This was V2 of new PM onboarding. I originally created V1 in 2019. In my role as Chief of Staff to the CPO my mission was to solve scaling problems of the org and make PM's lives easier. In 2019, the product org was about 50 PM's. We were (and still are) very big into autonomous teams and letting people figure out what works best for them without enforcing rules. Process was a four-letter word.

At the same time we had a lot of new managers on the team - both being promoted internally and hired in - and were growing the number of PM's pretty dramatically. A couple of the product leaders on the team had been using their own onboarding templates but were asking for more support. So I figured I would take them, clean them up and make them available in a more evergreen way.

A few years later, we did a V2 (which you see here). By that time we had almost 4Xed our org. Tons of new managers, new PM's, new levels. The feedback was that it was really hard to join as PM and decided we'd invest in a revamp before the problem got worse.

To create this version, we talked with a lot of PM's on the team to understand what was working and not working. Especially focusing on newer PMs who had joined in the past year and understanding where they experienced gaps or problems during onboarding, asking them what they wished onboarding had looked like.

Since HubSpot had a culture that was "anti" process, a key lesson I learned was to find things created by others that were already working well and help it get adopted more broadly. This way more effective than creating something new and forcing it upon the team.

If you are creating your own onboarding plan for a large product team, a few recommendations:

1. Get a group of experts on the problem. This would be both managers and new PM's who have been through onboarding recently that understand what is working well and what isn't. We also had a VP of Product as the "exec sponsor" and final decision maker on what should be on this document.

2. Leverage any existing information or things that are working and don't reinvent the wheel.

3. Get really clear around the outcomes you're trying to drive each week and month then work backwards to the information they need rather than just a brain dump of information.

One of the in V2 was to standardize giving mentors to new hires. Mentors are typically peers at your level or more senior who work in a similar part of the Product. They can help you figure out how we work, answer questions new hires might not want to ask their manager, and help build connections in a hybrid world.

Mentors also benefit since this helps them build up leadership skills and influence, two things we think about for promotions.

We've even expanded our mentorship program into our Engineering org, which has built up a buddy system for new hires.

The first 30 days is focused on the the information for the specific team you are working with and the day to day resources. This was the most important information.

Day 30 to 90 is focused on broader company items like the company strategy, the strategy of your product line, and more. Those things help give context to the day to day and can be learned more over time."

The first 30 days is focused on the the information for the specific team you are working with and the day to day resources. This was the most important information.

Day 30 to 90 is focused on broader company items like the company strategy, the strategy of your product line, and more. Those things help give context to the day to day and can be learned more over time.

As you'll notice in the onboarding doc, each week has a specific goal and set of resources to achieve that goal. Then at 30, 60, 90 days there is a knowledge checkpoint which is a list of concrete learning outcomes.

This is the biggest difference between our V1 and this version. In V1 it was more of a dump of resources l put together based on the various examples managers had created on their own. What we learned is that people were glad to have those resources but where missing why they needed it and what they were supposed to be doing with them.

The checkpoints helped a PM understand what they were actually supposed to know and be doing. They were used in 1:1's where the new hire could point out where they were stuck and ask for help. They also provided managers a way to know if their new hires were on track and where they might need coaching.

When I first started we had three IC PM roles - APM, PM, Senior PM. We felt crisp around the expectations of those roles, even if we didn't have them written down clearly. But then we wanted to hire a Principal Product Manager, were doing a lot of promoting internally to Group Product Manager and Director, and a new Senior Director level was created. 

Between the new roles and promotions, people started asking what is a Principal PM (or other role) and how do I become one? Are we promoting people fairly? Are we holding everyone accountable to the same expectations?

These questions haven't fully gone away away, but we have been able to improve and get better at it over time with clearer expectations and also a batch promotion process.

Once again, the product team was very anti process. We didn't have a standardized vision deck template, or a specific project management tool, etc. But we were getting questions around -- what do PM's do at HubSpot? How do I know I'm doing a good job? How do I get help when I need it?

So we created some "defaults" and then added resources to each one. For example, a great workshop, a great alignment doc, a great example at defining goals, an example of how someone does research, etc. That way we weren't mandating a specific process but there were resources and examples of "great" that the team could pull from.

Marcy Kenney

PM Leadership and I created this onboarding template for new Product Managers at HubSpot as the team was scaling 40%+ year-over-year.

This template is meant to be a guide for Product Managers to help them through their first 90 days at HubSpot.

In creating this document, we talked with ~100 PMs

 across different teams, groups, levels, geographies, and tenures to understand what outcomes PMs need to achieve during their onboarding and how to best convey that information. We used those learnings as the foundation for this template.How to use this template?

Treat this document as a guide that you will need to tailor for your new hire, product area, and team. Onboarding is not one size fits all, but all new PMs should be able to accomplish a common set of outcomes within 90 days.

Create a copy of the PM onboarding template for your new team member (

). You can always find the most up-to-date template on the Product Management wiki page under Resources for Managers.

 are meant to be filled out by the manager (ex: person’s name, team name, key people, etc)

If you believe something is missing from this template, or that something is old / out-of-date / wrong.  Please add a comment into the original document.

Periodically, we’ll review the comments and incorporate them back into the template.

Welcome to HubSpot! We’re so excited to have you on the team.

