Whether the chances are 9 to 10 or 1 in 1000. 
 Your task remains the same. 
  
 Do your best. 
 If it doesn’t work out, you can always go back to your big firm life < w more learnings >

Thanks. Im just worried about the market situation out there. But I will get to learn as much as possible from the startup and look out for better opportunities

Product Manager

Growth Manager

Hey all,  I am a recent MBA passout from one of the top 6 IIMs. After working for an year at a big ecommerce company, I wanted to work on more challenging problems and joined a startup at ideation ...

Welcome to Product Managers's Private Community

Hey all,

I am a recent MBA passout from one of the top 6 IIMs. After working for an year at a big ecommerce company, I wanted to work on more challenging problems and joined a startup at ideation stage as a PM. Its been a couple of months and now I’m not fully sure about the direction this startup is going towards. It will be a few more months before we exhaust funds and I doubt we will be able to raise more funds. Because of these thoughts, I’m unable to focus on current work as well and feeling anxious all the time. 

Any suggestions on what I can do?

Not sure what to do

Not sure what to do- Grapevine

Welcome to Business Roles's Private Community

Hey All

I graduated in 2021 out of DU and parallely converted my internship with a preseries A fintech startup for a full-time role, pay was less that what I would've got in campus placements, but I prioritised steep learning curve or a 15k per month salary difference.

After spending 15 months reporting directly to the ceo in a 150 member team, I resigned. Initially the pace was enjoyable, later on it became toxic.

Moved to Bangalore and joined another start-up, didn't take a huge hike since I just wanted to start somewhere. After working here for 7 months, now I have much for focussed idea on what my strengths are and I'm working with experienced folks (avg 8+ years). I'm a 22 year old working in the founding team of pretty good product startup (funded by Kunal and bunch of other angels).

Currently I'm at 6LPA, and would reach a 12LPA in thr next 3-4 months subject to fundraise, what I would like an opinion on is if after completing an year and we don't raise a round, do I stay? Or do I go back home and prepare for Gmat or CAT, then do aan expensive MBA by taking a loan? Or do I find another startup asking for a 12LPA? or do I try for a established company role in program management or partnerships or something?

I don't have any family money or business to fall back on, but fortunately I didn't take a loan for my education yet, and my parents would be okay to give me another 2 more years to figure things out.

Would appreciate help from anyone who've been in a similar journey or just any piece of advice.

Thanks!

Started off career in startups

Program Manager

Welcome to Indian Startups's Private Community

1. I am having a strong problem statement, which is thoroughly validated, along with a business plan, but I am not working or starting it as I lack confidence because I don't have a team in place.

( I am an IIM graduate and currently a product manager - giving these details just to get a sense of my background, which might help in the type of suggestions from your side).


2. How can I find a co-founder/partner/core team member? Please advise me on where to look for co-founders or people that share a similar mindset. 
Show quoted text



Please help me to navigate through this situation. Thanks in Advance 🙏

Need Advice - How to begin working on a Idea/Startup ?

Hi All,

I have 8.5 years of experience. iit + iim (recent 1 year mba ). initially I worked at analytics KPOs , then I worked on my own startup. post that I worked with a b2c startup as a program manager . Worked in growth, analytics , cross functional etc etc 

Then post mba , I am again working at a startup managing a team of business analysts. 

I feel like my career is not really going anywhere. I have become a "generalist" suitable for early stage startups but I do not want to work at startups any more. 

what do I do ? How do I move into bigger companies for better stability OR find a stable suitable startup where I can become a VP (but then a VP of what ? )

Career advice

Welcome to Software Engineers's Private Community

I am working in a Pre Seed GenAI Startup (2020 Founded) as Head of Engineering (Team of 20 with 5-6 in Engineering, No CTO) 

It's been 3.5 years (3yrs Full Time + 6mon Internship) Previously it is in EdTech now in GenAI Space 

My CTC is 8 LPA + 0.45% ESOPs (10-12L in 25cr valuation). 
Skills: Nodejs, Nextjs, Monorepos, MongoDB, AWS, Serverless

1-2yrs ago we were thinking about scaling the tech team, etc but then that EdTech model started failing and then we went to a war time after that we pivoted currently also we are burning money revenue is there but very less (25% of the expense)

I was of the view that I want to lead teams and scale products That's why I was there in the team It can be the case tomorrow if we scale 

but Now I am confused whether I should switch my job and or stick with the startup maybe the startup grow tomorrow or a big VC fund us to scale (as I have ESOPs) or it will just be a waste of time or opportunity cost

Please guide 🙏 Anyone with a similar startup experience would really appreciate your help 🙏

Need Career Guidance in Tech (Switch or Not?)

