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How much do you pay for your PM roles? You're talking about a very small subset of PMs, and for me, I also believe prior technical experience is a must. However, to attract those kind of candidates, your company also has to have a bit of prestige and pay above market.
Is that for mid level (e.g like ~4-6 yoe) position or more like a senior/group PM (closer to like 8 yoe)?
I am one of those product managers with experience taking products from 0 to 1, but currently not working by choice. I learned those skills working with companies that are/were leaders in their industries such a Sieble and Oracle. You may want to look for people with that background. They problem is not with employees only though; many companies do not invest in providing their employees with the right leadership, strategic clarity, frameworks, goals, etc. to conduct the right market and product research. Many just want to hire 'unicorns', provide no leadership, nor the resources requires. As a reference, in those companies I mentioned where I got my training, all levels of management were involved in product and go to market programs, they rolled up their sleeves and provided input when it was warranted.
Taking a product from an idea to market involves understanding the problem and vision, validating it through customer research, and creating a focused Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to address core needs. Prioritize features, plan a clear go-to-market strategy, and use early feedback to refine and improve. Start small with a soft launch, scale up based on customer insights, and stay adaptable—ambiguity is part of the journey. Effective communication, smart experimentation, and a customer-first mindset are key to navigating challenges and building something impactful. This is just my point of view.
'taking an idea that the board gives'...sounds like a directive
..whereas i would expect the PM to actually find and validate the problems to solve and come with a solution to it (as an innovation)
This is exactly what I do for startups. Freshify.io
Look no further I am a Group Product Owner with 12+ years of experience in program and product development. I have managed innovation from ideation to product delivery. Would love to connect if you're still looking for a candidate.
The lack of knowledge on market research is very surprising especially given the fact that there are multiple products that do the same thing or similar. Unless this is a new concept (and again…there are other use cases that can be brought in) there really shouldn’t be any gap in the market for a Product Manager.
This is exactly what I do...
I’ve done exactly this for ~10 different products. It’s what I do. Let me know here if you’d like to talk.
This fits me perfectly. I started as an assistant and did all the 0-1 stuff prior to working my way up through the ranks. Having that background allows me to be involved in a complete life cycle of a project. I actually enjoy the beginning of a project as it allows me to get a full grasp of what I need to strive for later in the project.
The barrier of entry to get into Product is extremely high, and I bet there aren’t enough PMs in the market in general. I’ve been wanting to get into it for years, but I barely apply for PM roles because I make more as a non-technical infosec program manager than I could get for an entry-level Product role and they all expect someone with several years of Product experience. Companies, as usual, are creating their own problems as a whole.
As a PMT I find this interesting because even though this is—theoretically—what we are supposed to do, I have rarely worked in orgs where they actually wanted PMs to do that. I have almost always inherited existing products to improve upon and maintain, with little opportunity (resources) to build a new product from scratch unless my hiring coincided with a new initiative and the person leading that washed out. Once I was well established (director level), I still had to fight for the resourcing to create something net-new that I’d conceived of myself.
Most large orgs, regardless of how they interview, are hiring PMTs to coordinate and produce requirements for deliverables that leadership has already decided on. (If they didn’t already have market research, they wouldn’t be able to justify the head count.) Often they don’t even get to flex their skills for prioritization, because they inherit a backlog of tech debt that customers have been screaming about for years, all of which is a so-called imperative and that will take years to get through.
I would recommend scouting from newer companies with recent launches. You’re smart to scrutinize this in the interview stage, because most product managers will believe they can do this even if they haven’t. When they share examples, drill in and keep drilling in. Ask lots of questions about their market research and tradeoff decisions, and you should hear about lightweight prototyping that preceded any full implementation. This is a good case for a shout-out to your LinkedIn connections. Describe the skills gap and ask them to refer product managers they’ve seen do this.
That's all I do for startups is design products/platforms from the ground up and I can't find the sophisticated founders that understand anything beyond a wire frame! I thought of joining a company as a w2 but no one likes my startup experience. Not sure where to get matched with qualified founders.
I’m a product marketer who specializes in building products from the 0-1. I’ve done it for two of my own tech startups and dozens of others. I’d love to connect.
Are you looking for guys like this? If yes DM. I have built stuff from scratch.
I've taken multiple products from 0-1. Both for companies / clients, and also my own products.
I've got deep technical experience and broad industry experience (20+ years). Happy to discuss further.