Product Manager Worth & their insecure justifications

I am reading very often that the craze around product management is too much and this career is not worth the hype. Adding on to that it has huge supply of PMs and many of PMs are underpaid. Is it true?

Indian. I am a SDE (backend) currently. ~2 yrs exp. 16 LPA and I work 40-50 hrs a week. I like where I am, but I am not feeling the zeal for tech anymore. Probably will do a MBA down the line (thinking abroad, not sure) Looking for equal or greater pay, similar WLB, new domain. Should I switch to PM and try a hand at it? Am I aware of the reality or living in my own isolated reality?

Note - I am a product manager too 4 out of 5 product managers will act all high and mighty of themselves, bragging their way as if they run everything going on in the company, flaunting their business degrees and being utterly disrespectful towards their team( dev design qa name it), Recently started going to office so the attitude I am seeing is very transparent and more visible (more with the higher experience folks) It makes me wanna leave this hyper inflated role, thinking of I will end up like them scares me, and you have to do is speak out jargons in meetings day in day out and have a English accent of Shashi Tharoor. Recently my manager told that this is a role where you have to very representable or very visible and act in floor as if you are the busiest person on earth and I seriously some PMs in company doing that, they walk so fast in floor as if they will fall off or would be better to have 4 legs.

its advertised as minj CEO role but what is the reality?

Hey GV folks, long-time lurker, first-time poster here. I'm a product leader at Zomato, managing a team of 8 PMs. Today, I want to share a practice that's become the cornerstone of our product philosophy - and it all started with me being "punished" by my first manager. At the cost of self praising, this is some really good advice so I hope you’re able to extract the maximum value out of this. Five years ago, I was a cocky new PM, fresh out of a fancy consulting gig. I thought I knew everything about our users based on data and surveys. My wake-up call came when I royally screwed up a feature release. Instead of firing me, my manager did something unconventional - she made me spend a week as a delivery partner. I was pissed. Riding around Bangalore in the March heat, navigating traffic, dealing with hangry customers - how was this supposed to make me a better PM? But on day three, while waiting for an order outside Truffles (fellow Bangaloreans, you know the wait I'm talking about), I struck up a conversation with a few seasoned delivery partners. What I learned in those 30 minutes blew my mind. They shared hacks they'd developed, pain points I'd never considered, and insights about customer behavior that no amount of data could have revealed. I realized I'd been building features in a vacuum, completely disconnected from the real world our app operated in. That week changed everything. I rewrote our entire product roadmap based on what I learned. The results? Our delivery partner satisfaction scores shot up, and our order completion rates improved significantly. Since then, I've made it a point to spend one day every month doing deliveries. It keeps me grounded, provides constant insights, and reminds me who we're really building for. When I started managing other PMs, I knew I had to institutionalize this practice. Now, it's mandatory for everyone on my team to do a delivery day once a month. No exceptions. At first, there was resistance. "We have data for this," they'd argue. "I can't waste a whole day delivering food!" But after their first experience, they got it. Now, our team meetings are buzzing with insights from the field. Here's why I believe every product manager should regularly step into their users' shoes: 1. Data doesn't tell the whole story: Numbers can show you what's happening, but not why. Real interactions reveal the context behind the data. 2. Empathy drives innovation: When you experience user pain points firsthand, you're more motivated to solve them creatively. 3. It challenges assumptions: Nothing humbles you faster than realizing your "brilliant" feature is actually a pain to use in the real world. 4. It builds credibility: When you can say "I've done this myself," your team and stakeholders listen differently. 5. It's a reminder of impact: In the daily grind of KPIs and metrics, it's easy to forget that we're affecting real people's lives. This practice keeps that front and center. Some practical tips if you want to try this: - Don't just observe. Actually do the job. - Engage in conversations. Users (and front-line workers) are usually eager to share their experiences if you show genuine interest. - Look for workarounds and hacks. These are gold mines for product insights. - Pay attention to the environment and context in which your product is used. - Reflect on the experience immediately after. What surprised you? What frustrated you? To my fellow PMs out there: when was the last time you truly stepped into your users' shoes? If it's been a while, I challenge you to give it a try. You might just find your next big product breakthrough while waiting to pick up someone’s 1 am order from Empire :) P.S. Took a photo while waiting for my order, would probably have been fired long back had it not been for this evening!

1. High pressure on timelines- business and top management shits on you if you don’t deliver on time 2. No power to control the outcome- engineers don’t listen to you neither does the design or analytics team, you end up begging for resources 3. Too much politics- business or a senior PM can steal your bandwidth anytime 4. Lack of recognition- if it succeeds business did it, if it fails it is product teams fault (engg never gets blamed for shit)

PM of 5 years. Same place the whole time. We have a new Engineering Manager. They started 2 months ago and at first they seemed like they were very happy to learn our process and products. Then they soon started to manipulate the Engineering team which was very cooperative earlier. It’s incredibly demotivating. We are a small startup, and the culture isn’t great but seriously no need to be so dismissive of other people’s efforts and feelings. They are just fucking rude. No other word for it really. The problem is that they do NOT get the product side of things so you can’t explain anything to them. They start to physically roll their eyes when you go anymore product than the word “PRD”. I have never had to deal with someone like this and it’s really stressing me out as they are involved in effectively every project I work on. Advice that isn’t “quit” will be appreciated. I should also clarify that when I say “product limitations” I really mean how much effort goes into getting things right, the delays are shearing the roadmap apart. why do Software Engineers act so rude? How to solve this in my team?

I've been working as a Senior Analyst at a startup for 4+ years, and I've always wanted to become a Product Manager to make a big difference. So, I've started getting ready for it. - I've noticed a concerning trend among PMs, both through personal observation and online discussions, where they tend to overlook data integrity, opting instead to manipulate it to portray success. - I firmly believe that Product Managers play a pivotal role in taking calculated risks, fostering innovation, and ultimately ensuring the success of their products. - Despite being well-compensated in my current position, my drive to optimize the top of the funnel compels me to pursue a career shift into Product Management. - I firmly believe that power within a company comes with a corresponding responsibility. - It's evident that many PMs are fighting with dissatisfaction, often experiencing high levels of stress and unhappiness. I'm keen to understand the root causes of this discontent and how professionals in this field are managing such challenges. - Despite being inherently talented individuals, why does Product Management seem to come with such a significant stress burden?