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Hiring Product Managers at Startups

Product management at a startup is fundamentally different from big tech PM. Here is how to hire PMs who thrive in chaos.

R

Roles Team

Talent Advisors · January 8, 2025

# Hiring Product Managers at Startups

Product management at a startup is nothing like PM at Google.

What Startup PMs Do

- Talking to customers constantly - Writing specs and requirements - Working directly with engineers - Making decisions with incomplete information

What to Look For

- Customer obsession - Comfort with ambiguity - Technical enough to work with engineers - Bias for action

Compensation 2025

- Seed/Series A: $140-180K base + equity - Series B: $160-200K base + equity

The Bottom Line

Great startup PMs are generalists who can go deep.