The Startup Product Manager: A Guide to Becoming a Product Manager And Startup Builder

This book serves to empower the next generation of product managers, business builders, and startup entrepreneurs. 99.9% of businesses are small businesses or "startups." This book will give you the toolkit to succeed in building startups and early-stage ventures. The Startup Product Manager will teach you how to not only break into product management at a startup but also become the best startup operator you can be through step-by-step strategies. Manan Modi is a product builder, early-stage operator, investor, and writer. He has worked closely with CEOs and founders to solve high priority problems for customers, as well as lead efforts on revenue-generating products and strategic opportunities for companies. He has worked at startups backed by the top venture investors around the world. More importantly, he has been in your shoes. He comes from a non-traditional background and went through a lot of trial and error before landing in product management. He tried different fields such as marketing, finance, consulting, design, software engineering, government, and more -- he wants to help you break into product management, regardless of your background and where you are in your career. His strength is his ability to uniquely help you position your background to find the right Product Management role for you. This consistent experimentation with his career path has allowed him to become a startup product manager who has helped venture-backed startups succeed. He wants to help you ultimately succeed in building startups. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction My Background: The Journey Into Product Management Growing Up — Building the Foundation The Professional Journey Into Product Management My Pivot Into Product Management What did I do that helped? Chapter 2: Five Compelling Reasons to Join a Startup Now — as a New or Aspiring Product Manager The Startup Learning Curve The Leadership Exposure of Startup Product Managers Startups Are Opportunity Magnets Becoming a Product Manager at a Startup Part-Time Product Management Roles Chapter 3: The Five Secrets of Startup Product Management: What Does a Startup Product Manager do? Why Startup Product Managers Are Builders and Product Scalers Why Startup Product Managers Are Early Stage Generalists How Startup Product Management Evolves by Stage Why Startup Product Managers Work on a Startup’s Most Important Projects Why Startup Product Management is Futuristic and Fun Chapter 4: How to Strategically Find Your Next Startup to Join The Strategy To Efficiently Finding Startups to Join The Secret to Knowing if a Startup Needs a Product Manager Should You Join A B2B or B2C Startup? How to Design Your Own Startup Search Secrets to Success in Your First Startup Call or Interview Chapter 5: How to Break Into Product Management at a Startup The Simple Strategy For Pitching Yourself Successfully The Product Trifecta: Product Expertise, Product Strategy & Execution, And Product Soft Skills Transitioning Into Product Management From a Different Role The Recipe for Writing an Effective Resume Chapter 6: The Cold Email That Helped me Land my First Full-Time Product Manager Role How To Find Someone Who Believes In You The Cold Email That Helped me Land a Product Manager Role Seven Secret Steps to Writing an Effective Cold Email How to Connect With Any Startup Founder Chapter 7: The Step-by-Step Playbook You Can Use to Evaluate Startups to Join The Keys to Product-Market Fit How to Analyze Product, Market, Team, And GTM of a Startup Aligning With The Startup Mission The Risk-Return Secrets of Evaluating Venture-Backed Startups How to Think Like a Venture Capitalist: The Ten Factors You Need to Know When Evaluating Startups Chapter 8: The Must-Know Differences Between Building B2B And Consumer Startups B2B vs B2C Businesses How Customer Bases Differ Between B2B and B2C Startups The Secrets to Scaling B2B Startups The Secrets to Scaling Consumer Startups Must-Know Differences Between B2B and B2C Startups Chapter 9: Why Learning to Design and Code Are Superpowers For Startup Product Managers The Most Important Investment: Your Talent Roadmap The Secret to Learning Product Design: A Step-by-Step Strategy Practical Strategies to Learning The Design Process How to Create a Design Case