Leaving the Law: Transitioning to Technology (Product Management)
By: Raheem Roqeeb
Tags: Startup, Transitioning, Product Management, Startup Life, Law

“If you really feel stuck… don’t wait too long to make the move.”

Today, a lot of people desire a career where there is an opportunity to build meaningful relationships with team members who have a shared sense of mission which involves doing good, impactful work, as well as one that provides a higher chance of economic benefit. If you fall into this category, perhaps you shouldn’t look too far from Tech.

There’s no limit to what you can do in Tech. Whether it is:

Learning software development; or

Being a Product manager, a Project manager, a business analyst, a marketing or sales executive, a UI/UX designer, amongst other things.

As a Lawyer however, if you want to switch careers at some point, your best bet is to choose a path that is adaptable by definition. Therefore, you might want to tilt towards Sales, Marketing or Product management. The reason for this is simple — Product Management is one of the most versatile disciplines out there because the core skills required for the role such as technical expertise, stakeholder management, and commercial awareness are fully transferable.

Getting a job in Tech is kind of a unique process. It is one of the few industries where the need to show your capabilities surpasses the need to show off your degrees. Generally, you mostly have to prove that you can do the job and demonstrate the potential in order to get in.

Four years ago, I left Law to pursue a career in Tech. In 2017, I joined one of the biggest telecommunications vendor companies in the world and kicked off my career as a Product Manager. Frankly, it wasn’t the easiest ride when I started, but expectedly, the pool will always be icy cold when you first dip your toes in. But after going through the initial hurdles, it really has been a phenomenal experience. So far, I’ve contributed to the success of multiple projects across Africa, Asia and Canada and managed end-to-end functional products that are in use in several Nigerian banks and Telcos today. This covers Mobile Apps to Robotics Process Automation to Payments, a Robo-advisory investment platform, APIs, and UX functionalities on ATMs. I currently work for a startup that is building the future. In all these, I’ve done a stretch of Core Product Management, business development, sales and almost naturally, some legal work. Perhaps the perfect description of the Product Manager and the epithet “wears many hats” has been most apt and retable for me. Within four years, I’ve worked in a multinational, a Canadian startup and 2 Nigerian startups — two of which have succeeded in raising series A funding rounds of $5.5m and Pre-seed funding of about $1m respectively. Of course, I’ve made more money too but more importantly, I’ve made great friends along the way.

Transitioning from Law to Tech is still quite uncommon especially in Nigeria. Globally, we’ve seen notable examples like Neil Shah, Product Manager at Twitter, who left his law career to pursue a career in Product Management. Blake Reese also worked as a lawyer at Google before transitioning into Product Management. As you can see from these examples, Product Management is a discipline open to everybody.

So why consider a career in Tech?

- It offers you an opportunity to have a massive impact on the world. Sounds familiar, right? You know how most people claim to want to impact the world and help people by being Lawyers. Well, you can also impact the world through tech. While a lawyer may be able to help one client or business at a time, software allows you to scale your reach. Tech, if directed at the right communities, may also have a similar result. Your software can expand to help people beyond any single attorney-client relationship.

- Another reason to consider a career in Tech is because it’s where employment opportunities are bound to increase in coming years. Every year, venture capitalists invest billions of dollars into tech startups. This means more companies will be hiring in the space. This also means that many of these startups are armed with financial resources to be able to pay handsomely. While many of those roles will go to software engineers, there are dozens of jobs you can also do.

- Along with the impact, job availability, and room for creativity and innovation in Tech, a number of additional reasons make the industry a compelling choice.

The Transition

Based on my experience, and the many experiences I’m aware of, including lessons from Lenny Rachitsky (Product Manager at Airbnb), here are the ways most people get their first shot at product management:

1. Internal transition at a company — Generally, this is the easiest and quickest route. If for example, you’re already an in-house counsel in a Tech firm but you want to switch into Product Management, three things are required. They are: aligning — an internal transfer process of some kind; having a chance to demonstrate the skills previously listed; and most importantly, an internal PM champion for your transition (typically your new manager). If two of three exist, find a way to make the third happen. Otherwise, pursue one of the other paths.

2. Finding a junior PM role at a large company — The key to this route is clearly demonstrating that you are smart, driven, and have raw strengths in a handful of the skills. Look into programs such as Product School and General Assembly, and join communities like PMHQ.

3. Joining a startup with a burning need — The key to this route is having connections with startup founders, showing a lot of hustle, and delivering success when you are given the chance. Having a very strong growth mindset is key since you’ll have to learn how to do this job on the fly. In this path, you can either start as a founding PM, or transition into it after doing the job for a while.

