically like a head coach on a football team...do PMs have the power to change things as needed or are they just executing a gamelan from higher ups?

[@shelbysir3421]

Victor Garza this tooootally depends on where you are PMing! Gameplan coming from higher ups is a lot more common than people think!

[@kelvinmah306]

Are The Futur hosts using a green screen? Does Futur have a green screen tutorial to get that quality?

[@thefutur]

No this is against a real background. We have a green screen elsewhere but don't use it often.

[@thefutur]

we do have a green screen but we don't use it for these types of shows.

[@DarrenbyDesign]

This honestly sounds like a blurred line between a project manager and a UX designer. I'm very curious about this from an industry standpoint

[@thefutur]

It's right in the middle of it all.

[@justthatpm]

Depending on the company leaders and teams can work to "unblur" that line but there will always be some sort of cross-collaboration as a PM where you have to work closely with other teams and if you're a super small startup you end up wearing a multitude of hats.

[@AlexRechevskiy]

DarrenbyDesign that’s exactly right, the intersection of technology, business and UX

[@muhammadzubairjan6937]

Greetings sir , Hope you will fine and doing well Sir i apply in many Gaming companies such as Electronic Arts, Gameloft, Ubisoft etc i also received Call letter from them but at interview they ask me about Product Management and i failed to answer, because i have no idea about Product Management. i came to your channel and fined it helpful. My questions is sir " Are you referred me a good course about Product Management so that I'll go across it" Thank you

[@AlexRechevskiy]

Muhammad Zubair Jan I cover the product management topic on my channel, including how to become a PM and prepare for an interview. Hope it helps, and good luck!

[@zabglz]

really been digging the sexy voice of Matthew narrating and explaining what's going on,, great touch futur

[@zabglz]

@@MatthewEncina heyyyy 🙌🙌 I'll take that if I was you... but for design. keep up the good work guys.

[@SleptOn]

Can someone recommend a Source to get my pm resume reviewed

[@shelbysir3421]

SleptOn Reddit is awesome for stuff like this! Or a mentor in the industry!

[@AlexRechevskiy]

SleptOn Google PM here; happy to take a look! :)

[@edench73]

can someone become a product manager doing the business management education route?

[@AlexRechevskiy]

k h yes, you can! A lot of the top tech companies have an MBA route available for candidates to get into Product Management!

[@sonyabadass]

is it the same as Product Designer? What do you think?

[@sonyabadass]

@@MatthewEncina can we as Product Designer become Product Manager? are our experiences and insights as Product Designer matter to becomes PM

[@DarrenbyDesign]

It seems very similar to me too but the only difference I can see is that the PM doesn't normally construct the strategy elements. (i.e. Information Architecture, personas, User Testing, Storyboardings, wireframing, Mockups, etc). This guy seems to be blurring the line even more

[@sonyabadass]

@@MatthewEncina thanks man....😬

[@juliajakubczak3619]

I think that Product Designer focuses on the design of the product whereas PM works more with stakeholders, different teams across the whole process of a product development.

[@justthatpm]

@@juliajakubczak3619 Yup, exactly!

[@mountainman6172]

Marketers market Sales sell Engineers engineer Product Management? I am still clueless. I have been reading and listening about Tech & Startups for the past decade. Every position in startup is quite transparent, but not product management. Every single product manager I have listened to come across very ambiguous and incoherent as to what they actually do. I have reached the conclusion that it's either very broad, non essential position or every product manager cannot articulate their job role. Nevertheless, it seems like the most disposable job role in an organisation.

[@thefutur]

haha

[@DapperHesher]

F--k me. Where are designers making $127k?! My last gig I was two hats, Sr. ID (only ID!) and product management coordinator (with some R&D to boot) and just cracked $70k! Freelancing now and last year didn't even make $25k. Doesn't seem like there's any demand.