All of our Product managers articles

Product

Lessons in Product Scaling and Storytelling from Figma’s CPO

Figma CPO Yuhki Yamashita offers up his playbook for the gnarly phase of product building that arrives after a startup clinches product-market fit — and sets its sights on the next phase of growth.

Management

Make an Org Chart You Want to Ship — Advice from Linear on How Heirloom Tomatoes Should Inspire Team Design

Nan Yu, Head of Product at Linear, has advised dozens of startups of all stages and sizes. He unpacks why founders should be suspicious of symmetry in their team structure, and offers a three-part framework on how to optimize for an “heirloom tomato” org chart.

Product

From Flagship Back to Fledgling: Lessons on Going Multi-Product From an Early Stripe PM

In this exclusive interview, Tara Seshan shares nine lessons from her playbooks for going multi-product, drawing on examples from both Stripe and Watershed.

Product

“Sweat the Details” and Other Commandments for Mapping Out a Career in Product

Veteran product leader Jiaona Zhang walks us through the biggest lessons from her entire career in product at Dropbox, Airbnb, WeWork and now Webflow, from breaking into the function as a first-time PM to tactical tips for navigating transitions into more senior roles.

Product

This VP is Doing Things Differently in the Product Org — Here’s His Playbook

As the VP of Product at Divvy, Tyler Hogge shares his tips for truly empowering your product managers to deliver outcomes, including aligning with revenue teams and adding variable comp.

Product

After 15 Years as a Product Leader, CEO and Now VC, Here’s the Advice I Always Share with Future Founders

As he makes the transition from operator to investor, Todd Jackson looks back on his career at Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Dropbox (as well as his own chapter as a startup founder) to offer tactical takeaways and frameworks for company builders and product leaders alike.

Product

Don’t Serve Burnt Pizza (And Other Lessons in Building Minimum Lovable Products)

Product builders should aim for lovable, not just viable. Jiaona Zhang (product leader at Dropbox, Airbnb, WeWork and lecturer at Stanford) shares her tactics for building MLPs that win users' hearts.

Management

Navigating the Leap from Big Tech to Startups — Advice from a Former Google and Flipkart Exec

Punit Soni cut his teeth as a product leader at large companies such Google, Motorola and Flipkart before venturing out on his own to found Suki, a healthcare startup. Here, he shares his observations on the differences between the two experiences, noting what surprised him, what he felt unprepared

Product

Trello’s Product Lead on the Unique Ramp to a 10-Person Product Org

Trello's Nikita Miller has made a specialty of being the fourth product manager, leading teams through that unique transition from scrappy early-stage startup to a company that can scale. Here, she shares three strategies product leaders must implement to bridge that gap and get the most out of rapi

Product

17 Product Managers Who Will Own the Future of NYC Tech — and the 9 Frameworks They’ll Use to Do It

Last year, First Round hosted a seminar of 17 rising star product managers in NYC, taught by some of the best product leaders in the tech industry. Here's who they are and what they learned.

Product

Make Product Decisions Without Doubt — My Lessons from Twitter and Slack

At Twitter and Slack, Tess Rosania built interfaces that millions use each day. Here, she dissects how she eliminated doubt from four high-stakes product decisions.

Product

Our 6 Must Reads If You're Hiring a Product Manager

Over the years, we've collected a trove of advice on how to hire the best product professionals. Now, we want to package it all together so you can get smart and take action fast.