Along with engineering and design, product is one of the most important early hires for technical companies. Once you've decided that it's time to expand past founder-led product, where do you go? What does a good PM actually do? How do you find them and interview them effectively? What makes a good or bad PM?

In this installment of Technical Recruiting Playbooks, I interviewed Denise Hemke, Charles Zedlewski, and Chrix Finne about hiring for product roles at early stage startups. 

Denise Hemke

‍Denise Hemke is an experienced product leader with tenures at Checkr and Workday. In this episode, she discusses:

• The core responsibilities of a successful Product Manager (PM) and how these responsibilities evolve as a company develops
• The importance of defining the "why" behind product decisions, executing product plans effectively, and collaborating with others
• The significance of maintaining clear communication, alignment with the company's vision, and strategic thinking in hiring and evaluating PMs
• Practical advice on effective interview tactics for hiring PMs and insights on building successful product teams.

Charles Zedlewski

‍Charles Zedlewski is a seasoned product and strategy leader with (long) stints at Temporal, Cloudera, and SAP. In this episode, he discusses:

• The challenges and considerations of hiring product people for early-stage companies
• How the decision to hire a product person should be based on the specific gap the founder wants to fill and the type of product leadership required
• Three primary profiles of product managers: those focused on execution and delivery, those shaping the roadmap for value-added features, and those enriching the product vision
• Common attributes shared by successful product people, including framework-driven decision-making, curiosity about customers and users, and effective collaboration with engineering teams

Chrix Finne

‍Chrix Finne is a product leader with extensive experience at Google, Optimizely, Heap, and Confluent. In this episode, he discusses:

• His motivations for leaving Google and joining Optimizely, emphasizing his restlessness and desire for a tighter feedback loop and the accountability that smaller companies offer
• His insights into the qualities of an exceptional product manager: the importance of insight, communication, and grit
• The right time for startups to hire their first product manager: wait until the product has gained traction and you have a well-established feedback loop with customers
• Common mistakes in product hiring, particularly the challenge of finding a candidate who fits in with the founder's vision and strategy