The Practitioner’s Guide To Product Management (Top 5 Things Learn/Hard Way)

Sometimes this lack of knowledge is readily apparent. There was a startup called Splashpower operating out of the office next to ours when I was at Zeus that was a pioneer in wireless charging pads that would recharge the batteries of mobile phones and similar devices placed upon them. In a possibly unwise move, without consulting the engineering team, its marketing team boldly claimed that the company would soon be able to produce a room-sized charging pad that could charge devices while they were still in people’s pockets. Had they bothered to check with engineering first, they’d have established that a charging device of this size and power would essentially microwave the occupants of the room.

There’s a reason why this pitch fell flat: features don’t resonate with the buyer, only benefits do.

Before accepting any product manager job offer, ask yourself the following questions:
» Does the product excite me?
» Does the market seem intriguing?
» Do I click with the people I’ll be working with?