10 PM Traits + AI product management + a webinar you can't miss
+ what's been happening on our Slack channels.
Salaam Sochlets,
If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering “aray January kidher gya?”
2023 just started and now suddenly, it’s the middle of Q1. And my product goals & roadmap progress? Sigh. Na poocho.
But not to worry. In this edition of Sochnama, we’re packing in a long list of mazaydaar updates to lift your PM spirits.
Sadly, it’s not as long as the line for Tim Horton’s these days. Sigh. The memes.
Shuru karain?
💡Top 3 Product Posts of the Week
Here are our top 3 hand-picked posts from the world of product management from this week:
10 Traits of a Product Manager
Lenny Rachitsky, the revered product podcaster, reviewed career ladders at 20+ companies to compile a list of 10 traits that a Product Manager should attempt to master during their career. You may not need each as you start your career but as the demands of the job intensify, you’ll need to start honing them.
Lenny Rachitsky sums it up in this post.Alternative path to an MVP
MVPs are riddled with their own share of maslay. Product manager novices end up adding more than they can chew in their first build which defeats the purpose. Shyvee Shi sheds light on a better way to approach MVP by reframing the problem.
Check out Shyvee’s thoughts on this topic here.15 Resources for Product Manager
As Pawel rightly puts it, you’re only smart as what you know and consume. Pawel’s latest compilation post on 15 Product Management learnings (books, videos, audio etc.) will save time for many product folks.
Check out Pawel’s post here.
🧠 Sochology EduSeries: Webinars for PM Learning
Upcoming Session: Improving our Judgment & Decision Making for Better Products w/ JJ Rorie
Make sure to join us next week as JJ Rorie - author of the book IMMUTABLE: 5 Truths of Great Product Managers - takes stage to share her wisdom.
Date: February 16th, 2023 @ 8 pm Pakistan time.
Topic: Improving our Judgment & Decision Making for Better Products
Past Sessions
In case you missed it, make sure you catch the past Sochology sessions on our Youtube channel e.g.
Episode 10: Zeeshan Syed, author of the course Tech Talk for Non-Developers, expanded on how Product Managers can be fluent in speaking tech.
Episode 9: Reham Fawad, senior product leader at PointClickCare, spoke about the importance of data when storytelling.
Episode 8: Christian Idiodi, partner at SVPG, shared what it takes to be a great Product Manager.
🎙SochCast Podcast Episodes
Fresh out: Role of AI in Future of Products
This week, Abdul sat down with Ali Rehan, Director of Engineering at Motive. They dove deep into the role AI will play in the future of products, how AI product management is different from other types of PM roles & the ethics of AI. This is a must-listen for those who are planning to venture into this field.
Watch now on Youtube Listen on Spotify Listen on Google Podcasts
Past Episodes
In case you missed it, a couple of interesting episodes we recommend:
Teaching Product Management featuring Clement Kao.
Clement talked about the traits of great Product Managers, how AI will change things in the future & makes some great reading recommendations.
Watch now Spotify Google PodcastsProduct Management in Fintech featuring Shazil Pervez.
Shazil spoke about the future of fintech, how Pakistan progressed on this front and the differences between Fintech PMs and other types of product roles.
Watch now Spotify Google Podcasts
🤝Soch Cafe Meetups
Karachi Soch Cafe
Last month, our Karachi chapter leader, Sarrah Moiz, huddled with some passionate product folks from the local scene. They unpacked how to arrive at the right product metrics to measure.
Thanks to Next Generations Innovations (NexGenI) for hosting the meetup.
Islamabad Soch Cafe
Our Islamabad chapter leaders, Abdul Hannan and Muddasir Bangash, led an inspiring session on product metrics with some bright minds living in the capital.
Thanks to Emumba for hosting us!
Stay tuned for the next meetup dates - the Lahore one is coming soon!
💬 Slack Discussions
Interesting Threads
On Slack, we saw a lot of mentions of AI and ChatGPT along with interesting threads around product roadmapping tools.
What roadmapping tools are you using these days? Have your say by joining our Slack group: slack.productsoch.com.
Jobs Posted
Are you in the market for jobs? Well, our Slack group’s #job-portal channel has been blowing up with interesting vacancies. For example, these employers are looking for product peeps with solid soch:
If you or someone you know is looking for options, you might want to jump into our Slack.
Till next time, keep your soch on.
Salaam,
Sarrah Moiz