Slav Stankov

My biggest fear as a product manager are Friday afternoon code deployments. 😄 Kidding (but really, please don’t). My actual biggest fear is that I’m not driving the value my teams and customers need from me. 🔗 As product managers, our job is to drive value for our product’s teams and customers. We aren’t necessarily the people who deliver the tangible results that our peers and customers see – a lot of what we do is traditionally “behind the scenes” work. It makes sense, product management is often seen as the bridge between business and technology, customers and solutions, etc. 💡 That’s where a lot of my fear comes from. I’ve felt it the first day I served as a product manager, I still feel it over a decade later even with a list of achievements saying otherwise. But fortunately, I’ve had the opportunity to work with coaches and mentors in the product space, each of which assure me that the feeling is normal. I recently had a conversation with a product manager from the MAANG space; several more years of experience than I and an even longer list of achievements. He, too, still holds a fear that he may not be driving value. But, he counters that fear with a few affirmations like these: “I am the reason my developers know what to build and why it matters.” “I am the reason my marketing and sales teams know who the product is for and how to engage them.” “I am the reason my product is solving a problem that people in my space want to solve in the first place.” 💭 Today, I still use affirmations to overcome my fears. They remind me that fear is “False Evidence Appearing Real.” What are you most afraid of as a product manager? How do you face your fear and overcome it? #productmanagement #productmanagers #impostersyndrome #fear #affirmations

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I am increasingly worried that instead of addressing systemic challenges we're choosing to direct our ire on personas (e.g., zero-interest PMs). I understand Casey Winters's statement (and have spoken with him about it), and I understand Ed Biden's sentiment. But... Someone hired those PMs. Someone funded those companies. Someone set expectations for those PMs. A leader benefitted (or didn't from their work). Someone had the job to mentor those PMs, and share business context and the strategy (assuming one even existed). Zero-interest rates impacted their companies, and may have in turn set expectations for their roles. This makes it about the PMs vs. the perverse incentives in companies during zero interest rates. Also creeping into these descriptions are character judgements on individuals ("Don't feel accountable"). Do we really believe there is some epidemic of people who don't feel accountable vs. environments where accountability is increasingly unsafe, unhealthy, or otherwise? These statements are giving a get-out-of-jail card to people presiding over (and shaping) these environments.

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How much do Product Managers, Senior Product Managers, Lead Product Managers, and Principal Product Managers get paid in the USA? I get asked this type of question multiple times a day! I've spoken with thousands and thousands of Product Managers and Product Leaders across the USA over the years and have compiled the salary ranges for IC Product Management positions to help try and answer this question. These salary ranges represent what the majority of Product Managers make at their respective level. In addition to this, here are some themes I've noticed that are worth considering when reviewing these figures: 🤔 Early-stage companies may offer lower salaries but offer greater equity to bump up the overall compensation on offer to the candidate. 🤔 Companies hiring in big cities/tech hubs on hybrid or in-office policies tend to pay higher salaries. 🤔 "Specialized" PMs generally command higher salaries than generalists (e.g. Growth/Platform/GTM PMs). 🤔 Some industries pay more than others (e.g. FinTech vs EdTech) 🤔 Base salary is only one part of the compensation package and bonus + equity/options can significantly change the overall compensation on offer If companies want to attract and retain the right person for the job, they have to be aware of what the competition is paying for talent. I'm seeing some companies go to market for positions like Senior Product Manager and offer a salary of $120k. No one at this level is going to move for a below-market rate salary and if they do find someone, it will be a stop-gap job for them until they find something that pays them fairly. Companies paying within the salary ranges (or above) I've provided will be snapping up the best talent. Talented Product pros won't move jobs for below-average pay or a below-average opportunity, no matter how competitive the marketplace might be. Fair pay and compensation are not only a benefit to the employee, but it also helps the company improve staff retention (it makes them feel valued) and consistency which drives productivity and output ($$$). Everyone is a winner when compensation is balanced and fair! #hiring #recruitment #productmanagement

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I read Lenny Rachitsky post about the state of Product Management hiring trends. He shows in the data that the product role has leveled off (or just slightly declined), but my observations tell a much different story. I speak weekly (at least for the past 12 months) with PMs who have been job hunting for many months and have a hard time even getting call backs let alone interviews. I hear from recruiters that open positions for PM roles (and many roles for that matter) are flooded with qualified applicants. In 2021 and early 2022 when I was aggressively hiring for PM roles (and designer roles), There weren't a lot of great candidates or applicants, and I rarely heard of any looking for a job for long. The job boards I watch were constantly posting new jobs in the past five years. Now I see maybe 1-2 a month. Maybe the leveling off is more of a case that there are more entrants than jobs? Is my perception of what a plateau looks like off? Maybe 6-12 months to find a job is normal? I'm curious, does the data seem off to you too? What am I not seeing? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments!

