Ankush Jhawar

👇🏼 After completed 3 months in #VC at Inovo.vc, here are my learnings comparing to what I learned 8 years as operator in startups: 1. Founders care what you can do for them, what you can take on your shoulders and deliver or where you can add "mystical" value by doing. Talking is overrated - pure advisory without actions or next step is just "another talking head" that they will probably disregard. Every 2nd person tries to sell them their "advisory". 2. I heard a lot of senior and exec people that they can do partial FTE, fractional and "advisor" work. I though before it can work but if you are not top 1% in that area of expertise than I'm sorry no one will care, no one will want it. 99% including me are not there to deliver value in such a setup. 3. Working at VC is like being in very early stage startup, everything needs to be lean and leveraged to absolute max. You have limited resources, you need to act quickly, everything can change overnight and there is a constant battle of impact vs feasibility. It is just taken to radically absurd level of agency as you work with Founders, who are brilliant minds with literally absurdly high expectations (they want to achieve what few tried, less succeeded..) . If you ever reported to CEO or Founder -> it's like that just every single project, interaction etc. 😂 Fun, thrilling and freighting at the same time!

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After many years in product I finally decided to take my first, and probably last, "PM course": Shreyas Doshi's Product Sense course: https://lnkd.in/g6Gm9YzU Why my last? I don't think I'll ever need to take another course after this. He asked our honest take, so here's mine: The premise of a PM course always felt ironic to me because doing product in theory is never *remotely close* to doing product in practice. Well, this is finally the course that is built for, and built by, product in practice. Name a product concept that you've banged your head against the wall trying to put into practice (I'll name a few: Product Sense, Product Strategy, Product Vision). You've already read 5 books, 10 medium articles, and listened to 12 podcasts, and still feel like doing it yourself is like grabbing water. Every one of those concepts (and more) has finally been decomposed, distilled, and packaged into something that can compare to working directly with a world-class product leader yourself. Do yourself a favor and take this course, there is nothing remotely close to it that I'm aware of in existence. Also: you will laugh - guarantee you'll experience at least 1 moment of catharsis as Shreyas Doshi skewers some aspect of the tech industry and our experience as product people within it.

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#ProductManagement Interview Learnings #3 Culture Fitment: Probably the most difficult part of any interview process is to understand whether this company aligns with the values that I feel strong about to grow in my career. The same goes for the interviewer, it is super difficult to understand for the interviewer as well if your values align with the values & traits of people who have succeeded at this company A relatively easier proxy here is Growth Mindset: How keen I am to learn new ways and adapt if they energise me positively. As an interviewer, I try to understand what are the kind of mistakes/ presumptions you are aware of, that you made and then went on to correct them. E.g. A mistake realisation around doing things on my own and not getting my peers involved to take their perspective which could have enabled the team to a better outcome indicates that this person realised the importance of collaboration - which is generally a must have in any culture but even more important where decentralisation of decision-making is higher.

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fam, i'm looking for a new role in product marketing/ops! i like to work in the intersection of design x product x ops and • tell good stories • have good taste in design • can take ideas from zero to one over weekends • have built teams • have spoken to atleast one customer a day in all my prev roles • can make pretty decks or prototypes and functional mvps instead of those ;) • bring customer-obsession to the culture • teach no-code to the teams and increase net output and efficiency ( big words) i have: • built websites for pocket money since 11 • done a chaotic mixtape of irl/internet hustles ~ sold tees with cute cats on them, to insurance and filter coffee • built, scaled and sold a design and smma agency at 15 • sold multiple weekend side-projects • worked as an ea, customer support, founder, product lead, ux designer, automations guy, i know my way around startup land. • have worked as a ui designer for companies like johnson & johnson • worked on the gtm & pmf hunting on multiple startups & made a few work • spoken at a few events, advocated for more non-technical founders to bet on their ideas • built & monetised communities to 2000+ members • worked with founders on their mvps whilst raising investment (3/6 did!) • organically built and ran cohorts/bootcamps with two universities to teach no-code x ai • written market reports for a venture studio that was adopted as a standard part of the process for each idea. • shipped something every week at work consistently for over 16 months and a few more less brag worthy things if you know someone’s that hiring or if you’re hiring, would love to connect! would have extra love for no-code & creator econ companies ;)

