Cracking the Code: How Technical Skills Transform Product Management | Alina Verbenchuk (HypeAuditor, ex-Google, ex-YouTube)

The Product Development Podcast

Alina Verbenchuk is Senior Product Manager @ HypeAuditor and was previously Product Manager @ Creator Tools at YouTube and Program Lead at Google.
She is also Founder of Verbetcetera, which looks to help empower tech careers through mentorship and consulting for people from various backgrounds.
In today's episode:
• Exploring how technical skills enhance a PM's ability to work effectively with engineers.
• Alina's personal journey of realizing the importance of technical skills in her role as a PM.
• Discussing other crucial areas, such as generative AI and agents, in the evolving product development landscape.

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Alina's contact info:
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alinaverbenchuk/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@alinaverbenchuk683
• Verbetcetera: https://verbetcetera.com/
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Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction
(00:53) Reading Alina’s Linkedin post
(02:06) Difference between a PM and a Technical PM
(04:18) Advantages in more complex products
(05:22) Computer Science prerequisite in Google PM interviews
(06:54) Importance of communication
(07:51) Engineering's respect for having technical skills
(10:04) The moment of technical realization
(12:30) The start of the technical journey
(15:17) Starting with SQL
(16:07) Key technical PM areas to learn
(18:00) Rise of generative AI and agents
(19:27) Verbetcetera
(20:45) Thinking about a problem with technical skills
(22:47) Difference between Google and smaller companies
(26:18) Approaches and time to spend on different goals
(28:26) Turning theory into practice
(29:45) Favorite parts of technical development
(31:18) Outro

Follow the podcast on Twitter: @proddevpodcast
Get in touch with the host, Adam Wakeling, on Twitter: @adamjwakeling