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 Welcome to Lewis C. Lin's 2 Week Product Management Interview Preparation Plan.
Provided by Decode and Conquer + The Product Manager Interview.
Use this resource to get ready for your upcoming PM interviews.

bit.ly/PMPrepPlan
Make a copy of this spreadsheet by going to File -> Download as in the upper left to make your own version. Excel
recommended.
Read the article that goes with the guide so you know exactly how to use this spreadsheet.
Adjust deadlines, minutes to study and minutes studied (purple items), based on your own situation.
Find interview practice partners.

Authored by Lewis C. Lin

Other Relevant Guides to Check Out

30-Day Google PM Interview Study Guide
30-Day Facebook PM Interview Study Guide
36-Day Amazon PM Interview Study Guide
Task Item
Topic
Product Design Questions
Practice brainstorming
Define a list of 10 problems. Brainstorm 10 solutions to each problem without any time constraints.
Define a list of 10 problems. Brainstorm 10 solutions to each problem. This time, apply a 60-90 second time constrain
Practice customer empathy
Define a list of customer problems. Practice *ranting* on why that problem is terrible.
Lead the end-to-end product design discussion using CIRCLES Method™
Practice 10 questions leading the end to end discussion
Build UX vocabulary by reviewing common design patterns for web and mobile
Practice wireframing
Metrics Questions
Pick 3-5 products
Brainstorm top metrics for each one of those products
Explain which metric is the most important, starting with a balanced pros and cons table
Discuss one potential feature for each product and explain why you should ship / no-ship
Estimation Questions
Read chapter 3: Assumptions
Complete the following exercise problems
BMW Dealerships
Airports
Read chapter 4: Estimation
Complete the following exercise problems
Chinese Diaper Market
Women's Rain Boot Market
TV Ads
Subway's Sales
Netflix Subscription Sales
Lifetime Value Questions
Read chapter 8: Lifetime Value
Complete the following exercise problems
Starbucks' Lifetime Value
AT&T New iPhone Promotion
New York Times Website
Behavioral Questions
Read Winning the Behavioral Interview
Write down responses for Common Behavioral Interview Questions
Minimum stories: 5
Include your written responses to "Tell me about yourself" and "Why do you want to work for this company?"
Verbally rehearse written responses
Technical
 Read How to Approach a Technical Question
Review Big O notation
Review data structures: arrays
Review data structures: linked lists
Review data structures: stack & queues
Review data structures: trees
Review data structures: heap
Review data structures: trie
Review data structures: graphs
Review data structures: hash tables
Review how webapps work
Review how TCP/IP works
Review recursion
Review concurrency
Review machine learning fundamentals
Review system design
Complete the following exercise problems
How would you design a blogging application?
You're part of the Google Search web spam team. How would you detect duplicate websites?
Design an elevator control system.
Write an algorithm that detects meeting conflicts.
Brainstorm as many algorithms as possible for recommending Twitter followers.
What happens when you type a URL into a browser and hit ENTER?
New Market Entry
Memorize the new market entry checklist
Review a new market entry example: "Start a new category...for Amazon"
Complete the following exercise problems
Amazon: New oven vs. oven mitt
Amazon: Selling groceries from neighborhood supermarkets
Go to Market Strategy
Review the Big Picture Framework
Review application of the Big Picture Framework
How would you market Google AdWords?
What promotional strategies would you use for a Honey Nut Cheerios campaign?
As Brand Manager for Kingsford Charcoal, how do you increase sales in a shrinking market?
Company Specific Preparation
Identify the top 3-5 competitors. Know their value prop. vs. target employer, along with pros and cons.
Identify market trends, affecting your target company. Think SWOT analysis.

Books and On-Demand Classes Mentioned

Decode and Conquer
Interivew Math
The Product Manager Interview
How to Ace the Software Engineering Interview
Technical Concepts for Non-Technical Product Management & Marketing Candidates
Thinkertoys
​Secrets of the Product Manager Interview
Web UI Design Patterns
Mobile UI Design Patterns
Guide to Wireframing
Web Design Trends
8 Steps to a Great Storyboard by Jake Knapp
Case Interview Questions for Tech Companies
The Marketing Interview

Find PM Mock Interview Practice Partners

Request an invite to this PM Interview Group on Slack

Google, Facebook, and Amazon Specific Interview Study Guides (30 and 36 Day Guides)

Comments and feedback

Email [email protected]
 Resource Deadline Minutes to study

Thinkertoys / SCAMPER brainstorming framework 5-Dec 40

Thinkertoys / SCAMPER brainstorming framework 4-Dec 20
Thinkertoys / SCAMPER brainstorming framework 5-Dec 20
6-Dec 20
6-Dec 20
Decode and Conquer 7-Dec 180
7-Dec 180
Web UI Design Patterns & Mobile UI Design Patterns 8-Dec 30
Guide to Wireframing 8-Dec 45

