Product Management Unpacked

MAY 27, 2021

After nine years working as a systems engineer, applications engineer, software engineer and finally, a lead data engineer, Debashish Sasmal was ready for his next strategic move. “I’d worked for a startup in Hyderabad, India where everyone had to wear different hats,“ recalls Debashish. “I realized that I wanted to expand my focus into product management.”.

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Product Management Unpacked

MAY 19, 2021

“The manager who comes up with the right solution to the wrong problem is more dangerous than the manager who comes up with the wrong solution to the right problem” – Peter Drucker. Nobody wants their product to be received as a source of frustration. Still, we see it all the time. Look around. There is almost certainly a product within arm’s reach that isn’t designed to fit your needs.

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Product Management Unpacked

APRIL 16, 2021

Career need a kickstart? Imagine a future with impact! 9:00 p.m. on Sunday night… Dread sets in… It’s the sensation of knowing tomorrow will feel like the past 99 Mondays. You’ll sign in, then zombie-walk through a day of routine engineering tasks to patch old patches as everyone around sprints to meet a product ship date that only matters to your boss’s boss.

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Product Management Unpacked

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

A recent report by Pendo.io finds interesting differences between how B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) product managers approach product management, especially as it relates to customer research. Understanding, championing and prioritizing customer needs and wants is critical to a product manager’s role. Traditionally, B2C companies have been perceived as more adept at putting their customers first, and as a result, are often seen as more customer-centric.

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Product Management Unpacked

AUGUST 28, 2020

Discover what's behind this year's outstanding cohort.

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Product Management Unpacked

AUGUST 21, 2020

Companies of all sizes across industries are looking to hire product managers. With this in mind, company culture, resources and the specific demands of different roles probably play a big part in your decision to take a product management position at a company. While there is a key set of skills that every great product manager has, each specific role comes with its own demands, challenges and priorities.

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Product Management Unpacked

JULY 16, 2020

Just a few months ago, CMU MS in Product Management Program celebrated a very special day – 05/13/31. It was on this day, 89 years ago that Procter & Gamble promotions executive Neil H. McElroy wrote a memorandum that gave birth to the field of Product Management. MSPM, the first degree program to focus exclusively on building better product managers, struck ten “51331” commemorative coins and sent them to industry leaders who represent the best of what’s happening in our f

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Product Management Unpacked

JULY 9, 2020

Pendo’s chief product officer shares his take on product management leadership. “If software is leading the world, then product managers are the modern-day businessmen and women,” says Brian Crofts, Chief Product Officer (CPO) at Pendo. Pendo offers a platform of tools that allows product managers to make their products better —whether they are at the beginning of their product roadmap deciding what to build or want to validate the direction for how their product evolves.

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Product Management Unpacked

JUNE 23, 2020

A look into cloud-based technology product management and what it takes to build products that customers value. “The paramount role of a product manager is to understand markets and empathize with consumer needs,” says Corey Grone, senior product manager of cloud data protection at iland Cloud. Grone manages a suite of products that fall under BaaS (Backup as a Service) and DRaaS (Disaster Recovery as a Service) portfolios.

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Product Management Unpacked

MAY 26, 2020

A look into healthcare product management in the time of Coronavirus. Ever wonder what it’s like to be a product manager for a leading healthcare provider and insurer in the middle of a world health pandemic? Meet Claire Marcus, senior product manager at UPMC Health Plan. Claire is helping to manage a product that’s playing a critical role in Western Pennsylvania’s healthcare system.

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Product Management Unpacked

MAY 13, 2020

Today is no ordinary Wednesday. It’s May 13th. It was on this day in 1931 that the field of product management was born – its birth marked by an internal memorandum written by Neil H. McElroy, manager of Proctor and Gamble’s Promotion department. In his memo, Mr. McElroy proposed how P&G brands could be managed more effectively by creating a new management role for people who would be accountable for particular products, rather than business functions.

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Product Management Unpacked

APRIL 27, 2020

We are in an economic crisis. They happen every so often. In business, sometimes we call them recessions. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Business Cycle Dating Committee, the group entrusted to call the start and end dates of a recession, defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months.” There have been as many as 47 recessions in the history of the United States. n my career alone, I have

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Product Management Unpacked

APRIL 3, 2020

Everyone is now learning about remote work: how to do it, what not to do, and the pros and cons of working from home for different jobs. According to a Gartner report “How to Cultivate Effective ‘Remote Work’ Programs Refreshed 14 May 2019, Published 16 January 2018,” three of the four key challenges are: Mutual lack of trust undermines good remote work intentions.

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Product Management Unpacked

MARCH 26, 2020

According to a Brookings Institution report , “Automation and Artificial Intelligence: How machines are affecting people and places,” roughly 25 percent of U.S. jobs are at a high risk of automation. Among the most vulnerable jobs are those with routine physical and cognitive tasks such as office administration, production, transportation and food preparation.

Data Visualization 186

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Product Management Unpacked

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

Product managers are in high demand across the globe. With a Master’s in Product Management degree, you’re poised to take on the top positions in emerging global tech hubs of your choosing. Discover your own product adventure.

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Product Management Unpacked

AUGUST 15, 2019

Greg Coticchia, the executive director of Carnegie Mellon University’s new Master of Science in Product Management program, was recently a guest on The Pitchwerks Podcast , a weekly audio show hosted by Scot MacTaggart that talks about sales, marketing and startups. During the show, the dynamic duo discusses some of the nuances related to a career in product management including why leading by trust is critical for being a great product manager.

