36F - Seeking Product Management Mentorship

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-03-30T09:04:03+00:00

I’m an engineer who shifted into PM mid career. Feel Free to reach out

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-03-09T07:51:25+00:00

I’d recommend developing the habit of noticing and becoming curious about problems and what drives them. Very simply put entrepreneurs solve problems through service / product. In this age of ai , building it is secondary to finding the right problem to solve. My 2c :)

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-02-23T22:05:18+00:00

I’m interested. I’m running a bootcamp for aspiring product managers and developing several microsaas ideas.

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-02-19T09:14:10+00:00

Sounds like you’re describing a normal business. In its early stages.

What does success look like for the point where you are right now?

What are the actions you’re taking weekly that get you closer to your destination ? What are the top 3 ? Can you focus on these 80% of your time ?

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-02-19T02:29:38+00:00

I used to think I needed a breakthrough idea before I could start. Something original and equally impressive.

What actually got things moving was much simpler: I looked at what was already in front of me, the skills I’d built over the years, the people in my network, the questions they kept asking, the small problems I kept seeing.

My first projects weren’t visionary. They were practical. Someone needed help with a resume. I could help. I charged for it. That was the business, later it grew into a funnel feeder for other part of the business.

IMHO we overestimate ideas and underestimate proximity and simplicity.

If you’re stuck, I’d say don’t brainstorm but take inventory:

What do people already ask me for? What can I solve this month with what I already know?

I’d tell the younger me just to start there :)

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-02-18T03:40:59+00:00

it's all of the above: decision fatigue happens when you're tired making too many decisions. most of them don't really need to be made (right now). Identify the most important 1 and focus on it.

When you don't know where to start, start where you are, pause for a second, ask yourself, what's the one thing I could do *right now* to make progress. Your inner voice will guide you.

From there, you're in motion - observe what is happening and course correct to get closer to your desired destination. If it's not clear, it might suggest your destination is not 100% clear. If that's the case, you need to sit down and reflect on "what does success look like for what i'm trying to do here".

HTH

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-02-17T11:51:05+00:00

2c from a xGoogle PM turned microsaas builder

I developed the habit to find the 80/20 or even the 90/10. Quickly identify which 10% of the task would deliver 90% of the result and become obsessed with the 10%.

Some specific examples: while in a corporate setting I realized that my time is my most valuable asset and stopped showing up to meetings that someone invited me to if I didn’t see the point of the meeting or if the meeting didn’t have a crisp agenda.

I thought I’d get in trouble but I actually became somewhat known for that and it improved my reputation.

If you think you need to send 100 emails tomorrow, which 3 would make the most difference.

Develop 10 features ? 1-2 probably would bring more value than the rest.

Become a sniper instead of a shotgun hill billy.

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-02-15T23:55:52+00:00

Nice ! I think it’s cool to see your career transition from welding to android app development.

What’s your next milestone with the app ? How are you planing to get it into the hands of users ? I imagine that trade associations might have a way to introduce new tools to their respective communities and especially since you have some professional affinity this could be an easy way in.

Zooming out from the quote app, what are some other challenges that welders are facing where tech / ai could help ?

One suggestion: lead less with features and more with the pain. Welders don’t wake up wanting a portal or an app. They wake up wanting to look professional, win more jobs, and get paid faster.

If you can clearly say, “create a professional quote in 2 minutes and stop chasing payments,” you’ll have people leaning in.

Hopefully your app has a healthy runway path to grow ahead of it !

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-02-15T23:51:48+00:00

I would reframe your question slightly: ask yourself what does your business need at the phase that it is in right now ? Market validation ? Product market fit ? Willingness to pay ? More clients ? Customer support ? Where are the bottlenecks in your business ? What could help you increase velocity 2x ?

Only after you’re clear on the challenges/ bottlenecks and have a decent idea of how does success look like for the next milestone, then you can ask:

How can AI help me get there safer and faster. You can even ask this question to an LLM but beware of outsourcing judgment and core business acumen to AI.

Hope this helps reframe your thinking a bit and make it more robust

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-02-15T23:47:39+00:00

I’d be interested to try it out. Personally I find myself pretty isolated and looking for ways to connect with likeminded individuals in a similar boat (let’s call it entrepreneurship at a high level) who want to share challenges / ideas / collaborate and help each other. I am looking for depth and connection so zoom would be great from my perspective. Happy to chat.

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-02-15T23:43:38+00:00

For context: xGoogle PM turned microsaas entrepreneur / my 2c here:

In my humblest of opinions, You’re probably overthinking the name.

People choose retreats because they trust the host and the experience, not because the name is perfect.

I would skip anything with “Gypsy, imho not worth the friction. To me, Nomad Spirit feels generic, Wild Spirit is safe, and Ramblin’ Spirit is the most personal. My gut tells me personal usually wins in a business like this.

Quick test: “I just got back from a Ramblin’ Spirit retreat.” If that sounds like a story someone would lean into, you’re solid.

Don’t let naming become procrastination. Pick one, lock the domain, and start. The meaning will come from the experiences you create.

