Tannishk Sharma

“How to become a Product Manager” If you aspire to become a product manager (PM), you know that PM roles are very competitive. A couple of months ago when Zepto posted a PM opening there were apparently 5000+ applications. I have talked to a few aspiring PMs (with 1-3 years of work experience) about why they wish to be a PM and what they think they will be doing in their roles. It was evident that no one had much clarity. At Vizuara, we so badly wanted to create a lecture series on this topic to fill the knowledge gaps and address the below questions. 1) What exactly is a product manager (PM)? 2) How many people are typically managed by PMs? 3) What kind of salaries do they make? 4) How many years of work-ex do you need to become PM? 5) Do PMs work on technical stuff or managerial stuff? 6) Do PMs envision an entire product or only features within a product? 7) What are some good resources to utilize? 8) How are PM interviews structured? What to learn for that? 9) What do you become after being a PM? Is it a stepping stone to something else? 10) What is the difference between being a PM at a startup vs a big company? When Sreerag Panat agreed to make a full-blown lecture series on product management we were incredibly excited. He has co-founded two startups in the past and knows what it means to be a founder in a tech role, taking things from 0 to 1. He also has incredible experience working as PM at fast-growing startups, helping them scale to take things from 1 to 10. He is also an alumnus of IIT Bombay. We will be releasing this lecture series on Vizuara’s YouTube channel. We really hope that this series will bring you immense clarity and actionable items to your list. Here is the first lecture: https://lnkd.in/gfV7vV5Y Sreerag is currently transitioning the workplace. So if you wish to work with him, or get advice from his experience as founder and PM please feel free to reach out to him.

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Product Managers have an average package of 27 lakh after 2 years of experience. How to transition into Product Management from any role? From my experience, I transitioned from the sales to Product Management. There are 3 things that helped me a lot in transitioning into Product Management. 3. I had a good understanding of how to interact with Users. 2. According to me cracking an interview is the same as selling your service to someone. 1. I have good command over written and verbal communication. #Productmanagement #productmanager #product

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Few truths on career success as a Product Manager: 1. Your career's growth is a function of impact you create 2. Your impact is a function of your competence  3. Your competence is a function of your knowledge and actions Hence in order to grow PMs need to consistently show high agency, do a lot of hard work and have a consistent learning routine for up-skilling. #productmanagement

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🌟 How to Be a Successful Product Manager in 2024 🌟 In the world of product management, the role of a product manager (PM) is crucial for a product's success. Often called the “CEO of a product,” a PM oversees every stage of a product’s journey, from the initial idea to its market launch. Did you know that the success of products like the iPhone or Netflix is largely due to skilled product management? Behind every groundbreaking product is a dedicated PM guiding it from start to finish. And let's face it, if product management were easy, it’d be called 'Product Vacation!' Here are some insights from Arun Singhal, former Director of Product Management at Google, on what it takes to thrive in this role: Arun also emphasizes the importance of metrics and data in product management, strategic thinking, and mastering trade-offs and prioritization. For anyone looking to excel in this field, continuous learning and adaptation are key. Here are a few tips to elevate your effectiveness as a product manager: Engage with Customers: Direct interaction provides invaluable insights. Understand Key Metrics: Keep key metrics at your fingertips. Develop Quick Presentation Skills: Create concise presentations on short notice. Maintain a Sense of Humor: A happy team is a productive team! How do you ensure successful product outcomes in your teams? Share your experiences and tips below! Let's discuss how we can all drive product success together. #ProductManagement #Leadership #Success #CareerGrowth #Teamwork Credits: https://lnkd.in/dyVUzcg7

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Crafting a roadmap is not about establishing a timeline about product development rather its about communicating effectively to variety of stakeholders which plays an essential role in product success. Happy to explore different roadmapping aspects with this certification. . . . . . . Productboard Product School #productmanagement #productvision #productstrategy #productroadmap #saasproduct #productlaunch