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Do your experiments take weeks to collect enough data before you can evaluate the results? The key to faster testing cycles is to uncover hidden assumptions and test those. Come learn how: https://buff.ly/3gAhF2c #prodmgmt #ux #engineering

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🚫 Product Discovery Isn’t the Destination 🚫 Here’s a hard truth: Product discovery is not the final goal. Yet, I've seen teams fall into the trap of treating it like it is. 🤔 When a team tells me that their only deliverable for the sprint or even the quarter is a discovery document, my alarm bells start ringing. 🔔 Discovery is important, but it's just one piece of the puzzle. It’s not the solution we're offering to our customers. We’re not in the business of selling documents or ideas; we’re here to solve real problems. 📄❌ ⭕ Why This Mindset is a Problem: 1 - False Sense of Progress: A discovery document might look impressive, but if it’s the only output, what have we actually delivered? Customers can’t use it, and it doesn’t solve their problems. 2 - Unrealistic Expectations: Documents can create hopes, but without tangible results, they risk creating false expectations. If we spend months in discovery without delivering value, we’re missing the mark. 📉 3 - Delayed Value: Customers deserve concrete value, not just promises of what might come. Teams should be shipping features, not just ideas. 🛳️ ✅ What Teams Should Focus On: 1 - Deliver Concrete Value: Every sprint or iteration should produce something that users can see, touch, or benefit from. It could be a feature, an improvement, or a bug fix—something that adds real value. 🚀 2 - Balance Discovery and Delivery: Discovery should inform your roadmap, not become it. Use insights to guide decisions but prioritize delivering solutions that customers can experience. 3 - Set Realistic Milestones: Break down discovery into actionable steps that align with delivery goals. Make sure each step moves you closer to a tangible outcome. 🎯 The Bottom Line: Discovery is just the beginning. If it's your team's only output for the quarter, you're doing it wrong. Let’s focus on delivering real, impactful solutions—not just dreams. What do you think? How do you balance discovery and delivery in your teams? Let’s discuss below! 👇 #ProductManagement #Discovery #Delivery #Leadership #CustomerValue #Innovation

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Do you fear that the "Product Manager" position you are applying for may not be what it is labeled to be? Here are my 6 red flags that would prevent me from applying. The 4th one is really crushing: 1) "You will lead the development team" While this is not a red flag, it can force you into at least asking what this leading implies during the interview process. It can be correctly interpreted as negotiating with the dev team the right sprint goals and working together towards a better product. I can also mean an expectation of being a tech leader which a Product Manager is not. 2) "You will be responsible for timely delivery" A classic red flag showing how a company confuses product and project managers. Of course, it's not like a PM is outside a space-time continuum, but if something is not delivered on time, this should not be a PM's fault, nor competence to ensure that in the first place, scope and estimations are locked. 3) "You will choose the right technology" A more direct, negative version of point one. You can be a tech leader if you are hired as a technical product manager. Otherwise, you might find yourself being asked to do then you signed up for, It will be especially difficult without the right tech background. 4) "You will execute the roadmap provided by higher management" Already being told you have no decision power and you are basically a project manager. Being a product manager is about discovering the right solution, not delivering features that someone ordered you to create. This is another sign of project/product manager confusion. 5) "You will be delivering new features" Ok, this is a yellow flag - I'd much more deliver solutions to problems and meet company goals/OKRs rather than be closed in a limited expectation of "delivering new features". However, this might simply be an oversimplification! 6) "You will lead development, marketing, client support, (...), and others" Being a Product Manager is really challenging and takes a lot of time. You will certainly not have time to perform those other functions. This may only fly in a small, few-people start-up where everyone is all hands on deck, but even then the goal would be to grow the company and hire dedicated people for those positions. Here you go! Would you add any more red flags? What's your story of being hired for a poorly defined position? Sound off in the comments! #productmanager #productmanagers #jobsearching P.S. My course will help you break into Product Management. Enroll in my courses at www.drbartpm .com!

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What really changes on the journey from a "Product Manager" to a "Principal Product Manager?" Two things: ambiguity and scope. Let's dig in. At the product manager level, you're handed a problem and a rough solution. Your task? - Dive deep into the business and customer issues. - Polish the solution and test its viability. - Launch, measure, refine. Moving up to senior product manager, the problem is clear, but what is the solution? Not so much. Your role expands to: - Define the solution from scratch. - Drive alignment. - Execute as you did at the product manager level. At the principal level, things get murkier. The problem isn't well defined. Your mission, should you choose to accept it: - Identify the problem. - Drive alignment. - Repeat the Senior Product Manager process. - Have a point of view beyond your own scope. As you ascend the professional ladder, ambiguity becomes a fascinating and ever-present challenge, your constant companion. But here's the good news: If you can demonstrate to your manager and stakeholders your adeptness at handling any ambiguous problem of increasing scope, you can accelerate your journey to success and professional growth.

