Three years ago, a LinkedIn post changed the trajectory of my life. At the height of COVID, I saw many of my friends getting laid off. I shared a post offering to help anyone who needed help landing their next thing, especially if they were transitioning into something new. I was surprised by the flood of responses I got from it. I worked with over a dozen people from that post - reviewing resumes and helping them with interview prep. Not only did they successfully get jobs, but I also fell in love with the experience. I realized helping people achieve their dreams was my purpose. Since then, my coaching practice has grown little by little. I started working nights and weekends, then finally took the plunge to full-time last year after I felt it was taking off. I have helped over 150 clients directly realize their dreams, from breaking into the industry they want, going after their dream roles, gaining the confidence to succeed in a new role, to getting the promotion they deserve. Helping people achieve their success has been meaningful, and it has also taught me so much in the process. The most important thing it taught me is that it does not matter what your background is, where you come from, where you went to school, or how much experience you have. As long as you have the courage, grit, and follow-through, anyone can build the career that they want. It takes an incredible amount of courage to make our way in life. It takes courage to change careers. It takes courage to ask for help. It takes courage to admit a mistake. It takes courage to speak up. It takes courage to try something new for the first time. It takes courage to quit a job. It takes courage to ask for what you deserve. It takes courage to move to a new country, continent, or even city. It takes courage to keep going even when it’s tough. And it takes courage to admit that where you are is not where you ultimately want to be - that you desire something greater in this life. I was spending almost all of my time helping courageous people face their fears and push themselves to new heights, and the name and structure of my business didn’t match that. I wanted to make sure that, from the outside, my business appeared as it really is. So, to better reflect my purpose, I’ve rebranded my business and re-upped my offerings to be centered around courage. Starting today, my business is no longer “Tech Growth Coach.” Starting today, I show up every morning to build “Courageous Careers.” While the core of the business is the same, here is how Courageous Careers is different: Instead of only “growth,” Courageous Careers is aimed at helping you build a more courageous and confident career by empowering you to overcome your doubts and challenges. And to grow with courage, you need more than just 1:1 coaching. You also need community and best practices. So Courageous Careers will also offer additional offerings, including a job search membership program (which I have been building for more than a year and is finally available now!), and more in the future. Finally, Courageous Careers will be solely focused on product marketing coaching. Given my passion for the role and its increasing importance, I will dedicate myself fully to helping aspiring and current product marketers. So, how can Courageous Careers help you: If you are looking for a job: You can work with me on a custom, 1-1 basis, OR You can join my membership program to enjoy group coaching and support in a close-knit community (new offer to join the existing member class!) If you are looking to onboard a new job with confidence: You can work with me on a 1-1 basis and enjoy group workshops and a supportive community of peers. If you are looking to thrive in your role (to get unstuck, get a promotion or more): You can also work with me on a 1-1 basis and enjoy group workshops and a supportive community of peers. To celebrate this rebrand, all the programs are on sale for the months of Feburary. Please check them out and let me know if you have any questions!

The first 90 days on a new job is usually the most critical and challenging period in your professional career - the actions you take (or don’t take) during your first 90 days will largely determine whether you succeed or fail. Even those who pass the period may do things that hinder career progress. But it does not have to be a time fraught with only anxiety, overwork, sensory overload, and a singular focus to impress. With the right strategy and approach, you can rise above the challenge, start the role with a bang, and do so without burnout. Today, I will share my playbook on how to onboard as a PMM, with research gathered first-hand from having helped dozens of clients ace their 90 days, and having done so myself and risen from a newbie PMM to director within 3 years. Before we dive into the content today, I want to note that this newsletter is the last part of a four-part series on landing your dream job in product marketing: ​Part 1: How to land more product marketing interviews ​ ​Part 2: How to ace the actual interview process ​ Part 3: How to ace product marketing assignments Part 4: Launch your first 30-60-90 days with confidence ← this newsletter 😍 The 5 Most Common Onboarding Mistakes PMMs Make Doing too much In the early days, you want to impress your new team by trying to build every pillar from the start. Not only is this confusing to colleagues about your priorities, but burnout can happen, and you run the risk of each pillar being just “okay” but not great. In reality, you do not have to build every part of PMM all at once - start with what is most aligned with the company’s goals/OKRs. And work with your manager to strategically add work when you nail each pillar. Falling into the action trap Similarly, you believe that to show value quickly, you must produce outputs as quickly as possible. Doing so without understanding the context or having enough research will make your work seem sloppy and unnecessary. You risk suggesting the wrong type of work, working on irrelevant projects, or doing things that have already been done. Setting unrealistic expectations You agree to do too much or propose doing too much without pushback, but this will almost always cause you to fail to deliver on everything, which will harm your reputation.  It’s always better to plan a tight set of tactics aligned with your manager than to create a lot of output that isn’t aligned with their goals. Work only to impress When you only work to impress, you stop asking hard questions and only focus on doing things to make yourself look smart. We’ve all worked with that type of person, and you’ve likely seen that it doesn’t get them far. Learning things the wrong way You spend too much time learning anything thrown your way instead of trying to learn smart by harvesting the existing institutional knowledge. Often, much of the information you need to succeed exists already within a handful of teams at your new company. Assume it does, until proven otherwise. Instead Of The Above, Here Are 6 Things You SHOULD Do: Reset your mind It’s extremely easy to let an old job or a prior bad experience affect how we perceive and approach a new role. But remember to reset your mind, let go of any baggage when you start a role, and give yourself the mental space to prepare yourself for the new role strategically. Tactics essential in a previous company may not apply here. For instance, marketing may not have a strong relationship with product (yet!), or maybe goals are more/less aggressive. These all will change the things you do when you’re starting out. Match your activities to your team’s and company’s goals Different goals require different activities. For instance, if your company is struggling with closing deals in the later stages of the sales cycle and is trying to increase win rate, you should focus on sales enablement instead of top-funnel website traffic. I can’t overstate how critical it is to align your work with the goals and challenges of the company. Learn smartly As mentioned before, create a strong learning plan for yourself that starts from the most important business fundamentals (understand how the business works), product marketing fundamentals, and then tap internal knowledge centers to get the most important information quickly. Secure early wins The earlier you can create value correctly, the faster you can earn trust. So, in the early days, notice the low-hanging fruit opportunities and deliver them quickly. This could be improving a pitch deck, building collateral, or anything that takes less than weeks or months but only days to deliver. (Make sure these early wins are aligned with the team’s biggest goals or challenges) Establish a feedback loop with your manager The most important person in this new role is your manager. So you have to get their feedback quickly and establish clear expectations. Voice how you’d like to be managed, communicate when the workload is unrealistic, and actively seek feedback on what you should continue, stop, or start doing. Build horizontal relationships and add value The role of PMM is unique because it is a connector role. Your success depends on the value you add to other teams: product, sales, and customer success, for instance. You need to immediately figure out whose support is essential for your success and unlock how to add value to them so they are on your side. The Ultimate 90-Day Playbook for Product Marketers With that said, what specific things should you be doing in the first 30-60-90 days? This section will explain it. Here is the caveat: this playbook is a framework that should be adjusted based on your unique needs. The key principle to keep in mind is the concept of break-even. Your goal in a new job is to reach that point as quickly as possible, where the value you add is greater than the value you consume. This is why they can justify your salary. No matter what people say, your first 90 days are NOT just to learn. You need to do three things concurrently: 1) learn (consume value), 2) deliver (produce value), and 3) network (helps you both consume value faster and produce value faster). 🌱 30 Days: Goal: Establish trust and credibility When you are new on a job, you want to establish trust quickly so you feel validated and your manager feels they made the right hiring decision. Building trust requires 1) making people feel heard and 2) adding value. This means that you also need to deliver results and build relationships in addition to learning. Focus on getting a core understanding of the market, customer, and product and then tackle 1-2 small (but high-priority) projects to show value. Most importantly, go on a listening tour to understand the needs of your key stakeholders (sales, PM, marketing team) and create a gap analysis of the key needs you see. This also gives you great ideas on what the quick wins are. 🌿 60 Days: Goal: Deliver larger wins, keep learning With some small wins under your belt, it’s time to move on to larger wins. Using the gap analysis you developed, come up with a project plan that you can share with your manager and get it prioritized. I recommend using the 2x2 difficulty/important matrix to rank your projects. This is also a stage where you can dive deeper into customer insights, perhaps conduct some interviews on your own, and start talking to more stakeholders to map out a 360 view of the key centers of influence around the company. 🌳 90 Days Goal: Ramp up for peak performance (and cross the break-even threshold) With some larger projects moving forward and a plan in place, this is a great time to start improving your plan based on any feedback you have heard. This is also a time to start SOCIALIZING the deliverables you have completed, the results you achieved, and your future plan. Socializing your wins and next steps with other teams is especially important for solo PMMs who must educate other teams on the value of product marketing. In these meetings, you want to invite conversation and partnership opportunities that will further enhance your social capital. Being this intentional with your first 90 days requires discipline, planning, thinking ahead, and open communication with your new manager and team. It’s harder to go about it this way than to just put your head down and knock out a lot of work, but the impact on your long-term success in your new role is much greater. Also - you don’t have to go at it alone. My onboarding coaching offering (Grow program) helps product marketers in new roles excel in their first 90 days, setting the foundation for a great run. Other resources Speaking of making sure your work fits into your company goals/challenges…here’s another way to think about this, which I explored on LinkedIn last week: Great product marketing requires a balance between strategic and tactical work. If you do too much strategy, you have nothing to show for results in the short term. If you do too much tactical work, you become an order taker and drive no influence. You need to have a balance between the two, which means understanding there is a spectrum of PMM work and where each task falls on the spectrum. Read the full post here.

