Mind The User

A mathematical insight into how products get shipped.

I love the white board. I mean, I really love the white board. As a Product Manager, I love the part of my job that allows me to dream of a better future (with our product in it, of course) and then watch it all come true.

I always thought that fast growth would mean faster product development. I’ve worked at Google, TellApart, Pinterest, and even did a short stint at Amazon. For the most part, I’ve watched companies at least double in size. You would think that fast growth means faster development. That’s not necessarily the case. In fact, by adding more people to a company, product development can actually slow down and take 2x or 3x as long to get something done. Strange, isn’t it?

Recently, I was thinking about why sometimes the path from whiteboard to execution can be so excruciating. I was surprised (and relieved) to learn that there’s actually a mathematical answer. Hopefully this tiny bit of #borrowedwisdom can help you ship faster wherever you are.

It turns out, it’s all about the handshake.

Let’s say you and I are sitting in a room. We need to make a decision. How many handshakes do we need?

One. You and I make a decision and we reach consensus.

Now, let’s say an engineering manager, a design manager, and product manager are sitting in a room trying to make a decision on what to ship. How many handshakes do you think they need to agree on a strategy?

Three. They each need to agree with each other. Design shakes hands with Product. Product shakes hands with Engineering. Engineering shakes hands with Design. At this point, consensus building looks like a triangle. Simple enough right?

Well, now let’s say, you’re part of an organization that is growing fast. People are changing, roles are changing, the team is getting bigger, excitement is building. Suddenly, you may have 10 people in the room.Guess how many handshakes you need to reach consensus?

Forty-five.

You need 45 handshakes to make a decision if 10 people are involved in the process. That’s because the problem is a geometry problem. With 10 people, we have a decagon. To solve for the number of handshakes needed, we need the sum of the sides + diagonals. We can use the following formula where n = the number of people > 3:

So if n=5,

but if n=10,

Thus, the number of handshakes is equal to 10 + 35 or 45.

In Seth Godin’s book, Linchpin, one of the reasons companies slow down is because we add more people who have decision making power. This could be why people always like to reminisce about the “good ol’ days” when the company was small. To remedy this situation, Godin offers two potential solutions:

1. Limit the number of people involved in the decision
2. Appoint one person to have the final say (assign ownership)

If you can’t do either of these things and you have more than three people involved in decision making, you’re in full thrash mode. You’re more likely to stagnate than you are to ship.

As a leader, it’s your job to determine when and who should be involved in the decision making process.

Frequently as a product manager, I have to make a decision about when and how to engage. The day is full of decisions. My goal is to ship a product. As they say, “it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” so I often choose when I want to engage or have a voice in the decision making process. If it’s a tricky engineering decision, we’ll make sure the engineer has the say. If it’s a decision about how our product affects users, that’s when I chime in.

It’s also my job to limit the number of handshakes needed from my peers and superiors. One product can be connected to so many parts of a larger application and it’s important to connect with other product owners to make sure your launch goes smoothly. However, it’s incredibly important to narrow down the right set of constituents in order to buy-in from the smallest group of people possible.

Whether your style is a fist bump or a good old classic handshake, remember — the less you need, the faster you ship.

So you want to be a Product Manager. The first thing you will need to do is pass the PM interview. Product Management is a broad term and the role varies a bit from organization to organization but in my experience, there can be some general similarities. I hope this list will be helpful to you as a supplement. I would love to hear your feedback.

8 Questions to prepare for while you are interviewing to be a Product Manager:

1. Why do you want to work at this company?
Be very explicit about what you like about the company, how your background fits with the company values/needs, and how you can contribute. Generally to prepare for this question, I would reach out to people I know who have worked at the company or anyone I may be connected to via LinkedIn.

2. How would you improve the product?
Here the company is looking for a few things from you. The first, is that you have a clear understanding of the product. This includes features, functionality, and how the product fulfills user needs. The second, is that you understand where the product fails to meet user needs. To research this question, I will usually scour the web forums for feedback on the product. My favorite resources to use include: Quora, Tech Crunch, Venturebeat, Mashable, and sometimes Stack Overflow.