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Product analytics is crucial in product management. As a Senior Product Manager, data-driven decisions are essential. But what makes product analytics effective? Consider these points: 🔍 Avoid Vanity Metrics: Ensure your analytics reflect true user engagement and value. 💡 Drive Strategic Decisions: Use data to challenge assumptions and uncover unexpected insights. 🎯 User-Centric KPIs: Align your key performance indicators with delivering real benefits to users. 📈 Iterate, Don’t Wait for Perfection: Use data to continuously improve rather than seeking the perfect metric. With my background in behavioral psychology and software engineering, combining user behavior insights with robust data analysis leads to deeper product understanding. How can we refine our analytics to optimize performance and foster innovation? Share your thoughts below! #productanalytics #productmanagement #data-driven #innovation #userinsights

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Product management demands honed skills that are cultivated and refined over time. Many believe they can effortlessly navigate the realm of product management, but there's a chasm between mere participation and achieving tangible outcomes. Here are five pivotal skills for product managers who consistently deliver results: 🚀Insightful Data Interpretation: Transforming qualitative and quantitative data into actionable insights necessitates sharp critical thinking. 🚀Product Intuition: This amalgamates cognitive empathy, creativity, and domain proficiency. While nurturing creativity can pose a challenge, it's entirely attainable. 🚀Compelling Data-Driven Narratives: Mastering the art of persuasive storytelling with data, while ensuring factual accuracy, is a skill that can be developed with practice. 🚀Versatile Communication: The ability to communicate effectively across various mediums is crucial for successful product managers. 🚀Decisive Decision-Making: Product managers are constantly required to make informed decisions swiftly, utilizing available information to prevent team stagnation or inertia. What stands as the foremost growth opportunity in product management within your organization? And what about yours? #productmanagement #coachingproductmanagers #productleadership #producttakes ------ 🌍 Shubham Karnwal 🆘 0-1 Product Managers 🔔 Follow me for more content ♻️ Share is care

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Treat your Career as the Product.. Become the PM, Here's how.. How do you approach a new product? You start with - The problem.. - Then the customers - Then the solution - Experiment 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺: “𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙋𝙈𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨𝙚𝙩” Dig deep into the problem space - What is the problem - Who has the problems - What skills do they need 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿: Your customers are your potential employers So you need to understand their needs. Their needs are typically in job descriptions. 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: The solution is “𝗬𝗼𝘂” Well, not you but the skills you bring. Does your skillset solve their problems? 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Launch your solution to the market. Build your CV, Apply to jobs, iterate based on results 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴.. 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘊𝘝 𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.

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Kya sachiv ji/ tech team man jaynge? Conflict Resolution for Product Managers 🕊️ Product Management is all about collaboration—working with cross-functional teams, balancing stakeholder expectations, and making tough decisions. But let's face it, conflicts are inevitable. Whether it's prioritization debates, misaligned goals, or differing opinions, how you handle conflicts can make or break a product's success. Here’s what has worked for me: 1️⃣ Listen Actively: Understand everyone’s perspective without interruptions. Many times, people just want to feel heard. 2️⃣ Align on the Goal: Remind the team of the bigger picture. What problem are we solving for the user? Reframing conflicts around the shared mission often helps. 3️⃣ Be Data-Driven: Whenever possible, let data do the talking. It's easier to agree on a direction when it’s backed by evidence rather than opinions. 4️⃣ Encourage Empathy: Step into each other’s shoes. Why does the developer think this is a blocker? Why does the designer feel strongly about this flow? Understanding motivations helps diffuse tensions. 5️⃣ Facilitate, Don’t Dictate: As a PM, you’re not the boss of anyone. Your job is to guide the conversation to a productive resolution—not impose your will. 6️⃣ Know When to Escalate: Sometimes, conflicts can’t be resolved at your level. Recognize when it’s time to bring in a higher authority. Remember, conflict is not inherently bad—it’s an opportunity to uncover blind spots and reach better decisions. What strategies have you used to handle conflicts as a PM? Let’s exchange insights! 🚀 #ProductManagement #ConflictResolution #Leadership

