Every month I teach a tech essay to level up your technical literacy and collaborate well with dev teams. Ask me anything and I'll cover it in an upcoming issue.

New Event: 3 API skills to Work 2x Faster with Engineers (Workshop)

📣 Exciting new workshop event! Join me on Tuesday, March 25th at 12pm ET for Skiplevel’s first hands-on workshop of the year: 3 API skills to Work 2x Faster with Engineers! In this 90-minute webinar + API workshop, you’ll get hands-on practice with key API skills you need to know as a PM including reading API documentation, using a real API tool, and more. Early bird pricing ends on Tuesday, March 18th. There are a limited 30 spots available so make sure to register ASAP!

Marc Baselga is the founder and CEO of Supra, an invite-only community of 300+ product leaders from world-class companies like Shopify, Brex, Okta, Stripe, Yelp, Slack, Asana, Airtable, Salesforce, and Uber. Before Supra, Marc led product at a Series A healthtech startup and was an early product hire at Asana. He shares daily product leadership insights on LinkedIn and hosts the product podcast Supra Insider.

Takeaways from our conversation:

• Time management is a make-or-break skill for new leaders. New managers often struggle with balancing IC work, people management, and strategic thinking. Supra members swear by "Radical Delegation" and the "Top-Goal Strategy" to reclaim their time.

• Managing up isn’t about influencing leadership—it’s about empathy. Effective "managing up" means deeply understanding your manager’s priorities, aligning with company goals, and presenting problems in a way that makes it easy for leadership to help.

• Your unconventional background could be your greatest strength. Some of the best product leaders come from design, research, and go-to-market roles. Their ability to ask fresh questions, think without bias, and deeply understand customers often makes them stand out.

• The biggest negotiation mistake is revealing salary expectations too early. Anchoring yourself too low can cost you. Instead, defer the conversation until you understand the role’s expectations and focus on showcasing your unique value.

• At senior levels, market salary benchmarks matter less, your impact matters more. Instead of relying solely on salary data, successful leaders negotiate based on how they’ll drive revenue, reduce costs, or speed up processes.

• Early-career mistake? Not negotiating at all. Later-career mistake? Assuming certain terms weren’t negotiable.

On what it really takes to land a Product Leadership role now

Irene: Marc, I’m excited for you to share your personal journey as a product leader with everyone. Let’s start with before founding Supra, what was your own path to product leadership? What surprised you most about the transition?

Marc: I started my product career in a pretty fortunate way - Asana took a chance on me as their first new-grad PM right out of college. The timing was perfect - they had just raised their Series C, which meant I got to learn from some incredible leaders like the co-founders and Jackie Bavaro, among others who might not be household names but were equally influential in my development.

I spent almost five years at Asana, riding the wave as the company grew from Series C through IPO. This gave me exposure to different parts of the product and a front-row seat to scaling a successful company. But my journey into product leadership really kicked into gear in my next chapter.

After Asana went public, I started thinking about what was next. Through conversations with my dad, who worked in medicine, I became fascinated by how ripe the clinical trials space was for disruption. In one of those serendipitous moments, a friend got offered a product role at a Series A clinical trials startup. He wasn't interested but knew about my interest in the space, so he connected me with the exec recruiters. That's how I landed my first product leadership role.

The transition to product leadership was eye-opening. Your team is no longer just engineering and design - it extends to the entire leadership team. You're suddenly collaborating with cross-functional leaders whose worlds you might not be deeply familiar with. The early-stage environment meant wearing multiple hats - I found myself doing ops work, diving into go-to-market strategy, and getting a crash course in how different functions operate. The boundaries were blurry, but that's exactly what made it such a valuable learning experience.

Irene: You interact with many product leaders through the Supra community - what's the most common challenges you see new product leaders face?

Marc: Most companies fail to provide new managers proper training. The skill sets required to be a great manager are very different from those that made you an excellent IC. Yet most companies don't have the necessary education and support infrastructure to help new managers thrive. This is shocking since training new managers is one of the highest-leverage investments a company can make.

Time management is a constant challenge. New managers juggle IC work, people management, and self-development. They feel they are always reacting to fires, behind on tasks, and rarely have time for deep work. Supra members endorse two time-management frameworks: 1) Radical Delegation (Shreyas) to free up time; 2)Top-Goal Strategy (Matt Mochary) to prioritize deep work

It's not you—management feels lonely for everyone. GPM promotions require rebuilding peer networks and finding trustworthy allies. Vetted communities or mastermind groups offer safe spaces for troubleshooting challenges and peer support.

