Who is a Product Manager and what is their persona? At ProductCamp.LA, I presented the findings from a 2013 survey by the Product Managers Association of Los Angeles(PMALA) and defined a persona for the typical Product Manager, here in Los Angeles. The results should be generalizable across most major cities. It is interesting to see how most Product Managers define their role within the organization, as well as their personality, personal interests, what they did before and why they transitioned into the role of Product Manager.
Defining The Product
Manager Persona
We define the typical Product Manager based on the
results of a 2013 results survey conducted by the
Product Managers Association of Los Angeles (PMA.LA).
Provided by pma.la
Whats Your Title?Survey Results
PMALA 2013 Survey
This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its
members. There were 79 respondents
Title
Product Mgr
Director
Head of Product
N/A
Consultant
Startup Founder ProJECT Mgr
QTY PCT
Product Mgr 45 57%
Director 12 15%
Head of Product 10 13%
N/A 5 6%
Consultant 3 4%
Startup Founder 3 4%
ProJECT Mgr 1 1%
pma.la
Whats Your Field?Survey Results
PMALA 2013 Survey
This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its
members. There were 79 respondents
pma.la
Consumer Internet26%
Ecommerce15%
Entertainment15%
Advertising13%
Other13%
Consulting Agency4%
B2B4%
Consumer Goods3%
Big Data2%
Electronics2%
Health Tech2%
Scientific1% QTY PCT
Consumer Internet 18 26%
Ecommerce 10 15%
Entertainment 10 15%
Advertising 9 13%
Other 9 13%
Consulting Agency 3 4%
B2B 3 4%
Consumer Goods 2 3%
Big Data 1 2%
Electronics 1 2%
Health Tech 1 1%
Scientific 1 1%
Where Do you Work?Survey Results
PMALA 2013 Survey
This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its
members. There were 79 respondents
pma.la
0%
Santa Monica / West Side
48%
Other13%
Hollywood 9%
Downtown7%
Long beach 7%
San Fernando7%
Pasadena4%
Orange County3%
Venture2%
QTY PCT
Santa Monica / West Side 40 48%
Other 11 13%
Hollywood 7 9%
Downtown 6 7%
Long beach 6 7%
San Fernando 6 7%
Pasadena 3 4%
Orange County 2 2%
Ventura 2 2%
Digital Product jobs
Heavily concentrated
on the West Side of
LA!
Whats Your Reporting Line?Survey Results
PMALA 2013 Survey
This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its
members. There were 79 respondents
pma.la
CEO / GM38%
Product21%
Tech21%
Marketing13%
Other5%
N/A1%
Startup1%
QTY PCT
CEO / GM 29 38%
Product 16 21%
Tech 16 21%
Marketing 10 13%
Other 4 5%
N/A 1 1%
Startup 1 1%
What Did you Do Before Product?Survey Results
PMALA 2013 Survey
This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its
members. There were 79 respondents
pma.la
Other36%
Engineering18%
Proj Mgmt16%
Startup10%
marketing8%
Student 8%
N/A4%
QTY PCT
Other 28 36%
Engineering 14 18%
Proj Mgmt 13 16%
Startup 8 10%
marketing 6 8%
Student 6 8%
N/A 3 4%
Male of Female?Survey Results
PMALA 2013 Survey
This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its
members. There were 79 respondents
pma.la
Male78%
Female22% QTY PCT
Male 61 78%
Female 17 22%
What Your Age?Survey Results
58, 1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Re
sp
on
se
s
Age
Age (39.3 avg)
Have a Certification?Survey Results
PMALA 2013 Survey
This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its
members. There were 79 respondents
pma.la
Scrum/Agile41%
Product23%
Project Mgmt12%
Leadership11%
Analytics9%
Marketing4%
QTY PCT
Scrum/Agile 23 41%
Product 13 23%
Project Mgmt 7 12%
Leadership 6 11%
Analytics 5 9%
Marketing 2 4%
Why the heavy
emphasis on
process?
How Much Education?Survey Results
PMALA 2013 Survey
This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its
members. There were 79 respondents
pma.la
QTY PCT
High School 2 2%
Some College 2 3%
Bachelors 43 56%
Some Grad School 3 4%
Masters 9 12%
MBA 18 23%
2%3%
56%
4%
12%
23%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
High School Some College
Bachelors Some Grad School
Masters MBA
Whats Your Income?PRODUCT MANAGER
PMALA 2013 Survey
This data is from the PMA.LA survey of its
members. There were 79 respondents
pma.la
QTY PCT
