The most significant challenge that all entrepreneurs face is a lack of resources. Every decision about employing new staff or completing transactions should be thoroughly researched. Investing in a product manager, on the other hand, is a relatively safe bet for a startup with only one or two items.
Startup product managers, often known as “first product managers,” are responsible for establishing the framework for a new company’s product management. Because they’re such a vital part of their company’s founding team, they’re under a lot of stress. Despite this, the career has a variety of enticing intrinsic and monetary advantages.
If you’re a startup entrepreneur or a product manager seeking a new opportunity, keep reading. In this post, we’ll sketch out a detailed picture of what a startup PM’s job entails.
Are Product Managers Needed in Startups?
The quick answer is that the majority of startups require product managers. This is especially true for companies that have advanced beyond the pre-seed stage and are rapidly creating and launching a real product while trying to scale.
Keep in mind, however, that even pre-seed stage firms might profit from employing a product management consultant.
Some of the Causes Behind This Are As Follows:
A startup product manager might take on a major percentage of the PM responsibilities for the entrepreneur.
They can serve as a link between all company units and help to break down organizational barriers. Based on their years of experience, they can establish a clear path for the startup product.
At the end of the day, the decision to hire a startup PM is totally up to the company’s founders, who are the experts on their industry.
What Should a Project Manager Do in a Startup?
For the most part, a startup product manager performs the same duties as a traditional PM in a well-established company. They’re in charge of product strategy development and ownership, bringing internal teams together to achieve a common goal, managing people, and leading debates and efforts to move things forward.
A project manager for a startup, on the other hand, must be more hands-on and work closely with the founders. A startup project manager must accomplish the following major responsibilities:
What Does a Product Manager Perform in a Startup?
The steps and efforts that must be made in order to accomplish the product vision are listed below (plan of action).
A startup PM must explain and implement the plan to the rest of the team after working with the founders to build a product strategy and roadmap.
Take a look at our certification courses if you want to be a successful startup product manager.
Alignment of Internal Teams with the Vision
The second most crucial responsibility for a startup product manager is to bring together the whole internal team (no matter how tiny) around a common company-wide agenda – the product vision.
In startups, aligning or rallying product teams is easier than in larger corporations. This is owing to the fact that there aren’t many individuals in a normal company to begin with. Each product team normally consists of only a few people (and in some cases, certain departments, such as marketing, are one-person-armies).
Regardless of the situation, a startup PM must guarantee that all stakeholders, product leaders, marketing, and product development teams are on the same page.
To keep everyone informed, the product manager may conduct one-on-one sessions in addition to stand-up meetings.
The PM has the option to adopt a more personal approach due to the modest size of the internal teams.
Most Commonly Asked Questions (FAQs)
We’ve answered some of the most common questions about the startup product management role below:
How Much Do Product Managers Get Paid at Startups?
Startup product managers in the United States earn $85,168 per year (or $41 per hour), according to ZipRecruiter. Just because you won’t be working as a product manager for a huge corporation doesn’t mean you won’t get paid well.
In fact, some startups compensate their product managers more than established companies.
Sunnyvale, CA, is the highest-paying city for this job, with an average yearly salary of $101,675.
The amount you get paid is determined by a number of criteria, the most important of which is the cost of living in the state or city you are in.
When Should a Business Consider Hiring a Product Manager?
While a product manager may be beneficial to a startup at any time, this does not always imply that one is essential. The optimum time to hire a product manager is when a company is having trouble scaling and the founders need to assign some product management-related work to an expert.
Finally, there are no hard and fast rules on when this should take place. If you’re a startup founder, you’ll know when it’s time to take things to the next level and engage some extra help to help you extend your efforts.
What is the Average Salary for a Product Manager?
Product managers in the United States earn an average of $112,029 per year, according to Glassdoor. This is based on over 30,000 salary reports from real product managers in a variety of companies throughout the US.
The highest salary ever reported is $173,000 per year (PMs can get paid more).
Like any other job, the cost of living in the city where you work will have a significant impact on your pay. You’re more likely to be paid more in well-known cities like San Francisco, New York, and Las Vegas than in other places.
Last Thoughts
Overall, startup project managers not only make individual contributions to overall success, but they also establish the framework for project management in their firm.
Being a startup product manager is an excellent option if you enjoy working in fast-paced environments and want to make an impact at the ground level.