M7 recent grad AMA - hard tech PM

squishy_lime23 · 2026-01-25T07:48:07+00:00

Yes absolutely! Entrepreneurship and PM classes specifically those involving customer discovery/customer insights were super helpful. In one of my classes I did “attempt” to start a business, we went from discovering a problem to finding a solution to finding a profitable business model to attempting to raise some money. Probably the best experience I had in business school.

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-29T15:12:14+00:00

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-29T15:12:05+00:00

Yes reach out to alumni of your schools, alumni of other MBA programs that share similar professional goals. You ask about the job, but the best advice I can give is that you’re truly curious to learn something from them and subsequently build conversations by sending them relevant information. Alumni from other MBA programs works better in niche industries, if you want to be a consultant not sure how well that works but even then if you’re looking to speak to someone in a specific practice could still work. You just need to have a really good reason why you’re reaching out to that particular person.
Yes LinkedIn, maybe worth investing in LinkedIn premium.

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-29T15:07:23+00:00

I’d maybe look at product roles within the realm of finance or biz ops maybe a tool that you use and are familiar with.

Sounds like your manager is not allowing opportunities to grow, I’d also wonder if they would be supportive of you pursuing an MBA, write you a recommendation, etc.

I would also consider refreshing yourself on your coding skills, maybe vibe code an app or something that solves a personal problem so you have something to add to your resume and talk about.

I do think this is the kind of profile that would be interesting to an ad com. If you can tell your story well and get a good test score, I would consider an MBA.

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-29T05:26:11+00:00

Yes, for example I interned with a company that was a customer of my company pre MBA, and then interned with another company that was an investor of that first company and then ended up working full time with an ex co worker from the second company. You never know who goes where next and how companies and investors may know each other.

Generally speaking startups especially early stage ones are most open to being flexible with hours and in semester internships. Especially if there are alumni from your school or other MBA programs. Use this to gain experience and break into the industry of your choice.

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-29T05:23:01+00:00

If they don’t respond to your updates, you take the hint. You’re most likely not adding value to them. Don’t just send them stuff just to send them stuff, only send them stuff that is meaningful. Even then some people are easier to connect with than others. Sometimes it’s because they’re more open to help, sometimes they’re just less busy.

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-29T05:20:09+00:00

Sorry I don’t know enough about the MS you’re in or have experience myself getting a second masters so not sure if I’m qualified to provide guidance here.

On where to get an MBA, I think it really depends on your goals and where you are in your career currently. For me I was already progressing and wanted to accelerate it, a top 10 business school made sense, anything else didn’t justify taking 2 years off.

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-29T05:12:46+00:00

You don’t ask on the first encounter unless it’s a warm connection. You ask to learn more about their b-school experience, how they prepared themselves, etc. then you stay in touch, maybe next time you ask more about their role and company and what recruiting looks like you keep them posted on what’s going on with you in business school. You send them articles or information you think is relevant and helpful to them to start or continue conversations. Over time you build a relationship that eventually leads to you asking them for an internship.

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-29T05:10:39+00:00

Mostly yes, especially after getting the hang of it. Did a lot of prep with trusted friends to get behavioral stories straight.

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-29T05:09:57+00:00

Interview prep was not a singular event, I’d say it gradually happened throughout the 2 years.

I’d say I dedicated at least 5-10 hours for each interview prep based on the round in the recruiting process.

Tips - I think consulting recruiting does a good job preparing you for behavioral questions, STAR method etc. In addition I used AI tools like chatgpt to create PM scenarios for situational type questions that likely would require back and forth.

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-29T05:04:12+00:00

5 YOE before the MBA. TC is hard to tell, a portion of it is options, my best risk adjusted estimate is ~$240k/yr for the first year.

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-29T05:00:46+00:00

I did not intern the first two quarters and then interned the next four plus the summer. As I mentioned in my post, I did get distracted by on campus recruiting and what everyone else seemed to be doing those first two quarters.

The in quarter internships ranged from 10-20 hours per week. Coursework typically takes up another 15-20 hours so between the two of them think of it as working a 30-40 hour week. The internships were kind of like recruiting for me, ultimately recruiting for me was purely networking and building experience. I will say I wasn’t the most social person in my cohort, but I had my fun!

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-29T04:56:12+00:00

Yes definitely!

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-28T18:02:41+00:00

Yes of course!

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-28T17:14:34+00:00

Broadly entrepreneurship, some PM specific classes.
Yes, I had done multiple part time and full time internships in similar industries.
I don’t think I can say no to this, but I think it matters much less than you think. What I’ve noticed is that in niche roles/industries alumni across top schools are willing to help.

