Many people talk about the product manager role as if all product managers were created equal. This affects how they hire a new product manager or look for a new PM job themselves. But there are many kinds of product managers and a broad range of industries and companies that PMs now find themselves in.
One important way to categorize product managers is on a spectrum of different focus areas — customer, engineering, design, and business. No matter which area they work in, a product manager’s strength is largely formed by their background, past experiences, and biases. These also inform the types of products and organizations that PMs will add value to.