How is Product Management Work Different in a FAANG Vs. a Startup?

Depending on whether you work in a big tech company or a startup, your day-to-day life as a product manager can look different. A given environment can present a given set of challenges and rewards, and the decision about whether to opt for one over the other may depend wholly upon working style and goals, among other things being pursued.

Scope of Responsibilities

• FAANG: In large tech companies, product managers tend to work on parts of a product or perhaps focus on just a single feature. So if you worked at Google, for example, you could only do work improving a small element of the search algorithm for a particular market. This means that you really do get deep expertise in a niche area but perhaps aren’t as exposed to the full product development lifecycle. You will work with a great number of the teams specialized in different aspects of the service, and therefore you concentrate only on mastering one thing instead of trying to master all parts of the project.
• Startups: In a startup, the role of a product manager is much more diversified. You would often be responsible for the entire product-from conceptualization to actually dealing with customer feedback post-launch. One day you’re working on a feature, while the next day you might be working on marketing strategy, customer service issues, or even tasks related to funding. It can be exhilarating yet stressful because it calls for flexibility and a readiness to take up numerous and different roles all at once.

Resources and Support

• FAANG: You can reach out for so many resources in a large tech company. You might have to do user research; there’s a team for that. You could want to analyze data, and you’ve got data scientists on tap. The support structure leaves one with less worry about aspects outside the core: doing work that’s not in your domain. For example, at Amazon, you might work with a distinct team of analysts and researchers who will constantly fine-tune product suggestions but aren’t likely to go out and gather that data themselves.
• Startups: Startups usually do everything on a shoestring budget, meaning your resources as a PM will likely be pretty minimal. Not to mention, there may not even be an independent data analysis team so you have to pull the reports and run analyses yourself. If no marketing team exists, maybe you develop strategies and campaigns yourself. While this can be a bit challenging, it also triggers creativity and resourcefulness, such that people just find low-cost solutions to solve a particular problem.

Decision-Making Process

• FAANG: Decision-making in a FAANG company is pretty layered. Several departments need to be consulted when a decision needs to be made. A minor change in one of the Apple products requires everyone’s consent from design, legal, and engineering teams before that product will change. While the stern vetting process ensures high-quality outputs, it takes forever. The advantage is that decisions are clear and thought through, but the disadvantage is that these can take months to get implemented. If you prefer working with lots of structure and well-established protocols, then this is a good environment for you.
• Startups: Speed is what a startup is all about. No bureaucratic burden weighs down the ability to take decisions, sometimes at the speed of the same day. A PM may post a proposal for a new feature in the morning and have it live by the end of the week. This nimbility allows one to make rapid iteration and fast responses to the needs of the markets, but on the downside it might cause burnout because of constant pressure to keep up with the fast pace of a startup. If you don’t mind taking the ownership to push things ahead without multiple approvals getting in the way, then startups are the best for you.

Impact and Visibility

• FAANG: At a FAANG firm, your work might actually be impacting millions, if not billions of users, but this also means your work may not actually be immediately impactful even when it feels like it should be; months, or even years, may pass before seeing the impact. For example, a feature you develop at Facebook might go through several rounds of testing before being rolled out across the world. In addition, your work outside the team or department may be unseen and difficult to make an impact in such a large organization.
• Startups: In general, your work creates an effect immediately in a startup. You can see firsthand the direct outcome of the work in a few days or weeks, and with the smaller team, everyone would know who was in charge if it came to being able to claim credit for the success (or failure) of a product. Therefore, one might say that startups are a great environment if you are that kind of one looking for recognition and enjoy being able to see, within a relatively short space of time, the fruits of your labor. But this also means that the stakes are high, and the pressure to perform might be intense.

Work Environment

• FAANG: A work environment at a FAANG firm tends to be more formal, typically with established procedures, job descriptions, and tasks. Still, it is quite widely featured that a balance between work life and personal life is of utmost importance. Such companies usually favor benefits at the workplace that employees will love- consider wellness programs, generous parental leaves, and many more. Take Google, for instance; it is characterized for employee-friendly policies alongside comprehensive benefits, which gives an excellent root for the growth of long-term careers.
• Startups: A startup is also more fast-moving and less predictable in terms of the work environment. This means that you may have way more freedom to innovate and make decisions, at the same time taking longer working hours and much more stress. You won’t have that work-life balance in a startup, and you will wear more hats. On the other hand, because it is more fluid in structure, you may take on more responsibilities, and whatever you have done will contribute to the success of the company.