Do you think Product Marketing Manager roles in industry are a good way to get your foot in the door to product? I have zero interest in marketing but I really want out of consulting. Or should I keep my focus on Product Owner and Product Manager roles and keep networking?

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Some level of marketing skill would be required as a PM so I don’t think you should view it as a foot in the door, but rather a key part of honing your craft.

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PM here, ex-PMM.

PMM is one of the best roles for switching into PM but there are a few caveats.

It depends on the company and highly depends on the flavor of PMM. Not all are created equal and can be very diff across companies. Key is to find the type that's product strategy and operations focused. Where you are working closely with PM and Eng to help figure out product direction and execution and NOT just marketing campaigns.

There's typically 2 types of PMMs. One is like co-GM of a team along with PM. Other is just outbound marketing. The latter will not get you closer. And the typically recruit very diff profile of people. The former is open to ex-MBB, the later prefer ppl with marketing background (either performance marketing or brand marketing).

To give you a tangible example, my previous team of PMMs, 15/20 ppl are now PMs (within a 3 year span) and quite successful at the role. Most have MBB + MBA + some tech exp prior to the role, some have all 3, all have tech, rarely anyone with just MBA or just MBB prior. the team was referred to as a PM farm.

Some of the most senior and successful PMs at Facebook started in PMM (Fidji who's now CEO of Instacart, Deb Liu who's now CEO of Ancestry). Meanwhile another consumer marketing PMM team I worked with, team of 25 and none are PMs, most came from marketing and agency background.

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I did a product marketing role for a year & I didn’t really enjoy it. Had to manager a bunch of different channels (ex emails, website, social media campaigns etc) & I found it kinda annoying especially because I’m not interested in this stuff. There are so many diff pm roles - just have a bunch of coffee chats to see which one you’ll like

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Thanks for the insight! That’s what I assumed but I was curious if it was a shortcut. I’ll keep networking and practicing interviewing…

PMM to PM is a difficult switch. You’re going to have a hard time. Better to find a owner/analyst/manager roles in product.

smart

Can you elaborate on this a little more?

I’ve seen PMM intern to PM

ex-PM, current PMM working in tech here.

At my company, this would be a great way to get into PM assuming you can demonstrate your abilities to the PM team. One of my colleagues actually made this switch not too long ago.

In my role, I spend a significant amount of time working with my PM team to help define GTM strategy, product positioning, etc. Because of the amount of facetime I've had with PM and the impact I've had, I almost guarantee they'd hire me into a PM role if I was interested.

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