Canucks in the Bay
Deciphering the hype and finding out what makes the Valley tick.
Sunny California was not all that it seemed (literally).
For anyone interested in getting into the tech scene, joining high-growth companies that are changing the way we live on a day-to-day basis, the Bay area is the gold standard. Having experienced the pinnacle of Canadian tech and looking to take my skills to the next level, I decided to commit my reading break to understanding the Valley.
I’ve spent the last 6 months honing my skills in product marketing, getting hands-on experience creating the email nurture campaigns, lead scoring, and site funnel layouts for some cutting-edge startups. At first glance, it might seem like I’m ahead of the curve.
But to be honest, I’m a little confused.
Product marketing is a mystical beast. It encompasses so many diverse areas of a business that being an expert on any one takes years of industry experience. While I want to break directly into product marketing, my lack of knowledge and experience is discouraging. Being a sophomore with a bit of runway before I jump into the real world, I thought I would try to figure out WHAT IT TAKES to be a premier product marketing manager and what elite tech companies are looking for in non-tech roles.
So I did what any other stereotypical business student would do, and I maxed out my commercial search limit on LinkedIn within a day… But seriously, I reached out to people in my network that work/had worked in the Bay area, and cold emailed a ton of people doing business roles there. Most didn’t respond, some were a little nasty, but a good number of them were eager to help.
In the coming weeks, I’m going to be posting excerpts from the chats I have and the main takeaways I learned from them. Some of them include Square, Twitter, and Airbnb. I’ll also be sharing some great resources and articles for students looking to jump directly into the tech world, but aren’t quite sure where to start.