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By Lenny Rachitsky · lennysnewsletter.com · @lennysan on X · YouTube · LinkedIn
Lenny Rachitsky, working with a labor-data firm, ranks roughly 50 companies by how much they accelerate the post-departure careers of their former product managers, using promotion, leadership, CPO, first-PM, and founder metrics. The post highlights a top-10 list led by fintech and newer high-growth firms, notes surprises such as fintech dominance and FAANG lagging, and is candid about data limitations like survivorship bias and small samples.
Subscriber post — summary only01Key takeaways
- Startup alumni networks, especially Palantir and Plaid, produce a disproportionate share of founders among former PMs.
- Fintech appears to build strong product leaders, likely because its risk, compliance, and tradeoff complexity force sharper judgment.
- The rankings only capture PMs who left, so a company that retains its best PMs may look weaker than it really is.
- Small sample sizes and attribution limits mean the list shows correlation with career outcomes, not proof that a company causes them.
- Choosing a first job based on where its former PMs go next can help, but the methodology has significant caveats.
Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.