Nazuk Jain

How to network with product managers like a pro?

Nazuk Jain -

What’s up, everyone!

I know it’s been a couple of weeks since I sent out a newsletter. I am still very much finding my balance between researching, writing ✍️ useful stuff for you!

This topic is close to heart because that’s how these days we build networks and micro-networks.

One of the crucial things to assess if a product management career is right for you is understanding the role first.

To understand the role you have a couple of options

  1. You can google of course and see what’s been written about the role.
  2. You can talk to people who are already doing the job and understand from them about the role.

The obvious first choice is google but I suggest you talk to PMs as well. It will help you build your network of product managers and also can lead to getting referrals to companies you want to apply to.

Here are a few of my ways how I like to network when I am researching a topic or as a matter of fact have built micro-networks of people interested in the same topics.

Tools used - Google Excel Sheet, Notion (If I am automating and setting up a workflow for reminders, etc or pen and paper(notepad) (yes, I am a millennial!)

Step 0 - Self-Research

This is a crucial step and from personal experience every single time I have gone in prepared with my research, other person has shown a lot more commitment and enthusiasm when I ask about the things that I didn’t understand. Self-research just shows our seriousness towards the topic.

Whatever your findings, write quick bullet points for each of these. You will need this information later.

  1. ✅ What I know: Your understanding of the subject so far (you can use just keywords or sentences I prefer to write it out in a sentence so helps me frame it better in my mind)
  2. 💡 What I don’t know: Open questions you have (As detailed as you can get)
  3. 🤔 What I don’t know, don’t know aka Unknowns that you just couldn’t have known: Clarifications you seek, this is something you should have as a category but we’ll come back to how to frame asking questions here.
  4. ⛓ Reference links:  Any important links you might use in the future or need for reference.

Step 1 - Before Networking

⭕️ Step 1.1 — Let’s stick with our example of that, you want to find out about the PM role.  Make a quick map of who you want to speak and you can get as elaborate or minimal as you like (but I suggest speak to at least 10 Product Managers)

👉 Recommend a healthy mix of these three

  1. New PMs (with 1 year + experience)
  2. Experienced Product Managers (With at least 4-7 years of experience, titles would product manager or senior product manager)
  3. Product Management leaders (titles would be Head of product, Group product manager, lead PM, or similar)

Why? because: It will help you understand how a junior-level PM role is vs. how it evolves and responsibilities shift over time as PMs move to senior-level roles.

👉 Then another healthy Mix of these three

  1. PMs from Large companies (FAANG, if your interest is in high-tech companies)
  2. PMs from Startups to understand fast-paced startup culture and day to day work
  3. PM from a domain that interests you (believe it or not PM role to so diverse that you will find nuances with the PM role definition and actual day-to-day varies from domain to domain.

👉 Then do a quick Linkedin search for product managers to see who you are interested in reaching out to.

Pro-tip: if your target is to talk to 10 PM’s at least reach out to 20. 50/50 chance to get a response back.

⭕️ Step 1.2 — Here is a sample personal CRM sheet you can create. I created this in excel.

So most of the information you might already find when you reach out to the product manager (it’s okay to ask if you don’t find it on your own) with exception of questions you have for them of course

  • Name
  • Current role
  • Years of direct work experience in product
  • Current company
  • Size of the company
  • Stage
  • Association
  • Last contact Date
  • Follow-up date
  • Linkedin Profile
  • Email
  • Question 1
  • Question 2
  • Question 3
  • Additional questions…

👉 Fill the data sheet with your PM interviewee's responses

👉 Sample message you can send (simple, sharp, and quick)

Hi (first name),

My name is (insert your first name), I am currently a (insert what you do, if you are a student, say a student in (university name)). In recent months product management has piqued my interest. So far as I understand the role, this is something I want to explore further. If you can spare 15 minutes of your time, I would love to pick your brain and gain a little deeper understanding of your experience of the day-to-day of a Product Manager.  Would you be available for a 15-minute chat?

Looking forward to your response. Thank you

⭕️ Pro tips: Be on time, don’t schedule anything longer than 30 minutes on the calendar (unless if you already discussed). be mindful of the time and wrap up the conversation on time.

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Step 2 - Networking aka while on call

Here is a list of questions you could ask after you have introduced yourself and the purpose of your call for context setting.

  • How did you get started in a product role?
  • How long have you been a product manager?
  • What is your day-to-day as a product manager look like?
  • What do you like most about the product role?
  • What do you not like about the product role?
  • What are the most challenging aspects of this role from your experience?
  • What is the org structure for product and engineering roles in your organization?
  • What skills do you think are most critical for a PM?
  • Do you have any suggestions for me?
  • May I contact you in the future if I have any questions?
  • What is the best way to contact you?

With this set of questions, you are almost killing 2 birds with one stone. 1. You will gain deeper knowledge of the role and 2. You will build rapport with the PM and you already asked them if you could contact them in the future. 9/10 people are happy to stay connected.

Step 3 - After Networking aka thank you note

Always send thank you note after meeting with someone, thanking them for their time. It’s a basic courtesy but also as a Product Manager, it will help build your communication skill.

What inspired me this week?

A podcast Episode by Naval Ravikant on How to Build Wealth

Running Booklist 📚

✅ Currently started reading … Terressa Torres’s Continuous Discovery Habits

To be Read booklist

Decisive

Solving Product: Reveal Gaps, Ignite Growth, and Accelerate Any Tech Product with Customer Research

Your’s Truly

-Nazuk

Feel free to reach out with questions or if you disagree. Socials: Instagram | Linkedin | Twitter