1. Competitor Intel
PDMs must maintain a living competitive analysis document updated quarterly. This should include feature gaps, positioning, pricing, GTM tactics, and use case advantages. Having accounts and subscriptions is the bare minimum — true value comes from thoughtful comparison and strategic insights.
2. Marketable PRD
PRDs should be clear and visually appealing. Use storytelling to communicate the “why.” They should double as marketing collateral and must be understandable by non-technical stakeholders.
3. Customer Conversations Are Non-Negotiable
PDMs must regularly engage with customers to deeply understand their workflows, use cases, and pain points. Every PDM is expected to have meaningful conversations with at least four customers each month — this is essential for building products that solve real problems, not assumptions.
4. Marketing
A PDM needs to market themselves and their product internally (slack, TH, release notes, etc) and externally (LI, demos, updates page, etc).
5. Under Promise / overdeliver
Always buffer timelines, and validate scope before giving even an internal ETA. Push for early release, and keep a changelog of “wins” to share at releases.
6. No ETAs without tickets
If a PDM commits to build a new feature/enhancement for the CS / Sales team, there has to be a YT ticket created for the project. It’s the responsibility of the PDM as well as CS / Sales team member to make sure that the ticket is created.
7. Peer review
Once a PRD is created, it has to be reviewed first by the rest of the product team and then by the stakeholders. Development starts only after both reviews are passed
8. Roadmap Framework
It’s the responsibility of the PDM to release at least 3 quick hits and one medium-complexity task every month. In addition to this, one major enhancement has to be delivered every quarter.
9. Don’t accept mediocracy
Don’t accept mediocrity. Set the standard — UI polish, app performance, and reliability aren’t nice-to-haves. Your name is on the product, own the quality. Every release should be something you’re proud to demo.
10 Ownership Doesn’t End at Release
The job isn’t done when the feature is shipped. Track adoption, bugs, feedback, and iterate. Own outcomes, not just output.