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Struggling to break into product management or transition into different PM roles? After last week’s post, I received a lot of questions. This month’s FAQ answers some of the most common ones to help you navigate today’s competitive market. In this month’s FAQ, I cover: ✅ How to transition from enterprise to consumer PM roles ✅ How to compete with more experienced PMs ✅ The importance of learning AI (and why just taking courses isn’t enough) ✅ What work-life balance in tech really looks like ✅ Whether learning design is necessary for PMs Key takeaways: 1️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐌 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. It’s unlikely to happen in a single step. You need to work toward gaining relevant experience to bridge the gap. 2️⃣ 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. Competing with someone who has more years of experience? The key is applying for roles where your experience is highly relevant, even if they have more years under their belt. 3️⃣ 𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭-𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥. But companies are looking for actual experience, not just an understanding from online courses. 4️⃣ 𝐖𝐋𝐁 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭. Work-life balance in tech varies greatly, but efficiency and time management can make a huge difference in improving it. 5️⃣ 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐬. As a PM, knowing enough about design to work well with your design team can improve your product sense and collaboration. 📨 Link to the full post and newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gxcg6mxt If this resonates with you, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 to help others who are navigating these same challenges. #productmanagement #productmanager #jobsearch #techcareers

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The downfall of big ed-tech has sparked a lot of talk that "there is no tech left in ed-tech." At GrowthSchool, we’re changing the game. While others go for aggressive sales, we’re all about being product-centric and tech-driven. Our mission? To redefine ed-tech. We focus on advanced AI, personalised learning, and interactive content to transform education. Case in Point: We recently rolled out a new Learning Management System (LMS) in just a month—a process that used to take a quarter. Our tech team’s intense hustle led to an on-time launch with nearly zero customer support issues. Now, we're integrating AI into our LMS, which will unlock endless possibilities. Every time I hear "there is no tech left in ed-tech," it fuels my belief that GrowthSchool is here to build a tech innovation legacy in education. To make this happen, we need world-class engineers! We have several positions open. Join us and help shape the future of education technology. 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐢𝐫𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐬! Here are the open positions: - 𝐒𝐃𝐄𝐓 𝐈𝐈 (𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫): https://lnkd.in/gKsDwVHh - 𝐒𝐃𝐄 𝐈𝐈 (𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫): https://lnkd.in/gW74k-QQ - 𝐒𝐃𝐄 𝐈𝐈 (𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫): https://lnkd.in/gHkmrMR7 - 𝐒𝐃𝐄 𝐈𝐈 (𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫): https://lnkd.in/gHia9NxW - 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫: https://lnkd.in/gGjthaBM Non-Tech roles - 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡𝐎𝐩𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫: https://lnkd.in/gSbtrJic - 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐭: https://lnkd.in/gMEeisxu - 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫: https://lnkd.in/gPi9qjgD - 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: https://lnkd.in/gT_psnVH - 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐑𝐁𝐏: https://lnkd.in/gfAcZKmt - 𝐕𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫: https://lnkd.in/gjpAXkPz Join us to be part of a team that's driving innovation in EdTech! #hiring #hiringalert #bangalore #edtech #engineering

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The Ken has an empathetic article on the role of PMs in India. Highly recommended weekend read. However, I think the article goes beyond just empathy and romanticizes the role of a PM. For two reasons: 1. PMs must deliver measurable outcomes and healthy ROI. As must sales, finance, and operations folks. It’s foolish to assume that there is space in this hypercompetitive world for romanticizing Jobsian visions of the next iWhatever. 2. Almost all tech product companies in India are a copy of something that has worked in developed markets. The PMs job is to contextualize and optimize it for the Indian customer, regulations, and operating environment. A Product Marketer role, oversold as a Product Manager role. Two things we need to change: (1) Set realistic expectations with new hires. Don’t over-promise the role just to hire a rockstar. She’ll leave in a year’s time, and you’re back to square zero. (2) as PMs be prepared to do the hard grind in the initial years to figure out whether this is really for you. The Ken Praveen Gopal Krishnan Rohin Dharmakumar #productmanagement #productmarketing #expectations #careerchoices #careerpaths #metrics #ROI #stevejobs #reality

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I spent a part of the last weekend talking to some PM aspirants and conducting a few mock interviews. Several folks are worried about what to read and how to prep for PM interviews. Every day there seems to be a new question and a new framework on the internet - it can be tough to play catch up. IMHO, you need only the below resources to crack 99.9% of the toughest PM interviews. The rest 0.1% can sometimes be influenced by factors outside of your control and even Dettol does well to not worry too much about that. #productmanagement #productmanagementinterviews

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Let's flip this and see how it looks. Here are 3 reasons why hiring explicitly for 'Domain Expertise' is stifling your business. 𝟭. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗮 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄. Sales cycles are longer, buyers are more reticent, and there's a need from everyone to see a quick path to ROI. That's also true for hiring. 3 months to ramp on industry feels like 3 months too many, but waiting an extra 3 months for the 'unicorn' doesn't actually save you time, nor does that domain experience guarantee someone's performance will meet or exceed expectations after the first year. 𝟮. 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝗼𝗹 and waste time unicorn hunting. There's plenty of talent out there, and the business cost of "being safer to wait and look for a unicorn" is that jobs remain open longer, problems go unsolved, and impact to existing team members is measurable but typically unconsidered. Being safer ≠ better hiring outcomes. 𝟯. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗜. The introduction of LLMs, in combination with the economy taking a dive, created the environment for domain expertise to be a gap more quickly closed by AI. Employees don't need to go talk to people (doubling the time-cost to get questions answered) to learn, they can just ask an AI focused questions to learn.