There's a misperception around what successful managing up looks like. Many new managers think good managing up involves influencing leadership to gain their trust, support, and resources. The reality is effective "managing up" is centered on building empathy for leadership by 1) aligning your manager's and company goals, 2) adapting to your manager's working style, and 3) presenting problems to leadership in a manner that makes helping easy.

It's hard to find the right balance when delegating work. New managers struggle to empower employees while maintaining control. Keeping initiatives on track and team members empowered is challenging. Providing the right context to set teams up for success and not being afraid to exert control when things get off-track are both important skills to master.

Addressing poor performance is critical. New managers often hesitate, but quick action is key. Learn from those who've wished for earlier intervention.

Irene: Looking back at your own product leadership roles, what skills do you wish you had developed earlier?

Marc: Looking back at my product leadership journey, several key skills stand out that I wish I'd developed earlier.

First, I wish I'd spent more time deeply understanding go-to-market. At its core, every company exists to make money, and the most effective product leaders truly get this. They know how to think about go-to-market strategy for their products and how to partner effectively with marketing and sales to nail the messaging and positioning. Because here's the truth - it doesn't matter how great your product is if you don't have solid distribution. No one will ever get their hands on it.

Second, I wish I'd gotten comfortable earlier with difficult conversations and hard decisions. Instead of shying away from them, I should have tackled them head-on. As you move up in leadership, the decisions only get tougher. Building that muscle early - being able to make hard calls and sometimes go against the grain - is incredibly valuable.

Third is delegation and time management. Being ruthlessly strategic about how I spend my time, understanding what truly deserves my attention, and identifying the highest-leverage activities - these are skills I wish I'd mastered sooner.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I wish I'd learned to trust my gut earlier. Too often, I knew something wasn't right but waited too long to act. One of my favorite product leaders, Sachin Saxena - former CPO at Coinbase and Airbnb, now VP of Product at Lush - has this great line that's always stuck with me: "Intuition is just data that's not statistically significant yet." I try to live by that now.

Irene: Can you share a story of someone who successfully transitioned into product leadership despite having an unconventional background? What made them successful?

Marc: Rather than focusing on a single example, I think it's more valuable to share the common patterns I've observed across many successful transitions into product leadership. I've seen great product leaders come from design, research, and even go-to-market backgrounds. What's fascinating is that their "unconventional" backgrounds often become their greatest strength.

The first common thread is their ability to ask great questions - and this comes naturally because they're approaching problems with fresh eyes. They ask a lot of "why" and "what" questions, which helps bring clarity to the entire team and uncovers important nuances that ultimately lead to better products. There's also something powerful about how they ask these questions - it comes from a place of genuine curiosity rather than questioning decisions. This approach builds trust and creates alignment within teams.

Another advantage is their lack of preconceived notions about "how product should be done." Without these biases, they often think more creatively and with fewer constraints, which can lead to more innovative solutions. This becomes an even bigger asset as you move into senior leadership, where asking the right questions becomes a crucial skill.

Many of these leaders transitioned into product because they knew their customers better than anyone else. This deep customer understanding becomes their superpower - teams see them as a trusted proxy for user needs and insights. They don't just understand users; they make customer success the North Star for everything they do.

Finally, these successful transitions are usually powered by an ability to learn quickly. Their natural curiosity helps them rapidly pick up new concepts and frameworks. It's this combination of fresh perspective, customer insight, and quick learning that makes their unconventional backgrounds an asset rather than a liability.

On how to negotiate your next Product Leadership role

Irene: What are some benchmarks product managers should look for when looking at product leader salaries?

Marc: There are two benchmarks that I really like to use that are open to everyone:

• https://carta.com/friend/

• https://www.fairoffer.ai/

The other two tips that I recommend:

• If you have a founder friend, ask them to share some benchmarks via Pave 

• Also join communities like Supra, that’s where you can actually get real date from real people with nuance. We actually run a yearly benchmarks report where we share salary benchmarks collected from our 300+ members. 

The other thing I will say is that benchmarks become less useful as you get more senior since there are less data points for the roles that you’re interviewing for; there’s also less people in the world that can do exactly what you can do. 

So when you get more senior, you want to focus on your unique value proposition. How will you impact revenue, reduce costs, or speed up processes? That's your negotiation gold.

Instead of "The market rate is X," try "I can reduce time-to-market by 20%, potentially increasing annual revenue by $Y million."

This approach works because
1/ Shows you understand the business
2/ Highlights your unique value
3/ Shifts the conversation from cost (your salary) to investment (your impact)

Irene: Beyond salary and equity, what are some less obvious but valuable elements that product managers should consider negotiating for?