Before we dive into the content today, I want to note that this newsletter is part of a four-part series on the entire job search process. Check back in January for the next issue, focusing on launching your first 90 days with confidence: ​Part 1: How to land more product marketing interviews ​ ​Part 2: How to ace the actual interview process ​ Part 3: How to ace product marketing assignments <- this newsletter Part 4: Launch your first 30-60-90 days with confidence Now, let's dive in! You've secured and aced interviews, but anxiety sets in when faced with the dreaded assignment. Although I can't entirely agree with using assignments to test candidates, more and more companies are using them to differentiate among applicants. These assignments aim to understand your critical thinking, storytelling skills, performance under pressure, and enthusiasm for the job. With a proven approach, you can turn this challenge into an opportunity to differentiate yourself and land the offer. After reviewing hundreds of assignments and assisting over a hundred individuals in acing theirs, here are four proven steps to help you achieve your goal. Step 1: Understand the goal of the assignment Assignments typically fall into two categories: writing assignments and presentation assignments. Writing assignments assess your ability to quickly understand the customer and product and tell a cohesive story. The emphasis is on cohesion, persuasiveness, accuracy, and customer focus. Presentation assignments usually involve creating a GTM/product launch strategy or sharing a previous work experience. Both test core product launch and storytelling skills, with product launch strategy assignments being the most common lately. In either case, the focus is less on technical details and more on storytelling, the voice of the customer, and whether you have done the appropriate research. Pro Tip: If you are unclear on the assignment goal or what assumptions you should be making, ask the hiring manager. Most companies allow you to get clarification through email or a dedicated prep call. ALWAYS take the opportunity to do that. This shows you have thought about the assignment carefully and also mimics real-life situations - as PMMs rarely do projects alone. Step 2: Create an Outline for the product marketing assignment A general rule of thumb for creating any great deliverable is to outline first. Most candidates make the mistake of jumping straight to slides or spending days doing extensive research, only to realize the story does not flow/ they are missing information and have to start over or make huge changes. If you are writing a blog, start with the key message you want to convey, write the beginning and the end, and then add the middle. Instead of writing whole sentences, write all your key ideas as a bulleted list and read through them. The bullets alone should tell a cohesive story. If you are making a presentation, start an outline on a Google doc and follow the same format as above. Each bullet should be the header on each slide to tell a cohesive story. Any supporting information should be sub-bullets. Pro Tip: Avoid doing extensive research before writing an outline. Once you outline it, it will become clearer what research is necessary. Remember, more research does not equal better. Step 3: Research and build up the content Once you have a strong outline with the key elements of your story already built out, it’s time to add the “meat to the bones” by researching and adding content. I cannot stress enough how important it is to define how many hours you want to spend on research. Typically, I recommend spending around 5-10 hours, which is the time needed to create an outstanding assignment that will stand out. Generally, you should research the customers, the positioning/messaging, key products and features, the competition, past product launches, industry trends, news, and more. The specific areas you must research will depend on what you laid out in the outline. Once you have researched and consolidated the information, start building your deliverable from the outline. I recommend using Google Slides or Canva for presentations to quickly create simple yet beautiful slides. Start by titling each slide (the key message) and adding the most important bullet points before adding graphics. Pro Tip: Present one key idea/insight per slide, using visuals to organize information cleanly. Avoid text-heavy teleprompter slides. Step 4: Edit, review, and practice your assignment Once your assignment is done, let it sit for a day, then go back and review it. Giving the assignment time to “breathe” allows new thoughts and ideas to form and makes addressing any final changes/gaps easier. Finally, do not forget to practice delivering your presentation. Not only is this essential for you to deliver a smooth presentation with confidence, but it is also essential to help you work out any kinks in your story. Having helped over 100 clients with their presentations, I can say this is one of the most important yet neglected steps. Pro tip: When delivering the presentation, engage with the interviewer instead of just delivering a monologue. Make strategic pauses and invite questions to make the presentation lively and engaging. Remember, it’s supposed to mimic real work situations. How Hiring Managers Evaluate Assignments Following the above steps and rubric sets you on the path to success, but standing out requires going above and beyond. Here's the exact rubric I used as a former hiring manager to judge the quality of product launch assignments: A few final thoughts… By following the above steps and rubric, you should be well on your way to acing your assignments. However, I do want to point out a few things you should keep in mind: Know when you should NOT do an assignment. While most companies have a fairly standard and acceptable process, some take advantage of candidates. When encountering the red flag situations below, you should exercise caution and consider turning it down: They require you to do an assignment very early in the process before even speaking to the hiring manager. When the assignment is excessive in length or tasks, usually consisting of multiple parts. When an assignment specifically asks you to solve an actual problem they are facing, and there are clear indications they are looking for free work. Determine how much effort you want to spend on an assignment. Juggling a full-time job and being a working parent may mean you have little time to do the assignment. So make sure you ask for enough time to complete the assignment and be realistic about how much you can handle. Generally, successful candidates have taken anywhere from 10 to 40 hours to complete an assignment. In Summary… To ace your assignments, follow the steps below: Understand the goal of the assignment (and how you are being evaluated) Create an outline Research and build up content Edit, review, and practice Know when to say no What’s next? All in all, product marketing assignments can be extremely challenging and taxing. So, when you get an assignment, take a deep breath and follow the framework above. If you need additional help, consider working with me in a ​dedicated assignment review session.  During the 60-minute assignment review session, you will: Receive personalized feedback and detailed insights into what you did well and specific areas of improvement. The feedback will include specific areas to stand out, from actual content to delivery. Get your burning questions answered. I will answer any questions regarding assignments, interviews, or the general job search process to help uncover what is blocking you and what you can improve. Feel more confident moving forward. I will share strategies beyond the above tips, which you can apply to any assignment/interview. ​Book your assignment review session now.​ With that, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season, and see you in 2024!! 🎊

Imagine you have gone through the hard work of ​landing your product marketing interview​ by identifying your targeting, creating a killer resume and personal story, and using referral outreach to secure an interview with your target company. Now is your opportunity to ace the interview, and see if that role is truly a great fit for you. So today, I am going to walk you through how to ace your product marketing interview. As a quick note, today’s newsletter is part of a series of 4 newsletters on the entire job search process. This is the line-up of the series - make sure to check back in a few weeks to learn how to ace assignments: ​Part 1: How to land more product marketing interviews ​ Part 2: How to ace the actual interview process <- this newsletter Part 3: How to ace product marketing assignments Part 4: Launch your first 30-60-90 days with confidence So let’s do this and dive straight in! Step 1: Prepare before the Interview Study the role Before jumping into any interview, you want to understand what the role is looking for. Pay attention to the key responsibilities and the keywords they specify in the job description, and notice words they repeat over and over. This is important for 3 reasons: You will want to customize your personal story to the key responsibilities they care the most about. You may even want to create a personal messaging house to match this role specifically. For instance, if they ask you to have experience with building research programs and product positioning and messaging, you should mention these as your key strengths right away. You want to match any keywords you are using in your examples to what they write in the job description. For instance, some companies prefer to talk about “product narratives” instead of “storytelling” - so using the right keywords here could make your responses sound more relevant. Last but not least, you will want to prepare 5-10 examples that correspond directly with the key responsibilities they are asking for on the JD. This will help you focus on preparing for the right questions. Study the company Next, spend