Micro-Interview: Katalina Babeva | Sr. Product Manager | Progress
💬"You do not always need to be the decision-maker or mediator in every argument there is."
INTRO NOTE:
Katalina Babeva is a Senior Product Manager at Progress – a company that enables organizations to develop and deploy their mission-critical applications and experiences, as well as effectively manage their data platforms, cloud, and IT infrastructure.
In under 500 words, she shares:
How she got into product management…
How she starts her mornings for maximum productivity…
Some of her sources of learning…
And more…
Enjoy!
“How did you get into product management?”
Since graduating from university, I've been drawn to roles blending business and IT. I started as a technical support engineer and soon I discovered that digging deeper into the customers’ problems and carefully unpacking the use cases should be the first thing to do before suggesting a solution. Before I knew it, I started working closely with the PMs on different initiatives and decided this was the next step in my career.
Fortunately, a PM position opened for the same product I was already focused on.
“How do you start your mornings at work?”
I kick off my mornings by checking emails and chats, prioritizing tasks, and making time for new assignments that require immediate attention. I make sure my calendar and to-do lists are up to date before going on with my day.
“What do you know about product management now that you wish you’d known when you first started?”
You do not always need to be the decision-maker or mediator in every argument there is. You should carefully choose your battles and know where it’s worth putting the extra time and effort. As a PM, you bring context about the customers, market, and business goals, but you need to trust your colleagues to bring domain expertise too, for example, when tackling technical and user experience questions.
“What did your biggest product failure teach you?”
When there is no product-market fit, working on anything else than finding it, is a waste of time. And time is precious.
“What’s the #1 thing that has helped you shorten your product management learning curve?”
Asking lots of questions.
“How do you stay updated on the best practices in product management?”
Pair-PMing with colleagues, often in the form of validating thoughts and concerns over 1:1s, following amazing product leaders on LinkedIn (like Marty Cagan, Teresa Torres, Chris Jones), going to conferences (e.g. Product Management Festival, Mind the Product) where you can discuss your thoughts with bright PMs, and going over (and over) business books (Inspired by Marty Cagan, The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick, The Lean Product Playbook by Dan Olsen) and podcasts (e.g. The Product Experience).