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Going from being a Senior Product Manager to being a Director of Product is painful. You might feel like an idiot 95% of the time. This is because leading a team of product managers is a radically different role from being an individual product manager. 3 ways Product Leader stay on top of their game: 1. They understand metrics in the context of being a director because their metrics will look different from those of an individual Product Manager. 2. They tie the dots between different product areas. 3. They know how to divide the scope among the different product managers they're leading.

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Even 'ex-Google' tags don't seem to cut it in the product management job market. Let's unravel the surprising reason why. 👇 I was reviewing a product leader's resume the other day. He had managed teams of up to five people and had a significant impact at various places. All seemed to be good. But he had been applying at many places and not getting much response at all. He was puzzled and said something that many clients have told me recently. "Shobhit, I thought it would be easier." Easier to get interviews, to get noticed, to get to the final rounds, to get offers. But it just isn't today. Even when you come with a pedigree as "ex-Google" or "Experienced product manager" its not easy. Hiring managers just don't want another "accomplished product leader." They want to know that you are EXACTLY the right fit for the job. That you bring accomplishments and skills that are unique to the job. This is precisely why so many product managers struggle 👉 They build generic resumes and pitches 👉 They apply to tons of places without a clear strategy 👉 They struggle to articulate why they are a good fit for the role 👉 They do endless smocks with people who have no idea how to give them the right feedback 👉 They have some success.....and then do not get past the next round 👉 They repeat the process What if what it took for you to start getting MORE offers, and even the ideal offer, was a SIMPLE tweak in the words you're using in your narrative and stories that positioned you the right way? What if you needed to upgrade the words you use in your answers so that they speak to your being the ideal candidate for the job right now? What if the real difference would be in positioning yourself by articulating clearly why you are an exact fit for that role and unique from most other candidates? What if it did get easier when you made those tweaks (as it did for Justin, who recently landed a role with a 40%+ increase by only applying to five places where he could articulate being a great fit)? 'Cause let's face it: YOU are an action taker and are applying for roles that challenge you and stretch you while others are just happy to have any job - am I right? If that's the case, here's how we can help: We invite you to a personalized strategy session. We'll delve into your career journey, assessing the highs and lows and discussing your aspirations. Together, we'll map out a strategy for your success. If our services align with your goals, we can discuss how we can help. If not, that's absolutely fine! So, let's get going and take action soon. I invite you to book a call with us. Please comment "Book" on this post to set up a session with us.

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MVP, MLP, MMP, MAP, MTP... it's all the same MVP 🎯 People keep dropping in new middle letters to try to explain how MVP doesn't cut it anymore. They're jumping over the point. V stands for Viable (I know you know that already). If your product isn't also Lovable, Marketable, Awesome, Testable, Sellable, Differentiated, Valuable, etc., then guess what - people won't find it, people won't buy it, and people won't use it. In other words - it's not Viable. So it's not that MVP isn't good enough anymore. It's that the definition of Viable has changed to encompass more that you need to consider. Tell me - What's *your* take on the explosion of MXPs? 🤔 More here: https://lnkd.in/emb5cA_b #productmanagement #startup #entrepreneurship

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Most companies struggle with Product Discovery. When we ask a given PM about their company’s approach, it’s far more common to receive blank stares than a detailed, comprehensive, intentional approach. Frankly, it’s the very success of that company that most often leads it to struggle with developing new products. The typical progression looks something like the following: • A startup runs scrappy, chaotic, mostly unstructured discovery until they nail product market fit. • At this point, they flip from explore to exploit and fully structure the growing company around maximizing value capture from the initial product - the right approach! • These systems do their job - the company continues to grow, with more personnel, more specialization, more structure accruing. • Now it’s time to launch a new product! Exciting times, and since we’ve already done this once, surely we can do it even better this time. • Remember how chaotic it was the first time around? How much flailing and uncertainty and rapid pivoting we had to do? Well we have systems and expectations and polish, let’s just apply this well-oiled approach and our new product will be even more successful! So the company decides to build the new product because it knows with high confidence what its users want. And it builds the full roadmap. And commits a whole army of resources to start building immediately, typically in two-week increments, because productive companies ship. And after six or twelve months the product is completed, the company hands it to the market and the response is...underwhelming. Where are the celebratory trumpets? Why didn’t this work as we planned when we’re so smart and have already been successful?! THE TRAP The secret that every great entrepreneur knows and promptly forgets once successful is that Product Discovery and Scaling are not only dissimilar but orthogonal. The Scaling phase values certainty and predictability and clear plans and ruthless execution. Discovery cares for none of these values - it is chaotic and unforgiving and creative.   The very strengths that make a company great at scaling most often make it ill-equipped to return to the foggy wasteland of Discovery. These are relatively distinct phases requiring differentiated tools, systems, and most importantly, MINDSETS. Product Discovery ultimately requires a deep understanding of PROBLEMS, not solutions; of PEOPLE, not technology; and most of all, of OUTCOMES over outputs. Can a company run its top-down “scaling playbook” and successfully launch new products? Yes, of course. But is this the best way to innovate? Is this the highest probability approach? Absolutely not.

