Are you a new product manager?

Congratulations, you found your dream job as a product manager at an exciting startup. In addition to quickly learning the cadence and processes of writing user personas, user stories, maintaining the product backlog, prioritization and all the other good stuff product managers do to build the future of the product, it is important to learn about the legacy aka the startup and product's journey so far.

​Very frankly, in the first 30-60 days, you as a product manager must do a lot of “homework". To form a solid foundation as a new product manager, spend the first 30-60 days acquiring a deep understanding of the three pillars of your startup - the business, the market and the user. The best way to get the most out of your first 60 days is to have lots of one-on-one meetings, list questions on current assumptions and hypothesis, get in front of the users in usability sessions, and scour the web for industry / vertical specific news, trends, forecast reports, and the sorts to familiarize yourself with the space. Contrary to the popular saying, 'more is less’ here - absorb all and any perspectives you can gather.
Here is a quick starter framework that comes in handy for you to get started: 

Know your startup story - long term vision and near term goals
I. Founders and their story

1. Mission statement
2. 60-second pitch

II. Funding history

1. Funds raised till date
2. Investors
3. Partners and customers 

III. Product offerings

1. B:C products - apps, launchers, widgets, feeds, ad walls, etc
2. B:B integrations - APIs, SDK’s, etc
3. Technology that powers these products - high level components / sys architecture

IV. Misc

1. Time to break even
2. People (the most important)

Know what is out there - build your SWOT
I. Companies/products in a similar space

1. Their niche
2. Your assessment on their technology
3. Feature by feature comparison matrix
4. Customers, users and traction of their products

II. Companies/products in a space you want to be in the near future

1. Their story and approach
2. What did they do right?
3. Your potential customers / user reach & traction

III. Your approach

1. Tech capabilities
2. (more importantly) Tech limitations

Know your users - features that they love, features that need some loving
I. Users, users, users

1. Total app installs
2. Uninstall Rate %
3. DAUs (7-day avg)
4. DAU/MAU %
5. Day 7 Retention %
6. Day 14 Retention %

II. User acquisition

1. Cost per paid install
2. Cost per install (organic + paid)
3. Cost per active user
4. User LTV

III. User sentiment

1. App ratings by version
2. App review count (total, current version)
3. # of bugs / feature requests / feedback / encouragement submitted (7-day avg)
4. Sign-up via referral %
5. Best markets, worse markets & why

IV. Product feature-specific metrics (vary per product)

1. Most used features
2. Daily CTR

Missing something in this list? I would also love to hear your experience in the first 30-60 days as a new product manager at a startup - what worked and what didn’t. Please do share your story in the comments below.