Marc: When negotiating job offers, product managers often focus solely on base salary and equity. However, there are several less obvious but valuable elements worth considering during negotiations:

1/ Understanding Equity Structure: Go beyond just the number of shares or options offered. Take time to understand the full structure of your equity package - what type of options you're being offered, current valuation, potential dilution, vesting schedules, and most importantly, how you'll be able to realize value from these shares.

Refresher Grants: Many candidates overlook asking about equity refreshers. Understanding when refresher grants kick in and their typical size can significantly impact your long-term compensation, especially as your initial equity grant vests over time.

2/ Bonus Structure Details: Don't just accept the stated bonus percentage at face value. Ask detailed questions about historical bonus payouts: What has been the typical payout rate? Have there been years with no bonuses? What metrics drive the bonus calculations? A 20% bonus target means very different things if it typically pays out at 100% versus 50% of target.

3/ Protection Clauses: Especially for senior product roles or situations where you're being brought in for a specific strategic initiative, consider negotiating protection clauses. What happens if the company changes direction and eliminates your product line? What if they decide to restructure within your first year? Having clear terms around these scenarios can protect your compensation if things don't go as planned.

4/ Project and Team Scope: Sometimes the most valuable things to negotiate aren't strictly financial. Having clarity and agreement on your sphere of influence, team size, and project ownership can be just as important as monetary compensation. This is particularly relevant for product leadership roles where your impact and future career growth depend heavily on the scope of your responsibilities.

The further up the organizational ladder you go, the more flexibility there typically is in these elements. The key is to understand what matters most for your specific situation and career goals, then negotiate accordingly.

Irene: What's the biggest negotiation mistake you see experienced product managers make when moving into leadership roles?

Marc: Two big mistakes come to mind:

The first major negotiation mistake happens before you even get an offer – sharing your salary expectations too early. When a recruiter asks about compensation during the screening call, many candidates feel pressured to provide a number, immediately anchoring the conversation to that figure rather than their value. Instead of blurting out a number, the best response is to defer the conversation: "I'd like to learn more about the role before discussing compensation" or "I'm confident we can find a number that works if I'm the right fit." While this might feel uncomfortable at first, maintaining this position helps ensure you receive an offer that truly reflects your worth.

The second critical mistake, particularly common among experienced product managers moving into leadership roles, is relying too heavily on market data during negotiations. Market compensation data becomes increasingly irrelevant at senior levels, where unique combinations of skills and experiences matter more than industry averages. Instead of anchoring to market data, successful negotiations at the leadership level should focus on your unique value proposition and the concrete business outcomes you can deliver – whether that's accelerating market entry, generating significant revenue through new products, or transforming development processes. When you focus on the specific value you'll create, you set yourself up for compensation that reflects your true impact.

Irene: Can you share a negotiation that didn't go as planned in your career? What did you learn from it?

Marc: My biggest negotiation mistakes came at different stages of my career, and each taught me valuable lessons. The first was simply not negotiating at all early in my career - I just didn't know better. When I got my offer from Asana, I didn't realize I could negotiate. Looking back, even a modest negotiation could have meant $100,000s in additional value, especially considering how the stock performed. The irony is that the recruiter ended up giving me more than the initial offer anyway, likely because they were holding back some equity in anticipation of negotiations that never came.

My later career mistake was different - making assumptions about what was negotiable. At my last startup role, I assumed the 90-day exercise window for options was set in stone. I've since learned that other people have successfully negotiated these windows to two, five, or even ten years. By mentally placing these artificial constraints on what could be negotiated, I limited myself to just discussing base salary and equity instead of exploring other valuable terms.

Both situations taught me that the biggest barriers in negotiation are often the ones we create ourselves - whether it's fear of negotiating at all, or assumptions about what's possible.

Irene: Many product managers struggle with articulating their impact, especially in non-technical roles. What's your advice on how to frame their achievements during negotiations?

Marc: When negotiating as a product manager, the key to articulating your impact is focusing on three core dimensions of business value: increasing revenue, reducing costs, and improving cycle time. Instead of making vague statements, create a detailed and specific account of your achievements that demonstrates measurable impact: revenue figures from products you've launched, efficiency gains from processes you've improved, or time saved through your leadership decisions. For both technical and non-technical achievements, the focus should be on quantifying business outcomes rather than just listing responsibilities.

Present these achievements in writing, ideally in a comprehensive email that includes specific achievements with numbers, unique skills that few other candidates possess, direct experience relevant to their needs, and concrete examples of revenue impact and team leadership.