Seriously contemplating leaving Google, but wondering if a move from Google L6 TPM to Startup Sr PM is a downlevel, lateral or upward move? If the startup is a high potential company with proven founders and investors and leadership growth potential, is this a sound or risky move? I was a PM before Google in another industry and have been wanting to get on the AI train. What PM level should I be targeting in these new hightech AI startups? TC $365
Depends on your age and where you are in life. I am 40+ with kids. I am not the same person I was when 30.
What would you choose?
WLB is key. I’d take a pay downgrade
as much as i appreciate the ways that a TPM can be incredibly helpful to drive huge impact in a well-functioning organization that knows how to put those skills to good use... google is not such an organization, and anyone familiar with google would know not to expect much from a google L6 TPM beyond bean-counting and red tape. just like google engineers can't be GENERALLY expected to be self-driven strongly productive contributors especially in an environment full of opensource tech and rapid dev cycles, because they're mostly too used to a slow and bureaucratic culture. if i went back to founding startups, i would be extremely skeptical of a google TPM candidate. your best bet is to go somewhere where leadership is not familiar with how google actually operates
Why are you not looking to stay on the TPM ladder at other places ? Why PM ?
This app is not kind to TPMs/Scrum masters -> PM -> PM Tech in that order. So not sure what you are looking for.
If you want to interview for PM roles externally your best bet is to switch to PM internally then interview a year later.
I am in the same boat as you are. Was a PM for several years before joining G. I am a TPM at G it’s really hard to switch to PM. You have to devote time to prep for interviews and those are random. I tried doing a rotation and wasn’t set up for success. You need to keep your PM interview skills sharp Suggest interviewing outside
What is the rotation program? How many months can be in a new role? Will there be interviews before and after?
A beach in the Philippines? 🏝️
If your last role is tpm, it will be difficult to transition to head of product. Change from pm to tpm to pm shows that you are confused about what you want.
L6 is a senior role. But your TC is more comparable to an L5. If you move to a smaller company you’ll have even more ownership over the company vision. So that is up to you.
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