What companies are the best for technical PMs that have equal capabilities in business and technical acumen? At Meta/FB it seems like TPMs who have deep technical systems understanding are valued. I'm wondering if there are other companies with similar cultural values where these kinds of folks shine? Unfortunately, a lot of developer focused companies (especially late stage and public e.g Twilio) have faced some serious headwinds recently so I'm open to calibrating. #product #productmanager
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If you lead with the business side and score a PM job, most companies will value your technical side once you are on the job. It's pretty empowering to be able to pull out skills no one else on the team has and makes you stand out in the crowd.
I think that's where I'm confused. The technical acumen is somewhat undervalued in the interview. But valued in the execution. Is there an organization where the culture actually checks and spends time evaluating technical acumen?
Not many do. Businesses are more interested in your domain & strategy experience and they can see your technical experience on your resume. I know Amazon does a "technical interview" for Technical Product Manager - External Services role. It wasn't much of a technical interview though, more like a discussion with the engineering manager.
Do not join as a TPM at Meta. Its career suicide.
Why?
TPM does not mean technical product manager. Get your abbreviations right
In my 10 year career ive only met one tpm that was good at their job. They made projects smooth, figured out all the requirements, made tasks, pinged only when needed. No automation. No begging me for due dates on everything. No begging for me to update some ticket. At meta i havent worked with a tpm. But in general its been hit or miss throughout my career. It just depends on them. I avoid any sdm who has a tpm background and no eng background. They are jira warriors.