Here are the 5 types of Product Managers!
Generalist Product Manager
Description – A solid generalist product manager is knowledgeable in the end-to-end product lifecycle, or as the PM world calls it, “concept to launch”
Strengths: Versatility and the ability to manage multiple aspects of product development. They are often found in startups or smaller companies where the PM needs to wear many hats.
Skills: Notion of business, tech, sales, marketing. Analytical skills.
Technical product manager
Description: A product manager with a strong technical background that is typically focused on the more technical aspects of the product. A technical PM works more closely with the engineering team than the organization’s business, sales, and marketing teams.
Strengths: Deep technical knowledge, which allows them to understand complex technical challenges and make informed decisions about product features and priorities.
Skills: Coding, Agile, Product research, Data Collection and Management, Product Roadmap Development Oversight
Product marketing manager
Description – Is a person responsible for PM and Marketing. A PMM’s work aligns with the product’s success, so many of its goals will be similar to those of other teams. Hitting KPIs related to trial, growth, adoption, revenue, and churn are influenced by PMM work and serve as a good gauge of how things stand.
A Product Marketing Manager is less involved in how the product is built, and will probably spend less time with engineers working out bugs and roadmaps. The day-to-day of a PMM will usually include creating case studies, web content, press briefings, product testing, and managing the overall marketing team.
Skills – KPI metrics, strategy, communication.
Learn more about why some companies such as Apple and Airbnb combine Product Management with Product Marketing:
Growth product manager
Description – focuses on improving a business metric or goal (e.g., acquisition, activation, retention, referral, or revenue) by removing barriers to value. Focus less on the life of a product and more on driving user acquisition, retention, and monetization. They dedicate their time to improving certain business metrics. While all product managers keep their goals in line with those of the business as a whole, this will be the primary focus of the growth product manager.
Strengths: Strong analytical skills and a focus on metrics. They excel at optimizing products to achieve key performance indicators (KPIs) such as user growth, retention, and revenue.
Skills: Understanding user behavior. Optimizing the product for customer and business needs. Collaborating across teams to prioritize the product roadmap. Data-driven and analytical mindset.
Data-Driven Product Manager
Description – dept of data management and analysis. They manage data-driven products or features, such as analytics platforms, AI models, or business intelligence tools. Data PMs spend their days ensuring data quality and accessibility, and collaborating with data scientists and analysts to turn data into actionable insights for users.
Data Product Management is a great career choice for anyone who loves working with numbers. Neither data nor product is disappearing any time soon!
Strengths: Analytical mindset and a strong focus on making evidence-based decisions. They are excellent at optimizing products based on user data and feedback.
Skills – SQL and/or Python , Knowing how to present and democratize data, as making it understandable and accessible increases team’s data fluency. Knowing how to work with Data Scientists, and how to speak their language.