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If you know any hiring manager or any headhunter who is hiring in the product management space please tag him/her here or drop his/her email. Also if you know if a particular team in your company is hiring, request you to share the info. Nobody clearly says this but plain referral is probably dead. It can benefit a lot of people. Jaankari sab ke paas kuch na kuch hote hai but deta koi nahi 😁 Earn some good karma by sharing your 'insider info'. 😊 #product #hiring #interviews #productmanagement #productmanager #productmanagers

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I received over 500+ inMails for the PM role I am hiring for, and 90% of the people are doing it wrong hurting their chances of being considered. Here is how to do it right: ❌ Generic title of inMail "Interested in Product manager role" ✅ "Pm with 5 years of experience in e-commerce, analytical, ex-IG." Customize the subject line. As a hiring manager, it’s exhausting to sift through hundreds of identical messages. Your subject line is your first chance to stand out. Don’t waste it—make it specific, compelling, and relevant. ❌ "I hope this message finds you well! I recently submitted my application for the Product Manager, Creator Content, and Shop position at LTK and wanted to express my enthusiasm for this opportunity. The role aligns perfectly with my background" ✅ "Hi, I would be a good fit because I DID: X Y Z mapping to what you are looking for". Don’t make me dig through your resume or LinkedIn to understand why you’re a fit. Communicating effectively and concisely is critical for PMs. If you can’t demonstrate that in your InMail, you’ve already lost me. ❌ "I have relevant experience based on my experience as a Product Manager, E-commerce and AI" but your Resume/Linkedin title says you are a content strategist or PMM in Healthcare ✅ If I click on your profile and it doesn’t match what you claim, I lose trust immediately. This job market is not open for aspirations or translatable skills, there is just too much talent out there. Make sure your branding—titles, experience, and skills—aligns with your pitch. ❌ "Are you open to a quick chat?" ✅ "If you see a fit I'd love to hear about the next steps. I have already applied and messaged X recruiter name"Half of the people who messaged me didn't apply to the job and most ask for my time but often times there is a screening call with Recruiters. Try to find recruiters at the company you are applying for, especially in startups there are not that many so show you can be proactive. ❌ Don't apply to roles you do not qualify for. Loving the creator economy doesn't make you suitable for the role. ✅ 1/3 of the inMails are from people with 0 product management experience, outside of the US or no visa, that do not meet the 3 requirements I asked for. Do not apply to aspirational jobs, you will get little to not ROI out of it. ❌Sending inMails that sound generic, made by ChatGPT is not going to yield the results you are looking for. ✅ If you are truly serious about job hunting in this market, quality applications beat quantity every time. Some applicants sent me a 1 min intro video of themselves, I watched them all. Some others sent a case study on LTK, I read them all. All of the candidates that went above and beyond got my time and I followed up with all of them. If this resonates, share this with anyone job hunting. Also if you are interested in applying I linked the job in the comments :) #inmail #jobhunting #jobapplication #linkedin

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3 questions to help Product Managers anticipate failure to derisk their ideas when conceptualising next 0-1 product : 1️⃣ On understanding demand: Is there existing demand for the product category or is it unknown? - If the demand is unknown then you need to figure out which user segments to target first to be successful and if the demand is known, then you need to find ways to outcompete the incumbents via differentiation. 2️⃣ On tech feasibility: Can we access/build technology which can solve the identified problem - Building new technology is a classic engineering challenge. Unless you are not building a Deep Tech product or creating the next frontier AI model/AI product, this risk will be manageable with the right engineering skills and use of existing technology. 3️⃣ On building something meaningful: Can users get meaningful value from our product repeatedly to build habits around our product ? - Mitigating value risk will help you reach a strong Product Market Fit for your product and pave path for growth stage. You may want to include business viability question in above list (whether business can extract value), but in reality business model is perfected after reaching PMF via solving demand, tech and consumer value. Let me know what you think should get added to above list of questions. #productmanagement

