Congratulations, you got the PM job. Now comes the part nobody prepared you for: actually doing it.
The first 90 days can make or break your tenure at a company. I've seen people establish credibility that carries them for years. I've also seen people dig holes they never climb out of.
Here's what actually matters in your first three months—and what you can safely ignore.
The Mindset Shift
Before we get tactical, let me share the most important thing I've learned about starting a new PM role:
Your job in the first 30 days is not to add value. It's to learn.
This is counterintuitive. You want to prove yourself. You want to show you were worth hiring. But the fastest way to lose credibility is to push opinions before you understand context.
Every company has history. Decisions that look stupid from the outside often make sense when you understand what was tried before, what failed, and what constraints existed. If you come in swinging with "why don't we just..." before understanding the backstory, you'll seem naive.
Listen first. Prove yourself later.
Days 1-30: The Learning Phase
Week 1: Absorb Everything
- •Meet your manager, your team, and your key stakeholders
- •Get access to all the tools and systems you need
- •Read every PRD, strategy doc, and post-mortem you can find
- •Understand the product roadmap and recent launches
- •Don't commit to anything yet
Weeks 2-4: Go Deep
Understand the product:
- •Use your own product extensively (and competitors)
- •Watch user session recordings if available
- •Sit in on customer support calls
- •Review the analytics dashboards
Understand the team:
- •1:1s with everyone on your immediate team
- •1:1s with key engineers, designers, and cross-functional partners
- •Ask everyone: "What's working well? What's frustrating? What should I know?"
- •Figure out who the informal influencers are (not always the same as titles suggest)
Understand the business:
- •How does the company make money?
- •What are the top metrics everyone cares about?
- •What are the company's biggest challenges right now?
- •Where does your product fit in the broader strategy?
What to Ask in Every 1:1
These questions work for almost anyone:
- •"What's the most important thing I should know about this team/product/area?"
- •"What's something that frustrated you about how things work here?"
- •"What should I definitely not do?"
- •"Who else should I talk to?"
- •"What do you wish the last PM had done differently?"
Take notes. People notice when you remember what they told you.
Days 31-60: Start Contributing
By now you should have a decent mental model of the product, team, and business. Time to start adding value—but carefully.
Find Quick Wins
Look for small improvements that don't require major resources or political capital. Things like:
- •Fixing a process that everyone agrees is broken
- •Clarifying documentation that's confusing
- •Triaging a backlog that's gotten out of control
- •Running a meeting more effectively
Quick wins build credibility. They show you can get things done before you try to get big things done.
Ship Something Small
If possible, own a small feature or improvement from start to finish. Something with limited scope that lets you experience the full cycle: defining requirements, working with engineering, shipping, measuring results.
This isn't about the feature itself. It's about learning how things work at this company.
Start Forming Opinions
After 30-60 days, you should start having opinions about:
- •What's going well and should be protected
- •What's broken and needs fixing
- •Where the biggest opportunities are
- •What's being under-invested or over-invested
You don't need to share all these opinions publicly yet. But you should be forming them.
Days 61-90: Build Momentum
Have a Point of View
By now, you should be able to articulate:
- •What your product area should focus on and why
- •What you think the biggest opportunities are
- •What you'd change about current priorities
Start sharing these opinions with your manager. Get feedback. Refine your thinking.
Drive Something Meaningful
Take on a larger project or initiative. Something that will take a few weeks or a month. Something that demonstrates your ability to:
- •Define a problem clearly
- •Propose a solution
- •Get buy-in from stakeholders
- •Execute with your team
This is where you start to establish your reputation.
Build Your Relationships
By day 90, you should have:
- •A strong working relationship with your direct engineering counterparts
- •Trust built with your designer (if you have one)
- •Credibility with your key stakeholders
- •A reputation for being helpful and informed
Common Mistakes in the First 90 Days
Moving too fast: Pushing big changes before you understand context. Coming across as arrogant or naive.
Moving too slow: Being invisible. Not contributing. Making people wonder why they hired you.
Ignoring politics: Every company has politics. Pretending they don't exist doesn't make them go away.
Not building relationships: Being transactional instead of building genuine connections with teammates.
Over-relying on past playbooks: "At my last company we did it this way" is a phrase that annoys people quickly.
Not clarifying expectations: Assuming you know what success looks like instead of explicitly discussing it with your manager.
The 90-Day Check-In
Schedule a check-in with your manager around day 90. Come prepared:
- •Here's what I've learned about the product/team/business
- •Here's what I think is going well
- •Here's what I think could be improved
- •Here's what I want to focus on in the next quarter
- •Here's what I need from you to be successful
This conversation sets you up for the next phase of your tenure.
What Nobody Tells You
You'll feel like an imposter. Everyone does at new jobs. It doesn't mean you're in the wrong place.
Some things won't make sense. And they might never make sense. Companies are messy. Learn to work within imperfect systems.
Your first impression matters. But it's not everything. People's opinions of you will evolve based on consistent behavior over time.
It takes longer than 90 days. You'll feel more settled around 6 months. Full comfort takes a year. Don't panic if you're still learning after the first quarter.
The first 90 days are about laying groundwork. Listen more than you talk. Build relationships before pushing changes. Prove you can execute on small things before asking to own big things.
Do those things, and the rest of your tenure will be much easier.
Related reading: Working with Engineers and Managing Up as a PM.