a couple of hours also researching the company - understand its customers, size of the team, investors, competition, and how it’s performing. All this information will help you sound more informed during the interview and also help you determine what questions you want to ask during the interview to give you more valuable answers. If a company is public, you can learn a lot about the company’s business strategy by browsing through its 10K financial filing. Conduct a PMM audit Lastly, I suggest spending a couple of hours doing a product marketing audit. For instance, review the company’s website messaging, social content, assets, ad copies, and anything you can see publicly. Note anything you think they are doing well on and areas they can improve on. This will not only allow you to feel much more confident about this opportunity but also stand out above others in the interview process if you bring them into the conversation. Step 2: During the interview Your performance during the interview matters just as much as your actual answer. No matter how well you have prepared on paper, you need to say your answers out loud so your answers are concise, you are seen as more confident, and as having a real conversation. To improve your performance, ​read this post​. But before you can get there, you need to create answers using the best frameworks. Below, I share my framework for the three most commonly asked questions as well as sample answers. Question 1: Tell me about yourself “Tell me about yourself” is the first question you get asked in an interview. It’s also the most important, as it will make or break the rest of the interview. To answer this most effectively, let’s study this question: What the interviewer cares about: They want to learn about your accomplishments throughout your career that are RELEVANT to the job you are interviewing for and why you are a natural fit. Your goal: Make your story as relevant to the job as possible, start with a bang, and do the work for them by articulating why you are the best fit for the role. Tie in your personal story/messaging house here. Framework: Intro - Start with a powerful highlight of who you are in 1-2 sentences, including the best attributes that describe you. Experience highlights - Share 1-2 key highlights from your career that relate to the role you are applying for and call out any major outcomes. Why you are here - End with why you are looking for a new role and why you are a great fit for the role. Here is an example: 🔥 [Intro] "Hi, my name is Ashley and I am an empathetic and strategic product marketer with a diverse background in education and building successful businesses. 🔥 [Experience highlights] I started out my career as a small business owner, helping small brands improve their website copy. In this role, I saw firsthand the importance of understanding customers’ needs and translating them into compelling and powerful messaging. My proudest accomplishment was helping a struggling mom-and-pop shop increase its business by 100% through the work I did. I decided to take a break and pursue my passion in teaching and joined Teach for America, where I taught English for 1 year in Chile. In this role, I conducted deep research to understand what students really want and created a curriculum that allowed them to increase their speaking efficiency by 2x within 6 months. 🔥 [Why you are here] As I think about the next steps of my career, I want to combine my customer empathy, business acumen, and passion for education to create a greater impact. When I saw this role at your company (Edtech startup), I felt it was the perfect fit given my deep understanding of your customers and my background. I am so excited to chat with you today and happy to dig into any areas in more detail. Note that this framework works no matter your experience level. The key is telling a relevant and compelling story to set the tone for the rest of the interview. Question 2: Tell me a time when you launched a product This is perhaps the most frequently asked “technical” interview question you will get, as being able to launch a product is a core skill set of any PMM. Unfortunately, many candidates’ answers sound like a laundry list and are not memorable or structured enough. To answer this most effectively, let’s study this question. What the interviewer cares about: They want to learn whether you can manage product launches. While great results are important, it’s equally important to understand whether you know what the right process should be. Interviewers want you to demonstrate strategic thinking, and collaboration instead of just being a launch machine/order taker. Your goal: Make your process easily understandable, and your story easy to follow. Then add one or two deeper highlights to call out specific aspects of your experience to make it stand out. Framework: Process, situation, action, results (PSAR framework). ​Read more about the framework HERE.​ Here is an example: ✅ [Process] - In general, when I launch products, I follow a three-step process to ensure we drive towards results. First, I try to validate the product/market fit to ensure we can answer the what, how, when, and why we are launching a product. From there, I develop the positioning and messaging to articulate the value of the product, and lastly, I move on to determine the promotional and channel strategy, including internal enablement. ✅ [Situation] - Last year, I was tasked with launching a DEI tool to help SMBs track their diversity metrics easily. The goal for this launch was to drive pipeline for our sales team. ✅ [Action] I first tried to understand the product/market fit. I aligned with my PM counterpart on the research to clarify the target persona, the key problems we are solving for them, and the unique benefits we will bring. I captured that in a GTM brief that outlined all the details clearly. Then I moved on to create the positioning and messaging. Specifically, I realized our tool solved one of the biggest problems SMBs face - capturing DEI information of employees AND protecting their identity easily. I used that as the key insight to drive messaging and shared it with cross-functional teams to get buy-in. With that, I created a promotional strategy. Given the importance of DEI, I worked with our content team to create a series of webinars with leading DEI experts in the industry to focus on education, and not just pushing the product features. ✅ [Result] The launch was a success and we exceeded the target within the set timeframe. Given the success, my launch playbook also became widely adapted across the team. I’d be happy to dive into any area in more detail. Question 3: Tell a time you disagreed with a stakeholder's approach This is a typical “soft” skills question that could be asked in different ways and is generally challenging to answer because most candidates are not strong at telling stories with conflicts. Let’s study this question. What the interviewer cares about: PMMs have to influence stakeholders in order to succeed. Since you don’t have authority over stakeholders, it takes great people skills to get buy-in, build rapport, and have the capacity to admit it when you are in the wrong. Your goal: Demonstrate that you have empathy (EQ) and a clear, logical process to drive influence. Pay attention to both the softer side of influence (e.g. not burning bridges) and the harder side (e.g. showing objective data). You don't HAVE to show you are right - the key is to find an objective solution that demonstrates your humility even when you are wrong. Framework: Process, Situation, Action, Results -> (PSAR) => I recommend starting with a strong process to show your systems-level thinking. Here is a sample answer: 🔥 [Process] Absolutely. My process for influencing stakeholders and resolving disagreements is as follows: 1) See others' perspectives first and understand why, 2) Gather evidence and use data to back up my POV, 3)Communicate and collaboratively reach a decision 🔥 [Situation] One of the biggest initiatives I did at company X was co-leading the pricing increase for our product to drive profitability. After spending nearly 1 year on the research, we are finally about to implement the change. However, the product team wanted to implement the pricing change for all customers at once, but I truly believe that could lead to significant churn. 🔥 [Action] To understand the product team’s POV, I first met with them to understand their rationale - they believed that doing it at once is simpler for engineering, and easier to communicate to customers. After I heard that, I decided to gather some data. I found best practices and benchmark data from leading SaaS companies which showed that a staggered pricing rollout leads to higher adoption and lower churn. I then used the benchmarking data and worked with finance to create a churn scenario analysis to make my case even stronger. With the data, I developed 2 alternative staggered options for implementation, one with a grace period, and one with a discount coupon. I shared the options and data with the product team. They were surprised by the data and agreed the discounting option would be best. As the implementation was happening, I also helped the product team answer tickets from support. This earned the respect of the product team and made them feel I got their back. 🔥 [Result] The result is that we experienced a positive reaction from customers and we were able to come 5% within our financial projections. Moreover, I was able to not only maintain but grow my relationship with the product team. Other considerations At the end of the interview, you will generally be given some time to ask questions. Don’t blow this opportunity, really make this count by asking 3-5 questions that you prepared to show 1) you prepared for the interview, and 2) you actually care about whether this role is a fit. Remember to tie in your research from Step 1 to your questions. If you need some inspiration, ​read this list of 23 questions you can ask. ​ Step 3: Follow-up After the Interview Congratulations! You did a great job in the interview, now what? I recommend sending a thoughtful follow-up to the interviewer. Make sure the follow-up is a personalized note that reiterates key points you learned in the interview, and why you continue to be excited. You could also include a useful resource that is relevant to what was discussed in the interview to add an intentional touch. Generally, the post-interview thank you note won't likely change their decision, BUT it will definitely have a positive impact. In Summary… To improve your interview performance, follow the steps below: Thoroughly prepare for the interview by studying the role, the company, and doing a PMM audit. Prepare answers using appropriate frameworks for 5-10 interview questions Practice your responses as much as possible to optimize performance during the interview Prepare 3-5 reverse interview questions Send a thoughtful thank you note What’s next? With these tips, you will be on your way to acing your interviews and standing out from the competition. But going at it together is much better and faster than going at it alone. If you are looking for expert guidance to help you take ALL your interview answers from good to great while ​getting support from a helpful community​, please reach out for my​ 1-1 coaching program​. Not sure if this is worth it? ​Check out the nearly 50 reviews from my clients ​(recommendations section). 😌 I wish you much success - you’ve got this! 💪 Yi Lin

