The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20Product: The Five Step Process to Hiring the Best Product People, The Four Core Skills the Best PMs Need to Have, The Two Product Documents that Drive World Class Product Teams & Why the Best PMs are Writers with Scott Williamson, Former CPO @ Gitlab

Feb 21, 2024

Learn from Scott Williamson, former CPO at GitLab, about transitioning from sales to product management, building product teams, hiring top talent, importance of writing skills, and using case studies in product interviews.

55:52

Creator website

Episode guests

Scott Williamson

AI Summary

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Start in sales to gain valuable skills for product management.

Collaborate closely with the engineering team for successful product delivery.

Understand business metrics and impact to drive product success.

Deep dives

Focus on Validation and Problem Solving

One of the key areas for a PM is validation, which involves gathering insights through customer interviews and product usage data. By focusing on understanding the problems and needs of customers, PMs can make informed decisions.

Product Management as the Bridge Between Internal and External Needs

01:15

Discussion on Incentives, Strategy Implementation, and Problem Validation in Product Management

03:21

Having a strong opinion on the Ideal Customer Profile for promotion

01:17

Balancing customer input and long-term vision in product management

01:38

Introduction

3min

Navigating the Path to Product Management

8min

Strategic Hiring and Competencies for Product Managers

16min

The Importance of Case Studies in Product Interviews

15min

Navigating Product Reviews and Priorities

7min

Navigating Friction and AI Impact on Product Teams

4min

Insights on Website Optimization, Product Experience Platforms, and Unified Workflows

3min

Scott Williamson was most recently Chief Product Officer for GitLab, where he led a team of 65 in Product Management, Product Operations, Growth, Pricing, and Corporate Development functions. Before GitLab, Scott was VP of Product for SendGrid for over six years, where helped lead the company to a successful IPO and $3B acquisition by Twilio.

In Today's Episode with Scott Williamson We Discuss:

1. From Sales to Product Leader:

Why does Scott believe sales is a great starting point for product people?
To what extent does an MBA help someone wanting to pursue a career in product management?
What does Scott know now that he wishes he had known when he started his career in product?

2. What, Who, When: How to Build a Product Team:

Is product management art or science? What is the ratio?
What are the four core roles of a product manager today?
When is the right time to hire your first PM?
What is the ideal profile for this first PM hire?
What are the single biggest mistakes founders make when hiring PMs?

3. Hiring the Best Product People:

What does Scott's hiring process look like for all new product hires?
How does Scott test for systematic thinking and problem-solving ability?
What questions does Scott always ask in interviews?
What are the best case studies to use to test a candidate's skill set?
How important is it for the candidate to have domain expertise in your product category?

4. The Best Product Teams are the Best Writers:

What are the two different types of documents that product teams must use?
How do you know when to use a one-pager vs a six-pager?
How does the discussion and planning cycle for the different documents differ?
How important is it for PMs to be great writers also?

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more