6. Intro to Product Management with Facebook's Rags Vadali

In this episode Sophia Matveeva talks to Rags Vadali about what product management is, what PMs do and what you need to get a job in PM.

Rags Vadali has managed product at Google, Facebook and various start-ups, and like Sophia, has an MBA from Chicago Booth. This interview is an excerpt from a PM masterclass Rags taught on Tech for Non-Techies.

Summary points

• A product manager is like the conductor of an orchestra. Conductors don’t play every single instrument and are not the best player, but it is their job to bring the best out of the players to create something together.
• To get a job in PM, you don’t need to code. You do need to think like a PM: understand who the user is, what problem they are facing and then create solutions.
• Influence is a key skill for PMs, because the engineers, designers and marketers working on the product don’t report to the PM. However, the PM is ultimately held responsible for the success of the product.

To see the rest of the masterclass, as well as sessions with other product makers, entrepreneurs, investors, leading academics and Big Tech executives, join Tech for Non-Techies membership.

If you have ideas for episodes or topics you would like to explore, tell Sophia on Twitter.