2023’s job market has been very challenging, to say the least. With ​240,000 layoffs in tech this year​, the market is the most competitive I have seen in the last 10 years, and it’s not uncommon to see 1,000+ applications for a single job. It’s no wonder why so many candidates (even experienced ones) struggle with landing offers or even interviews. If you used to get 15 responses from sending out 20 resumes, today you might hear from only 2, even if you have experience. To help you land a job by January 2024, I have put together a 4-part newsletter series to dive deep into the entire job search process, using techniques that have been ​proven to work​. This is what you can expect: Part 1: How to land more product marketing interviews <- this newsletter Part 2: How to ace the actual interview process Part 3: How to ace product marketing assignments Part 4: Launch your first 30-60-90 days with confidence So let’s do this and dive straight in. 1. Understand your candidate/market fit The biggest misconception people have about landing interviews is that landing more interviews means applying to more companies. In fact, quite the opposite - you want to target fewer roles where you have the highest candidate/market fit, especially in this highly competitive market. Misconception: In a highly competitive market, I need to apply for more jobs in order to land more interviews Reframe: In a highly competitive market, I should focus on targeting roles where I have the highest candidate/market fit This is not only important for landing interviews, but also for closing the offer. One of the biggest reasons why candidates fail to land an offer in the final rounds is because of poor targeting. Imagine you are in the final rounds with 3 candidates who all can do the job - who will the company pick? Likely the person with the more obvious fit and advantage. Case in point: My client Brandon was applying to a lot of jobs after getting laid off. But he kept losing out in the final rounds to candidates with more domain experience for those roles. Once we started working together, he applied to fewer roles and spent more time on ones where he had the best candidate/market fit. He started doing much better and got an offer in 8 weeks at his top choice company. Read about how he did this ​HERE​. So how do you determine your candidate/market fit? You have to evaluate your experience across 3 dimensions: Your key strengths - These could be product marketing skills or interpersonal skills. For instance, are you more of a GTM specialist, or an inbound research expert? Are you great at influencing without authority? Do research on core product marketing responsibilities and map out your strengths across each core area (generally these are research, positioning/messaging, GTM, and enablement). Your competitive advantage - generally previous industry experience has the most bearing, followed by company business model and size. Increasingly, company size is becoming a more important factor in hiring. For instance, if you have only worked in big tech, you may not be fit for early-stage startups where product marketing requires different skills. Your values - importantly you also want to understand clearly your personal values to ensure the cultural match. Do you want to work in a highly fast-paced, ambiguous environment or the opposite? Once you have gotten this clarity you can then focus on targeting the right opportunities. 2. Create a strong personal story Once you have found your candidate market fit, it’s time to create your personal story. Your personal story shows up on your resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile and is the first impression the recruiter/hiring manager will have of you. Just like in product marketing, to create the best story for yourself you need strong positioning and messaging - which is why I recommend you create your own personal messaging house so your competitive advantages and elevator pitch are really clear. ​To develop your own personal messaging house, click here.​ Misconception: In order to impress, I need to talk about every aspect of myself so they can know about everything I can do Reframe: In order to impress, I need to focus on what the company truly cares about, and share the BEST aspects of myself relevant to the role Now it’s time to create a resume. To craft a great resume, make sure you are starting with the roles you are targeting, and work backward to match your resume to the requirements of each role. To get instructions on how to create the best resume, click ​HERE​. Case in point: ​My client Diego ​had a very unconventional experience as a former PM and startup founder. When he tried to land interviews he was running into issues with clearly telling his personal story and his resume was not converting. I worked with him to develop his personal story, enabling him to turn his perceived challenges into competitive advantages. As a result, he removed the fluff from his resume and optimized it to focus on what each job requires. Within a few weeks of these changes, his response rate to job applications was near 100%, and he accepted an offer within 2.5 months. One of the most common questions I get is whether you should include a cover letter with your application. While there is a lot of advice that says cover letters are unnecessary, I believe they are crucial for your job search success to signal high intent and stand out. To create a great cover letter, click ​HERE​. 3. Apply the right way to land product marketing interviews Now that you have all your materials prepped, it’s time to apply. The last thing you want to do is to submit your resume online, where it will sit with hundreds of other resumes. What you need to do is to get referrals as much as possible. This is because getting a referral is 15x more effective than submitting online (​Jobvite​). The most effective referrals will come from people who hold higher positions in the company and/or have directly worked with you before. This is why the network you have built really matters. So what if you don’t have anybody you know who can refer you? Then you need to get a cold referral. This means reaching out directly to the hiring manager in your target companies, with a thoughtful message that directly ties your background to why you are a great fit for the role. ​Here are some tips to keep in mind​ when crafting an outreach message. Note- there has been a lot of talk about how hiring managers hate getting messages, but that’s only if they are getting generic messages. If you are sending well-thought-out messages then they will be read. Misconception: Hiring managers hate getting directly messaged via email or LinkedIn and this will ruin your chances Reframe: Hiring managers who are intentional about whom they hire, will read and consider a well-composed and relevant message. Additionally, I often recommend to my clients that they reach out to 3-5 people within the company who could be peers for informational interviews to secure more possible referrals. The key is to do all of the above to maximize your chance of landing interviews. Case in point: My client Stephanie received three interview requests within the first week of working with me on her job search. 1 interview request came from cold outreach, 1 came from a warm referral, and another from a direct online application with a cover letter (as she could not find the HM online). She seized all three opportunities and accepted an offer from one of them in less than 8 weeks. In Summary… Landing a great product marketing job is possible in today’s job market with persistence and the right strategy, and it starts with landing great interviews. To most effectively land interviews, follow all the steps below: Clearly map out your candidate/market fit Create your messaging house for your target roles Work backward to develop your resume and cover letter Work your network to get referrals as much as possible What’s next? Reframing limiting beliefs, finding a support system, and celebrating your small wins will go a long way to helping you reach success without burnout. If you’d like more help along this journey, consider enrolling in my ​DIY course​, which dives into all of the above steps in much more detail. For a limited time only, you also get the opportunity to participate in monthly live group interviews and job search coaching - so you can get expert guidance directly from me and never feel alone in this process. ➡ Get Access Now (and Get 50% off by October 31) 🎃 I wish you much success and see you in Part 2!

