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Landing a PM job in today’s market requires special techniques.
After coaching 500+ PMs to such jobs, Shravan Tickoo opens up his book of secrets.
In today's episode, we cover:
Byju’s Downfall
Job search made easy
How to become a better critical thinker
Thoughts on AI tools and founder mode
Meme process and Shravan’s income as a creator
Here are the Key Takeaways
Here were my favorite lessons for PMs:
1. Why did Byju’s have such a big fall?
It is a classic case of a startup losing its way after rapid scaling. Leadership became increasingly disconnected from their core mission and customer base.
In order to cover the market they started acquiring businesses and after scaling they moved away from customers.
The lesson? We need to continue keeping customer problems in the center of our business to scale.
2. Land a job in the downturn via specificity
During funding booms, companies are more willing to hire PMs and train them. During downturns, companies want immediately productive PMs with proven skills.
Here’s how to land your target role in this downturn:
You need to get deeper understanding of why certain questions are asked in the interview. What is the context in the interviewer’s mind?
Be clear with these technical concepts: an understanding of how the system works, its purpose, components and the relations between nodes, what is an API, and how the internet works.
Start putting out content around what you know and how you solve problems on LinkedIn. Add your LinkedIn link to your resume for recruiters to learn about your knowledge.
For the ‘Tell me about yourself’ story, start with a personal story around why you are driven to work in the target industry/role.
(Shravan shares many more insights - listen to the episode to find out.)
3. PMs should wireframe
PMs should know how to wireframe.
But they should communicate importance and priorities through wireframes, not dictate specific details of the design.
The focus should be on narrative and customer needs, not pixels. The goal is to invoke curiosity in the reader’s mind about the problem.
4. How Shravan has grown his personal brand
He has created an approachable, relatable persona on LinkedIn - he shares PM content along with memes to differentiate himself.
He focuses on deep, educational content for his YouTube channel.
You can create different content strategies for different platforms for displaying your PM knowledge to stand out.
For more, listen to the episode now!
Referenced
Drive book – Referenced to illustrate the difference between observations and insights.
HBR - on how to manage yourself.
Paul Graham - Founder mode versus Manager mode.
Where to find Shravan
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Up Next
We have some great podcasts coming from Scott Jones, Maria Cuasay, and Shubham Khoker. I’m so excited to share them with all of you.
In the newsletter, check out this week’s latest piece if you haven’t yet: Job Hunting Sucks: Here’s What I Learned After Four Grueling Months.
Look out for these pieces up next:
How to Win the Enterprise
How Statsig Grows
Onboarding Metrics: Advanced Topics and Practice
I think you’re going to love what we have coming up,
Aakash
The Product Management Job Search in 2024: How to Win, with Shravan Tickoo, Former Byju's, Bhanzu PM Leader