MBA Hires, PM Culture, and Estimation Alternatives

By Leslie Cook
Posted on December 27, 2023

Welcome to our Product Newsletter, a biweekly email highlighting top discussions, and learning resources for product managers.

What We Will Cover In This Edition:-

Top Discussions:

1) Why do companies employ MBAs for PM positions who have no prior experience?

2) Would you work for a business with poor PM culture?

3) An alternative to the estimation challenge.

Top Learning Resources:

1. Product launch framework: Six steps for product manager

2. How to write a product roadmap

3. The case for dual product management career path

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Top Discussions

Question 1) Why do companies employ MBAs for PM positions who have no prior experience?

I can see why they want an MBA. What puzzles me is why they will only employ a fresh PM from an MBA program for an “MBA-PM” position and not for other relevant PM positions at the same level. Anecdotally, based on the outcomes of myself and my MBA classmates, this is done at bigger companies. Why are these individuals unable to receive interviews for particular teams? Teams that would (probably) be given to them after they joined the company.

– David Mercy

Discussion

A] There are a few reasons why companies might hire MBA graduates for product management roles, even if they don’t have specific product management experience. One reason is that MBA programs generally cover a wide range of business-related topics, including leadership, strategy, finance, and marketing. This can provide MBA graduates with a strong foundation of knowledge and skills that can be valuable in a product management role.

Additionally, MBA programs often place a strong emphasis on teamwork, communication, and problem-solving, which are all important skills for product managers to have. Finally, some companies may view MBA programs as a way to identify high-potential candidates who have the ability to learn quickly and take on new challenges.

– Anushka Garg

B] Similar to why IBs and MBBs hire consultants and bankers fresh out of MBA programs without any work experience: established pipeline. Companies presume that MBA admissions have done the labor-intensive process of pre-qualifying (read: filtering) appropriate potential candidates since they receive applicants who, on average, are of a certain perceived caliber. Additionally, businesses can launch extensive training initiatives once pipelines are established.

– Dhiraj Mehta

C] Educating yourself about business has many benefits, including broadening your perspective and understanding the world around you better. Additionally, having an MBA can help with salary negotiation and job performance reviews. Colleges and universities may offer scholarships for students who demonstrate financial need and a commitment to bettering the world. Business schools across the country are offering graduate programs that can be completed in as little as 18 months. Eighteen months is not enough time for students to acquire business experience in a particular field, but it may be enough time for them to make an informed decision about what type of field they want to pursue.

– Corey Amorin

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Question 2) Would you work for a business with a poor PM culture?

I’m conducting a light interview with a payments startup that is transitioning from the hardware to the software market. Some points from the interview are listed below.

Internal UX absent
Not engineering focused
Waterfall
Research was conducted by outside contractors

Their only resources must be money and the chance to learn about payments and “fintech.”

Although business is sluggish and department heads are leaving left and right, I like my current startup. There is at least a two-year runway, but the compensation and benefits are poor. On the other side, management has adopted several good product practices during the past year and is open to feedback. Execution is the only issue if all the stakeholders continue to quit, and there is a possibility that I could lose teammates as the domino effect continues.

– Juan Allo

Discussion

A] Avoid if at all possible. Unless you want to be the catalyst for change that transforms culture, which typically calls for significant seniority and experience. Some tech firms are setting the pace and operating the vehicles. Some people are astride horses. Some people are slogging through the muck.

Given their methods of operation, I’m concerned that this business might represent the latter choice.

It’s okay if you can alter the culture or if all you can do is discover why it’s a poor way to operate for a while. However, if you stay there for too long, learning to walk while other people are driving cars could teach you the incorrect abilities.

But that’s just my opinion. You already know all the details; I’m only responding to the impression you gave me and my interpretation of it.

– Eva Richardson

B] The short answer is no, you shouldn’t try this.

Arabic proverb that roughly translates to “you can’t straighten up a dog’s tail” exists. It simply means that some things in life are either beyond your control or not worth changing.

Even if you were able to convince them of the absolute necessity of UX, even if you created a plan and presented it to management to improve the PM culture, and even in the unlikely event that you were able to persuade them to avoid waterfalling, it is extremely unlikely that you would see a ROI in less than two or three years.

There are much too many fish in the sea, as @FlaviaBergstein stated. There are startups in the financial industry and other tech fields that are well-prepared.