Throughout my experience working at four tech companies, I've encountered exceptional product marketers in various roles – some were my peers, others were my superiors, a few reported to me, and many were PMMs I had the privilege of mentoring and coaching. In my view, certain distinct qualities set these top PMMs apart from their good counterparts. Below, I've expanded the list to include 15 traits based on reader feedback, building upon the original ​top 10 traits I shared in my LinkedIn post​. 1/ Good PMMs spend time understanding customers - they conduct research regularly to uncover existing customer needs. Great PMMs are obsessed with customers’ needs - they know the customers' intrinsic motivators and emotional drivers to anticipate their FUTURE needs. 2/ Good PMMs leverage market and customer data to do good product marketing - such as influencing the roadmap and understanding the customer journey. Great PMMs leverage a wide variety of data to triangulate and uncover entirely new business opportunities, such as new use cases and new segments to go after. 3/ Good PMMs understand that tracking metrics is important. Great PMMs also understand that not all metrics matter equally. They focus on metrics aligned with the most important objective of the company at a certain time and intentionally choose to ignore vanity metrics. 4/ Good PMMs create clear and value-focused messaging that is tied to the needs of the customer. Great PMMs not only do that but also create emotionally resonant messaging that compels action. They understand the keys to great copywriting. 5/ Good PMMs have a great grasp of the biggest competitors and how to win against them. Great PMMs understand all the competitive alternatives that get the same job done - in order to smartly position the product today for the future. 6/ Good PMMs can deliver a great launch from beginning to end. Great PMMs take the lessons learned from each launch to create repeatable launch processes that will enable the delivery of many great launches moving forward company-wide. 7/ Good PMMs deliver quality assets and training when asked by sales teams. Great PMMs anticipate the needs of sales by proactively analyzing sales data and calls to provide the most useful assets and training. 8/ Good PMMs add value to other teams and help out when necessary. Great PMMs exert great influence and are the “invisible” hand that adds strategic insights across each successful strategic project across the company. 9/ Good PMMs can explain the “what” behind each project to stakeholders. Great PMMs focus on explaining the “why” behind what they do and regularly take the opportunity to educate others in the company on product marketing. 10/ Good PMMs are focused on delivering high-quality deliverables. Great PMMs understand that it’s also important to get feedback quickly and progress > perfection - they take an iterative approach to get things done faster and with more input. 11/ Good PMMs are hard workers - they are diligent and are always busy. Great PMMs understand how to work smart, not just hard, and know when to push back and say no by intentionally managing stakeholder expectations. 12/ Good PMMs are focused on learning the best product marketing frameworks and principles. Gret PMMs understand the best frameworks can come from other disciplines. They actively learn about product development processes, sales best practices, and design thinking techniques to create a broad, diverse set of tools in their toolbox. 13/ Good PMMs do their best so they don’t get negative feedback by validating their idea with people they trust. Great PMMs understand that (constructive) negative feedback is important and pushback is good. They actively welcome such feedback and foster a culture of questioning the status quo. 14/ Good PMMs are trusted by leadership. Great PMMs empower and enable leaders to see their peers and the entire team - they also lift others up all around them. 15/ Good PMMs are focused on their career development - getting that next promotion and visibility. Great PMMs also understand what works for others may not work for them and are focused on creating an intentional career beyond promotions. What can you do today to become a great PMM? Becoming a great PMM is a challenging journey that requires time and effort. I've never encountered anyone who fulfills all the criteria on this list, or even most of them. So, consider this list as a compilation of the most crucial behaviors you can choose to focus on. It's also important to recognize that the conditions necessary to grow to become a great PMM - a great work culture and a supportive, knowledgeable manager. If you don’t believe this exists at your place of work, it may be time to make a change. And if you are inclined to make progress today, here are a few things you can do: Choose one item from the list above that resonates with you the most. Assess your current position in relation to that item and determine where you need to improve. Set the smallest, most achievable goal you can work on in a week. Dedicate yourself to achieving that goal in the upcoming week, and then repeat this process weekly. If you put in the work and take small steps consistently, you will create tremendous career growth for yourself that will serve you in the long run. Let me know how it goes! And if you want more… Here is ​my recent podcast interview with Dave Gerhardt​ of Exit 5 - where we discuss everything PMM, career, art, and being a woman of color in tech Here is a ​PMM interview assignment artifact I created for Reforge​ where I walk through how I would evaluate the quality of an assignment

You are eager to land your first role in product marketing, so excitedly, you send in your resume, hoping to secure your first product marketing job. However, all you hear in response is silence – not a single reply. Doubts start creeping in. Are you not cut out for product marketing? Is the job market so bleak that you should give up altogether? Will you never be able to overcome the chicken-and-egg problem? If you are facing this, you are not alone. Each week, I have candidates reach out to me with that exact challenge. My response to you is the same as it is to them: You undoubtedly have great potential to break into product marketing, but you may need a different approach - one based on gaining real-world experience to overcome the chicken-and-egg problem, and that aligns with today's hyper-competitive market conditions. Allow me to walk you through exactly what that approach looks like. *Read till the end for a special announcement. Step 1: Assess your current product marketing skills The first step to becoming a product marketer is to understand what it is (and is not). At the core, the purpose of product marketing is to tell the story of the product by deeply understanding the customer, market, and competition, and then using that story to drive product adoption and business goals through GTM activities. My LinkedIn post summarizes product marketing in a nutshell. So, in order to do product marketing successfully, you need skills in two categories: Core competencies. These include: Research/data analysis: the ability to conduct market, competitive, and customer research and be able to synthesize insights using data analysis. Positioning/Messaging: the ability to use the insights through research to create product positioning and messaging to articulate the value and story of the product Product launch: the ability to launch a product or feature to market, or implement a full GTM strategy. Enablement: the ability to create collaterals, assets, and training for field teams including sales, customer success, and other marketers so they know who to market to, and the product can deliver General skills. These include: Influencing without authority A bias for action writing/verbal communication skills Emotional intelligence/empathy While candidates generally understand that soft skills are transferable, many think they do not possess any of the hard skills. But the reality is even the hard skills can be transferable - after all, the principles of research are the same whether you are a product marketer or not. The key is to correctly rate yourself on how strong you are across each of the skills, this will help you understand where your key skill gaps are. For instance, most career switchers lack experience with positioning and messaging - one of the most critical skills to develop as a product marketer. You can use the template below as a starting point to assess your skills. Step 2: Fill in your skill gaps by getting real hand product marketing experience What if, after assessing your skills, you discover certain gaps in your knowledge? This is the biggest catch-22 for career switchers - how do you break into a field to gain experience when you are not even given the chance to do so? In that case, you should focus on filling those gaps by gaining real-world experience ALONGSIDE theoretical learning. Because, the reality is, no matter how much theoretical learning you do, what hiring managers care about is real, practical experience. To gain real experience, consider the following: Volunteering for startups or non-profit organizations to assist them with their marketing needs (e.g. messaging). Freelancing for startups on Upwork, Growth Collective, or others and trying to get paid as you gain real-world experience (you may have to leverage some existing skill first and gradually move on to PMM-focused work) Creating targeted projects (e.g. messaging teardowns) for your target companies using the theory you learned Whatever experience you can build from working for real companies/startups, turn that into a portfolio of relevant projects that you can use. Pro tip: you will get the highest response rate if you create a project for a specific company, as it’s most relevant. But do this only sparingly for a few select roles you care the most about. Step 3 - Create a focused targeting strategy to land a product marketing job Once you have covered your key skill gaps - you are ready to start job searching. Before you start sending in resumes, determine what companies you should be targeting as not all opportunities are created equal. Prioritize opportunities that you are passionate about AND have a competitive advantage. To uncover your competitive advantages, start by listing out all types of customers, industries, transferable skills, and products that you have had experience with within your previous roles. Then find companies where your competitive advantage will be a key requirement for the role. One of the most common mistakes job seekers make is using the “spray and pray” method, where they apply to as many jobs as they can. When that does not work, they apply for more jobs only to have the same thing happen again. This creates a vicious cycle of not getting results and wasting your time. The number of companies you target will vary by your experience level and industry, but on average, you should aim to apply to about 20-40 companies to land offers. 4. Develop a strong personal story and apply the right way Your personal story is NOT just your resume - it’s your entire brand from your resume/cover letter to how you introduce yourself in LinkedIn messages to hiring managers. To craft a great personal story - read this example and framework. To craft a great resume, make sure you are starting with the roles you are targeting, and work backward to match your resume to the requirements of each role. Once you have all your materials in place, it is time to apply. The last thing you want to do is to submit your resume online, where it will sit with hundreds of other resumes. What you need to do is to get referrals as much as possible. This is because getting a referral is 15x more effective than submitting online (Jobvite). For most companies, when you get a referral you bypass the online application pool, so the resume goes straight to the recruiter or hiring manager to be reviewed. So what if you don’t have any warm leads? Then you need to get a cold referral. This means reaching out directly to the hiring manager on LinkedIn in your target companies, with a thoughtful message that directly ties your background to why you are a great fit for the role (and with links to your portfolio projects!) Step 5 - Ace product marketing interviews and assignments Finally, you succeeded in landing interviews. When it comes to preparing for each interview, be sure to prepare thorough examples following the PSAR method I created. This framework is better suited to PMM interviews than the STAR framework because it showcases your thought process more while reducing unnecessary information about the background. Processes allow you to structure your thinking and present a cohesive plan that can be more easily understood and communicated internally. The assignment stage is where a lot of candidates trip up. In general, there are presentation assignments and writing assignments - both of which require strategic thinking and communication skills. The key to doing them well is by avoiding the temptation of jumping in to solve them right away but instead smartly outlining the thought process first. Then, choose at least 1 area to focus on to dive deeper and showcase more than what they asked. This will help you stand out and seal the deal. Read more about how to ace assignments here. What’s Next? Ultimately, pursuing a product marketing career without prior experience is possible with persistence and the right strategy. By following the steps above, I hope you have gained more clarity and confidence in tackling this the right way, and I am confident you should be landing interviews and job offers successfully and confidently. However, this can also be a lonely and challenging journey to navigate on your own. This is why I have dedicated the past 6 months to building a brand new, one-of-a-kind program with Olivine Marketing to help you tackle this exact challenge. The PMM Launch Accelerator will be the first-of-its-kind apprentice-style program to help you land your first product marketing role. You will be taught theory, and then paired with a real startup to work on real projects during this program - turning theory into practical experience immediately that you can apply to your next role. The first cohort is launching in September with 20 slots only, so sign up for the waitlist to get first dibs when doors open. I hope to see you there!