Software Engineer

I am a PM at an edtech startup. The company is not doing well and my boss is not a good leader. Although company has a runway of 2 years. For the past 3 months I have been doing program management. No product management related work at all. No one appreciates you here. It's mentally challenging to work here. No road map for myself. No appraisal. I'm just going on the job for salary. For the past week, I have been thinking about quitting and taking a break. Then look for a job. I know the market is tough but I have runway for 4-5 months. I have a total of 3 years of Product experience. 

What should you guys suggest. I really need your help here.

Should I quit my job?!

Some days going to office just feels like I am just existing to show up. 

Anybody feeling the same way?

Just Showing Up

Hi all! I have 16 years of work ex in Corporate sales and currently working in a leading indian Fintech from last 9 years. I am feeling stuck here with no visibility of growth or even sense of  job security. I didn't take risks in my career  as I am sole bread earner for my family but it was biggest risk I guess I took. Plz suggest me what all I should do to find good opportunities in terms of growth and  job stability. I am introspecting and would really appreciate your valuable feedbacks.

Need serious help

Business Development Manager

Have been an entrepreneur since college days. Went full time on same idea and worked on it for a good 4 years full time before starting something new, raising some money, later pivoting (fucked up here) and eventually shutting shop last year. 

Life has been tough since then since there is no clarity on what to spend next 2-5 years on - acquisition offer falling apart, tried looking for jobs but didn't finalise and later did a bit of consulting (good pay but didn't really work out).

I now have a few good conversations going on right now - leading product & EIR/Founders Office. What do you suggest would be an ideal thing to do? 

Profile - Solid Generalist. Non tech. Money ain't really an issue right now but can't stay dependent on savings for so long - its stupid.

PS - If you or someone you know is hiring, please reach out. Happy exploring ideas as well.

2 time ex-founder / 6+ years of entrepreneurial exp

Founder

2 time ex-founder / 6+ years of entrepreneurial experience

I work as a PM in a B2B SaaS startup and have an overall 4 years of experience all of which is in product management. Now, feeling a stagnant in growth and salary. I was wondering if I should try for an. MBA from IIMs or ISB?

My current package is around 36 LPA. I do not want to change my field and I like being a PM. Then does MBA make sense for me in long term?

Is MBA worth doing for me?

I m a student currently pursuing  btech in entc from 1 of the top prestigious  college in pune. When i pass out i can easily get 14 lpa (my batch's avg package ) i m avg in academics but always know what i am doing. But my goals are diff i m planning to make a switch into finance and get into either a vc or pe role or even the sell side investment role is fine for me. The bare minimum is i will work at a startup in finance or marketing role. But i dont want to do enggineering dont know why i never liked it and feel trapped here. I have no finance or accountin experience or core knowledge i have learned few things from internent but i dont think thats enough. I m planning to attempt cfa and give various sebi registered certification exams like research  analyst , aifa etc . And then by getting 2/3 years exp i will even try for mba at iims. Am i on the right path on my career please provide your opinion or guidance . 


Thank you

Am i doing good by leaving enggineering?

I hate working 9 to 5. I simply hate it. I loathe it. I worked so hard all my effing life to get here and I hate it. I learnt DP and what not. It’s been 1.5 years since I started working full time as a software engineer and it just keeps getting worse. 
I make upwards of 15 lpa.
It’s not that I have a bad work environment, it’s great. It’s just that I feel absolutely rotten working a 9 to 5 as a software engineer.

Ideally, I would like to own a small business of my own. Despite watching hours of content on how to do that, I haven’t been able to come up with anything that seems like it’s gonna work, you know…

Thinking of doing an MBA but that’s BS too, right?

