My Journey Into Product Management

With the class of 2020 set to enter one of the most turbulent job markets in recent history (and perhaps ever), it's had me reflecting a lot on my journey into the workforce.

For this week's newsletter, I wanted to briefly recount my own journey into Product Management and highlight some of the people who helped me along the way.

Naked Plug: I'm launching my first book next month. It's a college advice book called 'Modern College.'

Sign up here to get email updates about the launch.

My First Internship - Nuclear Energy

My first real internship was the summer after my sophomore year. At the time I was planning on majoring in Nuclear Engineering. My dad's company at the time made wire & cable that powered coolant valves in Nuclear power plants. I spent most of my time either in flame retardant gear running tests or at my cubicle learning how to code in Visual Basic for a side project I had picked up at work.

There were many aspects of the internship I didn't enjoy, but there were 2 crucial benefits. 1) It helped me get a legit company on my resume & 2) Showed me the power of software.

My Second Internship - Dell Software Developer

Going into my second semester junior year I still didn't have an internship lined up and was running out of time. On the final night of the UW-Madison spring career fair, I made a desperate sprint across campus in a blizzard after my org's spring kickoff event had ended.

By the time I showed up most booth's were already closing up. Luckily, the Dell booth was still open and I struck up a great convo with Blake Roth. 2 weeks later I had an interview with Stephen Crawley. Despite being nervous as hell during the interview, Stephen saw my potential and gave me a chance.

During the summer I worked as a software developer, but luckily I had an awesome summer manager in Joel Hayes who let me do some PM type work on the side.

My Third Internship - Dell Product Manager

During my summer internship I had learned what a product manager was from my friend Tommy Fang, who had managed to somehow land a PM internship as an undergrad.

Tommy connected me to his manager Harsh Acharya the following fall while I was back on campus. Despite only doing a 20-minute phone interview with Harsh, he extended me a PM internship for the following summer.

That opportunity was a key inflection point in my career. Looking back on it, I don't know what Harsh saw in me, but I'll be forever grateful for that opportunity. He is also one of the best product leaders I have ever encountered, and having my first PM role under him was crucial to my development.

My First Full-time Role - Intuit Product Manager

Going into my last semester of school I was convinced I wanted to be a product manager, it was just a matter of where I would land.

I received final round interviews at both IBM and Intuit, and unfortunately they landed on the same weekend. I actually chose to pursue the IBM role over Intuit, because I was so fixated with Austin, TX.

A week after my IBM interview I received full-time offer. On the same day, Carly Wood texted me saying that Intuit still wanted me to interview. Apparently, the Director of Mint at the time, Kevin Kirn, had seen something he liked in me. They were offering me a remote final round interview.

I decided to take the remote final round interview and received a full-time offer the same day. After some careful reflection, my heart told me to go to Silicon Valley and take the role at Intuit. It's a decision I would choose 10/10 times if I had to do it all over again.

My Current Role - LinkedIn Product Manager

After 2 awesome years at Intuit, I received a LinkedIn inmail messages from Noel Williams about coming to LinkedIn.

I had become fascinated with LinkedIn over recent years so I decided to take the interview. I received offers from a few teams, but really loved the vibes I got from the Pages team, especially during my interview with Warren Quach.

My current manager, Rishi Jobanputra, offered me a PM role that was frankly way above my title. But luckily between the strong team and challenging project, it has turned out to be one of the best decisions for my development as a product manager.

What 2020 Grads can Learn From My Journey

I've left out a lot of details from my journey into product management, but I think even in this stripped down version there are a few key themes present. The first, is that people will always be the most important piece of your career. Every positive step forward in my career was because I managed to connect with a smart individual who believed in me.

The second, is to be introspective. I could have very easily settled with being a wire & cable engineer or a software developer. For many people these are great roles, but it wasn't what I was passionate about. By reflecting on what I liked and disliked about each of my roles, it ultimately led me to the role that was best for me.

Lastly, it's important to alway work hard. I know that probably sounds super cheesy, but it's the truth. What I didn't mention in this journey timeline were all the hiring managers & recruiters that left me on read. Or the interviews I took that I crashed and burned on. Or the all-nighters I pulled in the library so that I could balance school work and job search.

Now more than ever, it's important you do everything in your power to stand out. Give your best effort, do what others won't and eventually things will fall into place.

Best of luck to the class of 2020 and anyone else pursuing a role in Product Management!

Reacting to this article and sharing this newsletter helps other current and prospective PMs join our community!