
56 episodes

Lessons In Product Management Path2Product
-
- Business
Path2Product's Mission is to bridge the gap in product management experience for aspiring product managers, so the Lessons In Product Management podcast is here to support that effort, as well as provide valuable insights to existing PMs and PM leaders.
-
Stakeholder Empathy - Never ASSUME Stakeholder Priorities
Be sure to join the free community at MentorMesh.io and check out the PM Career Accelerator from MentorMesh.
On this episode, I dive into the topic of stakeholder empathy. Assuming stakeholder priorities is the antithesis to empathy. Fortunately, there are some easy ways to start building trust with stakeholders and creating alignment for your organization as a PM.
In this conversation I cover:
Internal Stakeholders - the Product Team
Internal Stakeholders - your Cross-Functional Partners
External Stakeholders - your customers or users
And I give a few questions to be asking to each group to start generating empathy and aligning your efforts as a PM. Enjoy!
If you want to become a member of Path2Product.io, it's free to sign up. Just click the link and come on in!
---
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/productmanagementlessons/message -
How To Level Up Your PM Career - Featuring Jae Taylor - Staff PM @ Twitter and former Director of Product @ Salesforce
Don't forget to check out mentormesh.io and check out the PM Career Accelerator if you're looking to break into Product!
Here's what we discussed:
How Jae started in Tech without a degree or connections and transitioned from engineering manager to Sr. PM at Microsoft to launch his PM career
Why Jae started the MentorMesh.io platform and the goal of the community
What an entrepreneurial mindset is and why it’s so important to PMs
The need to start building something now and how impactful that is to landing your first PM role
To get started as a PM before you become one, go find a problem and fix it
How building an MVP doesn’t always require code
The importance to always pursue growth. Always!
Why the MentorMesh accelerator program is so powerful
The importance of community
And the power of curiosity and asking really good questions
Connect with Jae:
LinkedIn
---
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/productmanagementlessons/message -
Good PMs Never Assume Development Effort
Accelerate your path to product by joining us at Path2Product to get the hands-on experience you need to land your first Product job.
On this episode, I break down why you should never assume development effort. Save yourself some headache and heartache. Save your developers some stress. And save your cross-functional partners the disappointment.
---
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/productmanagementlessons/message -
How Product Management Can Collaborate More Effectively With UX, featuring Zach Daley - UX Design Lead
On today's episode, Zach Daley joins us again to share insights on the opportunities he sees for Product and UX to collaborate more effectively.
Here's what we discussed:
Zach's role as a design lead and how it's structured like a "player-coach" type of role
The overlap and collaborative nature of the UX and PM relationship
And the differences between UX and PM and who "owns" which pieces
Why UX and PM might share user research but why UX MUST lead it
How UX should own and have the biggest stake in the overall User Experience
The tricky balance between deadlines and the time it takes to validate good UX
Why the agent/principle problem between product teams and executives/boards can create tensions
How PMs can help their UX counterparts
The need for PMs to have understanding of the UX practice and goals
And why UX should care about business goals
---
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/productmanagementlessons/message -
Never Assume Executives Are Correct
MentorMesh PM Career Accelerator - Join Today!
Okay, I know this might sound controversial, but hey... our jobs as PMs are not to be order-takers. Our jobs are to prioritize customer problems that align to driving business outcomes. If our executives press us to prioritize things that would limit our ability to do those two things, then we should push back. Enjoy the episode as I relate this topic to the first three and how to help prevent top-down dictates in your PM role.
---
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/productmanagementlessons/message -
Creating Products for Product People, Featuring Heather James - Founder of Product-Led Alliance
Identifying gaps in the market and building solutions to fill those gaps to solve customer problems is a key part of product management. On today's episode, Heather James, Founder of the Product-Led Alliance, dropped by the pod to share how and why she Founded the Product-Led Alliance, the gap she saw in the market, and how she and the PLA team are filling those gaps.
Here's what we discussed:
The launch of PLA's new podcast, "For the Love of Product"
What you'll get by joining the Product-Led Alliance community
The gap in the market that PLA is setting out to fill
How Heather views PLG, and how it's broader than traditional SaaS businesses
Why it's important to PM your career with a roadmap for growth
The stages/themes of the Product-Led Festival
Diversity and why it's so critical for creating great products
How Heather came to decide on a conference for Product Ops and how curiosity was the driver behind it
Connect with PLA:
Heather on LinkedIn
Product-Led Alliance
PLA Slack
Product-Led Festival
---
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/productmanagementlessons/message