It feels like very soon I’m just gonna quit and be broke. 🤷🏼‍♀️
It feels like my life is over at 23. Kill me now.

My question to you is first, am I alone?,  second, can I help you in your business in any possible way?, third, should I do an MBA?

What do I do with my life?

Software Developer

I am deeply worried, to the extent of feeling depressed, about my career trajectory. I feel I made a mistake by switching tracks via doing an MBA with 10 yrs exp. I was a QA for a decade and tried a lot to break into PO roles( worked in a product based org on mobile apps for 6 years). It did not work and the director of PM advised me to do the one year fulltime MBA. Not sure why I gave in to his advice, but I gave GMAT and began with an 18 month Full time program at a Tier-1 Bschool. Cracked placement in the first go but got into IT services( not in WITCH), and now I am stuck being a PMO for a client.
Even when I look at my resume, I see a crappy profile, everything is disjointed and makes no sense now. No wonder I get no calls.
I don't want to go back to QA, this Project Management work is shitty( cannot see any learning happening, but the client is happy so I'm stuck in this project. )
I want to move to PM, thinking maybe CSPM can help, not sure where I am headed. 
Any guidance for this middle aged dinosaur 😞

Lost career graph( long post)

Hi folks,

I work at a startup (been 2 years now) as a PM. From the last 12 months, my work has mostly revolved around strategy, business intelligence, program/general mgmt. I am now planning to quit and move on. However, I am not sure if I want to continue being a PM, because it's very overwhelming honestly and I actually enjoyed the last 12 months as a generalist. 

Need career advice from fellow PMs whether to pursue program mgmt/strategy/general mgmt/Chief of staff/new initiatives roles or devote 100% of my time to prepare for PM interviews and also try to make up for the last 12 months by doing side projects and maybe even interning under a senior PM 

Some pointers about me:

1. I have 2 YoE in PM. 
2. I have a CS degree from a tier 1/2 college
3. There is no particular reason to quit. Job is chill

Career Dillema | PM feels overwhelming

I'm 23 and  working in Bangalore in the Founder's Office role at a startup. I aspire to be a Founder someday and run my own business, but don't have an idea that I am very passionate about right now. 
I have 3 years of work experience as I started working alongside my college. I am really confused whether I should consider Post-Grad or continue working. And if PG, then from India or outside. Any guidance or points to consider would help.

Post-Grad or Work Ex? Looking for guidance.

Founder’s office

I have been working in this startup for around 1.5 years now, and soon I am going to be the only developer here, as the other 2 devs are going to leave soon.
The company is now calling me to Bangalore.
I am thinking as there will be no devs my growth will be very less, as this is my first organisation after graduation.
But looking at the market situation it feels like I should just continue with the current org.
I am not sure what to do.

YoE; 1.5 year
CTC: 9 LPA
Saving: 1LPA

Confused about what to do

Hi, I know it’s a much debated topic but I wanted honest views of my fellow grapers/viners/grapeviners. How valuable is an MBA as a PM? What are the trade-offs - MBA vs Non MBA? Does it affect the career 10 years down the line?

About myself: I’ve 3.5 years of work experience as a PM in the BFSI sector. I did my engineering from a tier 1 institute and started my career as a PM. Currently wondering what to do next. The learning experience in the current company has been below par as of today with no signs of improvement. I would like to explore VC, PE but I’m happy with PM too. 

If you are pro MBA, bonus points for suggesting any relevant courses. If against, then please suggest any upskilling resources 🙌🏻

TIA

MBA as a PM

4yoe Engineer turned Product Manager. It's been 8 months I joined this B2B SaaS startup as an APM. Engineering team... mostly interns. Most of my time goes into execution following up with devs. Is the PR reviewed, is the bug fix deployed. No Jira, scrum, sprint planning whatsoever.

CEO runs the whole show. Only fear driven product management. I have no idea what it means to work on vision or strategy. My career has started off with a shitty foundation. Everyday I feel like quitting. What should I do? Quit right away or wait n switch to a better company?

Not sure what to do

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