How to Transition from Partnering Engineering to Product Management

What was your Background Prior to Product Management?

I studied computer science/engineering in college and I was always really on the entrepreneurial side of the tech industry with some VC internships and early stage companies. After college, I went to work for Lyft; engineering was my background and mostly all of the jobs that I had. I started really getting into product more when I spent some time starting my own startup in New York. During that experience, you dive right in and do what a PM does; work on a product from scratch. Being a co-founder is doing the same thing, but on a greater scope. I found that working on all of the different aspects of product and putting something together was extremely enjoyable, and also tied all of my experiences together.

At Product Gym, Every Subject we Touch has a Different Subject Matter Expert. Did you Find that Helpful During your Time with the Program?

Yeah, it was incredibly helpful. There were classes that covered so many different aspects of product and weekly coaching calls with an actual PM. Each lecture had a different instructor come in and share their experience. Getting to learn from all of these cross functional people who are doing great in their careers and really good at what they do was super important and helpful. As a PM, you need to understand all of those different dimensions, so I think just having one person teach everything wouldn’t really be as beneficial.

What are Some Words of Wisdom you can Give to Current Product Gym Members and those Trying to get a Product Manager Job Right Now?

The main thing I would say is to really try to study the material, understand the principles of product management and what makes a good product manager as opposed to focusing on specific answers to certain questions. Another great thing from the course was making friends with other people who are trying to do the same thing and studying the same things. For example, I would sit down with a friend and write out our understanding of certain PM concepts. Understanding frameworks and principles ultimately helped me scale my interviewing efforts, and will help me on my job.