No Batteries Included - Shreyas Doshi's blog

Slides from my talk at SVPMA: How to get that next PM job

Heres a presentation from a talk I gave at Silicon Valley Product Management Association's monthly event in March 2010. Hope you find it useful.

If you liked this preso and 139 slides are just not enough for you, check out an extended version of the preso on SVPMA's website (pdf). This includes 50+ additional slides that didn't make it to the main preso.

We are also hiring product managers at all levels at Google. Email me if you're interested in applying for some of the best product positions in the world.

 

Why you should always work on things that actually have engineers

 

 -Shreyas

Why Product Management shouldn't report into Marketing

-Shreyas 

 

Job Search Tip: how to find start-ups that are hiring

Many people I know are looking for a job these days and most of them are considering start-ups in their job hunt. The trouble is that it is not obvious where to find interesting start-ups that are hiring. So heres a tip - I end up sharing this tip pretty regularly in conversations with friends, so I figured I'd also blog about it:

- Go to CrunchBase - the tech company database owned by the guys at TechCrunch

- Look for the recently-funded section (link). This shows which companies have recently gone through a successful funding round, in reverse chronological order. They update the list approx once a month

- Work your way down the start-ups in this list, check out their Careers page for openings

Why does this work? 

The obvious reason is that a company that has recently obtained funding is highly likely to open new positions - one of the major reasons (and sometimes, the only reason) for a new funding round is to hire more people.

Moreover (and this is the best part), if you find a start-up you like, but it is not hiring for the position you're looking for, I suggest you apply anyway by sending email to their jobs@ list. If you really really really like the start-up, find the company's execs on LinkedIn People Search (or try their Company Search for a list of employees) and send one of them a direct message on LinkedIn. Be clear in your note that "I know you are not looking for a business development guy right now, but I am very interested in your company/product and would love to stay in touch or have a quick chat. My resume is attached." 

Why do this? 

Because, unlike large companies where recruiters are only hiring for specific positions, a start-up has the advantage of being flexible. Few things excite a CEO/VP of a start-up more than a resume from an amazing candidate - especially when things are looking upbeat (which they usually are after a new round of funding). If the CEO/VP does anticipate a need for your skill-set in the near future, it is possible that s/he will at least write back to you, even if its a "sorry, we're not looking right now, but i like what you did at XYZ Inc. do stay in touch". That is a pretty good outcome, considering that the company isn't currently hiring for the positions you're applying . 

This is from my own experience during my job search in early 2008. I hope you find this useful.

A little bit about work

Since I joined Google, many folks have asked me what product I work on. If you are one of those folks, you probably got a vague reply from me. Also, thanks to that reply, I am probably not getting invited to the next party at your house. 

So I am quite glad that we recently announced the product that I am working on (the New AdWords Interface), along with a wonderful team of PMs, engineers, designers, and several other Googlers. 

Of all the things that I find exciting about building products, the most exciting has to be when you take the product to a very large number of users and get their reaction - hence, these are exciting times..

Make Opposition Matter

Conflict magnifies and illuminates who you are. It seizes and startles you into seeing what makes you uncomfortable. It pushes your boundaries -- intellectual, emotional, and physical. Conflict, if treated properly, offers the chance to change your mind altogether.

When faced with conflict, explore the possibility that opposing forces can both be true simultaneously. Taking this perspective immediately dissolves animosity and piques curiosity. You find yourself wondering, "Whats their truth? Where is the value on their side?" When you finally give up the belief that yours is the only truth, it changes the game forever. Now you're in a position to see what new truth you can create together.

I recently came across these lines in the book Change the Way You See Everything through Asset-based Thinking (page 73 - Make Opposition Matter). These lines strongly resonated with me because they describe the attitude that I have consistently seen in the most effective product managers. When faced with conflict, these product managers:

• don't squelch their curiosity. they do try their best to understand what the other person is saying and why
• don't feel the compulsion to be right. they do feel the compulsion to do whats right, based on their new insights
• don't view the process as adversarial. they do view it as an opportunity to make their product better than they had imagined by themselves

Managing conflict is an integral part of a product manager's job description. So the next time you are facing conflict, do what effective product managers do - your users will thank you for it.

Who needs online password managers or OpenID when we have this?

Picked up this 'ultimate web solution' at the Container Store today. $8.45 solves all your password woes. I will never forget another password again.

More seriously though, from having seen numerous people use login, registration, and forgotten password flows in usability sessions, I can see how many people will actually use this. 

Now, the only remaning challenge is to remember where you have kept this diary. 

They have cologne for babies???

Found this during my recent trip to Babies R Us.

Unbelievable. Apparently others are befuddled too.

Why am I seeing this ad on Facebook?

Is it because of my mad poker skillz? ;-)

Facebook down? Hmm... This is not supposed to happen