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Product Management Unpacked

JULY 25, 2019

Exploring how to become a Product Manager? Undoubtedly, you’ve concluded that you’ll be in high demand. You’re right. The role of Product Manager is one of the top ten hardest-to-fill jobs across the entire information technology sector, which makes them among the highest paid too. The role is both strategic and tactical, and requires a unique combination of business acumen, technical smarts and emotional intelligence.

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Product Management Unpacked

JULY 11, 2019

Digital transformation impacts almost everything, so the demand for product management continues to increase – every day. When I started in product management in the mid-1980s, most product managers were hired to work in traditional B2C businesses, which is where the idea of product management originated. Modern product management started in 1931 with a memo written by Neil H.

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Product Management Unpacked

JUNE 14, 2019

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Product Management Unpacked

MAY 17, 2019

Landing a job in product management requires specialized learning, real-world experience and one year of your time. The role of product manager is one of the top 10 hardest-to-fill jobs in the entire information technology sector, so expect to be well compensated for your effort.

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Product Management Unpacked

APRIL 25, 2019

Early success in your role as a new product leader is essential to establishing the foundation for long-term results. For any new product leader, the first 100 days are vital. During this period, people form their views about the person you are – your priorities, values and style (Kourdi & Edwards). This is where you need to establish yourself, your leadership style and your presence.

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Banking Feedback Software Weak Development Team Customer Feedback 148

Product Management Unpacked

APRIL 10, 2019

If you’re reading this, you’re exploring how to become a Product Manager and you’ve undoubtedly concluded that you will be in high demand. You’re right. The role of Product Manager is in the top 10 hardest-to-fill jobs across the entire information technology sector, which makes them among the highest paid, too. So why aren’t there more good Product Managers?

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Product Management Unpacked

MARCH 26, 2019

A constant in business today is the speed and scope of change. Businesses encounter disruption more frequently than ever. In some cases, disruption can be attributed to innovation. But disruption also arises from specific external forces: market-defining technology changes, regulatory changes, new competitors with different business models and more.

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Product Management Unpacked

JUNE 19, 2018

Product managers are made not born. If you’re thinking about how you might become a product manager, start by asking yourself these five questions first: For more information visit ms-product-management.cmu.edu.

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Product Management Unpacked

JULY 19, 2018

I wasn’t supposed to end up here in my career. Seriously. I am, as they say in academic circles, “from ‘industry.” I don’t have a Ph.D. I never aspired to be a researcher. And while I have taught for more than a decade at the graduate level, I was never part of the academic ecosystem. I was an outsider; I like to think I still am. I have led or been a major contributor to two of the most successful software companies in the world.

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Product Management Unpacked

AUGUST 8, 2018

Recently a CEO asked me if the marketing department should include product management and marketing communications. His concern was that internet/digital marketing had become so complex and such a huge task that having the responsibility of both marketing communications and product management would be difficult. It’s a good concern and a great question, one that underscores that the product management function has matured and become more essential, and as he pointed out, the internet has made bo

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Product Management Unpacked

AUGUST 10, 2018

To become a great Product Manager, takes a lot of skills — business acumen, technical smarts and emotional intelligence. Many parts will go into your making. Once you put them all together in just the right way, you’ll be highly valued and very well rewarded. For more information visit ms-product-management.cmu.edu.

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Product Management Unpacked

AUGUST 17, 2018

People often describe a product manager as “CEO of the Product.” This sounds appealing, but the reality is that product managers don’t have a CEO’s level of authority over everyone who contributes to making a product successful. Being a product manager is actually more of a high-wire act — managing multiple disciplines and personalities — so you will need a cool head and a chill disposition.

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Product Management Unpacked

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

I sat in a meeting about business strategy recently and one of the pieces of advice I gave the leadership team was that strategy was a lot about deciding what we were not going to do – what we were going to say ‘no’ to. It was actually funny because I said it almost without thinking about it. For me, after nearly three decades of helping employers and as a consultant helping companies on product strategy and strategic issues of all kinds, the ability to focus – and decide what not to do – is ess

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Product Management Unpacked

OCTOBER 25, 2018

In reality, there are already too many ideas. Maybe even too many big ideas. That’s the bad news. Here’s the good news: as consumers and businesses, we have an endless number of problems. Some are big problems. And usually big problems need ideas of all sizes in order to find the right solution. A key to success in a startup: focus on getting out of the building (thanks, Steve Blank!

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Product Management Unpacked

JANUARY 28, 2019

“Growing up in the 1970’s, I watched The Bionic Woman and Charlie’s Angels. They became my female role models and heroines – strong, intelligent problem-solvers who used their feminine skills to their advantage,” says Kate Hare, Chief Product Officer at Photobucket, to Women 2.0 , a media and tech industry leader in gender equality. Today, young women aspiring to launch into Product Management roles have more than fictional heroines to look up to.

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Product Management Unpacked

MARCH 5, 2019

There are many methodologies for feature prioritization in product management. If you are a product manager dealing with this, beware that one size doesn’t fit all. Choosing the right feature for the stage of development your product is in can unlock enhanced market performance. . Product feature prioritization is one of the most difficult parts of a product manager’s job.

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Product Management Unpacked

MARCH 12, 2019

Marty Cagan, founder of the Silicon Valley Product Group , delivered the opening keynote to the 2016 Mind the Product Conference. His keynote, “Behind Every Great Product,” highlights professionals involved in some of the most iconic technology products of our time, including Netflix, iTunes and Word for Mac. All six of the examples he uses are women in product management.

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