4. Starting your own company- This is by far the most work-intensive path, and it is rarely planned, but hey, it works. CEOs often become PMs after an acquisition since the job is very similar. Alternatively, founders can take on the PM role at their own company as the company grows.

What more?

Look within an industry that is related to your current industry or hobby

It is easier to get in with little experience when you already have familiarity with an industry. This gives you a chance to provide value to the company beyond the raw tech skills you’re bringing to the table. You know the lingo, the market, and the things people care about there. All of this gives you an edge in the application process — from cover letters to interviews.

For instance, if you’re coming from finance, banking, or accounting, a FinTech company could be a natural fit. For Lawyers, RegTech or LegalTech would be easier — these are basically startups that make use of new technology to facilitate the delivery of legal services and regulatory requirements. For instance, Atrium, a machine learning startup which provides legal services to startups and digitizes documents. In Nigeria, we have a LegalTech company called NextCounsel as well.

As a lawyer, you might have some knowledge of insurance, so there’s InsurTech for you — where you’d find companies like ‘’Tractable’’ — which uses Artificial Intelligence to settle accident claims faster. In Nigeria, you’d find companies like ‘’PaddyCover’’, ‘’Cassava’’ — leveraging technology to power affordable pay-as-you-go insurance services. If you like the lending space, Fintech companies like Migo, Carbon and Renmoney leverage technology to provide instant loans to individuals and businesses. There’s Payments, PropTech, EdTech, HealthTech and many other areas that may interest you. There are so many crossover options to explore!

Advice for those considering a switch

You really need to understand what Product Management is and what type of skills it takes to be successful at it. The good thing about Product Management is that people who are successful Product Managers have a diverse skill set, a diverse background, and come from all walks of life. So, it’s really all down to whether you have the passion and ability to work with a strong cross-functional technical team to develop products that satisfy customer needs enough to make them want to buy it — it’s about leveraging what you know and developing what you don’t know; it’s all about trying to gain those skills that you may be lacking to try to bridge that gap. If you’re new to an organization, invest in relationships, and ask “why” a million times — this will help you execute better and faster.

Executing well is like captaining a tight, smooth-sailing ship. You need to make sure that everyone knows what they need to do and then does it, that the crew hums together in unison, [and] that you estimated the journey well enough to have packed ample supplies — Julie Zhuo

Here’s a recommendation for developing product sense: Build a small product yourself or with friends and get it out there. Find a problem and try to solve it for someone or for yourself or volunteer. Start a project that includes many challenging stages that mirror the product roadmap. Everything from conception, design, market, user and design research, marketing, launch, sales. There’s absolutely no better way to learn than to DIY and be a super user of that product. There should be no bigger power user of your product on the planet than you. It is only by using your own product obsessively (eating your own dog food, as we say) that you will develop and nurture accurate instincts for the ways in which the product can and should be better.

The main goal of the side project is to show you can:

● Take action;

● Put together a plan; and

● Finish what you started.

I’d also like to add that the role of a product manager cannot be likened to fluid movements like master yoga poses or t’ai chi. Product leaders know what fire looks, feels and smells like. They put out fires all the time. The last thing your peers, subordinates, or Managers want to see is someone who goes berserk every time a crisis occurs. Stay calm, even when your hair’s on fire.

Do you REALLY need a Technical Background?

I didn’t have a technical background when I started out. I don’t think it’s necessary to have any kind of specific background to be a product manager when getting started. It’s like Lauren Chan Lee says:

Know your value add. I’ve seen three main PM archetypes: Engineer turned PM, designer turned PM, and businessperson turned PM. As a member of the latter bucket, I recognize that I could never out-engineer an engineer or out-design a designer. Instead, I leverage my knowledge of our business and customers to better prioritize what features make it onto the roadmap and help my team understand why we’re building those features.

PMs know just enough of each discipline to be responsible for the entire product development system. A product manager’s multidisciplinary awareness enables them to communicate in whatever language is necessary to effectively deliver information across the team. People with Engineering, Marketing, and Design backgrounds are halfway there because they have at least one of the essential set of skills for PMs. However, their transition is no guarantee either. While you can always learn tools and design skills, an innate business sense is more difficult to train.

The Challenges of transitioning from Law to Tech

The biggest challenge I faced at the start of my journey was getting to grips with the taxonomy, terminologies, theories and techniques that go hand in hand with product management. You’ve probably heard of legalese, well there’s also an equivalent language when it comes to product management and software development.

Once I got a good understanding of the technical elements of software development, I found my background in law to be very beneficial. In law, you are often explaining complex concepts to people with little background knowledge, all whilst managing multiple stakeholders. The same applies to product development. The two disciplines rely heavily on excellent communication skills. As a lawyer, you get to solve people’s problems to make their lives better. As a Product Manager, I get to solve problems to make people’s lives better by working with really smart engineers to actually build things.