3. What is your favorite feature or product and why?
Depending on the size of the company, you will either get asked this question about a product at the company itself or a variation in the form of, “What is your favorite app or product and why?” The first question is again testing your knowledge of the product but it is also testing your knowledge of the market and why this particular product is better than any other substitute available. Big tech companies like Google and Amazon may ask this question. Smaller companies may ask the second question as a test of your general knowledge of the industry and how you think about user experience or meeting user needs. The second question is also an opportunity for the interviewer to learn something new. If you can show or teach the interviewer about a new product or service and how it delivers value, that can make a huge difference. Make sure to prepare the “why” part of these questions as it is important to demonstrate your ability to articulate your thoughts clearly here.

4. What are the 3 metrics that our company cares about?
In one form or another, you will be asked about what metrics the company uses to analyze the health of a product. Each company has its own way of measuring success and depending on the type of product, you will have a different set of metrics. For example, an ad tech startup may be concerned with things like conversion rates, CPA (Cost per acquisition), and average CPC (Cost Per Click).

5. You have to choose between feature X and feature Y, how do you decide?
A PM is always juggling many different requests. Your role is to prioritize. If a particular product has multiple feature requests in the pipeline, how do you decide which should be launched first? What are the benefits and costs associated with this decision and how do you take into account the goals of the company? Having an understanding of the goals and mission of the company is key here. You can use them as a guide.

6. How would you test a feature?
If you were to launch something new, how do you test whether the new product or feature is incremental over what is available currently? Do you test on 1% of users? Do you test in a specific geographic location? Do you just launch to everyone? This question tests your knowledge on how to set up experiments.

7. Tell me about a time where you had to convince someone who didn’t report to you to work on something? 
Tell a story here. Give an example of how you worked cross functionally to achieve a goal. If you don’t have a computer science background, you may want to show how you have worked well with engineers and designers. In formulating your response here, you may want to consider using the STAR framework. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Actions, and Results.

8. Do you have any questions for me?
You should always have a question for the interviewer here. This is your chance to demonstrate your intellectual curiosity and your knowledge of the product. In my view, there are two different types of questions: general management type questions and product specific questions. I generally try to have a mix between both.

Examples of general management questions:
How do you prioritize feature requests?
How do you measure success?
What are your challenges and how can someone help?
What motivates you?
Examples of product specific questions:
How do you decide how much of the product should be available without login?
You recently launched X, how did you decide to…(enter feature or decision that was made)?

I hope this gives you a general idea of how to interview for a Product Management role. I am by no means an expert here but I’ve done quite a few interviews at big tech companies and smaller startups. If you have any questions or would like to comment by adding some of your tips, I welcome your comments below.

I hope you get the job you were hoping for! Good luck!

At every turning point in life, there are usually some hard decisions to make. I’ve learned that I can’t make decisions in a box. Even when people say, “make a pros and cons list,” it is hard to make sense out of it. You know why?

Because you need outside perspective. If you make a list with your own perspective, you’ll go into circles trying to make a decision. Because chances are, you’ve already tried to solve a dilemma by going through it in your head. I hate to say it but, if you keep finding yourself in an infinite loop, you’re probably not going to make the right decision yourself.

You need someone to bounce ideas off of. Not just anyone, but someone who knows you, understands you, and genuinely cares about your well-being. Preferably, this person will not be your spouse, brother, mother, or father. It would be someone outside of your nuclear family who can give you an objective perspective.

Just as a yoga disciple seeks a guru for guidance, a professional should always have a mentor. I remember hearing this when I was younger and at that time, I thought to myself, “where will I find a mentor?” The truth is, your mentors can be right under your nose. They can be your old managers, they can be a person in an industry you wish to work in. Find someone who you want to be like. Someone you look up to, who shares the same values as you do, and who doesn’t have a hidden interest.

I find that at this point in my life, in my mid twenties, every step I take leads to a different intersection, which leads to yet another intersection. And it’s hard. It is definitely hard to navigate this matrix called life. But that’s when I realize, I’m lucky. My most valuable asset is not money, the school I went to, the company I worked at, or even how smart I am. My most valuable assets are my mentors. They provide perspective, knowledge, and truth. They’ve given me the gift of guidance. I hope one day, I can repay them for their generosity. And hopefully, in the future, I can pay it forward.

Thank you to my mentors. You know who you are. I couldn’t have gotten this far without you.