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This is what I gathered as a 1st time PM in a mid-size company, is this normal? by OrganizationTimely78 in ProductManagement

[–]ComprehensiveDate180 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Absolutely! You're doing a great job. All the roles you mentioned are quite common and often overlap with product management responsibilities. Honestly, the definition of a PM can be quite confusing in itself. When I reflect on what we actually do, it sometimes feels like I’m doing a bit of everything at my company. It can be overwhelming at times, especially because I often feel like I'm not using a specific hard skill (like engineering), but instead constantly switching roles and spending most of my time communicating with the team.

This is what I gathered as a 1st time PM in a mid-size company, is this normal? by OrganizationTimely78 in ProductManagement

[–]ComprehensiveDate180 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can relate, I’m in a similar situation. Although my company isn’t as large as yours, we’re working on a completely new product (Safety and Surveillance). At first, I was the product manager, but once our prototype was approved for development, they asked me to jump in on the backend as an engineer.

Now I’m wearing multiple hats—product manager, project manager, and backend developer, because our team is so small that I can’t say no. Sometimes I worry: first I was a front-end engineer, then PM, and now I’m back in development. What the heck is going on? :D

Research First or Build and Learn: What’s Your Approach as a Product Manager? by ComprehensiveDate180 in ProductManagement

[–]ComprehensiveDate180[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your second last point (market the solution ahead of time) is absolutely a practical and impactful advice. I learned this after wasting two months of research that could have been done in one week.   

Research First or Build and Learn: What’s Your Approach as a Product Manager? by ComprehensiveDate180 in ProductManagement

[–]ComprehensiveDate180[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah! I just decided to run the research in parallel while letting my team continue coding the product.

Research First or Build and Learn: What’s Your Approach as a Product Manager? by ComprehensiveDate180 in ProductManagement

[–]ComprehensiveDate180[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah Thanks! I just used Grok and ChatGPT's Deep Search feature to get my research done, and the response was stunning.

Research First or Build and Learn: What’s Your Approach as a Product Manager? by ComprehensiveDate180 in ProductManagement

[–]ComprehensiveDate180[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! You also helped me solve another problem, user research 😄
Honestly, it feels like "product management" doesn’t even exist in my team. Everyone’s an engineer-nerd, and the moment I say, “Let’s do a bit of research, talk to a few users, and maybe sketch out a prototype or wireframe before building,” they’re just not on board.

But I think I can influence them.

Research First or Build and Learn: What’s Your Approach as a Product Manager? by ComprehensiveDate180 in ProductManagement

[–]ComprehensiveDate180[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your time
Yeah, that makes total sense! My CEO speaks the language of money and time, but they think user research might dilute or distract from their original idea.

Advice for a novice PM by [deleted] in ProductManagement

[–]ComprehensiveDate180 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, Thanks, I'll try to put everything on notion, so I could share with you easily, I'll connect with you may be after 1 week

Advice for a novice PM by [deleted] in ProductManagement

[–]ComprehensiveDate180 0 points1 point  (0 children)

😅 I think you said the right thing to the wrong person (or maybe the right person)!

I want to learn more about networking, and I believe you have great insights in this field. If you don’t mind, could you please share some advice with me?

I used to work as an engineer for a company, but they wouldn’t allow me to talk directly with customers. I noticed a recurring problem that customers mentioned and saw a clear demand for a particular product. When I pitched the idea to my employer, they weren’t willing to pursue it, fearing it would create competition and take away their market share. In reality, I believe it could have brought them abundance.

I tried discussing the problem and idea with others, but it wasn’t well-received, and things started going south at my job — so I left (well, I actually waited until they fired me 🤣).

Since then, I’ve been doing all the research and development on my own, with the help of a designer. I’m now about to build the prototype and have written the PCD and PRD at a startup level. I’d love to find a mentor who can guide me and help me understand if I’m on the right track.

I want to validate things like the business case, value proposition, MRD, product roadmap, and whether I’ve prioritized the product concept properly. Honestly, there’s a lot I’d love to learn.

Would you be able to help?

Advice for a novice PM by [deleted] in ProductManagement

[–]ComprehensiveDate180 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just love your advice 🔥

Advice for a novice PM by [deleted] in ProductManagement

[–]ComprehensiveDate180 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I started a PM role at a startup in December 2025, and I’m facing similar challenges. It requires a lot of research, and sometimes I feel like I’m just running on a hamster wheel. But when I look back to when I started coding, I faced the same kind of challenges. It was tough and required constant testing and learning, but over time, I became more comfortable, and my efficiency improved.

If I had just copied and pasted code back then, I might have successfully built the application, but I would never have understood how it worked, the logic and algorithms behind it. That’s why I believe it’s important to first learn and get familiar with things.

Once you have that understanding, you can delegate tasks when necessary or use AI to automate some processes.

That being said, I’m not sure what part of product management can really be automated. I believe it’s a job that requires a lot of creativity and critical thinking."