If you absolutely adore the product and are prepared to work there for at least five years, then I would only give it some thought

– Nathan Endicott

C] In a similar circumstance, I joined a fintech some time back. I accepted the job for a variety of reasons, including the position’s superior compensation and benefits, relative flexibility in working hours and location (I recently delivered a kid), and relative convenience. However, the product culture is awful, it’s very top-down, and a few senior staff members have to sign off on everything. There are only two development teams implementing client needs in a sprint framework; there are no product areas.
You might be shocked to learn that I actually enjoy attempting to make things different. I believe I’m making progress by implementing true agile principles, discovery processes, product area separation with strategic objectives, and other approaches because the company is still small enough to allow for it. It’s not simple, but it presents a different challenge from my previous work. Having said that, the business is still small enough for me to make a difference, therefore it will be harder to change if you move to a larger organization.

– Mario Romero

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Question 3) An alternative approach to the estimation challenge

I was recently asked to “guess the number of images clicked at the Eiffel Tower in a day” in a job interview.

I started writing the problem down right away and structured it like any other estimating problem. segments of the general public who might take pictures there, the size of Paris, the number of tourists there on any given day, etc.

The interviewer questioned me about whether there might be a more accurate way to estimate this halfway through my response. After giving it some thought, I came up with a suggestion that seemed entirely illogical to me. I proposed that we look at hashtags associated with the Eiffel Tower on Twitter and Instagram. Count the posts and then modify it depending on additional suppositions. The interviewer nodded in agreement, and we moved on to talk about how to use social media posts to gather the necessary data, the sample size needed for a hypothetical survey, etc.

My ability to look in the correct places for the answers and my statistical analysis skills were put to the test by what initially appeared to be a general estimation challenge. Is this a superior way to estimation questions in general given that this is the basis of product management—gaining insights from the data points that are readily available? to propose a strategy rather than come up with a number?

– Lawrence Martin

Discussion

A] The approach rather than the quantity is always the focus of this kind of discussion. According to my past experiences, I would say yes to applicants who could execute the strategy you initially used well. However, I would always be more enthusiastic about candidates who were able to employ workarounds and original hypotheses to get to the solution. Ultimately, you should approach these issues in whatever way makes you feel most comfortable, but never be afraid to take a chance (as long as you can defend your reasoning)!

– Samantha Yuan

B] Absolutely, I’m a fan of questions that have “book correct” way to answer them, then a multitude of different ways to arrive at the same answer.

If they can’t find a starting point, then that’s a no-go for me.
If they give the “book correct” answer, then I’ll assume they’re a good candidate for a junior PM role.
If they can come to a quick estimate, then triangulate to reasonable answer then I’ll assume they have enough experience under their belt for a more senior role.

Estimation questions work well because it puts PMs in a position that they’ll frequently find themselves in… where they’re presented with a problem that is seemingly impossible to even begin. How they wind their way through to an answer can tell you a lot about how they approach the unknown.

– Donovan O’Kang

C] Yes, it is. Typically, that question is looking for ways in which you’d guesstimate using trustworthy data points that are most readily accessible (even though there is technically no right answer). It also assess your capacity to deal with insufficient data to solve ambiguous questions.

The best way to go about it is:

Take two approaches (or proxies) and pick one with a solid reasoning to do so.
Segment the problem
Take round figures and perform quick and dirty calculations.
For bonus points, see if you could convert it into a $-value. Eg: of you’re trying to sell something to people clicking pictures at Eiffel tower, the total addressable market size is x number of people ? $y.

– Risa Butler

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Top Learning Resources

Product launch framework: Six steps for product manager

Before working on an idea, you first need to know what to work on. This sounds trivial, but often, teams are jumping the gun. They dig deep into a specific topic, spending countless hours already on development. They build an asset before having a rough idea of the landscape they injected themselves into.

How to write a product roadmap

A product roadmap sketches an entire journey of a product, from the initial days to the product delivery. The industry is so vast, that the companies have different ideas for their products. Hence, there is a need for different types of product roadmaps.

The case for dual product management career path

What distinguishes such conventional organizations from amazing ones is that they are able to establish a path that allows their people to thrive, grow, and experience different challenges — aligned with what they want to do and what’s important for the company. And for that to happen, we usually need a dual-track career path.

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