Some of the best founders I know didn’t begin with the “perfect” idea. They started in product.
Why?
Because building a company isn’t just about having a great idea. It’s about deeply understanding customer problems, prioritizing the right ones, and executing fast.
I recently spoke with Tamara Berg, a second-time founder who sold her first company to Meta, about this exact topic. Tamara shared how her journey evolved between founding her first and second companies—and how product experience made all the difference.
“One thing I wish I had known before starting my company is just how much goes into building great products,” Tamara told me.
“I launched my first company straight out of academia with little hands-on product experience, and I made a lot of rookie mistakes. But after spending time at Meta, I gained a much deeper understanding of product development. Looking back, I wish I had built that knowledge earlier.”
Her experience isn’t unique. Product management is one of the best training grounds for founders.
Why? Because product forces you to answer the hardest questions:
What should we build?
Why does it matter?
How do we bring it to life?
It pushes you to think from first principles—constantly asking, what do users really need? How do I solve that? How do I make it better?
It also teaches you to make tough trade-offs, iterate quickly, and work across teams—engineering, design, marketing—to turn ideas into reality.
Sound familiar? Those are the same skills that make great founders.
So if you’re thinking about starting a company one day, getting product experience first might be one of the smartest moves you can make.
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