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Visa is hiring a Product Manager. 💡 What you’ll do: → Drive innovative B2B product solutions, ensuring seamless UI/UX that meets evolving client needs. → Collaborate with cross-functional teams—design, research, tech, and business—to deliver exceptional product experiences. → Lead end-to-end product development, from ideation to launch, growth, and enhancement. → Gather and analyze customer feedback to prioritize features and maintain a robust product roadmap. → Champion user-centric design principles to enhance Visa's commercial product suite. → Work in an agile environment, delivering engaging user stories and managing the product lifecycle. → Partner with global teams across time zones to drive adoption, retention, and revenue growth. 💼 About you: If you’re someone with a strong background in experiential design, payments, and product management—and thrive in high-growth environments—this could be your moment to shine! For this and more such Product opportunities delivered directly to your inbox, subscribe to Zortd Newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/e2kXqtbG _______________________________________ 🚨 Struggling to showcase your PM skills without a portfolio? You're missing out on big opportunities! 😱 What if I told you it takes less than 5 minutes to create one? 🕒💨 That’s exactly why we created Designfolio! 🚀 Launch your portfolio now 👉 www(.)designfolio(.)me (Link in the first comment) ✨ Tag your Product Manager friends and help them get started too! Let’s make building portfolios simple and accessible for everyone. ♻️ (P.S. I’m not connected with any companies or their hiring processes—just sharing amazing job opportunities I came across. Don’t miss out, go for it!)

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I reviewed over 100 PM resumes in the last couple of days and was surprised by the basic mistakes applicants are still making. Today’s job market is extremely tough. Job openings receive 3x as many applicants, many of whom are “overqualified.” These mistakes are very expensive for job-seekers. ❌ 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 1 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞: Unless you have over 15 years of relevant experience, keep your resume to one page. It’s okay to leave out roles like a college TA or your first job. ❌ 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: Keep it simple. Avoid using colored backgrounds, multiple pictures, or different fonts. ❌ 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭: The scale matters. 30% user growth in 3 months after college looks like BS. 30% of what? If you have 10 users and gain 3 more, that’s 30%. On a platform like LinkedIn with 1B users, even a 0.1% growth is a massive achievement. ❌ 𝐀𝐈, 𝐀𝐈, 𝐀𝐈: 80% of the resumes I reviewed mentioned AI multiple times. You don’t need to focus on AI to get a job; overusing will make you look bad. ❌ 𝐓𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭: You don't need a summary of qualifications + executive profile + areas of expertise. What other common mistakes have you seen? Share in the comments so we can help job-seekers avoid these costly mistakes. #jobsearch #productmanagement #techjob #resume

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In my 13 years of experience in Product Management, working across startups and global MNCs, I have found that one of the most crucial skills in our field is the ability to communicate ideas clearly and structurally. Whether it’s presenting a new product idea, aligning cross-functional teams, or gathering feedback from users, how we articulate our thoughts can make all the difference. I would love to hear your thoughts. What skills do you find essential in Product Management? #ProductManagement #CommunicationSkills #Leadership #Collaboration #GrowthMindset