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🚨 Weekend wisdom for all you brilliant product minds out there! 🚨 Product Managers, Designers, and Strategists, listen up: Whether you're **refining a roadmap** or **polishing that pixel-perfect UI**, you know the job is never just about building—it's about solving, shaping, and selling ideas that matter. What’s the one product skill you wish more people talked about? Is it **taming the backlog beast**, mastering stakeholder jiu-jitsu, or balancing innovation with sanity? Drop your answer below 👇 because we’re always hunting for the best minds to bring the next BIG thing to life. And if you’re ready to take your product career to the next level, you know where to find me. My email is [email protected]! #ProductLife #BuildGreatProducts #ProductManagement #WeekendWisdom

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If you've ever been asked why a company needs Product Management 👀 . Come join this ProdPad webinar and learn from Matt LeMay how to prove the ROI of your product work, the product team and the discipline as a whole. Useful knowledge to have these days - whether you're defending your function, fighting for more resource, or just want to feel good about yourself ☺️ Register here 👉 https://hubs.ly/Q02sws6M0  #productmanagement #productmanager

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It’s just easier to deflect and let “sh*t roll down hill”. John Cutler is right. More engaged IT team members aren’t enough to overcome systemic #culture and leadership issues. “Someone hired those PMs. Someone funded those companies. Someone set expectations for those PMs. A leader benefitted (or didn't from their work). Someone had the job to mentor those PMs, and share business context and the strategy (assuming one even existed).” #itleadership #projectleadership #projectmanagement #productleadership #productmanagement.

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Senior Product Marketing roles demand a different class of interview questions. The role involves a delicate balance of tactics and strategic thinking. Thus, questions must zero in on how well candidates understand what it takes to build go-to-market strategy and then, execute it. The attached deck has 11 questions to consider. I like these for hiring managers because they: - test creativity better than petty brainteasers. - touch on messaging and positioning. - help illustrate how candidates collaborate cross-functionally. I've added a few answer routes as well. That should guide hiring managers and candidates on what potential responses can look like. -- What PMM questions would you like to add? Which one is your favorite?

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Important : ruthless prioritization . Random inputs will generate random outcomes

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🚨 Calling Product Managers, Heads of Product, Directors of Product, VPs of Product, CPOs searching for a new role🚨 This Friday, I’m clearing my day to speak with 10 people who are: - Struggling to land their first interviews 🎯 - Not progressing past the first stages ⏳ - Feeling stuck in their job search 🛑 We'll cover: ✅ CV Review ✅ LinkedIn Review ✅ Interview preparation and guidance   ✅ Job searching tips ✅ General market advice ✅ Anything else you think could help! 👇 Comment on this post with "Yes please" or drop me a DM, and I’ll send you the link! Let’s see if we can get you more interviews over the next few weeks! 💪 #Curated #Community #Hiring

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99% of Product Managers make this mistake when solving take home product cases. Don't do this! Most candidates when they receive a product case study - their first instinct - just go on the internet and start researching. Spend hours and hours looking at similar companies or product examples from the internet, go to play store/app store reviews, go to customer support forums and try to pick up what customers are asking for and then try to map it back to the problem statement at hand. They spend lot of effort, build the deck/doc very diligently, send across the assignment & eventually get feedback that the assignment wasn't great. They wonder where did they go wrong. After all they put in so much work. ****Why does this approach not work? In fact this will never work**** The problem is you are not spending time doing a thoughtful breakdown of the problem. You need to spend lot more time in problem space before you get to solutions. The problem with internet research - you are picking up solutions & forcefully mapping it to the problem. So you may ask, Anurag all this philosophy is great how to practically apply it? Here's how- Use this open source version to follow a solid framework which will get you to assignment success Not only will this playbook help you crack take home assignments it will also help you understand how to approach hard unstructured product problems asked in interviews Follow me for ultra high quality content https://lnkd.in/gHweK_q7 AND https://lnkd.in/ggUKftFq If you liked the open source version you will also like the complete playbook containing 19 product cases https://lnkd.in/gHzyN-Xc #productdesign #product #interviewpreparation

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