Guide to becoming a Product Manager

“There’s better resources than ever, I will also warn you there’s also more nonsense out there than ever. The hard part for somebody new is to know the difference between the nonsense and the stuff that can help you. The ideal answer there is you have a manager that knows what they’re doing, who’s willing to coach you; but if you don’t, you’ll need to do some research and try to decide what you want to listen to.” - Marty Cagan

Start Here

Whenever anyone asks me how I got into Product Management, I usually start with ‘I got really lucky’, but what was the case for me doesn’t have to be the same for others today. So I am writing this guide to help accelerate your journey to becoming a Product Manager. In this guide, I’ll walk through the key elements of being a Product Manager, as well as give some examples and case studies of when I’ve had to use those skills in the real world. By the end of it, you should have all the tools and understanding to get your first Product Management job.

But first off, I think it’s important to call out the elephant in the room - Product Management is hard. It’s really important that if you choose to embark on this journey and attempt to create a career for yourself in Product Management, you should accept that there will be significant ups and downs, lots of vagueness and ambiguity, and lots and lots of chaos. Don’t go into this expecting a cakewalk or just show up and be able to tell some developers what to do. Product Management is a craft, and similar to carpentry you wouldn’t expect to show up on your first day and be able to build an entire log cabin, the same is true with Product Management - you can’t show up on day one and expect to upend an entire industry.

If you think you’re up for the challenge, carry on and head through to Part 1 of my Guide to Becoming a PM.