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Product Manager Interview Experience - Google The interview process: 1 recruiter phone screen 45 min product sense with a Product Manager 5 rounds with individual product managers spanning design, strategy, metrics, tradeoff, leadership, hypothetical. Spaced out across 2 months Interview questions: 1. [craft & execution + sense] - You are the PM of google flights and we need to monetize our strategy. What would you design? 2. [strategy + sense] - You are a PM at google and we are considering designing a lawn mower - what should we do? 3. [analytical + craft and execution] - You’re the PM on Search “snippets” which is an algorithmically derived tagline for organic content on search that appears under results to give people a sense of what the page is about. Say your engineering team comes to you with an improvement to the algorithm and wants to implement it - what would you do? Once you decide what to do - how would you implement this? Who would you work with? What if you implemented it and you saw paid content from advertisers take a hit? Then a couple behaviorals like why are you leaving Meta now? 4. [cross functional collaboration + craft & execution] this ended up being more strategy? — Lots of behavioral scenarios including “time you faced conflict” “time team disagreed” “what was the impact you landed” then a follow up on “you’re a PM at Snapchat - what is our 3 year strategy” 5. [googleyness & leadership] Why Google, Why are you leaving, Who are your closest ally’s on your team, What would happen if Google fired all of its PMs tomorrow? Then we broke out into a design —> design an experience as the PM of search for people to book flights who are traveling for the first time ever. Source: Glassdoor

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Myth: Great product managers just 'get' their users. Truth: They invest relentlessly in research and analysis. ⏤ Sharing my experience of creating value as a product manager e.g. £31m biz benefits, £100k saved, a Techstars spot. On-demand product management advisor/consultant. #productdelights #productinsights #startupsuccess

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Product Dilemma#2: 🚀 There exists a problem of listening to customers too much. There is also an issue of not listening to customers enough. Product Managers (PMs) become so engrossed in Product Requirement Documents (PRDs), code, and Figma files that they forget to engage with their customers. Regrettably, this applies to more than 60% of product organizations, according to Aakash Gupta (ProdMan with over 15 years of experience). The problem lies in the culture. Typically, the Product organization's culture does not facilitate easy communication between PMs and customers. However, even when communication is facilitated, the culture does not adequately reward it. Executives tend to reward PMs who excel at creating impressive presentations and crafting well-written PRDs, rather than those who actively engage with customers to build the most suitable products. Consequently, everyone within the company falls into a cognitive trap known as "The Curse of Knowledge." We erroneously assume that our customers possess the same level of background knowledge as we do, which is often not the case. Furthermore, mismanagement leads to a decline in the business's performance. Food for thought: Are you doing what you think, or what your customers think? Illustration: If Steve Jobs had listened to everyone while creating the iPhone. #product  #productdesign  #productinnovation #dilemma  #producthunt  #productmanagement #productinnovation #productcommunity

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When you say your product has Product Market Fit, it means your product has achieved PMF for specific segments of users, not everyone which you consider as your potential user. PMF is always segment specific, it is never generic. So next time you want to grow your product, understand which set of customers loved your product initially and find similar customers who have similar needs.

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🔍 The Obsession with Product Management Titles-Are We Missing the Point? Product management-arguably one of the most misunderstood and glamorized roles in India’s corporate landscape. Everyone wants to be a product manager, but do Indian companies truly need product managers or are they just looking for product road map creators? Let’s break this down. Imagine two candidates: 1. Candidate A – 5 years of experience in sales, deeply understands customer behavior, knows what makes a product sell, and has a track record of influencing decisions across teams. 2. Candidate B – Held the title of Product Manager at a startup but primarily coordinated tasks and followed pre-defined roadmaps handed down by the leadership. Who’s more qualified? Most people would instinctively lean toward Candidate B simply because of the title, and that’s where the problem lies. Titles don’t build products. Transferable skills do. A real product manager is someone who: Thinks critically, prioritizes effectively, and connects dots others can’t. Empathizes with users and solves their problems, not just builds features. Aligns stakeholders and leads teams without formal authority. Yet, many hiring processes default to “who has held the title before?” instead of “who can actually own and drive the product?” 🚨 Lesson for Hiring Managers: Stop hiring road map executors and start hiring problem solvers. 🚨 Lesson for Candidates: Focus on highlighting your skills and impact, not just your title. Because at the end of the day, building a great product isn’t about what’s written on your business card—it’s about what’s inside your head. Are we ready to rethink how we evaluate talent? What’s your take? Share your thoughts below! ⬇️

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