Do we have a PM problem?
Product Manager serves a critical role in technology organisations - its independent of sales quotas and perfectionist approach of engineering. Instead the role focuses on making sure that the voice of your user is heard unequivocally and is translated to the features that get shipped to them first in the way users need them, not in the way internal team might think of them. And yet -
In a survey of European Series A startups from Atomico portfolio the team found that the median headcount at which startups installed a full-time PM turns out to be 34. The average Engineer to full-time PM ratio was 24:1. Europe might be blessed with the high number of talented engineers and data scientists and yet we tend to have a fundamental product problem - a lack of well trainer PMs and that is considering all the abundance of ambitious companies that are being built, funding dedicated and technology skills on the market. With just a few concentrated hotspots for product organisations to thrive such as London, Paris, Amsterdam, Stockholm, and Copenhagen, we are really at quite a loss for product leaders who are so critical to the execution and overall success of the startup.
What can we do?
Those that are bright and eager to learn might find Google’s APM program example relevant. Embracing training on the job and actively transitioning the engineers into the product managers is what made the program a success for Google and is bringing benefits till date. If you have a co-founder with a product background or a VP of Product who is able to mentor others, why not put the internal best practice program in place for the incoming junior PMs to train those to success and get them geared up to lead the parts of the product in the near future. For those in the profession, continuous learning and mingling with the likeminded product people will be a blessing in the sky. Here are a few of those awesome product communities you might want to join Product School, Product Coalition, Mind the Product.
Why will it always be difficult to hire a PM early on?
PMs are attracted by traction, market size, MAU and the impact they make with every feature they ship to the user. Early on its difficult to prove that your startup will grow to be a successful one, so hiring a talented PM will demand more effort from leadership and engineering team, more estimates and likely more time to engage the future hire.
NB It’s been noted that product teams that are non diverse will struggle with attracting diverse talent pool when they grow, so make sure you take that into consideration not to hinder your growth in the future.
