To say that diversity and inclusion are long overdue conversations in the tech industry is an understatement. Sure, diversity has been a hot button issue with FAANG companies in the last few years, but have we really been talking about it in the right way? Or have the same people been sitting in the same boardrooms, and saying all the things that were said in the last diversity meeting? That’s not progress, that’s ticking diversity off of the to-do list and forgetting about it.
Luckily, things seem to be moving in the right direction, and the credit goes to those…
This is part 3 of our Side Project Series. To get caught up check out parts one and two:
- Side Projects: The Secret to Getting a Job in Product Management
- Side Project Success: How to Crowdfund Your Product
The Importance of Side Projects in 2021
Starting your own side project is something we’ve touched on in the past, but thanks to the events of 2020, the importance of building something for yourself cannot be overstated. This is for a few reasons…
There are plenty of books about leadership. There are plenty of books about product management. But how many books are there about product leadership?
Petra Wille, independent product leadership consultant and coach, is on a mission to help leaders to up their people-development game. Her new book, Strong Product People, is packed with advice, tips, tricks, and frameworks to help leaders to invest in their teams.
We got to chat with Petra about her views on the product management industry, and we dove deep into the process of writing a first book, and how leaders can help their teams to…
Anyone who even comes close to product development knows that endless testing is all part of building great digital products! But how do you run a great test? And why exactly is a product manager in charge of it all?!
If you’re passionate about reaching your conversion goals, improving your user experience, and increasing revenue, you need to get up all in those A/B tests!
Today, we’re going to go into what A/B testing is, why it matters for PMs (yes, even the non-technical ones!) and take a look at how Netflix aces personalization through A/B testing. …
We’re big believers that product and marketing can be the best of friends. In fact, they should be! Product-led growth is proving to be one of the most effective marketing strategies for SaaS companies. While marketing isn’t one of the chief responsibilities for the Product Manager, it’s useful for PMs to keep an eye on marketing trends and find ways to integrate them during development.
PMs can learn a lot from digital marketers, and adding to this skillset can help you work more effectively with your product marketing team.
Conversational Marketing Is Still King
Even in B2B, conversational marketing is the place to be. According…
User stories are an important part of product development, which means they’re something that any product manager worth their salt needs to master! User stories might be confused with user personas, as user personas are more commonly known across a variety of disciplines, but they are in fact very different things.
You might have seen user stories in their most common formula:
So you’ve decided that you want to be a Product Manager. That’s great! The problem is, you’ve never worked in product before and you’ve got no idea where to start.
Perhaps you’re an engineer who wants to get more involved in the planning and decision making part of development. Or perhaps you’re in marketing and you’ve been dreaming about building the things you’re having to market. Or perhaps you’re a gardener with big plans to break into the tech industry. Either way, you need to work your way into your first ever Product Management role. …
When you’re looking to land your first job in Product Management, or when you’re looking to hire a PM for the first time, there’s plenty of guidance out there on what companies value most.
Whether you get hired as a Product Manager, and whether you actually survive in that role are two different things. The first is dependent on what the company is looking for based on their job description. And the latter depends on what the team is looking for.
The Product Manager skill set is pretty well known by now, but sometimes the hiring manager just has a…
What Does ‘Inclusive’ Mean in 2021?
Inclusive product design is an absolute must in 2021. If you’re planning to build a product at scale, you need to keep the door open for as many potential users as possible.
But our understanding of inclusive design has evolved over time, as product design itself has evolved. Inclusive design used to just mean breaking down physical barriers, such as allowing users to zoom in or make text larger.
Now, inclusive design means building products that anyone can feel comfortable using, regardless of their physical abilities, feelings, and cultural perspectives.
Inclusive design is disruptive, as products need to find innovative…
Sometimes, to outsiders, the tech industry and cool Silicon Valley startups are synonymous. That’s not the case at all, but there’s a little nugget of truth in there. Cool startups are a huge perk of working in tech. And Product Managers are perfectly positioned to help them succeed.
Maybe your goal is to have your own company one day, or maybe you live on the thrill of helping to build something new. Either way, we’re here to help you land that dream Product Manager role with startups.
What’s different about startups?
Startups work differently to giant corporations inside and out. The startup environment seems…
Carlos G de Villaumbrosia
CEO at Product School — Global leader in product management training