10-Dec 180
Decode and Conquer, AARM Method™ 9-Dec 60
Decode and Conquer, Metrics Section 10-Dec 60
Decode and Conquer, Metrics Section 10-Dec 60

Interview Math, Starting from Page 17 11-Dec 20

11-Dec 20
Interview Math, Page 22 11-Dec 10
Interview Math, Page 24 11-Dec 10
Interview Math, Starting from Page 26 11-Dec 10
12-Dec 50
Interview Math, Page 32 12-Dec 10
Interview Math, Page 34 12-Dec 10
Interview Math, Page 51 12-Dec 10
Interview Math, Page 56 12-Dec 10
Interview Math, Page 64 12-Dec 10

Interview Math, Starting from Page 143 13-Dec 90

13-Dec 210
Interview Math, Page 145 13-Dec 15
Interview Math, Page 147 13-Dec 90
Interview Math, Page 157 13-Dec 90

Decode & Conquer, Page 193-202 13-Dec 15

Decode & Conquer, Page 193; Stories Sheet: https://www.lewis-lin 15-Dec 180
15-Dec 120
15-Dec 60
16-Dec 90
Decode & Conquer, Page 88 17-Dec 10
Wikipedia / http://bigocheatsheet.com / How to Ace the Software Engi 17-Dec 20
Wikipedia / How to Ace the Software Engineering Interview 17-Dec 20
Wikipedia / How to Ace the Software Engineering Interview 17-Dec 20
Wikipedia / How to Ace the Software Engineering Interview 17-Dec 20
Wikipedia / How to Ace the Software Engineering Interview 18-Dec 20
Wikipedia / How to Ace the Software Engineering Interview 18-Dec 20
Wikipedia / How to Ace the Software Engineering Interview 18-Dec 20
Wikipedia / How to Ace the Software Engineering Interview 18-Dec 20
Wikipedia / How to Ace the Software Engineering Interview 18-Dec 20
http://bit.ly/HowWebAppWorks 18-Dec 5
http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2011/11/tcp-ip-fundamentals/ 18-Dec 5
Wikipedia / Decode & Conquer, Page 91 18-Dec 5
Wikipedia 18-Dec 5
https://developers.google.com/machine-learning/crash-course/ml-intro 18-Dec 180
https://github.com/donnemartin/system-design-primer 18-Dec 240
19-Dec 105
Decode & Conquer, Page 96 19-Dec 20
Decode & Conquer, Page 98 19-Dec 20
Decode & Conquer, Page 100 20-Dec 20
Decode & Conquer, Page 99 20-Dec 20
Decode & Conquer, Page 89 20-Dec 20
http://igoro.com/archive/what-really-happens-when-you-navigate-to-a-url/
20-Dec 5

Decode & Conquer, Page 138 21-Dec 10

Decode & Conquer, Page 139 21-Dec 5
21-Dec 50
Decode & Conquer, Page 141 21-Dec 25
Decode & Conquer, Page 148 21-Dec 25

The Marketing Interview, Chapter 3 21-Dec 30

21-Dec 60
The Marketing Interview, Page 64 21-Dec 20
The Marketing Interview, Page 51 21-Dec 20
The Marketing Interview, Page 95 21-Dec 20

22-Dec 90
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis 22-Dec 90

Link Type
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http://j.mp/SWEngClass Class video
http://bit.ly/Tech-Concepts-For-Non-Tech-PMs Class video
http://amzn.to/1708jlH Book
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http://bit.ly/2dDEgco PDF
http://bit.ly/1F4NsPU PDF
http://bit.ly/2blmx87 PDF
http://bit.ly/WebDesignTrends2015-2016 PDF
http://bit.ly/2darYWf PDF
http://amzn.to/2dFecv7 Book
https://amzn.to/2IyuFTe Book

https://www.lewis-lin.com/blog/2016/8/22/pm-interview-practice-partner-community

https://www.lewis-lin.com/resources/
Minutes studied % Complete

15 38%
10 50%
5 25%
20 100%
20 100%
60 33%
60 33%
10 33%
15 33%

45 25%
15 25%
15 25%
15 25%

20 100%
20 100%
10 100%
10 100%
10 100%
50 100%
10 100%
10 100%
10 100%
10 100%
10 100%

45 50%
100
5 33%
45 50%
45 50%

5 33%
180 100%
120 100%
60 100%
45 50%
10 100%
0 0%
0 0%
0 0%
0 0%
0 0%
0 0%
0 0%
0 0%
0 0%
5 100%
5 100%
5 100%
5 100%
5 3%
5 2%
0 0%
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10 100%
5 100%
50 100%
25 100%
25 100%

30 100%
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0 0%
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