Why Reverse Interview Questions Matter in Product Marketing The manager you choose will have the BIGGEST impact on your next role. A great manager will catapult your career, and a bad manager will hold you back and make you feel inadequate. Having worked at 6 companies across industries, I can say the biggest factor in my career success was optimizing my next role for the best manager. However, even though we all know it’s important to find the right manager, most people don't know how to determine the quality of the hiring manager during the interview process. So if you are currently job searching, you need to smartly and tactfully ask great reverse interview questions in order to make informed decisions. This will also have the added benefit of enabling you to take control of the interview process and be seen as more intentional and capable. Key Questions to Assess Manager Quality Below is a list of key reverse interview questions to ask during product marketing interviews. While not exhaustive, it serves as a helpful starting point. Huge shout out to my current clients who contributed to this list as well, based on their real-life, first-hand experiences. Also keep in mind, the most valuable questions you can ask are those aligned with the values that matter most to you, which you should have identified when you began your job search journey. Manager Quality What led you to join this company? What do you like/dislike about the journey so far? How do you take constructive criticism, and how did you respond to a time you received it? How would your employees describe your management style? What is your view on promoting employees? What is the promotional and growth path for this role in particular? What are the three things you think I can learn from you as a manager What are you doing to reduce burnout for your team? What is the most surprising thing about company X that is different from other companies you worked at? Business Strategy Why did this role open up, and why now? I understand the target customers are X - would you mind sharing more about the approach for determining ICP and targeting? What segments are you choosing NOT to focus on? What is the biggest challenge facing the company right now, and why? What does success mean for your company today? Of the three growth levers, which is most important (acquisition, monetization, retention)? What do you feel is the company’s greatest competitive advantage? What KPIs are you most focused on improving to drive revenue? How do you view the relationship between product marketing and product management? Role-specific What kinds of decisions do you expect the new hire to make, vs. deferring the decision to you? What do you envision success looking like in this role in 90 days and in a year? How do you hope this role contributes to meeting the key goals of the company? What’s the biggest impact you believe this position can make for the company? Company/Team Culture Can you define what being flexible means in a hybrid/remote environment? If you could describe the company culture in 3 words, what would they be and why? How did your company respond to social issues such as the rise in Asian Hate and the Black Lives Matter movement? How do you support your employees from diverse cultural backgrounds? Perception of you Is there any additional information I can provide that would elevate your confidence in me as a candidate? What is the profile of the candidates you think would be the most successful on your team? Additional Tips for Your Reverse Interview Process In addition to choosing from this list of questions to ask, here are some additional tips to keep in mind: How you ask the question also matters. If you are asking more sensitive questions, it’s always better to start by providing context on why it’s important for you to know and ask them in a positive, friendly tone. You can always request more meetings with the interviewers after you get an offer if you feel the information you got is insufficient to allow you to make a decision. Do not hijack the interview and demand to get all your questions answered no matter what. Even beyond asking questions, if you feel something is off, you can also do your own diligence by finding ex-employees on LinkedIn and getting some insider information. Finally, remember, you are valuable and you are in control of the interview as well, so don’t sell yourself short and get what you deserve! In summary, You should be asking smart reverse interview questions during your interviews, even in today’s job market. The questions to prioritize should be focused on what you value the most. If you don’t get what you need or have doubts, find other ways to learn more before you take the offer! And if you are in need of more in-depth, detailed guidance along your job search journey, then it’s the perfect time to sign up for my Product Marketing Job Search Course. For a limited time only, you get access to the 20+ video lessons PLUS access to my private student community, and LIVE group interview coaching sessions, at 50% off before 7/31. Check it out today! ​

When I started my career, I remember being told that I needed to climb the proverbial career ladder to succeed. So I worked really hard to pursue my path as a transportation consultant, always striving to earn more income, promotions, and prestige. But even after several promotions, I felt something was missing and I was deeply unhappy. The creative side of me was begging to be fulfilled, yet my job involved long hours of writing reports and doing technical analysis. Breaking Free: A Pivot into Marketing I thought, surely there is something better out there for me. So I went back to school to pursue an MBA. I had a lightbulb moment when I learned about marketing. It was exactly what I wanted to do and what would scratch that creative itch. When I decided to quit my safe job and pivot into marketing where I had zero experience, people thought I was crazy. Doing a 180-degree career pivot was no cakewalk. I was met with countless failures and rejections. But I didn’t give up. After several months of grueling interviews and developing a unique method for job searching, I landed my first role in marketing. That role led to 3 more leadership roles in product marketing before I realized I loved helping others land their dream jobs and grow their careers even more. So, I began to pursue new territory as a coach and solopreneur. Having helped over 150 people on their job search and career journey so far, I couldn’t be happier to be building again! Through my career loops, I’ve learned to define success in my own terms, and we’re going to explore how you can too. The Myth of the Linear Career Path The truth is, if you’re feeling unhappy or stuck in your career, the myth of the "linear" career path may be to blame. Nobody’s career is a straight line, and believing so can make us continue to go down the wrong path, overly focus on money and prestige, and feel the crushing weight of inadequacy if we are stuck on the same rung of the ladder for too long. In my case, I was only able to take the leap of faith to pivot first into product marketing, and then again into career coaching once I abandoned linear thinking. By letting go of the idea that I needed to climb the ladder in one industry or job function my entire life, I could entertain new possibilities and get unstuck. And I believe you can too. The Four Stages of the Career Growth Loop to Grow Your Career Just like the product growth loop, the career growth loop is a continuous process of regeneration and reinvention, with the learnings from previous iterations serving as inputs for the next iteration - driving compounding growth. Let’s dive in to explore each stage, and what to focus on or avoid at each. Stage 1 - Sprout You are at the beginning of your career as a young seedling. You may have just gotten your first job or you’re on the path to getting one. This is the time to roll up your sleeves, work hard, learn as much as possible, and stay curious. Most of the work at this stage may be tactical and repetitive, but it’s through repetition we learn and train our muscles to have a strong foundational skillset. What to Focus On Focus on finding a great manager. The most important mentor you will have early on in your career will be your manager. During the interview process, focus on finding managers with a lot of relevant experience, and who clearly demonstrate they are focused on mentorship. Not sure how to do that? Start with this list of reverse interview questions. What to Avoid Avoid optimizing for salary alone. At this stage, learning from the best and joining the right company is the best thing you can do. When you earn more knowledge and have more experience under your belt, your earning potential will grow rapidly in later stages. I was once offered a role that paid $30K more than other offers, but upon having further conversations with leadership, I realized they weren’t aligned on company priorities, which was a red flag. I turned down the offer, and 2 months later there was a