By Lenny Rachitsky · lennysnewsletter.com · @lennysan on X · YouTube · LinkedIn
This edition of Lenny Rachitsky's newsletter answers two reader questions. First, with input from Jackie Bavaro, it argues that early-career PMs should prioritize shipping wins, learning best practices, building baseline credentials, and starting a network, rather than spreading themselves across many problems or other functions. Second, it argues that a PM stuck in a sales-driven, scope-locked org with no design support may be better served by moving to a product-led company, since the company's growth engine determines whose voice drives decisions. The advice is practical and grounded in career-stage tradeoffs and org dynamics.
01Key takeaways
- Early in your PM career, prioritize shipping measurable wins over taking on many extra problems or responsibilities.
- Choose teams and companies with strong PM practices, and consider rotations or a product coach to learn faster.
- Stay on a team long enough to ship, measure, and iterate on a launch so the win and lessons actually count.
- Build relationships with people you would want to work with again by respecting teammates and sharing credit.
- Identify where a company's growth comes from to understand whether product has real influence there.
- If product is a second-class function with scope-locked projects and no design support, consider seeking a product-led organization.
02Key sections
- Shipping wins
- Early PMs should aim for successful launches, which means joining frequently shipping teams, doing discovery, removing blockers, and staying long enough to measure results.
- Learning best practices
- Working at a company with strong PM practices accelerates learning, and rotational programs or switching teams after a year help build pattern matching. A product coach can help when you are the first PM.
- Baseline credentials
- Credentials from strong undergrad programs or 2+ years at well-known tech companies help with later job switches, and early career is a good time to earn them.
- Building your network
- Relationships formed early, both inside and outside your company, pay off later, and how you share credit and treat teammates shapes who wants to work with you again.
- Empowering product in a sales-driven org
- A PM facing scope-locked projects, sales-led engagement, and no design support may be in a structurally weak environment, and the source of company growth indicates who drives decisions.
03From the post
“Hello, I’m Lenny and welcome to another edition of my newsletter. Every week I will humbly answer your questions about building product, driving growth, working with other humans, and anything else that’s stressing you out at the office. Send me your questions and in return, I’ll give you practical real-talk advice 🤝 If you’re returning from last week, thank you! If you’re new to this newsletter, nice to have you! 🤜🤛 This week: 1. What should I be over-indexing on in my early PM career? 2. How do I get buy-in from leadership to empower product teams? 3. Inspirations for the week ahead If you’re finding this valuable, tell your friends! On to this week’s questions… [](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s!nZSV!,fauto,qauto:good,flprogressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4543d6ab-4579-4d18-ab04-940444a3ad336000x4000.jpeg) Q: Early on in my PM career, what should I be over-indexing on? Working with smart people? Tackling a lot of problems? Taking on new responsibilities in other functions (design, marketing, etc.)? Obviously these all matter (or maybe they don't), but which ones matter more? I love this question. As a new PM, you’ll quickly start to get pulled in all the directions,…”
04Frameworks mentioned
Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.