Most important skills for a Product Manager at a Creative Production SaaS
A product manager's most crucial skill is "genuinely be[ing] curious," further complemented by project management, technical writing, and stakeholder management skills to effectively navigate the complexities of a B2B SaaS environment. Success also hinges on strong communication, market research, prioritization, and the ability to visually communicate ideas through prototyping and wireframing, all essential for driving results in a fast-paced startup.
Project Management, Technical Writing, Stakeholder Management, Communication, Market Research
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Evan Bradshaw
Product Manager
B2B SaaS Marketplace for Creative Production
UCSB
UCSB: Engineering School, Master of Technology Management (MS)
Psychology
Technology, Advertising, Communications & Marketing
Product / Service / Software Development and Management
Greek Life Member
Video Highlights
1. Product managers need to be curious and fascinated by potential outcomes to find value in the role.
2. Technical writing and communication skills are crucial for articulating technical details to engineers and stakeholders.
3. Stakeholder management, including understanding their needs and effectively communicating project importance, is vital for success.
Transcript
What skills are most important for a job like yours?
The most important skill for a product manager is curiosity. If you're not genuinely fascinated with what could happen, you'll never find much value within this role. It's essential to be genuinely curious about outcomes, the unknown, and why things go wrong.
Another really important skill, especially in a smaller organization, is project management. Executives will lean on you and expect you to provide visibility and a path of execution. They want someone who can make things happen and articulate how.
Technical writing is also a crucial skill. You do a lot of writing, articulating in story format what engineers build. You need to be able to narrate and explain technical concepts clearly.
You have to speak as the voice of the customer. Many work outputs are written in a format like, "As the customer of your product, I want..." This makes the effort more meaningful to engineers, as they might solve it in ways you can't even consider. Writing and thinking about the core problem helps articulate technical requirements and specs.
Stakeholder management is another important skill, especially early on. It involves understanding why a task is being asked of the company and sharing that story with executives. Stakeholders have different levels of importance, and you need to understand the "why" behind a request to convey its significance.
As a project manager and product manager, your work is the outcome of others' efforts. You need to explain why you're asking them to do something. This skill, stakeholder management, involves communication, empathy, and other soft skills.
Customer interviews are essential. You have to get yourself out there, meet new people, ask open-ended questions, and listen. Market research is also a skill related to curiosity. You need to stay aware of trends and new developments in the industry.
Workload prioritization is very difficult but important. Especially in a startup, you're expected to drive results, and you have to figure out how to do it. Learning to prioritize and communicate your choices is vital.
Finally, prototyping and wireframing are important skills. This involves distilling your ideas into a visual that tells a story.