Skills you already possess as a Lawyer

1. Communication Skills: This is almost a natural skillset as a lawyer. So as a Product Manager, you are going to spend most of your time communicating. Every Product Manager needs to be an incredibly fast learner so you can keep up with industry trends and team needs in order to be able to share a clear vision of the product with every single stakeholder. You don’t let loose ends stay loose and you prevent things from falling through cracks. You are the propellant that pushes through all opposition and ultimately gets the product shipped.

2. Continuous learning: You’re already aware of the famous quote that says ‘’A good lawyer is not who knows all the law; but knows where to find the law’’. Anybody who is regularly working and talking with tech people tends to hear about the same concerns. One of the most frequent complaints we pick up is the lack of practical learning resources. This is because Product Management, if anything, is a heavily hands-on discipline. Adding to this confusion, Product Management has no well-defined framework and is often treated as a transient discipline in many companies. Consider a few obvious symptoms:

● No two companies seem to manage products the same way.

● Product managers report to different functions in different companies.

● Most companies have neither a formal structure nor standardized internal Product Management professional development programs.

In my experience, I have always relied on the advice of colleagues and thought leaders. Because you learn by listening to others who have tried, failed and succeeded before you. The role of a PM changes wildly from company to company, and even within a company from team to team. As I have said before, it is perhaps the job where the epithet “wears many hats” is most apt. Just Be a student — Study, observe, and be open to continuous learning. Be a teacher — Help others to learn and grow so they can develop the habit and knack of continuous learning. Equally, you are more than comfortable with tight and conflicting deadlines. With digital products, launch dates do not mean anything: features are in constant iteration and review.

3. Attention to detail: Without doubt, is another attribute that has transferred well. There are very few industries that require a level of attention to detail that the legal sector requires. Applying that to product development has helped reduce costly errors and resulted in better end products.

● Develop a product mindset for everything you do — Life itself is a product and every day is an iteration.

● You will need to write a lot. Product managers do a lot of writing — from user requirements to user stories, road maps, and co

4. Leadership skills: As a Product Manager, you are the conductor in an orchestra. You’re also a motivational speaker. A visionary. At times, a therapist. At times, a mediator. And when there are a dozen loud voices in the room, you need to be the balancing voice of reason, and find the compromise. You need to understand what your engineers are telling you, and know which numbers are keeping your accounts department up at night. Great products aren’t built by individuals working in isolation. They are built by teams. Designers. Engineers. Marketers.

There’s not a lot that you are singularly responsible for as a Product Manager. Everything comes from someone else, you pull it in. You are responsible, but you didn’t build it yourself. Credit isn’t something that totally applies to PMs. In fact, as a Product Manager, one of the best things you can do for your team is to willingly take the blame for things that may not have been your fault. You are probably the only person who really can see where the ball got dropped, so owning the mistake will help you the most while promoting team-spirit. Scoop it up and be a leader.

Resources that may help you

Books:

The lean startup

Buyology: about why people buy things

Platform Leadership: How Intel, Microsoft, Cisco Drive Industry Innovation

UX for Lean Startups

Lean Analytics: Use Data to Build a Better Startup Faster

Inspired: How to Create Products Customers Love

Product Manager’s Desk Reference embodies everything “product management.” It is a comprehensive, versatile, must-have resource for anyone who works in any company, in any industry, who seeks to successfully and profitably market and manage products and services.

Blogs:

- Mind the Product, Product Club, and Product Manager HQ.

Medium Articles:

- There are great readings on Medium. I like Brandon Chu (Former PM, Shopify), John Vars, and Nick Babich. The last one is mostly about UX.

Podcasts: Global Product Management Talk, and Rocketship.

General Product Resources and Articles:

2. Ken Norton (Former Google PM and current GV partner)’s blog

Closing thoughts

Now that I am on the other side, I firmly believe that if you are determined to achieve and willing to learn, you definitely can have the skills needed to become a Product Manager.

The best way to get started is also to use influencers. Customers put more trust in recommendations by acquaintances than those by brands. So do recruiters. Send your PM resume through a current employee of the company you’re applying to. That way, you won’t be just an anonymous applicant. They will associate you with the person you used as a messenger — they might even put in a good word for you.

My hope is that this article has helped to demystify the process by sharing my personal journey and experience. Ultimately, my greatest piece of advice is that a bias for action will serve you well here — Start talking to people, start doing some research, start applying to roles, and I wish you the best of luck on your process. And don’t forget, “If you really feel stuck… don’t wait too long to make the move.”