I Am the Product Manager of Myself

I became interested in wanting to be a product manager, definitely not because it’s an easy job where one can slack off: it is a role for someone to apply technical knowledge, empathy for users, understanding of the business, selling an idea or product, speaking stakeholders’ language, and motivating a diverse team. Above all that, there is room for creativity, and that’s something I would really love to do at work. In fact, the creativity part excites me the most. Granted, I can’t run with my own imagination and build products just for myself (on second thought, why not). I can, though, try to learn about people: what people love, hate, fear, what propels them, and how I can help them realize their dreams, potentially by mastering the art called user research. 

Yes, I do know a thing or two about analytics. 

I check all the boxes. 

I want to build products that are helpful for humans, in the age of AI. I want to help my fellow humans achieving their goals. 

It is so clear to me, that being a product manager is what I dream to do next. Finally hearing myself loud and clear about what I want to do, I cannot be happier. 

I think about my age, of course. Is it too late to do this? The answer is no. It’s because I have never stopped learning in my life. My curiosity and will to learn will show me the way.  

Do you remember those moments in your life where you made a major decision that led you to this path you are on now? I remembered being very intrigued by marketing at school, and all the studies regarding consumer behavior and customer segmentation. Human psychology is such an interesting subject. 

I decided that I really wanted to be in marketing, naively. I had heard about how difficult it was for foreigners to get marketing jobs in the U.S., because we didn’t know American consumers or American culture. I’m not sure why I had the guts to ignore all that. I gave it a try anyway. 

I had to start in sales because no one would hire me since I had no actual work experience in marketing. It’s chicken and eggs, and honestly, I still don’t know how to crack that - how do you get the job you knew you’d be perfect for, but have no experience to prove that you could?

Or maybe I did know. 

You’d think anyone could get a job in sales, but even to get that entry-level sales position, I had to learn a deck about the technical details of some motherboards, positioning them, explaining the value proposition to all in one week. Then I was to return for the second interview, where I had to deliver the mock sales presentation to my interviewers.

I decided to turn to the internet to learn. I found a YouTube video from TigerDirect of Florida, a large American e-tailer selling electronics. “Logan” was the host of their YouTube channel, and there were hundreds of videos of him talking about motherboards. I watched almost all of them 50 times and learned all the jargon, but honestly, the only term I could still remember today was “front-side bus”. I remember thinking, what was the connection between motherboards and buses? 

The point is, I passed the interview as a result, and got my first job in tech. However, I did not forget about marketing. I read tech blogs (shout out to Engadget and Techcrunch) about the latest in marketing and technology every day. I had also been an avid Facebook user, and I really thought it was a blessing on earth in allowing me to stalk everyone I knew so easily.

One of the products I was selling back then caught on fire in the user base. It was a tiny little laptop called “eeePC” based on Linux, and somehow all the geeks were crazy about it because you could easily program the mini laptop however you wanted, although the marketing message was about how you can surf the internet anywhere.

(I know, I know, but this was pre-iPad.)

The messaging and market segmentation were clearly wrong, but it didn’t stop the product being popular, just in the demographic not planned for - among the geeks. 

What people wanted to talk about was their excitement about the product. I witnessed that excitement in the field, so I asked the company if I could start a Facebook group for the product on behalf of the company. Not knowing anything about Facebook, the company said yes, because starting a Facebook group was free. They saw no harm in it.

I was really the first social media manager of that company, even though I had no idea what I was doing, or about being a social media manager. The group grew like a wildfire; suddenly there were over 100 thousand people in the group. It was crazy. 

The marketing department woke up and demanded me to transfer this group to them. I happily agreed to unload this responsibility. 

That was enough for me to talk about my social media marketing experience, though, and finally found the first real marketing job at a small hardware startup, where I had all the freedom from my former boss to explore product marketing. I want to thank him for that. 

I have always been able to learn what I needed to know in order to get the next job. I learned Adobe Analytics on the job at SAP in order to take on the task of being a digital analyst. I jokingly asked my then boss why she picked me. “Is it because I’m Asian?” 

It was a challenge, but I decided to jump on the opportunity. All I had to do after that, was persevering.

(I call myself the only Asian who’s bad at math, but I would not refuse the benefit of that particular stereotype.) (Yes, I’m a sellout.)

And now I’m here, working about AI. And life has taken me to Germany. I am doing ok in life. 

I’m confident I can learn all the skills that I need to become a product manager. I may already have many of them. 

No, I may never learn as fast as a computer, but I know how to combine all the skills I’ve picked up along the way in the best combination possible for the journey ahead of me, and prepare the team for it, too. Because of that, I as a human still win out. 

I’ve heard many times before that they call product managers “the CEO of products”, but what I’ve learned is that I am a product, and I am the product manager of myself. In order to be the best product, I need to learn from experience, make good use of the knowledge and skills, and live with authenticity and integrity. 

The ultimate product to deliver to the world, is myself. I’ve chosen to learn and improve myself in order to level up, and here I am. In some ways, I’d say that I’ve learned to be a great product manager along this journey.  

I am still learning, and I will not stop learning.