Josh Fechter

Josh Fechter is the co-founder of Product HQ, founder of Technical Writer HQ, and founder and head of product of Squibler. You can connect with him on LinkedIn here.

What a Microsoft product manager does: How I’d describe the role

At Microsoft scale, I'd describe the PM job as clarity amid ecosystem complexity: many customer segments, long enterprise cycles, and deep platform constraints. Work I'd expect Problem framing for customers who buy differently than consumers Roadmaps negotiated across engineering, marketing, and field Spec quality that survives handoffs Metrics tied to adoption and customer success reality Skills that travel Skill Why it shows up Stakeholder mapping Large matrix orgs Technical literacy...

Lean portfolio management, for me, means treating initiatives like a managed WIP system—not an annual project shopping list. Operating system I'd use Themes tied to strategy (few, memorable) Capacity envelopes so everything isn't “P0” Guardrails: compliance, architecture, cost-to-serve Cadence to start, stop, and double-down on bets Practices that keep it honest Practice Why Portfolio Kanban See idle money and blocked value Kill criteria Stop funding zombies Outcome metrics Avoid output...

If you're evaluating data analyst training, I'd optimize for practiced skill and portfolio proof—not certificate collecting. Pricing and cohorts change; verify on the provider's site. Who training helps Career switchers into analytics PMs who need sharper metrics instincts Marketers/ops folks leveling into data roles Folks considering a later move into data product management How I'd evaluate a program Tooling practice — SQL, spreadsheets, a BI tool, basic stats Real datasets...

Technical debt isn't a moral failing—it's a portfolio problem. I'd manage it like risk and capacity, not a guilt trip in retro. How I'd reduce it without freezing the roadmap Make debt visible: inventory with owners, impact, and trigger conditions Tie paydown to product outcomes (faster delivery, fewer incidents, safer changes) Budget a steady tax (e.g., a slice of each sprint) plus occasional focused campaigns Stop adding high-interest debt for...

An agile roadmap is a direction tool I use an agile roadmap to communicate where the product is going, why the work matters, and how confident we are in the path. It is not a detailed promise that every feature and date will happen exactly as written. What I would put on it I organize around customer problems, product outcomes, or strategic themes. Specific features can appear as candidate approaches,...

Product marketing isn't "PM but with Canva." I'd describe a PMM as the person who makes the market story and the motion match the product you actually shipped. What I'd put in the job Positioning and messaging that survive sales calls Launch sequencing with product, demand gen, and CS Competitive clarity without trash talk Enablement: decks, talk tracks, objection handling that reps will use Feedback loops from win/loss and pipeline...

Every good PM uses data. That doesn’t make them a data product manager. A data PM ships data as the product—pipelines, metrics platforms, feature stores, ML-backed surfaces, or insights tools—with different failure modes than a growth or consumer feature PM. Here’s how I’d draw the line on data product manager vs product manager. Wave4 data-PM-vs-PM marker Sep23 Differences I’d highlight Core / feature PM Data PM Primary object User-facing experience...