Kassen Qian

Somebody can go deep, like all the way down, and then distill it back out to everybody else. So you don’t have to do all of that work yourself. It does require a lot of reading for sure, but the benefit is great clarity of thought on complex topics. Engineers, partnerships, PMs, everybody is producing documents.

One of our operating principles is “really, really care.” It’s craftsmanship and a huge amount of dedication to getting all of the details right.

3. Strategic - You have PMF and a 2-3 year runway. Your Strategic PM, usually director level or VP level, will take your company's overall long-term vision and lay out the pathways that pave your way towards that. These pathways involve major decisions that could alter the company's future.

You’re a ghost: You know when to disappear (it's possible to over-PM).

Vision & Strategy: You own the vision, strategy, and roadmap. You know the market, our users, the product, and the competition. You drive alignment: If I ask 5 different people what you’re building and why, I’ll get one answer.

A development paradigm that can be construed from the outside as setting great store by speed—or, I suppose, velocity—is invariably going to be under continuous political and economic pressure to accelerate.

I initially did this solely for monetary gain. But then when I started getting deeper into it, I found community. I met real dope people that were really there for me. I found newer forms of creativity that I didn't even think I had. I feel like being a community leader is a creative to a great extent as well. And that changed my whole outlook on... See more

Your team dynamic is something you can always affect, even if you have no meaningful influence over the major strategic decisions of an organization.