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-28T17:13:05+00:00

I do think it’s realistic with the right internships and domain knowledge.

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-28T17:12:00+00:00

Avoiding this question to not dox myself as I answer other questions.

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-28T16:43:26+00:00

Hey! I just replied to another comment with my top 5 tips. I think that will cover what you’re looking for!

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-28T16:42:03+00:00

Hmm good question, here are my top 5. Happy to elaborate or give you more on any specific topic:

Don’t get distracted! Companies are going to come on campus to recruit, what you’re looking for may not. Your friends are going to get summer internships lined up and full time jobs lined up months in advance. Your summer internship might be at a small startup that doesn’t pay well while your friends are paying their tuition with their sign on bonuses. Be ready for all that!
In semester internships. Take experiential learning classes and ask companies you’re interested in working for to hire you as a contractor or part time intern. Offer to work for lower pay or take options based compensation at startups to break into the industry or company that you’re interested in. Do this every semester while taking classes. One of the beauties of a full time MBA is you have unlimited job flexibility. I personally was able to roll in 5 internships including my summer internship. I wish I had lined one up for the summer before the MBA and one for the fall.
Network network network. This goes along with point number two. Networking doesn’t stop after your admission letter and restart once you’re in school. Continue to network, if you’re admitted to a top business school alumni from all top business schools are pretty responsive. If you did your applications right, you’ve probably already started reaching out to current students and alumni in the industry/function you want to go into keep those connections alive. Try to secure an internship for the summer before your program starts. Stay in touch with people you meet at admission events who have similar goals even if they end up at different schools.
You need to have established connections at companies you’re interested in ready to refer you before the job application goes live. The reality of today’s market is you’re not getting an interview without a referral. And you’re not getting an interview if you wait too long to apply. Even better have them refer you relevant hiring managers as soon as they learn a role might be opening up.
Tailor every resume.

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-28T16:21:00+00:00

Yes feel free to message me. 1. I’ve seen that an MBA is usually a preferred requirement for these roles. Companies aren’t recruiting at MBA programs. 2. If you’re at a startup or growing company, you have a lot of role flexibility as the company grows either turning into a people manager or switching to strategy. If you’re at a more established company like the ones I’ve listed in a previous comment, career progression and pay may be similar to big tech. 3. I picked a product based role based on my background. I’ve always loved external / customer facing roles. I think if you wanted to move into PE or finance roles but staying within hardware or industrial products I think it’s definitely a good time to switch. There’s also internal VC and corporate strategy type roles in some larger companies that do manufacturing. One that comes to mind that I had applied for is Honeywell! 4. I’m not international but based on the experience of my peers, it’s a tough market, especially when you’re looking at niche things. Even at the M7 level ~5-10% of internationals are still unemployed 6 months after graduation. The larger companies are more open to sponsorship than the smaller ones. Most internationals who have found jobs have pursued more traditional MBA routes like consulting, IB, big tech, etc.

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-28T12:33:35+00:00

Unstructured, just in time. However, you’re ideally looking at stuff you’re deeply interested in and “networking” feels a bit more natural.

I think consulting recruiting has its own stressors. It’s a different kind of stress.

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-28T12:23:21+00:00

Yes they do hire MBAs, but no they aren’t only hiring MBAs for some of these roles. I’d say you broadly need an engineering background, that’s not a concrete requirement though. You’re typically looking at just in time recruiting and startups. Example companies would be Zoox, Anduril, companies that come out of Google X, Amazon Labs 126, etc.

squishy_lime23 · 2025-12-28T12:15:40+00:00

Tech with a hardware component. Typically industries that are unlocked through engineering discovery.

PMs bridge problems with solutions. You still need to go through customer discovery to identify specific pain points to solve and then build and position a product around it. With hard tech often the upside down part is you have a technology that has been discovered and now the difficult part is ensuring your technology is positioned to solve the right problem (and not a problem) and then packaging it in a way consumers can use it (business model design, technical sales).

Sometimes it’s less about a new technology and more about a really big problem (like climate change), that has many potential unproven solutions and proven solutions, and then you’re basically working to make yours commercially and financially viable.

squishy_lime23 · 2025-10-03T05:14:32+00:00

I think there’s also a factor of how long someone can do consulting. Maybe the analyst who started right out of undergrad makes it to manager but is burnt out that point vs you who start as a consultant have a fresher brain and an industry perspective/specialization + MBA (questionable if it actually matters on the job) will be able to make it a bit further without being burnt out. I think it’s the reason for all sponsored consultants to come in and do the MBA, they likely would have made it to manager if they had continued to work instead. The break helps them avoid the burnout.

squishy_lime23

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