Wants to make a jump from developer to product manager?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=638008

by darwinw • 17 years ago

1 3 17 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

A buddy of mine who is a software developer for 7 years wants to make a jump into a product manager. I don't know what kind of advice I need to give him, whether he should go for it or not. He has a solid technical skills but he also expresses his interest brainstorming product ideas and coming up with new features at times (mostly he wants to be more involved in the product lifecycle from end to end).

So I want to ask the collective knowledge of HN to see whether he should try it out or not. (i haven't had time to research what's a job description for product manager anyway) anyone wants to share his/her opinions?

pedalpete• 17 years ago

I love this part of your question, should he 'try it or not?'

I have to ask, why would he not? You said he's already a good programmer, has lots to add, he wants to be more involved, so I'd say, yes he should try it.

It isn't as if he is going to loose his programming skills. I actually think that depending on the structure of the project/company he is working with, a product manager who is also a great programmer can have a very positive effect on managing less experienced programmers.

If he finds he isn't very good at it, or doesn't like it, is there anything stopping him from going back to being a programmer?

When posed with a 'should I or shouldn't I' question, my default is always yes, unless I can come up with a good reason not to do it!

RKlophaus• 17 years ago

I'm three months into a product management gig. Interesting so far, learning many good skills. I'd recommend it, especially if your buddy can find a way to take the 3-day training course by Pragmatic Marketing (try to have Steve Johnson as your instructor). I've never been a fan of training (I learn better out of books) but this one is good.

The way I've been describing product management to fellow HN readers is thusly:

We're all familiar with "Build something people want." Most tech folks focus 90% of their energy developing skills around the "build" part of that sentence. (How many languages do you really need to know?)

Product management is a skillset for figuring out the rest of the sentence. What is "something?" Who are the "people" and what do they "want?" (And how badly do they want it?

The thing that your buddy should realize is that product management isn't about brainstorming new ideas. That's R&D.

Product management is about identifying your market, interviewing and surveying your buyers and your users; recognizing a pattern to their problems, devising a solution that delights them, writing the requirements, rinse, repeat. When practiced well, it should all be driven by market data.

It _is_ a great way to experience a different part of the product lifecycle.

Hope that was helpful.

product_manager• 17 years ago

To get a good overview of Product Management, read Steve Johnson's e-book, The Strategic Role of Product Management at http://www.pragmaticmarketing.com/srpm

Wants to make a jump from developer to product manager?

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