Defining The Product

Manager Persona

We define the typical Product Manager based on the

results of a 2013 results survey conducted by the

Product Managers Association of Los Angeles (PMA.LA).

Provided by pma.la

What’s Your Title?Survey Results

PMALA 2013 Survey

This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its

members. There were 79 respondents

Title

Product Mgr

Director

Head of Product

N/A

Consultant

Startup Founder ProJECT Mgr

QTY PCT

Product Mgr 45 57%

Director 12 15%

Head of Product 10 13%

N/A 5 6%

Consultant 3 4%

Startup Founder 3 4%

ProJECT Mgr 1 1%

pma.la

What’s Your Field?Survey Results

PMALA 2013 Survey

This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its

members. There were 79 respondents

pma.la

Consumer Internet26%

Ecommerce15%

Entertainment15%

Advertising13%

Other13%

Consulting Agency4%

B2B4%

Consumer Goods3%

Big Data2%

Electronics2%

Health Tech2%

Scientific1% QTY PCT

Consumer Internet 18 26%

Ecommerce 10 15%

Entertainment 10 15%

Advertising 9 13%

Other 9 13%

Consulting Agency 3 4%

B2B 3 4%

Consumer Goods 2 3%

Big Data 1 2%

Electronics 1 2%

Health Tech 1 1%

Scientific 1 1%

Where Do you Work?Survey Results

PMALA 2013 Survey

This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its

members. There were 79 respondents

pma.la

0%

Santa Monica / West Side

48%

Other13%

Hollywood 9%

Downtown7%

Long beach 7%

San Fernando7%

Pasadena4%

Orange County3%

Venture2%

QTY PCT

Santa Monica / West Side 40 48%

Other 11 13%

Hollywood 7 9%

Downtown 6 7%

Long beach 6 7%

San Fernando 6 7%

Pasadena 3 4%

Orange County 2 2%

Ventura 2 2%

Digital Product jobs

Heavily concentrated

on the West Side of

LA!

What’s Your Reporting Line?Survey Results

PMALA 2013 Survey

This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its

members. There were 79 respondents

pma.la

CEO / GM38%

Product21%

Tech21%

Marketing13%

Other5%

N/A1%

Startup1%

QTY PCT

CEO / GM 29 38%

Product 16 21%

Tech 16 21%

Marketing 10 13%

Other 4 5%

N/A 1 1%

Startup 1 1%

What Did you Do Before Product?Survey Results

PMALA 2013 Survey

This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its

members. There were 79 respondents

pma.la

Other36%

Engineering18%

Proj Mgmt16%

Startup10%

marketing8%

Student 8%

N/A4%

QTY PCT

Other 28 36%

Engineering 14 18%

Proj Mgmt 13 16%

Startup 8 10%

marketing 6 8%

Student 6 8%

N/A 3 4%

Male of Female?Survey Results

PMALA 2013 Survey

This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its

members. There were 79 respondents

pma.la

Male78%

Female22% QTY PCT

Male 61 78%

Female 17 22%

What Your Age?Survey Results

58, 1

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Resp

on

ses

Age

Age (39.3 avg)

Have a Certification?Survey Results

PMALA 2013 Survey

This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its

members. There were 79 respondents

pma.la

Scrum/Agile41%

Product23%

Project Mgmt12%

Leadership11%

Analytics9%

Marketing4%

QTY PCT

Scrum/Agile 23 41%

Product 13 23%

Project Mgmt 7 12%

Leadership 6 11%

Analytics 5 9%

Marketing 2 4%

Why the heavy

emphasis on

process?

