Explore Kalena Advisors’ blog for expert insights on interviewing, career management, and enterprise technical product management best practices. Discover actionable tips, proven strategies, and industry trends to elevate your professional game.
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Why 90% of Product Managers Are Building Copycat Features That Kill Their Companies (The Market Research Lies That Destroy Careers)
Most product managers are professional thieves who copy competitors and build “me too” products. Here’s the intelligence system that creates market leaders.
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Why 95% of Product Manager Hopefuls Fail (And the 4 Skills MBA Programs Won’t Teach You)
Product management is the biggest lie in tech recruiting. Job descriptions promise strategic leadership and innovation. Reality delivers endless meetings about font colors and button placement. Universities sell $200,000 MBA programs that teach frameworks nobody uses. Career coaches peddle generic advice that worked in 2015. Meanwhile, candidates with perfect resumes get rejected after 47 applications.…
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The Amazon PM Promotion Myth: Why 73% Stall at L6 ($194K-$1.6M Salaries + Advancement Guide)
Over 73% of Amazon Product Managers plateau at L6. Discover why advancement stalls and get the complete salary guide plus proven strategies to break through to L7+.
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Detailed Breakdown of the Product Management Career Ladder at Microsoft
Navigate Microsoft’s PM career maze from APM to Partner level. Updated 2025 salary data, advancement strategies, and insider promotion secrets revealed.
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Why Parenthood Actually Creates Better Product Leaders (And Why Most Companies Don’t Realize It)
The uncomfortable truth: Your organization is probably overlooking its most capable leadership talent. You know that colleague who just returned from parental leave? The one some whisper about being “less committed” now? They might just be the secret weapon for landing that $2.3M+ total compensation Senior Director role everyone’s competing for. After coaching 800+ professionals…
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Why Your Executive Presence is Sabotaging Your $300K Career (The 10 Unconscious Habits Keeping You Stuck)
You walk into the conference room with a flawless technical solution. Your code is elegant. Your roadmap is bulletproof. Your market analysis could make McKinsey weep with envy. And then you open your mouth. “Um, this might be totally wrong, but I was thinking… sorry to interrupt, but maybe we could…” Congratulations. You just torched…
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Why 87% of Tech Professionals Pick the Wrong Career Path (+ The $200K Framework That Fixes It)
You just got passed over for promotion again. Your manager praised your “great work” but promoted someone who “shows more strategic thinking”—while you actually shipped three major features this quarter. This is the classic PM vs TPM career trap that’s costing professionals $200K+ in lifetime earnings. After coaching 700+ product professionals, I’ve watched brilliant people…
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Why Startup Product Management Will Either Make You or Break You (And Why Community Might Be Your Only Lifeline)
Startup PM isn’t just FAANG work without resources—it’s professional masochism where community might be your only lifeline. Brutal truths about why most fail and how to survive the transition from big tech.
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Why 90% Fail Amazon Leadership Principles Interviews (+ Problems with STAR)
Most Amazon interview candidates crash using STAR method. Learn the “Landing the Plane” framework that actually works – with real examples and insider tips from someone who’s been on both sides of Amazon interviews.
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How Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles Built the Everything Store: Product Management Lessons for Career Growth
Most product managers treat Amazon’s Leadership Principles like corporate wallpaper. But those 16 principles weren’t born in a boardroom—they were forged building the impossible. From garage startup to everything store, each principle crystallized into a playbook for product success. Strip away the corporate speak, and you’ll find the raw DNA of product thinking that can…