Understand Product-Culture Fit
When you are considering applying to a company, you should consider their product-culture fit. Not everyone will thrive in the same cultures. More importantly for PM interviewing, when you are preparing to complete a product case interview it is helpful to understand a company’s product culture to know what answers will work best.
For example, for decades Google was looking for an 10X idea while Facebook/Meta PMs wanted more practical MVP ideas to get something out quickly. If you consider their product cultures you will quickly realize why.
Rumors have it that Google is backing away from the 10X requirements but it is still looking for creativity. Even without the 10X/Moonshot requirement, the culture’s natural state is to put an emphasis on engineering.
For example, it is important to include ideas that incorporate novel technology when interviewing with Google. While at Meta, you ware better off talking about MVPs that help people connect. Look to their cultures and it all becomes clear.
Most Common Product Culture types
Sachin Rekhi does a great job of mapping out different product cultures. He identifies four different types:
Engineering-Driven
Data-Driven
Design-Driven
Sales-Driven
It should be no surprise to anyone that Google leads the engineering-driven list as the quintessential example while Facebook/Meta is on the top of the list for data-driven cultures. If you look at their interview panels and requirements through that lens, so much becomes clear. It explains why Google PMs want to discuss creative ideas that use novel tech while Meta PMs treat the execution interview like a blood-sport (a ruthless or cutthroat competition).
Rekhi has identified four key examples of each type of product culture. If you are pursuing any of these companies, keep it in mind. And as you interview at smaller companies, try asking recruiters, “What is the product culture like? Is it more engineering-driven, data-driven, design-driven or sales-driven?:
Some examples:
Engineering-Driven
Google, Stripe, Microsoft, Dropbox,
Data-Driven
Facebook/Meta, Zynga, LinkedIN, PayPal
Design-Driven
Apple, Airbnb, Square, Snapchat
Sales-Driven
Salesforce, Workday, Marketo, Oracle
What kind of product cultures do you love? Is that where you are now? If not, time to get interviewing. Or at least be aware of any disconnects and learn from them.
Resources/Inspiration