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Most product interview frameworks focus primarily on one stakeholder: the users. However, in reality, you must balance three stakeholders: users, hippos (highly paid and opinionated stakeholders), and your internal teams. It's all about trade-offs. While asking clarifying questions about the user is important, it’s equally critical to inquire about the tech infrastructure, budget (capex), and the founder's long-term vision. For example, if you're asked to design a product from scratch, key questions include: - What is the budget? - What is the founder trying to achieve long-term? - What tech infrastructure do we have? Let’s say the interviewer tells you the founder wants explosive user growth with minimal investment and limited tech infrastructure. In this case, you know that this combination isn’t realistic. The trade-off you might make is focusing on monetization-led user growth: identifying the most monetizable user segment that requires the least investment and focusing on aggressive growth in that area. This is a trade-off that you’ll need to explain to the hippos in real life. Instead of just saying what you would do, emphasize how your approach will impact top-line revenue and reduce customer acquisition cost (CAC). In practice, everyone wants results with minimal investment and infrastructure. As a product manager, you’ll need to figure out how to make that happen despite the constraints. So, practice solving problems with multiple constraints, and see how you can work your way around them. The next time you face a product challenge, consider how you might solve the problem with seemingly impossible constraints, and learn how to navigate those challenges effectively. P.S - Some great openings I came across in the past 24 hours 1. WizCommerce is hiring an APM, PM, and SPM. Send your resume to [email protected]. 2. Qapita is looking for interns to help with growth/strategic projects in Hyderabad. Apply here: https://lnkd.in/dAxReivU 3. Freo is hiring a Product Manager. Share your CV with [email protected] if you have 2+ years of work experience in building & scaling new-age insurance products. 4. Housing.com’s EDGE Team is looking for a Product Management Intern. Submit your application here: https://lnkd.in/gBfiGE95 5. CARS24 is offering an Internship Opportunity for a Program Management Intern. Apply here: https://lnkd.in/gxk4UmCJ 6. Wokelo AI is hiring a full-time Product Manager. Apply here: https://lnkd.in/digrSGzq

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If you know any hiring manager or any headhunter who is hiring in the product management space please tag him/her here or drop his/her email. Also if you know if a particular team in your company is hiring, request you to share the info. Nobody clearly says this but plain referral is probably dead. It can benefit a lot of people. Jaankari sab ke paas kuch na kuch hote hai but deta koi nahi 😁 Earn some good karma by sharing your 'insider info'. 😊 #product #hiring #interviews #productmanagement #productmanager #productmanagers

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Product Ops Salary Survey 2024 💰 In the past 3 weeks I have been asked several times but different professionals about salaries in Product Ops - at different levels, in different sectors and in different cities. While I have been able to give my thoughts based on experiences, extensive job hunting this year and how it relates to the more popular Product Manager role, I wanted to do more. So yes, this is another one of those... a Salary Survey - but specifically to the fledgling Product Operations role. Please take a moment to complete this survey if you are a Product Ops professional, or have been in role in the past 12 months. Alongside the salary I am hoping to benchmark against business size, sector, level of role and city/ country. I want to get real-world data to use as a framework for salaries at all levels for the role, supporting job seekers and hiring managers alike. Results and analysis will be shared soon on Practical Product Ops

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PRD templates don't work. In all my jobs but this one I foolishly tried to push a PRD template with my team. But PMs will naturally adapt their approach to effectively communicate the opportunity and requirements. There was always an annoying rule-breaker who proceeded to deviate away from the template, and that rule-breaker was me. Instead of rigid templates, I now focus on requirements for the requirements. Is the problem statement specific? What input metric are we moving, and what are we controlling for? Have we made explicit the tradeoffs of potential solutions? Are we clear about our assumptions? What's the minimum we can build to validate our hypotheses? What risks and dependencies might we face? What are your termination criteria? #productmanagement

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Influence the next big update: Join our product team! #hiring 1. Associate Product Manager (0-2 years of PM experience) 2. Product Manager (2-6 years of PM experience) 3. Product Head (6+ years of PM experience) How to Apply: Download the Hood App and check it end-to-end as a user. Based on your experience with the app, suggest 3 things you like about the product, and suggest 3 changes to be done (can include new feature to launch as well), in order to increase the stickiness of users on Hood. Email [email protected] Why Participate? Your ideas can directly influence the next big update and improve the daily experiences of thousands of users. Plus, it’s a stellar way to showcase your skills and possibly join our dynamic team!

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The market for talent right now is very competitive. Despite the very high number of inbound applicants, I'm convinced that outbound is better than inbound for recruiting experienced engineers because volume drives choice and leads to better hires. Here's some stats on outbound for a recent engineering role at Uthana: Candidates contacted: 790 Candidate responses: 42 Passed email screen: 16 Passed cofounder video screen: 7 Passed cofounder tech interview: 4 Passed team tech interviews: 2 Offers made: 1 Offers accepted: 1 We did have inbound candidates apply as well, but only 1 out of 100 met the email screen standards we had. I would have needed 1600 applications to get the same volume of quality candidates. (Inbound is important too, don't skip investing in it.) Step 1 to running this playbook is getting sourcing help. I used Wellfound, and there are others out there as well. It costs $$, however I consider it money well spent. What are others seeing in their inbound and outbound recruiting?

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Seasoned and aspiring product managers looking for insights into the product manager job roles and their salary ranges across cities, gender, company size, and experiences are put together in this report. I would say this report is close to real and have not seen any report closer to this. Highly encourage PMs to look at this report for career insights and their prospects. https://lnkd.in/gpSzPMDN #ProductManagersSalary #AspiringProductManagers #2024PMSalaryTrends

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