Founder at PMDojo & Spark to Substance and current Product and Growth Executive, Bosky Mukherjee, shares her experience in the product space.

With 20 years of experience in the product space, she has a plethora of knowledge to share and pass on to others. 

Mukherjee’s Mission 

She said that her life’s mission is “to grow and develop the next generation of product managers and product leaders.” 

This mission is reflected through her site, PMDojo, which is focused on “making tech inclusive and accessible for all.” 

Mukherjee says that “Diversity and Inclusion in tech is a big problem” and the statistics back her up on this. 

Many big tech companies have published annual diversity reports, but few companies have made efforts in diversifying their companies. In 2014, according to CNBC, “Facebook, for example, has gone from a workforce that’s 3% Black to 3.8% in the past six years.”

Big tech companies have struggled with diversity and accessibility, and Mukherjee is making it her mission to change this. 

What Is PMDojo?

PMDojo aims “to continue removing barriers and make transitioning into tech careers more inclusive and accessible.” 

Rather than turning to books and other traditional methods of learning, Mukherjee’s goal is to help people use and develop their soft skills to encourage collaborations throughout an organization. 

She believes that those seeking a job in the tech industry, don’t need to know how to code. What’s more important is that a job seeker can show a hiring manager that they can make an impact with their “non-traditional” background. 

Mukherjee has plenty of free content on her site, making it evident that she believes in accessibility for all.

PMDojo started with a simple landing page. From there she built an entire platform with free curated content, and at present, PMDojo is an Accelerator community for product and tech enthusiasts to gain practical experience and transition into tech careers with the support of world-class mentors. 

Mukherjee’s Built Out an Accelerator

“I believe the most interesting thing that has happened at PMDojo and this whole initiative has been the launching of the accelerator,” said Mukherjee. 

She said the accelerator is a 10-week apprenticeship-style program of experiential learning, where people get to work in a team with cross-functional stakeholders to solve a real problem and launch a real product with real users product at the end of the 10 weeks. 

Applications for the next cohort are closing soon. Learn more about this unique and amazing program here.

“What has been amazing is we  have signed a partnership with Bubble and Softr no code platforms,” Mukherjee said. “Out of all my 20 years [in the product space] this is something that I am just so excited about [for] the future because the way products are going to get built, the way validation is going to happen, the way handoffs between teams  are going to happen— even the way developers are going to be working… anyone can today start to build a tech product, this possibility is so empowering.”

Softr is a company that helps people to “build powerful websites, web apps, and client portals” using no code. Additionally, users don’t need to have any design experience. 

PMDojo also has a number of other leasing companies collaborating and partnering with PMDojo to help make a career in tech inclusive and accessible such as Roadmunk, Prodpad and Balsamiq.

Accelerator Process  

In order to build her accelerator, Mukjerhee had to utilize different tools. She first created a landing page for people to sign up. 

“Within just a few hours I had close to 400 or so people sign up,” Mukherjee said. 

At first, she collected their email addresses to contact people but later realized she needed more information. She ended up segmenting her visitors on the landing page based on their interest. 

From this, she was able to build a community in just two weeks. 

She was able to collaborate with her community members to build free curated resources. Her community tripled after releasing this free curated content and resources.  

Challenges in the Product Space 

When asked about the biggest challenge she overcame within the product space, Mukerjee responded that it’s a personal one— her emotional investment.

“I tend to get emotionally invested and involved,” Mukherjee said. “That’s how it has been.”

This challenge is not particularly solvable. But, it shows her passion and her care. 

“As a product manager, you have to take ownership,” Mukherrjee said. “When you get so much intimately  involved, and you also love taking that ownership…there is a risk that you basically don’t have any boundaries.” 

This personal stress has had a significant impact on her life. 

“In 2019, I was diagnosed with PTSD, extreme burn out, to the point where I was literally asked by my doctor if I wanted to live or not,” Mukherjee said. 

This personal stress was a huge challenge to overcome. She decided to prioritize her health and stepped down from an executive leadership role at her last corporate role. 

“Making a decision to step down wasn’t easy, I didn’t want to do it at first because I knew that I can do the role,” Mukerjee said.  “For me that was the hardest challenge to overcome.” 

She wants people to understand the importance of finding tools to manage stress when you begin a job in the product space. 

Advice

“Never give yourself a pat to the back if you call yourself a workaholic: it’s not a badge of honor,” Mukherjee said. 

Mukherjee believes that mental, physical and emotional well-being should always come first.