shake-up at the company and the hiring manager was let go. The company I ended up choosing instead provided me with tons of learning opportunities by having a strong and diverse leadership that truly cared. Stage 2 - Growth The growth stage is one of the most exciting. You now have a few years of experience and feel more confident in your skills. Your execution capabilities have grown, so it is imperative to establish repeatable systems that work for you. These systems will serve as vital frameworks as you progress into the next phase and assume a strategic leadership role. What to Focus On Focus on becoming a T-shaped marketer. While gaining a general understanding of every aspect of your role is really important, you also want to develop at least one area of deep expertise that you enjoy while growing your reputation as a subject matter expert. Becoming the go-to person for a specific skill set will make you invaluable and grow your confidence, paving the way for the next stage of your career. For instance, in my first PMM role, I spent over 50% of my time enabling sales on enterprise deals. I created over 18 use-case-specific decks that significantly transformed our messaging and helped me build a reputation as a star storyteller. I won a sales award that year, which was instrumental in helping me get promoted. What to Avoid Avoid thinking there is only one way to grow. Instead of chasing after more and more titles in the same role, growth could also be horizontal - you could move into adjacent roles, move into different types of industries, and sizes of companies. It’s OK to grow in whichever way you want to. Learning can happen anywhere. Stage 3 - Maturity Once you have reached the maturity level, you will notice that doing your job comes with ease, and people come to you regularly for advice, as you are the authority on the subject matter. You should have managed large projects, or perhaps you are leading an entire function. At this stage, the focus shifts towards building leadership skills and overall business acumen as an established leader. Drawing upon your extensive knowledge, it is time to formulate strong points of view (POV) that reflects your understanding of the role through your experience. What to Focus On Focus on developing your personal brand - which is an external reflection of your internal values. When you have a strong personal brand you will have clarity about yourself and attract the right opportunities to you. When COVID hit, I saw a lot of friends lose their jobs, so I decided to help them out by offering ad-hoc job search advice. To my delight, not only was I successful in getting them jobs, but I also enjoyed it so much that I decided to pursue it as a side hustle. I started posting on LinkedIn sharing exactly how I helped them, and that led me to build my thriving coaching business today. What to Avoid Avoid thinking you know it all. Even when you have achieved expertise in something, it’s important to listen to outside perspectives and learn new ways of doing things. Some of the best things I learned are from the employees I hired with far less experience (or so I thought)! Stage 4 - Harvest With a solidified personal brand and a strong skill set, this stage allows you to reap the rewards of your hard work through additional career options. You can leverage your expertise, unique values, and skill set in various ways. This may involve delivering paid talks, offering consultancy services, launching your own startup, or pursuing other ventures. What to Focus On Focus on opportunities that align with your values and lifestyle - Instead of pursuing every opportunity under the sun, think about what opportunities can further enhance your brand, could be complementary to one another, and can be more easily managed and scaled over time. For instance, many PMMs at this stage may become consultants, advisors, or contractors, making great income while maintaining a healthy work/life balance. What to Avoid Watch out for harvesting too soon, or harvesting for too long without planting new seeds for growth. I see many early career professionals capitalizing on additional income streams. While commendable, it's hard to harvest without any crops. True expertise matters and can only be earned through experience and hard work. As you harvest, you will naturally realize new paths you want to pursue, or new skills to gain. This signals it is time to restart the loop and become a beginner again. In summary, Careers are loops, not ladders. Career paths are often winding and cyclical with periods of massive growth, re-evaluation, rest (time off), and reinvention. You can stay in a loop for 10 years, restart a loop halfway through if you think it’s the wrong one, or do something else. And no matter where you are in your career, you are in the right place: every stage of your career serves a purpose even if it does not feel like it at the time. One action step you can do today: Read through this and figure out where you are in your career loop. Find the relevant suggestions I have for that stage, and choose one thing to improve on within the next week. Want more dedicated guidance to land, develop, and grow in your dream product marketing role? Then check out my 1-1 programs to help you: Overcome rejections and land your dream role with confidence Master your onboarding in the first 30-60-90 Days without burn-out or stress Gain career clarity and build out your career loops to become a strong, confident leader Interested in any programs above? Contact me whenever you are ready.

Navigating the Stages of Product Lifecycle for a Dynamic Product Marketing Career All products go through a product lifecycle. As a PMM, your role and focus can drastically differ by-product lifecycle stage, which can, in turn, affect your product marketing career and path. Specifically, this is how product marketing can differ by product lifecycle phase: 🌱 Introduction phase: This is where the product is initially introduced to the market. There is a lot of excitement for potentially disrupting a category or new ways to solve old problems. At this stage, a true 0-1 product marketer is needed to validate product/market fit, message/market fit, and plan and execute full GTMs to drive product awareness. When I was a 0-1 product marketer at a Series A startup, I created the first product launch process and spoke at length with customers to validate the message/market fit and refine our ICP. 🌿 Growth phase: You are looking at a mid-late stage startup doubling revenue each year and more. The goal at this stage is to penetrate the market as fast as possible. This means the PMM needs to split time between launching new features and scaling sales enablement. They also need to support major marketing promotional campaigns. Overall, there will be a shift towards more campaigns vs. new product launches. When I was at a growth stage startup, 50% of my time was spent scaling sales enablement to support AEs across 10+ regions as we needed to win more deals, faster. 🌳 Maturity phase: This is the phase where growth slows, and where the product is generally ubiquitous in the mind of the target customer. At this point, there likely are many other competitors in the market, so the goal is to grow and maintain market share. The PMM can focus on pricing/packaging to optimize revenue from existing customers and collaborate with the rest of the marketing team on brand refresh and competitive-focused campaigns to increase brand loyalty and take market share. When I was on AutoCAD - a 40-year-old product, my efforts were focused on global campaigns to establish our leadership position, attract a new generation of customers, and help avoid customers going to copycats. 🍂 Decline phase: At this phase, the product is in decline, with many similar products on the market. It’s also likely the company already has a broader product portfolio with newer products that are in the growth stage. The goal of a PMM at this stage is to continue maximizing profitability by squeezing $ from late adopters (e.g. developing regions) and promoting the entire product portfolio to upsell or cross-sell customers to newer products. For instance, at Autodesk, AutoCAD is bundled with newer products like Revit to drive up sales and prolong its usage. Crafting Your Unique Product Marketing Career Path I believe in building a strong and long-lasting career path that builds a diversity of experiences across all stages of the product lifecycle, but what works for each individual should be based on their specific strengths, values, and goals. So how does this affect you? 1. If you are looking for a new job, think about what stage of the company would better fit your skills and interests right now. 2. If you are currently working, think about new strategies most aligned with the stage of your product’s growth, and how you can prolong it. If you are looking for guidance to gain more clarity on which growth stage fits you best in a job search, or how to take more control of your career, please contact me and I would love to see how I can help.

