A comprehensive survey of Product Management

Lenny Rachitsky shares results from a survey of nearly 1,000 responses across more than 600 companies, aiming to show how the product manager role differs across the industry. The survey covers which skills companies value when hiring, what PMs must get right to be promoted, how much influence PMs hold, and whether companies emphasize Heart (empathy and culture), Hands (execution), or Head (intelligence). Most respondents were PMs themselves, so the data carries a perspective bias that the author openly flags. The findings matter because there is little public information on how PM expectations vary by company, which makes this a useful reference for anyone evaluating or building a PM career.

01Key takeaways

• Communication, execution, and product sense are the skills most often valued when hiring PMs.
• Promotion usually hinges on demonstrable business impact, not just shipping features.
• PMs must keep external stakeholders onboard, not only their internal team and manager.
• PM influence varies widely by company, so evaluate the specific culture before joining.
• PMs tend to rate their own influence higher than their colleagues do, so seek outside feedback.

02Key sections

Who took the survey

The survey drew nearly 1,000 responses from over 600 companies, with about 85% from product managers, so results lean toward the PM perspective.

Skills that matter when hiring

Communication, execution, and product sense are the most valued hiring skills, while design/UX, empathy, and raw intelligence are valued least overall. Individual companies show distinct spikes in particular skills.

Getting promoted

Demonstrating significant business impact is the most common promotion criterion, though keeping external stakeholders aligned and keeping managers and teams happy matter at certain companies.

Influence

Most respondents said PMs have more influence than other functions at over 80% of companies, though non-PM respondents saw PM influence as somewhat lower, suggesting PMs overestimate their own sway.

Heart vs. Hands vs. Head

Companies can be grouped by whether they emphasize empathy and culture, execution, or intelligence, with several named companies falling clearly into each category.

03From the post

“If you’re not a paid subscriber, here’s what you missed this month: 1. Ten ways to generate buzz for your product 2. How to run SEO experiments 3. When NOT to run an experiment Q: What is the product manager role like at different companies? What skills do companies look for in a PM? What do PMs need to get right to get promoted? How much influence do PMs have at different companies? There’s surprisingly little information out there about the differences in the PM role across the industry. Today, I’m sharing findings from a survey I’ve been running over the past month, with nearly 1,000 responses from over 600 companies. Below, you’ll find: 1. Which skills matter most when hiring PMs 2. What PMs have to get most right to get promoted 3. How much influence PMs have 4. Which companies prioritize Heart vs. Head vs. Hands 5. Takeaways, and links to dig deeper A big thank you to PMHQ, Sriram Krishnan, Hiten Shah, Josh Elman, Ian McAllister for helping amplify this survey to get more responses, and to…”

04Frameworks mentioned

Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.