When you're building a product org, stop looking for the unicorn PM with 10 years of experience who ticks every box. That's a passive investment.

The real leverage?

Finding high-potential talent, especially early career and job changers, and investing your time.

You're not just hiring an employee; you're developing the future leaders who will eventually challenge your best ideas. Your job is to share your blueprint, then encourage them to draw their own better one.

Here’s the framework I use when evaluating new PM hires:

The Hunger for 'Why'

Do they obsess over the customer's actual problem, not just the solution on the roadmap? Great PMs don't need to be told what to build; they need to be pointed at the user and asked what they're seeing. It’s about listening, not dictating.

Embrace the Engine Room

Can they spend a whole day with the engineering team, dive into the details, and speak their language? Product management is a ground game. If they treat execution and technical feasibility as someone else's problem, they will fail the roadmap.

Stakeholder Empathy

Do they view every interaction as a transaction or a relationship? A successful launch is built on trust. Can they genuinely convince a sales leader, a finance VP, and the design team to align on a tough decision? Human element wins.

I've seen PMs hired purely on the basis of their impressive resumes. They were brilliant, but they avoided conflict and never wanted to leave the building to talk to customers or partners. I've seen where those hires cost us a year of stalled progress because someone prioritized pedigree over the gritty willingness to connect with people.

If I were your coach, I'd ask you to consider what made your favorite manager great. It was likely their investment in you, not their title.

Don't just fill seats. Cultivate leaders. The best products are built by teams who trust each other and relentlessly focus on value. Find the grit, teach the process.