From Zero to a Million: The Evolution of Product Management in India

India has over 1,000,000 PMs now.

But how did it get here?

Deepak Krishnan and I reconstructed the growth of the role for our deep dive.

Chapter 1: US Influence

When US tech pioneers like Microsoft and IBM stormed into India in the 90s, they didn’t just bring technology.

They introduced Product Management to India. So India actually started with empowered PM roles. Bangalore & Hyderabad became the PM hubs.

Chapter 2: India’s Own Product Story

From the ashes of the 90s, Indian startups like Zoho and MakeMyTrip were born with PM roles in their DNA.

MakeMyTrip hits revenue of $600M, Zoho at ~ $1Bn. This led to the next wave — FlipKart, PayTM, OLA, and more — fuelled by India’s growing GDP and mobile internet penetration.

Chapter 3: Talent Dynamics

With startups skyrocketing, the talent war began. Many companies tapped local talent for rapid growth.

It was a wide talent base, from investment bankers to failed entrepreneurs. Mental models varied, affecting product value delivery.

Chapter 4: Current State

Today, India is a PM powerhouse, but not without its hiccups. India employs 10% of the world’s PMs. It has 27,000 startups, 108 of them unicorns.

And there’s sector diversity: e-commerce, fintech, healthcare, and more. But it has had teething issues in product discovery, definition & delivery. And the recent job market has been very tough.

But the overall trajectory has been nothing but phenomenal, with more growth to come 🇮🇳