Hi, I’m Hannah Yang. I am currently a product consultant at Patio and also building my business TheShareWay. Previously, I was a product manager at Oscar Health.
I decided to write this book because not too long ago I was just like you -- devastated about the ending of my startup and lost about what my next role should be.
Closing the company you founded hurts. You put every ounce of yourself into it. You forewent lucrative jobs, friends’ weddings, vacation trips, and comfortable living spaces. The list goes on. Now, the startup you invested everything in and gave up so much for is gone.
After my co-founder and I discussed shifting our company to a side business, I cried for two weeks. I realized the dreams of what my startup could have been would never happen. It was also unsettling to shift from running at two hundred miles per hour to the side business pace of five miles per hour.
As I grappled with this change, I realized I didn’t have time to sit about. We made this decision because we were coming up at the end of our runway. I needed to start looking for a job right away to pay for my living expenses.
Of all the things I worked on at my startup, from sales to marketing to operations, my favorites were talking to users, figuring out solutions to their problems, and working with a team to build the solution. With that proclivity in mind, I decided to apply for product management roles.
I started looking for resources on how ex-founders transitioned into careers in product, but I couldn’t find anything on the topic. Most articles focused on how to switch from careers in engineering and consulting to product management.
Through trial and error, multiple interviews, and several hard days and nights, I learned how to position myself on my resume, how to narrow down which companies were good fits, how to stand out as an entrepreneur, and how to answer interview questions. To help fellow entrepreneurs making the switch, I shared my learnings in the article “How I Transitioned from Startup Founder to Product Manager” on Medium.
After receiving an overwhelming amount of positive feedback and follow-up questions, I decided to write a more detailed version of my experience to help founders looking to make the switch.
I decided to write this book because not too long ago I was just like you -- devastated about the ending of my startup and lost about what my next role should be.
Closing the company you founded hurts. You put every ounce of yourself into it. You forewent lucrative jobs, friends’ weddings, vacation trips, and comfortable living spaces. The list goes on. Now, the startup you invested everything in and gave up so much for is gone.
After my co-founder and I discussed shifting our company to a side business, I cried for two weeks. I realized the dreams of what my startup could have been would never happen. It was also unsettling to shift from running at two hundred miles per hour to the side business pace of five miles per hour.
As I grappled with this change, I realized I didn’t have time to sit about. We made this decision because we were coming up at the end of our runway. I needed to start looking for a job right away to pay for my living expenses.
Of all the things I worked on at my startup, from sales to marketing to operations, my favorites were talking to users, figuring out solutions to their problems, and working with a team to build the solution. With that proclivity in mind, I decided to apply for product management roles.
I started looking for resources on how ex-founders transitioned into careers in product, but I couldn’t find anything on the topic. Most articles focused on how to switch from careers in engineering and consulting to product management.
Through trial and error, multiple interviews, and several hard days and nights, I learned how to position myself on my resume, how to narrow down which companies were good fits, how to stand out as an entrepreneur, and how to answer interview questions. To help fellow entrepreneurs making the switch, I shared my learnings in the article “How I Transitioned from Startup Founder to Product Manager” on Medium.
After receiving an overwhelming amount of positive feedback and follow-up questions, I decided to write a more detailed version of my experience to help founders looking to make the switch.