Milena Krasteva

Sr Director II, Product Management - Marketing Technology, Walmart

Content

When joining a new team as a product manager, is it better to have the right soft skills and have to learn the hard skills of the job? Or vice versa?

Milena Krasteva

Walmart Sr Director II, Product Management - Marketing Technology • June 10

This reminds me of an interview question I got a very long time ago: "Is it better to have a bad team or a bad manager". In both cases, you'd rather not find yourself in either extreme. In both cases, there is no right or wrong answer and a lot depends on additional circumstances and assumptions.......Read More

2512 Views

What are mistakes product managers make when trying to get buy in for their roadmap that end up damaging stakeholder relationships?

Milena Krasteva

Walmart Sr Director II, Product Management - Marketing Technology • June 10

It seems all too easy to NOT get roadmap buy-in. Sometimes, it can feel like the default answer is always "No" at first, and despite all the work you have done, you are getting sent back to the drawing board. Some things that help, not in any particular order: * Go as wide as possible early ......Read More

709 Views

What made you decide to choose Product Management over Product Marketing?

Milena Krasteva

Walmart Sr Director II, Product Management - Marketing Technology • June 10

The two disciplines are very different, despite some intersections on go-to-market, outbound communications, and occasional blurred lines between the roles in some companies regarding strategy and customer requirements. Early on in my career I had the opportunity to simultaneously work in both fu......Read More

572 Views

What is the qualities of a Product Manager that impresses their Engineering counterparts and thereby allows the PM to build influence with the Eng team?

Milena Krasteva

Walmart Sr Director II, Product Management - Marketing Technology • October 8

A CEO once told me that he would only hire a person if he thought that he would enjoy the time spent with that person despite being stuck at an airport with them waiting to board an indefinitely delayed flight. Despite the exaggeration, I've always imagined the equivalent scenario as whether engi......Read More

526 Views

I’ve heard that the jump from Sr. PM to the “next level” (e.g Principal or Group PM) often comes with a steep learning curve. Is that true, and how would one prepare to solidify the right foundation to ease the transition preemptively?

Milena Krasteva

Walmart Sr Director II, Product Management - Marketing Technology • October 7

In my experience, the learning curve happens in the current role, as a prerequisite to transitioning into the next. You have to be operating at the next level already and there really isn't an easing of the transition beyond that. For example, managing wider scope, solving harder problems, naviga......Read More

512 Views

What is the most underrated soft skill of a high performing PM?

Milena Krasteva

Walmart Sr Director II, Product Management - Marketing Technology • June 10

I'd love to answer this in a slightly different way: The single most important skill, that cannot be rated highly enough is Communication. Many other soft skills are fundamentally still rooted in or are dependent on communication. Nuanced aspects of communication also matter: * adapting com......Read More

510 Views

What has been the most surprising thing about being a Director that you only realized after you were promoted?

Milena Krasteva

Walmart Sr Director II, Product Management - Marketing Technology • October 7

Many promotions happen because the person was already performing and showing up as being at the next level. Depending on the company, the Director role marks a clearer line between individual contributor roles and management roles. However, unless the promotion is accompanied by a significant cha......Read More

498 Views

What soft skills are must-haves for product managers in your experience?

Milena Krasteva

Walmart Sr Director II, Product Management - Marketing Technology • March 31

1. Communication! Verbal, Written, and often forgotten but equally important: Non-verbal. Yes, even on Zoom. 2. Ability to read context and act accordingly 3. Strategic thinking. Know the difference between strategy and tactics. 4. Systems thinking vs Design thinking, be proficient in both, kn......Read More

498 Views

What are the biggest frustrations you have as a product manager?

Milena Krasteva

Walmart Sr Director II, Product Management - Marketing Technology • October 7

One area of frustration is when everybody wants to play the role of product manager informally but very few have any formal training or experience in product management. This manifests as all kinds of well-meaning (and sometime not so benign) solutioning, which actually attempts to bypass the pro......Read More

492 Views

How can someone from a different field like engineering transition to product management?

Milena Krasteva

Walmart Sr Director II, Product Management - Marketing Technology • June 10

Fairly easily potentially, compared to transitioning from other less-related fields. Product Management is as much art as it is discipline or science. Leveraging technical expertise related to the same or adjacent PM area helps. Some job descriptions will even require engineering experience or ar......Read More

471 Views

Credentials & Highlights

Sr Director II, Product Management - Marketing Technology at Walmart