I've shared Reforge's specialization article with a large number of my mentees over the past year. I'll be sharing this with those interested in pursuing a career in product management.
For those seeking new roles, I speculate that many people apply for numerous positions without adequately assessing whether the role aligns with their interests and long-term goals. Evaluating opportunities based on these criteria could be beneficial in helping individuals find a match that is truly suited to them and the hiring team.
I also believe this could be valuable for founders of post-Series A startups who are hiring their first product team members. Defining the role to be filled based on their team's immediate needs can be challenging. I think aligning the essential skill sets with the most urgent problems could make job descriptions more targeted. To de-risk a new hire, they may hire for a role that has multiple responsibilities, such as engineering/data scientist/designer + product responsibilities. Over time, they hiring manager and candidate can determine if a product role and responsibilities are truly a fit.
Yes, I see a lot of folks who blanket apply to roles and then wonder why they don’t hear back. There are many factors driving that but archetype mismatch is certainly one.
When you see products and wonder “Why is this optimized for X?” it has a lot to do with the archetype of the team doing the building. Some products are technically sound but lack proper positioning and alignment with a big customer problem. You can bet that was shepherded by a Technician (for example).
What about retaining revenue? Is it all about growth? What about chaos, revenue loss, and customers bidding you goodbye after Product-Market Fit (PMF) and years of success? When should we pivot, become more strategic, and rethink the business/product? I miss the people who are willing to go all in with you when challenges arise. Don't get me wrong; "war" might not be the best metaphor, but sometimes, those are exactly the people you need. What do you think?
I’m not sure I see a question here. Retaining revenue and customers is part of growth and sometimes you need to find new product adjacencies to do so because customer expectations continue to rise.
Thanks Adam! This article helped me change the question from "Can I get a PM role or not?" to "What kind of product roles should I target?"
My focus has been PMF, Innovation, and Growth work. So I am a 1) White-spacer 2) UX-inclined 3) Growth 4) Optimizer PM. Although I have led early-stage product teams before it's still tricky to fit myself squarely into the stereotypical product manger track. I received similar feedback from recruiters when I discussed my candidate-market fit with them too, and was somewhat discouraged. But maybe it's matter of targeting specific types of product roles.
Based on what I learned here, I may be better off going after these (in order of potential fit):
1) Early-stage, catch-all product roles
2) Late-stage (series D or beyond) innovation/core PM
Adam, this is brilliant! I never considered the idea of splitting out the difference between Growth and PMF Expansion based on existing vs new market growth, but it makes complete sense. The archetype difference between growth and white-spacer in what they are great and less great at is spot on. Great article! Thank you for sharing.
I've shared Reforge's specialization article with a large number of my mentees over the past year. I'll be sharing this with those interested in pursuing a career in product management.
For those seeking new roles, I speculate that many people apply for numerous positions without adequately assessing whether the role aligns with their interests and long-term goals. Evaluating opportunities based on these criteria could be beneficial in helping individuals find a match that is truly suited to them and the hiring team.
I also believe this could be valuable for founders of post-Series A startups who are hiring their first product team members. Defining the role to be filled based on their team's immediate needs can be challenging. I think aligning the essential skill sets with the most urgent problems could make job descriptions more targeted. To de-risk a new hire, they may hire for a role that has multiple responsibilities, such as engineering/data scientist/designer + product responsibilities. Over time, they hiring manager and candidate can determine if a product role and responsibilities are truly a fit.
Yes, I see a lot of folks who blanket apply to roles and then wonder why they don’t hear back. There are many factors driving that but archetype mismatch is certainly one.
When you see products and wonder “Why is this optimized for X?” it has a lot to do with the archetype of the team doing the building. Some products are technically sound but lack proper positioning and alignment with a big customer problem. You can bet that was shepherded by a Technician (for example).
What about retaining revenue? Is it all about growth? What about chaos, revenue loss, and customers bidding you goodbye after Product-Market Fit (PMF) and years of success? When should we pivot, become more strategic, and rethink the business/product? I miss the people who are willing to go all in with you when challenges arise. Don't get me wrong; "war" might not be the best metaphor, but sometimes, those are exactly the people you need. What do you think?
I’m not sure I see a question here. Retaining revenue and customers is part of growth and sometimes you need to find new product adjacencies to do so because customer expectations continue to rise.
Thanks Adam! This article helped me change the question from "Can I get a PM role or not?" to "What kind of product roles should I target?"
My focus has been PMF, Innovation, and Growth work. So I am a 1) White-spacer 2) UX-inclined 3) Growth 4) Optimizer PM. Although I have led early-stage product teams before it's still tricky to fit myself squarely into the stereotypical product manger track. I received similar feedback from recruiters when I discussed my candidate-market fit with them too, and was somewhat discouraged. But maybe it's matter of targeting specific types of product roles.
Based on what I learned here, I may be better off going after these (in order of potential fit):
1) Early-stage, catch-all product roles
2) Late-stage (series D or beyond) innovation/core PM
3) Growth-stage (series A-C) growth PM
Adam, this is brilliant! I never considered the idea of splitting out the difference between Growth and PMF Expansion based on existing vs new market growth, but it makes complete sense. The archetype difference between growth and white-spacer in what they are great and less great at is spot on. Great article! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Glenn! Glad to see this resonates with you.