How Much Education?Survey Results

PMALA 2013 Survey

This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its

members. There were 79 respondents

pma.la

QTY PCT

High School 2 2%

Some College 2 3%

Bachelors 43 56%

Some Grad School 3 4%

Masters 9 12%

MBA 18 23%

2%3%

56%

4%

12%

23%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

High School Some College

Bachelors Some Grad School

Masters MBA

What’s Your Income?PRODUCT MANAGER

PMALA 2013 Survey

This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its

members. There were 79 respondents

pma.la

QTY PCT

<$50k 1 2%

$50-70k 6 13%

$71-90k 5 11%

$91-110k 10 22%

$111-130k 17 38%

$131-150k 4 9%

$151k+ 2 5%

2%

13%

11%

22%

38%

9%

5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

<$50k $50-70k $71-90k $91-110k $111-130k $131-150k $151k+

What’s Your Income?DIRECTOR / HEAD OF PRODUCT

PMALA 2013 Survey

This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its

members. There were 79 respondents

pma.la

QTY PCT

<$50k 0 0%

$50-70k 0 0%

$71-90k 0 0%

$91-110k 0 0%

$111-130k 1 5%

$131-150k 5 25%

$151k+ 15 71%

5%

25%

71%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

$111-130k $131-150k $151k+

Your Personality (Myers-Briggs)Survey Results

PMALA 2013 Survey

This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its

members. There were 79 respondents

pma.la

7%

12%

12%

10%

2%

7%

7%

5%

29%

7%

2%

ENFJ (Teacher)

ENFP (Champion)

ENTJ (Field Marshall)

ENTP (Inventor)

ESFJ (Provider)

ESTJ (Supervisor)

INFJ (Counselor)

INFP (Healer)

INTJ (Mastermind)

INTP (Architect)

ISTJ (Inspector)QTY PCT

ENFJ (Teacher) 3 7%

ENFP (Champion) 5 12%

ENTJ (Field Marshall) 5 12%

ENTP (Inventor) 4 10%

ESFJ (Provider) 1 2%

ESTJ (Supervisor) 3 7%

INFJ (Counselor) 3 7%

INFP (Healer) 2 5%

INTJ (Mastermind) 12 29%

INTP (Architect) 3 7%

ISTJ (Inspector) 1 2%

INTJ is

less than 2%

of the general

population.

Your InterestsSurvey Results

PMALA 2013 Survey

This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its

members. There were 79 respondents

pma.la

Vision & Strategy ownership 67.90%

Interdisciplinary 66.10%

User Experience Design 51.80%

Technology 28.60%

Product Roadmap Planning 23.20%

Market research 23.20%

Business Development 14.30%

Management visibility 12.50%

Day-to-Day operations 7.10%

Optimization & Analytics 7.10%

Scrum & Sprint planning 19.60%

Day-to-Day operations 19.60%

Realistic expectations 17.70%

Role definition 13.70%

Marketing 9.80%

Business Development 5.90%

Communication 3.90%

Management visibility 3.90%

Technology 2.00%

Professional 2.00%

Favorite Aspects Least Favorite

LA Product PersonaWho’s the Typical Digital Product Mgr in LA?

THE JOB

TITLE

Product Manager

REPORTING LINE

CEO & General Manager

LOCATION

Santa Monica

FIELD

Consumer Internet

CERTIFICATIONS

Agile/Scrum

PREVIOUS PROFESSION

Engineering or Project Mgmt

THE PERSON

AGE

39.3 Years Old

GENDER

Male

PERSONALITY (MYERS-BRIGGS)

INTJ (Mastermind)

INCOME

$110-$130k

FAVORITE PART OF JOB

Strategy & UX

LEAST FAVORITE PART OF JOB

Scrum/Agile & Operations

An interesting

paradox

2014 Survey Goals

Statistical Confidence: 300+ Responses

Improved Design: No more “other” Dead Ends

Interaction: Effects of Multi Variables

eg how important is an MBA?

Who is pma.la?

SERVICES

android, gmail, google,

blogger and etc.

@laproductmgrs

http://PMA.LA

@laproductmanagers

Prod Mgmt Assoc of LA (PMALA)

Organization of 850+ digital product

managers and strategists. Quarterly

meetups and annual ProductCamp.LA.

+PmaLa

SERVICES

android, gmail, google, blogge

r and etc.

About Neal Cabage

Digital product architect. Founder of

ProductCamp.LA and PMA.LA. Built &sold two

startups. Authored the book,

The Smarter Startup.

Who is the Speaker?

@nealcabage

http://nealcabage.com

@nealcabage

+nealcabage

Provided by pma.la

Thank You!