Product Management Genome
Mapping and enabling the genetics of a product career.
Productized Conference Population Analysis
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A career in product management can be ambiguous
• Multi-disciplinary role, with varying priorities at different companies (tech-focused, design-focused, customer-focused).
• Unclear and non-linear growth trajectory throughout product management careers. What is advancement?
• Weak relationship between years of product management experience and seniority of product management position.
• Poor understanding of what skills or experiences are required for advancement.
• Wealth of product management resources, lack of direction to find the right ones.
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We are advancing the profession through research and collaboration
The Product Management Genome is focused on advancing the profession through research and collaboration. We combine data insights with a career growth framework to reduce the ambiguity
associated with breaking into and maturing as a product manager.
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We are a cross-industry team developing the PM Genome
Joe Aamidor Torben Spitzer Rob McGrorty Ryan Troll
@jaamidor @start_it_here @robmcgrorty @ryantroll
Managing Director Aamidor Consulting
VP, Product & Marketing FreeWire Technologies
Head of Product Webgility
Cofounder & CEO ProductMaven
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Our work is anchored in a data-driven growth framework
Growth in product management goes beyond a job title and traditional “steps” to a journey that is both individual and unique.
•Developmental stages (exploring, aspiring, new, developing, etc) •Individual actions and doings •Functional roles and responsibilities •Skills (soft vs hard) •Thinking / thought process •Challenges and opportunities
Aspiring Leading
Growth takes into consideration:
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Who participated in the conference.
Productized Audience Demographics
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Company Composition
65% work in Technology 70% in Software and Services
Where do other industries and hardware PM’s build a network?
Industry Product Type
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Product Team Size
Company Composition
55% of all PM’s work in small teams 75% of all PM’s work in companies with >50 employees.
So the PM team in average makes up less than 10% of the company
Company Size
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Company Composition
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About half of the attendees who attended the conference work for B2B business, with about a quarter each working for B2C and B2B2C.
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Functional Roles
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As expected 40% of all entries are Product Manager Surprising is the absence of Director-, Head- and VP- of Product
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Year of Experience Distribution
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~50% of entries have between 0-4 years of experience Match with the number of entries self labeling as “Product Manager”
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Career growth needs, challenges and opportunities.
Productized Audience Insights
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Growth Stages
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Conference attendees skewed towards individual contributors who consider themselves as developing in their career
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Functional Strengths (Stack Ranked)
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1 2 3 4 5 6
Customer 32.14% 25.00% 17.86% 21.43% 3.57% 0.00%
Business 25.00% 42.86% 10.71% 7.14% 7.14% 7.14%
Technical 21.43% 7.14% 21.43% 17.86% 10.71% 21.43%
Data 0.00% 3.57% 7.14% 25.00% 35.71% 28.57%
Design 21.43% 10.71% 17.86% 17.86% 25.00% 7.14%
Growth and Marketing 0.00% 10.71% 25.00% 10.71% 17.86% 35.71%
When asked to “stack rank” their product chops, conference attendees over-indexed on customer and business and under-indexed on marketing and design.
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Individual Growth Goals
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We see the ambiguity reflected in career goals. PM’s to similar extend strive to grow vertically (“better PM”) or horizontally (“Product Leader”)
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Individual Growth Actions
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Our interviews show similar results: that PM’s like to attend events and network but they struggle with establishing strong mentorship relationships
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Growth Barriers & Challenges
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Surprising: We established that PM’s work in small teams with limited resources. But only 10% see resource constraints as a barrier
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Founder
CTO
CMO
CEO
CPO
Growth Framework
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Aspiring Developing Maturing Leading Transitioning
Expert
Network
Definition
OrganizationBest Practices
Gap AnalysisHiring & Team Design
Mentorship
CommunicationRoles
B
Analyst
Designer
Engineer
Undergrad
Project Manager
Program Manager
Placement
Training
Copyright Product Management Genome 2017
How to get involved: We operate through a “hub & spoke” collaboration model
Create Meetup groups
Create own research project
Create PM career resources
Create on the job trainings for PM’s
All in - create new spoke initiatives:
Spread the wordLinkedIn, Facebook, PM Groups,…
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