2842 miles from Silicon Valley: A 6-Month Retrospective
Before March, my knowledge of politics was fueled by news, Schoolhouse Rock, and that one semester of AP Gov. Not only did I have a lackluster understanding of government, but also I had simply always planned to live somewhere where “Java” was primarily recognized as a programming language rather than as a synonym for coffee. Oh, and let’s not forget that a top priority of mine was to start my adult life in a location that was warm year-round to recover from my vitamin D deficiency (hello, 3.5 years in the Cornell tundra). Needless to say, I never expected to begin my career in the Nation’s Capital. And yet, a series of personal decisions (which deserve their own post…or novel) landed me as an Associate Product Manager at FiscalNote, a startup ready to build the world’s most powerful platform for analyzing government risk and opportunity.
While I never imagined to be working four blocks away from Obama, I really never saw myself working at a SaaS company. My last Medium post, which was written during my summer internship at a social networking startup in California, captured the similarities between being a student leader on campus and a product manager at a tech company. The similarities were strung together by four main attributes, though looking back, it’s clear that the post was written only with knowledge of what it was like to be a PM in a consumer-oriented environment.
My goal in this 6 month retrospective is to expand on three out of the four attributes of my previous post based on my newfound insight into life as a PM at a SaaS startup.
Empathy
One of my main contributions as an intern at Whisper was designing and conducting their first-ever iteration of usability studies. While I had done a great amount of studies for HCI courses back at school, I had never interviewed users outside of Ithaca, so this was an opportunity where I was able to learn about the processes, but more importantly, about the benefits of interfacing with the product’s target audience. Additionally, since I fell within Whisper’s target audience, it was even easier for me to empathize with the users.
At FiscalNote, and in other SaaS companies, the PM often does not fall in the target audience. As the aforementioned explanation of my government expertise alluded, I definitely do not fall in FiscalNote’s target market, which consists of government affairs professionals. For this reason, being able to empathize is more crucial than ever. I was accustomed to a world where the users were tech-savvy and knew how to keep up with modern design guidelines, but prototype tests and usability studies at FiscalNote have pushed and challenged me in terms of how I approach more distant and less relatable personas.
Wearing Many Hats
And I thought juggling metrics and design for a consumer app was difficult. Now multiply those efforts by two (because SaaS companies often have a mobile and web component), and then add the other teams that a PM interacts with in a SaaS setting, such as Business Development and Client Success. In my previous article, I mentioned that “the majority of my enthusiasm when waking up and getting dressed for work comes from not knowing exactly what I will be doing for the next ten hours.” At FiscalNote, this uncertainty is amplified 10x.
Of course, being at a startup with significant revenue means that the uncertainties of my day are certainly far more intentional than in my previous role, yet there really isn’t a clear guide for what my day is going to look like. And I love that. Some days I’ll be attending business meetings with clients, mocking up prototypes, syncing with marketing, and conducting internal usability studies. Other days I’ll be making videos for upcoming product releases, fleshing out requirements for the engineers, discussing the future of FiscalNote with the data science team, and traversing our database with queries to inform design decisions. While the responsibilities can be overwhelming, the feeling of having 119 (and counting) people aligned and excited about a product release makes every stressful moment worth it.
Not Beating Myself Up
My previous post used this attribute to speak about the importance of not taking feedback personally, but working at FiscalNote has taught me the equal importance of being empowered to have difficult conversations and of giving feedback to others. Part of not beating yourself up comes from being able to speak through tough situations with peers, and instilling a strong feedback culture makes that whole process a lot easier.
This is especially true for product management. Regardless of whether it’s in a SaaS or consumer-oriented company, being a PM is all about making trade-offs and decisions. Of course, trade-offs and decisions do not always end in blissful joy among all stakeholders, which is why it’s so important to effectively navigate tough conversations, such as ones about the prioritization of the product roadmap or about timeline changes in a project’s cycle. When everyone is aligned with a growth mindset, then no one is beating themselves up and the whole team can succeed faster.
As a completely unsponsored plug relating to this topic, I highly recommend Difficult Conversations, which we read during a FiscalNote book club session.
Exactly six months and approximately 63 green tea bottles later, I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given as a Product Manager at FiscalNote. Graduating a semester early and getting a kickstart to my career at a high-growth SaaS startup seemed like a risky move in December, but I wouldn’t trade the extensive ownership and fast-paced environment both in the office and in DC for anything … even if it means getting funny looks on the metro when I’m wearing a hoodie and everybody else is wearing suits.
