Product Manager Technical Skills: Important Tech Topics to Know

Let's cover important tech topics for product managers.

I've been asked these questions a lot: can I get into product management without a tech background? And what are the important tech skills and topics to know to become a product manager?

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Keep in mind that product managers don't have to be expert programmers, since the company usually has software engineers who are quite effective at handling that work. :)

Rather, the product manager should focus on is:
+ thinking about the user: what should be built and why?
+ what problems do the users have and how should we solve it?
+ vision: what should we build first, what should be on the roadmap?
+ execution: actually bringing the groups of people together toward launch

To do these things, PMs should be familiar with how tech products are built, how to work with engineers and how to move forward when faced with technological complexity.

1. General understanding of how the internet works
Client/server applications, data storage and transmission, internet traffic and security.

2. System design and architecture
Different levels of PMs work on different levels: junior product managers design small features, and more senior ones work on sets of features, or a whole product, line of products, etc. However, at every level, the product manager should be able to build the plan for what the overall product system will look like: what information is stored and how is it passed between subsystems and operated on. You should be able to create system diagrams and make process improvements.

3. Working with data
You should learn about different data types; and how to work with them. Lean how to analyze the different data sets and extract results from them. Learn how to properly set up an experiment to help you make accurate product decisions. Knowledge of math and statistics will help you interpret results and decide what to do. Be comfortable collating qualitative and quantitative analysis and making sense of it all. SQL knowledge will help you with deeper data analysis.

4. Understand how software engineering works
It is helpful to understand how data structures work, how data can be stored and manipulated, and how efficient algorithms can be created, accelerated and scaled. Learn and understand why certain things can and can't be done a certain way. This will allow you to meaningfully interact with engineers.

5. User experience and user design
You should learn about the basic principles of UI/UX design and flow. This is very useful for a PM to understand: what looks good in general? What are the different styles of UI that exist in the product? What are the different ways that a user can interact with the products? You should be a student of products in your everyday life as this will help you become an expert in design principles.

6. User flows and user funnels
From a tech perspective, it's important to understand the different stages of a product, as well as the different user segments and funnels. Consider also the different surfaces that a user interacts with.

7. Agile and software development
Understanding the SDLC (software development lifecycle) in general and agile product development is important to succeed as a product manager.
+ what are the different stages of work in putting together tech products?
+ what are some common issues that arise during software development?

SUGGESTED PLAYLISTS:

[eduardoluque]

Thanks man, as a PM without tech background I can prove these are good tips :). Could you create other videos, expanding every tip with a 5-10 min most important concepts explained? It would be amazing.

[moveit]

By far the most concise, practical, easy to understand, to the point product management material I've found anywhere. I learn so much in such short time. This channel commands attention. Kudo's to you Alex! This is pure gold.

[josephineesan]

I'm so glad I found your channel. I'm an English teacher transitioning to Product Management. It's a scary process but I've been watching your videos and they have been of great help. Thanks for what you do!

[jasminetaylor]

This was the best and MOST STRAIGHTFORWARD video on this topic! Thanks for answering the question and staying on topic!

[adapada]

Very helpful and indeed to the point. Keep up the good work Alex 😊

[shimonjohnson]

Loved how realistic the tips within each skill are @Alex !

[jamesbrylledelalos]

Thanks its very huge help to me as a Product Manager Student.

[parkerrex]

Hey Alex - fellow pm. Well said.

PM’s figure out the what and the why. Engineers figure out the how. Would love to chat about google with you. Hit you up on LinkedIn. 👍

[zipbullbear]

very helpful, concise and to the point.

[vibhorkala]

Can you make detailed videos on each of the 6 points. Great video btw!

[gregwes]

This video is so helpful. thanks so much for all you do.

[jujefesko]

Do you think that the " Impact vs Effort " question can be taken into consideration with your team, not on your own, or that isn`t best practice for PM`s to do?

[shivanibatra]

Can you give concised and detailed information on each of these

[Ksmoovey]

Great information! I had a question. I just got a job offer as a customer success associate at a startup with a great product in the health tech sector. I see that it’s common for people to grow from customer success to product management. What are the best ways to leverage my skillset within this current role to transition to product management down the line ? Understanding data analysis, agile and user experience are the main things that stood out to me from this video but do you have any specific insight you can give me for my situation since I’m already within the company?

[jorgeherna]

Hello! thanks for this video, it was very useful. Do you have any book recommendations for points 2, 5, 6?

[instylecasesinstylecases]

Hi Alex !
Great content! Good info.
What’s your career path?

[yogeshsapkal]

Can u suggest some courses for beginners

[jink]

What would say is the difference b/n product manager and a product owner

[santhosh]

I am not from tech background. Is there any specific tutorials or course to gain this technical skills required for product manager ?

[jaimesmith]

Thanks Alex for creating this video.

I am wondering If I can get your thoughts on this - I recently discovered product management but my impression so far is that I can be paid well (sweet sweet tech salary), don't need to code, don't need any special certifications/MBA/MS Computer Science (or any specific degrees for that matter) or specific experiences.

Seems too good to be true. Wondering if I am missing something?