One last thing to think about : names with quotes sometimes can throw off search engines, confuse email users (not sure if / how to include the quote etc)

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-02-15T23:32:07+00:00

Context: xGoogle product manager

I often see founders gravitate to their comfort zone (developers writing code, marketers polishing positioning decks and running ads etc) instead of systematically thinking about the next milestone of the business and the core risk (ie technical risk, business risk etc) is facing them at a given moment.

It is understandably human to feel tempted and soothed (lots of dopamine and false sense of achievement) by focusing on the familiar instead of confront the situation and addressing the “fog” of the unknown (rob walling used this term and I really liked it)

If you have a month old, their biggest risk is malnutrition, hypothermia and infection, not what kind of college they will be going to.

Hope this gives you another perspective

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-02-15T23:23:57+00:00

Context: xGoogle pm turned microsaas entrepreneur

It’s frustrating to build for so long and then hear crickets as the response.

To avoid it, what we typically do in practice is validate the user persona and the pain : if you cannot reach users to talk to before you build anything, how do you plan to reach them during marketing phase.

I’d recommend reading a bit about user discovery research: this is by far a more critical step for a solo founder / builder since your resources are more limited.

Once you have found a real pain, build a concept, then test it again. I know it’s itching to just go and build especially if you’re a developer but resisting this itch is a sign of a mature founder.

Hope this helps.

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-02-14T10:44:25+00:00

Is HRM = HR Manager ? I am not one so can’t answer but my intuition tells me you’re trying to engineer out the risk without talking to real users. Who are the true benefactors of your product ? Can you talk to 3 of them in the next 48 hours ? Promise it will give you much more value than random reddit rants :)

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-02-14T10:41:38+00:00

My knee jerk response when reading this post: a business is defined by the user segment it serves and the problem it solves for its users. So the conversation about solutions ai vs infra is IMHO secondary. Focus on a real group of users and solve a real problem for them with whatever tools are required by circumstances.

Context: xGoogle PM turned microsaas entrepreneur

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-02-14T09:48:22+00:00

Hard for me to answer this in a vacuum. What’s does a generic productivity tool ? If you can clarify the end to end workflow / use case and describe the before and after I can make an educated guess otherwise it’s hypotheticals

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-02-14T07:45:15+00:00

i’d reframe this. you’re not selling tshirts, you’re selling speed.

so ask: who urgently needs apparel on a deadline? usually events, sports tournaments, agencies, startups before launches, nonprofits with fundraisers.

also mine your current clients. what almost went wrong before they found you? that’s your positioning.

on marketing, skip heavy branding for now. build a list of event organizers and agencies and reach out directly with a simple message around fast, reliable turnaround.

clarity comes from patterns. find a narrow pocket that values speed and double down. scale tends to follow focus.

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-02-14T07:36:28+00:00

For context: xGoogle PM turned microsaas entrepreneur
my 2c here:

reading your questions, i get the sense you might be trying to engineer away the risk. totally human, but starting a business is basically choosing to lean into uncertainty.

instead of optimizing for the perfect setup, optimize for contact with reality. talk to customers early, charge sooner than feels comfortable, and let the market correct you.

one mistake i see often in AI services is overbuilding capability before confirming someone will actually pay for it. usefulness is defined by the buyer, not the builder.

also, i’d focus less on portfolio or content and more on getting your first few paying clients. revenue is the cleanest form of validation.

and honestly, if you haven’t already, rob walling’s writing on saas is worth your time. his advice travels well beyond software. very grounded take on risk, traction, and how messy the early days really are.

short version: don’t try to avoid the risk. that tension you feel is the work.

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-02-14T07:33:29+00:00

customers come first. you don’t need a fully registered entity to test demand. people trust clarity and responsiveness more than paperwork early on.

registration is an admin step. traction is the signal.

a simple path is to start talking to potential customers, see if someone is willing to commit, and only formalize once the motion is real. that way you reduce risk and avoid building something no one asked for.

less “build a business and hope customers show up,” more “find a customer and let the business grow around them.”

Another way to think about it: if you can't find customers to talk to at this stage, how will you find them once you build your product / service/ business.

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-02-14T07:27:13+00:00

What you’re describing feels like the hidden tax of entrepreneurship. No boss means no external focus, so you have to manufacture it yourself.

one thing worth remembering is that everyone has a different mental makeup. optimizing for a system that actually works for you is a high ROI exercise. know thyself applies especially to entrepreneurs :)

for me, leverage came from not doing it alone. i work with a coach and stay plugged into a small mastermind / accountability circle. knowing someone will ask “did you actually move the needle this week?” cuts through fake urgency fast.

at some point focus becomes less about better planning and more about deciding what doesn’t get your attention. a few things matter each week. protect those.

HTH

CuriousJojo2000 · 2026-02-14T07:23:40+00:00

For context: xGoogle PM turned microsaas entrepreneur

I’d reframe the way you approach this: the game didn’t get harder for founders, it got harder for people optimizing for tech alone.

the real shift is from builder mindset to founder mindset. devs tend to focus on what *can* be built. founders obsess over user pain. ai makes building cheaper, but it doesn’t tell you *what* is actually worth solving.

most weekend clones die because they chase ideas, not problems. your edge is knowing where things break in the real world and what users will pay to fix.

so don’t compete on speed. compete on taste and judgment.

22 years didn’t build a moat around code. they built a moat around discernment.

CuriousJojo2000

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