Study Why a Design Case Study Will Help You Land a PM Role (And Become a Great PM!) The Secret to Learning How to Code as a PM – And How it Will Help You Build Your PM Brand Chapter 10: Why You Should Build a Business as a Product Manager The Secret to Becoming An Effective Product Manager: Build a Business or Side Project How to Effectively Learn Product And Business Strategy How to Become a Problem Solver: The Practicality of Building a Business How to Get Customers to Love Your Business and Product The Top Business Principles And Strategies You Need to Know as a Startup Product Manager Chapter 11: The Power of Verbal Communication For Startup Product Managers Six Habits of Great Spoken Communicators Why Spoken Communication is Important for Startup Product Managers How to Become a Clear Communicator Chapter 12: Why Writing is Your Ultimate Strength as a Startup Product Manager The Keys to Masterfully Navigating Time Management and Modern Stakeholder Management Why Writing is a Daily Necessity for Product Managers Product Diplomacy: Why Written Communication is The Secret to Building a Strong Product, Business, And Culture Seven Steps on How to Improve Your Writing as a Product Manager Chapter 13: The Top Product Managers Who You Can Follow For Free And Will Help You Become Great Lenny Rachitsky Shreyas Doshi Chloe Shih Jen Yang-Wong Toby Rogers Jae Taylor Linda Zhang Jackie Bavaro Teresa Torres Marty Cagan Aakash Gupta Ken Norton Garry Tan Julie Zhou Scott Belsky Additional Resources For Startup Product Managers Chapter 14: The Art of Prioritization: How to Prioritize Your Work and Master Your Time Effectively as a Startup Product Manager Five Effective Strategies to Prioritize as a Startup Product Manager Four Productivity Hacks to Master Your Schedule as a Startup Product Manager Chapter 15: The Blueprint to Building: How to Write Great User Stories That Empower Your Teams The Six Components of a Great User Story The Two Foundational Secrets of a Great User Story How to Write a Great User Story: A Guided Example Writing For Frontend Versus Backend Developers Chapter 16: The Two Product Management Team Strategies You Need to Know About Why The Waterfall Versus Agile Distinction is Crucial For Product Managers What is Waterfall? The Top Pros And Cons What is Agile? The Top Pros And Cons Chapter 17: Top Compensation Secrets For Product Managers The Keys to Understanding Your Pay Structure The Strategy to Negotiating Your Salary as a PM Why Equity is Important For Your Long-Term Career Success The Strategy to Negotiating Your Stock Options as a Product Manager Why Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) Are a Unique Form of Equity Compensation The Top Resources For Negotiating Compensation as a Product Manager The Best Compensation Advice I Have Received The Top Compensation Advice I Give to Others Chapter 18: The Top Ten List of Powerful Habits for Product Managers Why Habits Help Startups And Product Managers Achieve Success Why Your First 30 Days as a Startup Product M anager Are Pivotal Habit One: How to Become a Product Expert Habit Two: How to Use Precedents to Understand Product Strategy And Execution Habit Three: How to Build Stakeholder Relationships Early On Habit Four: How to Deliver a Large Impact From Day One Habit Five: How to Become a Market Expert For Your Product Habit Six: How to Use Data to Tell Stories And Identify Opportunities Habit Seven: How to Understand Your Customers Quickly And Deeply Habit Eight: How to Creatively Accelerate Your Learning Habit Nine: How to Focus and Drive Impactful Outcomes Habit Ten: How to Work on The Most Important Problems Chapter 19: My Top Lessons From Startup Product Management: The Product Mentality Why Startup Product Managers Can Anticipate And Solve Diverse Problems Why Startup Product Managers Become Great Business Builders Why Startup Product Managers Become Efficient Learners Why Startup Product Managers Become Effective Business Leaders and Acquire Great Leadership Values Why Startup Product Management Opens Doors for Your Career The Art of Startup Product Management is Qualitative and Quantitative Startup Product Managers Learn to Advocate for Themselves Startup Product Managers Learn Everything About Product Management Why Startup Product Managers Make High-Impact Decisions Resilience: Do Work That Excites You – And Do Work That Does Not