Sourcegraph product career development framework

An entry level PM who can execute on a highly scoped problem with strong support from engineering counterparts.

A junior PM capable of owning a small piece of a highly ambiguous project that impacts a specific feature within Sourcegraph.

A mid-career PM who is confident driving an established feature or product from beginning to end.

A PM capable of executing an ambiguous, cross-functional project to completion that shapes the future of Sourcegraph’s business.

A very experienced PM, capable of efficiently driving multiple cross-functional projects in a highly autonomous way while understanding the impact of their work to Sourcegraph and the broad market as a whole.

I understand how Sourcegraph makes money and how our business KPIs measure the long-term success of the business.

I understand how the company’s GTM strategy impacts the product experience.

I partner with the GTM team to support GTM growth within existing features.

I leverage new product opportunities to expand Sourcegraph into new GTM channels/markets and kickstart new levers of growth.

I understand the category that our product operates in and the key customer segments we target.

I understand the category our product operates in and our key direct competitors. I understand the high-level problems our customers have and how Sourcegraph solves them.

I understand the direct key competitors in our category and how we compare against them. I understand specific challenges our customers face and how our product(s) address these.

I understand direct and indirect competitors in our category, how we can compare and where we could invest to win. I have built relationships with key customers, understand their specific needs and work collaboratively with them to build solutions.

I understand and identify where there are opportunities in adjacent product categories, or creating new product categories that would benefit our business.

I understand the role my product plays in the platform’s vision and strategy.

I can derive my product’s strategy based on the overall strategy and communicate in the open why we will or won’t deliver on certain items.

I drive the creation of my product’s strategy based on the early and continuous feedback of and collaboration with stakeholders.

I drive the long term vision of my product(s) and influence the overarching product vision. I create a strategy that identifies the key challenges we may face and how we overcome them to maximise the impact we have. I continue to iterate and adapt the strategy based on new input and communicate this transparently.

I efficiently seek net-new product opportunities that expand Sourcegraph into new markets by exploring strategic opportunities to buy or partner with external companies.

I understand the technical constraints related to my product, and I use that knowledge to correctly plan and scope my roadmap.

I consider how influential devs and dev communities will perceive my product and take that into account when planning my roadmap. I understand the technical aspects of my product and use that knowledge to create a better product.

I understand how influential devs and dev communities will perceive my product, and I effectively communicate with them directly in a way that gains us new knowledge and/or respect. I deeply understand the technical aspects of my product and use that knowledge to create a better product that meets particularly complex technical requirements.

I am known and respected by influential devs and dev communities in my product area, and I use that to increase the odds of success for my product. I use my technical intuition to create a better product in ways that rely on brand new approaches and/or my nuanced understanding of the evolving technical landscape of product area.

I define goals, lead my team in prioritizing our work, and work with my team to execute tactically.

I incorporate user research, market/industry knowledge, and business goals in my prioritization of discovery and delivery efforts.

With a scoped problem, I am able to drive the creation and launch of an experience by working cross-team (i.e. product marketing) to create shared outcomes.

Given a rough direction based on critical business needs, I will create the right outcome, based on an understanding of the market and customer.

I am able to efficiently execute cross-Sourcegraph efforts in highly ambiguous and often risky projects for Sourcegraph.

I understand the problem we are trying to solve based on existing research and can articulate this to others.

I understand the problem we are trying to solve and what information we’d need to validate it. I know how to measure the success of an initiative.

I understand the pros/cons of different research techniques and know what to use to solve a particular question.

I am able to clearly define research questions and leverage multiple research methods to gather sufficient data to answer my question.

I am able to clearly define research questions, leverage multiple research methods and define net-new methods when required.

I conduct team meetings in a way that fosters effective team collaboration.

I frequently share work in progress and present updates on my product to everyone in the company.

I’m familiar with other teams’ work and how it relates to my team’s work. I work collaboratively with other teams when responsibilities overlap.

I lead cross-functional collaboration to deliver outcomes that improve user experience. Teams recognize how I create and communicate my strategy and apply it with their teams.

The business depends on me to successfully manage cross-functional initiatives.

I recognize my skill/knowledge gaps and seek out mentors who can help me grow.

I actively serve as a mentor to a team member working on a project related to my own.

I actively serve as mentors to junior team members and other less experienced PMs.