Recruiting at a startup is very different from hiring at a big company
The first thing you notice at a big company is the amount of specialization. At a startup, everyone does a little of everything, so you need strong generalists. More importantly, it’s hard to predict the future, so you need people who can adapt. You might think you’re hiring somebody to work on something specific, but that something might change in a few months. It doesn’t work that way at big companies. Usually when you’re hiring you have a very specific role in mind, and the likelihood that that responsibility will change is low.
Hire all the smart people
take a wickedly smart, inexperienced PM over one of average intellect and years of experience any day
Leadership that’s earned
Product managers are usually leaders in their organizations. But they typically don’t have direct line authority over others. That means they earn their authority and lead by influence
“Spidey-sense” product instincts and creativity
Strong technical background
Having a solid engineering background gives a PM two critical tools - the ability to relate to engineers and a grasp of the technical details driving the product.
Ability to channel multiple points-of-view
Being a product manager requires wearing multiple hats. That means you need to be capable of doing other people’s jobs, but smart enough to know not to. Great PMs know how to channel different points-of-view. They play devil’s advocate a lot
Give me someone who’s shipped something
This last characteristic may be the easiest to evaluate. Unless the position is very junior, I’ll usually hire product managers who’ve actually shipped a product. I mean from start to finish, concept to launch. Nothing is a better indication of someone’s ability to ship great products than having done it before. Past performance is an indication of future success. Even better, it gives something tangible to evaluate in a sea of intangibles