Overcoming My Impostor Syndrome: Speaking at Product School
What could I possibly offer? A retrospective and brainstorm.
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I’m Fionna, a product manager, YouTuber and late-night FM DJ.
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I got the invite from Product School waaaay back in 2020 and went through major impostor syndrome. I was feeling lost and looking for a new job. Who am I to teach others about Product Management?!
Even though I have attended various Product School talks in person and online, including some by my friends. I still wasn’t sure what I’d have to share that’s novel, groundbreaking or valuable to this community of aspiring PMs.
So writing this note to brainstorm some topics and stop being a 🐣.
After the initial wave of “Oh, they must have sent the invite to the wrong person”, I ruminated on these two things.
One, I need to be very careful in choosing my first topic. It will be the foundation for my brand and credibility.
Second, I don’t want to do just one talk and be done with it. I want to have at least 3 talks ready to continue sharing at a regular cadence if the opportunity allows. To share my journey and grow with Product School and its audience. Everything I share will evolve one way or another. My journey, views, methods and strategies could change with time, and I don’t want the recording/slide to be a stale reference.
Here are the topics that I’m considering. I’m using bullets for examples or supporting points because that’s how I think (without giving away the entire talk 😉 )
👩🔬 From BioMed engineer to Vlogger to PM
Engineering set a fantastic foundation: praxis, programming, capstone, thesis, endless group projects.
So glad I joined student clubs: insight into hiring, access to highly motivated individuals, uncovering what I wanted to do
Internship in Hong Kong: international perspective, what is marketing, do I like it?
Vlogging: inspired by Casey Neistat, needed a creative outlet, pre-practice for shipping a product
Applying for PM with a BioMed degree: building a portfolio, persistence.
Now: practice writing to drive clarity within myself (then within my team), be my own designer, be a good listener, be on top of tech news/products - get that #ClubHouseInvite.
✍️ How to write a good feature spec
B2B PM: 6 specs in 3 years.
B2C PM: 7 specs in 6 months.
👂 How to be a customer-driven PM
Be a good listener. Be inclusive to all kinds of feedback, even the ones that contain #$%&*
Create a dashboard to monitor feedback: volume, source, type, verbatim etc.
Rep the customer voice on your team, keep everyone grounded.
Be friends* with the users. Friendly at least.
Be friends* with your competitors. You can learn a lot from their customer support 😉.
⚖️ The difference between PMing a B2B and B2C product
B2B
Top concerns are scale, reliability. UX was looooooow on the list.
Customers pay us to visit them. #LoveEmBizTrips
Hard to relate to users, difficult to self host.
B2C
Privacy. Privacy. Privacy.
Good UX or you’re out. No innovation? You’re definitely out.
I’m the customer and the product owner 😎
🛌 Starting a new job during the pandemic: from interviewing to onboarding
Be extra extra extra proactive.
Turn on video for all meetings, all the time.
Find multiple mentors. Ask for help.
Be understanding of everyone’s work hours, and respect your own.
Dang. If a friend was pitching these talks I’d sign up for all of them 🤩! So… who was that person doubting herself again? 🤭
I’ve made up my mind and submitted the first topic! If you have tips on these types of virtual talks, please share in the comments! If you have other topic suggestions, let me know too!
Looking forward to be wearing a blazer on top of my PJs for a change 👔😪. See you at Product School soon and stay tuned for updates!
If you found this amusing in anyway, I’d love it if you could share it with a friend or on social media - whichever floats your boat :)
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