Micro-Interview: Valeriya Yordanova | Product Marketing Leader | Pleo
💬"There is no such thing as over-communicating or sharing with too many stakeholders. Internal alignment is the secret sauce to a great product launch."
INTRO NOTE:
Valeriya Yordanova is a Product Marketing Leader at Pleo, a leading spend management platform in Europe; a product marketing advisor, and an aspiring newsletter creator at Product Marketing Matters.
In under 500 words, she shares:
What product marketing brings into product management…
How she got into product marketing management…
How she starts her mornings for maximum productivity…
Some of her sources of learning…
And more…
Enjoy!

“How did you get into product marketing?”
By chance. After university, I applied for a Product Marketing Training program at Henkel. Product marketing was not even a thing in Europe back then. In hindsight, 12 years later, that was my best career decision.
“What does product marketing bring into product management?”
Despite role variations due to product maturity, company size, setup, and rules of engagement, the essence of Product Management is to help solve the product side of the equation – build the right product for the right audience.
Product Marketing focuses on the market side of the equation, ensuring the product is positioned, priced correctly, and known by the right audience through the right channels at the right time. While PMs and PMMs need to be able to make decisions, they don’t have to make all decisions themselves. Ideally, they should have a cross-functional team, share the same KPIs, and collaborate daily across all stages of the product and customer journey.
“How do you start your mornings at work?”
I have a policy of no meetings before 11 AM, which allows me three hours of focused work. The key to this luxury is that I work in a different time zone. I work EET hours while my team operates in CET or GMT. Viva, remote work. The rest of the day is devoted to my team and other stakeholders, i.e., I am in full Zoom meetings mode.
“What do you know about product marketing now that you wish you’d known when you first started?”
No matter how great a Product Marketing Manager you are, you cannot succeed without the support and efforts of a cross-functional team. So, invest in your communication and stakeholder management skills. Those can make or break a project.
“What did your biggest product failure teach you?”
I don’t think I’ve failed in the true sense of the word. However, I did uncover things I could have done better in a thorough post-mortem.
My biggest lesson is that there is no such thing as over-communicating or sharing with too many stakeholders. Internal alignment is the secret sauce to a great product launch.
“What’s the #1 thing that has helped you shorten your product management learning curve?”
There are no shortcuts. You might be the smartest and the brightest, and you can read and learn everything, but there’s one thing no one can teach you – experience. So, instead of looking for shortcuts, show up, do the work, experiment, make mistakes, get better.
“How do you stay updated on the best practices in product management?”
I look at what great companies do—building products, executing their go-to-market strategies, and using tactics. My favorite newsletter by far is Lenny’s Newsletter, even though it’s devoted to product managers. When I’m stuck, I turn to Sharebird.