​A few weeks ago I posted that product marketing is truly a connector role. It launches products to the market, enables sales, and partners with marketing to drive revenue. The Traditional View of Product Marketing This is why it’s typically represented by the widely adopted Venn diagram showing it sitting at the center of the three functions: The Shortcomings of the Traditional View While this framing is initially helpful, I believe it has several shortcomings: 1. It’s a me-centric point of view I can safely say other functions, especially product management, also think they sit at the center. This me-centric view unnecessarily creates ego and territoriality. 2. Misconception that PMMs have tons of ownership The most common reason I have heard why aspiring PMMs want to move into the field is that they want to have tons of ownership. In reality, PMMs have the LEAST ownership compared to other functions, and instead, have to influence without authority. 3. It overlooks other key areas in the business For instance, customer success and customer support often get ignored, as well as engineering and Ops roles. The fact is there are many other teams not represented in the diagram which are equally important to business success. Rethinking What Is Product Marketing: The Interconnected Web Instead, product marketing should be represented more as an interconnected web: In this web view, every function has an equally important part to play in the success of the company. In addition, holding this view shifts the mindset of PMMs from “How can I make myself look good” to “How can I help other teams look good”. Building Stronger Connections Across Teams It also encourages PMMs to see beyond their bubble and genuinely helps connect with other teams. For instance, one of the proudest things I did in my career was connecting Customer Success with Product to better influence the roadmap and communicate features to customers - which helped both teams reach their goals. Practical Implications for PMMs So how does this affect your job as a PMM? Here are a few practical tips you can apply to your job today: Recreate the web diagram for your specific role. Chances are the functions at your company may look a bit different. Draw it to represent the key functions within your company. Select and prioritize a few relationships to focus on. Instead of focusing on every line in the diagram, pick 2-3 to focus on based on the key objectives of your company. Brainstorm 1 way to add value to those relationships you picked. If you notice any gaps in those relationships, this is a great time to start closing the gap and think about 1 way you can immediately add value. At the end of the day, when PMMs enable other teams, they will naturally become an invaluable part of every company and act as the true connector. This view is messier, but I believe it’s more accurate.

Surbhi's Transformation from Freelance Consultant to Product Marketing Manager Surbhi Gupta was a star client of mine. When we met, Surhbhi was struggling to balance her life as a mom and being the owner of a freelance consulting business. She had been out of the corporate world for 3 years and while she had extensive marketing experience, she had no formal background in product marketing. But through our work together, she landed a PMM job at a reputable startup earning a great salary that exceeded her expectations. Her story is truly transformational. I recently caught up with Surbhi, to give her a chance to tell her story and share some of what she’s learned. I hope she inspires you, the way she’s inspired me! Finding the Right Career Path at Avalara Yi Lin: I'm super excited to chat with you today. Could you share with the audience where you work right now? Surbhi: Of course! I'm a product marketing manager at Avalara. Avalara is into tax compliance for the B2B audience in the Fintech space. I earned my MBA in marketing in 2013 and joined Hindustan Times, the largest media house in India as a marketer responsible for social media, promotion, campaigns, and more. I worked there for five years in different capacities, eventually becoming a senior marketing manager. Then I moved to Seattle with my husband, had a baby, and decided to start my own consulting firm in brand and marketing, so I can have a more flexible schedule while still working in marketing. I eventually went on to hire and manage 5 people in my consulting firm. The Decision to Shift into Product Marketing Yi Lin: I love that you started your own business and you have such an amazing background! So how did you decide to break into product marketing? Surbhi: It's funny because I heard the term "go-to-market" and it intrigued me. I knew about it before but with its increasing popularity on LinkedIn, I wondered if there was more to it. Watching product marketing videos made me realize PMMs do GTM, and I became interested in exploring the field for its unique challenges and opportunities. It was a refreshing change from my previous work, and I was excited to pursue it despite not knowing how to get there. Yi Lin: What did you do initially to try to pivot into product marketing? Surbhi: Initially I learned a lot just by reading online, watching videos and free resources, including following you on LinkedIn! I then started to apply for roles. I realized while I was getting some first-round interviews, I could not progress past the hiring manager round. I realized my stories were not cohesive and as a working mom, I really didn’t have all the time dedicated to interview prep and I needed to change. I couldn’t wake up at 5 am, interview prep, and then have to get through the day. Yi Lin: As a working mom myself, I really empathize with you. It’s hard enough to job search, let alone having to take care of a baby and run your own business! So what did you do next? Surbhi: I realized I needed help when I returned from a family visit. I told myself I HAD to get a PMM job in 3 months. I knew that if I didn’t prioritize or focus on it, I would just have delayed the process - delayed the learning and my goal. I knew I may be able to do it alone, but to get the results faster and to keep my sanity intact, I needed a career coach - especially someone who has gone through the exact process and who fully understands my situation. This is when I reached out to you, and within just our first call I decided to work with you because of exactly those reasons - you have been there, done that, and you shared great insights with me just in that 30 min. Sometimes, as a mom, I feel the responsibility is huge. I am taking care of my daughter at night, and then it’s 11 pm, I am laying on the couch, and I realize I didn’t do anything for myself. I decided at that moment to prioritize my own career needs and hiring you would be a gift for me. Yi Lin: Wow, thank you for sharing that! It’s really a powerful step to prioritize your own needs! You have such wonderful skills and I knew instantly that you would be a great PMM. I was happy to provide guidance. Would you share then how the job search process was while working with me? Surbhi: Partnering with you — who are equally excited about my dreams and success — helped me tremendously to land the PMM role. First of all, I had instant relief when we started working together, as you provided me with frameworks and a specific plan of action for every milestone. You laid out exactly what I needed to do after each session, so I knew I was held accountable and that really motivated me and kept me on track. During the job search, I felt the level of detail you put into the program was something I didn’t see in other coaches. You didn’t just show me how to go about getting referrals and using untraditional ways to reach the hiring manager, you also created specific templates and sample messages I could modify and use. You had a template for everything from resumes to tracking progress, interviews, and even assignments which were so helpful. Your resume edit, in particular, was a game changer - it was not a generic resume edit. I was getting completely stuck in my head, but you came in and helped reframe my experiences in a way that exactly described me and highlighted my unique value. I started getting interviews with the new resume and it was remarkable! Finally, as we approached interviews the approach you used to structure questions really changed the game - they actually made me feel more confident in my own skills as I walked into each interview. Apart from the 1-1s I also loved the group sessions and the student community you built which was great for emotional support. Overcoming Challenges and Winning the Role Yi Lin: Wow, thank you for sharing all that! I was so glad when you got the offer because I knew it was the perfect opportunity for you, and you have shown so much resilience in the process. On the other hand, I know the process was also not free of challenges, especially on the emotional side. Would you share how you were able to overcome the challenges? Surbhi: Absolutely, it was definitely not smooth sailing all the way and particularly there were two difficult times I faced. The first one was when I wasn't getting enough calls for product marketing roles. I wanted to give in and switch back to marketing, but after discussing it with you, you reminded me that my dream role was product marketing and that I should keep going and focus on doing one thing at a time. For instance, reach out to 5 hiring managers in a week. I am really glad you didn’t make me give up because then I started landing more interviews and progressing to the final rounds. The second turning point was when I got rejected in the final round with this company I thought I was a shoo-in for. I remember being extremely upset but then speaking with you, you objectively assessed my situation and made me realize the huge progress I made and that success was around the corner. A lot of the time, I felt you were not just a coach, but a friend who I can be completely myself with. You are open, flexible and were available whenever I needed help. Yi Lin: It was clear that your answers kept getting better and better. I only taught you the techniques but you did it all! Now that you are a PMM, how do you like the role so far? Surbhi: I love it. I look forward to Mondays and I look forward to tomorrow. I realized I might not know the mechanics of, say, a full positioning/messaging project, but I know I can learn it. I am fully tapping into my superpowers of collaboration - I can ensure projects get done, and I am learning and drawing energy from everything around my work. It’s awesome. Yi Lin: That’s so great to hear! What advice would you have for anyone who is on this job search journey now? Surbhi: For anyone trying to break into product marketing or land a dream role, I’d say, 1) believe that you can do it and have a positive mindset, and 2) do something about it. Put an action plan together, and have a defined strategy. Then, when you encounter roadblocks (which are inevitable), don’t take things personally. Try to get the help you need, whether it is from a coach, a community, or something else. It's about getting help in whichever form you find useful at the time. What I would caution against is just sitting there by yourself and waiting for something different to happen. — Thanks so much to Surbhi for sharing her perspective! Hearing stories like hers is what motivates me to do the work I do. If you’re struggling in your career, just know: You’re not alone! I’ve been there. Surbhi was there. And when you’re having a hard time, asking for help isn’t weakness—it’s proof of wisdom. If you could use some help, contact me on my website, and let's chat!