This document is a plan for your first few months at HubSpot and a resource throughout your time here.  There will be a lot of information coming your way and it may seem overwhelming at times. This doc will guide you and help make the transition smoother.

If you are new to HubSpot, your first four days will be spent in HubSpot Foundations (Americas/EMEA). During that time you will set up your computer, learn about the company, dig into our Product, and get to know other new hires. It may be tempting to want to dive right into your team’s work, but you’ll have plenty of time to do so once training is over. You won’t get these early days back, so take advantage of them! If you’re joining Product from a different team at HubSpot, you’ll jump right into PM onboarding.

We’re very excited to have you at HubSpot, 

 With so much context to absorb, there’s no real expectation of big action in your first 30 days. Much of the below will be self-directed, meaning you’re responsible for seeing them through. Use the below as a checklist for getting yourself the context and understanding needed within the first 30 days.

First and foremost, the majority of HubSpot product communication happens on Slack. You’ll want to join a few channels where you can learn by osmosis. As you pick up speed with your team, there will be many many more, but go ahead and join this list of channels as soon as you’re ready and keep an eye on all of the communication there.

[Manager to add any additional team or group specific channels]

#announcements-camb / #announcements-ireland / #emea-product

Goal: Get a high level understanding of Product @ HubSpot in Product Foundations

Take good notes! What topics do you want to learn more about? These will make great starting points as you begin to meet your teammates in the coming weeks.

Finish up training and get to know your team. It’s okay if this doesn’t all happen during your second week, but make sure all are scheduled 

[manager to add all names or additional meetings]

Suggested talking points for all meetings:

Ask what is working well on the team, what needs improvement, what the big open projects are, and where you can have impact.

Ask to shadow relevant meetings to get a sense of how the team operates.


Tech Talk - weekly meeting for all of Product and Engineering

Monthly Science Fair - company-wide meeting where we show the improvements we’re making to the product

, (or quad, or hexad, or any other shape!)

Understand expectations of a triad. Review the table on this wiki and ask questions of your team about how to interpret any specific responsibility.

Align around current performance, responsibilities, and growth opportunities

Building psych safety. Create your own working with me doc and share with your entire triad. Ask them for theirs, review independently and internalize where you may need to adapt your styles to create a strong relationship.

Meeting cadence. Have a conversation with your triad about their current meeting structure, strengths and weaknesses. Identify meetings that should be canceled and identify any alignment gaps that may need to be filled with meetings.

Understand how to engage with ICs on your team. After getting to know your team, you may be tempted to set up meetings with everyone on a recurring basis. 

Not every PM will meet with every IC engineer on their team 1:1.

 Based on the number of ICs that work in your product area, you should adjust these meetings to accommodate for your own bandwidth. The 

 you should be meeting with ICs on your team is bi-weekly and the 

Understand a PMs role in creating a strong culture. This talk by Ken Norton has fantastic insights. Review it and apply the learnings on your new team at HubSpot.

Goal: Get to know the most important person at HubSpot, the customer.

Shadow a Customer Success Manager (CSM) or Onboarding Specialist. The best way to set up these sessions is to introduce yourself, your role, and that you are interested in shadowing some calls in either the #csm or #cust-onboarding-team channel

Review the Ideas Forum in depth and ask your PM peers how they stay in touch with the forum and overall customer feedback regularly

Read this guide on how to find and connect with internal and external customers

[Manager to add any additional customer facing content specific to a team]

Goal: Get to know the product. By now you’ll have gotten exposed to the major elements of the product in training, so this week is about going deep into

Do a product walk through to gain basic understanding of 

What outcomes are they trying to drive when using the product?

What is the value proposition for the user?

How did the product evolve to get to this point (product and organizational context)?

Use the products we own, get a sense of the current functionality and limitations

Shadow Support (I suggest you do this on a regular basis)

Create QA and Production portals with Free, Start, Pro and Enterprise users

Use these for testing, exploring the product, and understanding the entire HubSpot system.

Navigate to Atlas Prod and click Hubs -> My Hubs. In the upper right hand corner click “Create Internal Test Hub”

Product HQ Wiki Page - A starting point for many happenings and resources across the entire product org.

PM HQ Wiki Page - A starting point for many happenings across the entire PM team.

 - what is expected of you in your new role?

 - What does a PM do at HubSpot? As a PM, how do I know if I’m doing a good job? Where do I go to get help and learn?

 - a quick video on all the roles that make up our org

You’ll want to end your first 60 days at HubSpot with a firm understanding of both HubSpots long-term business strategy and overall operating system and your product line's current focus and priorities. Weeks 5-8 will give you all the context and information you need to be most successful!

Goal: Understand HubSpots Multi-year Business Strategy, Vision, & Values

Read HubSpot’s 3YGTM (go-to-market) strategy (Recording)

Review the Product Values wiki page and complete the Learn@HubSpot course. You should be able to articulate each of the 8 values and why they are important. Ask yourself:

How do these values differ from what you’ve seen at other companies? Why do you think those differences exist and how would they change your behavior in past roles?

For each of the values, try to think of a situation in which they might steer you wrong. When would the values break down and how would you Use Good Judgment in those situations?

As problems and roadblocks arise in your role, get in the habit of referring to the Product Values and applying them. How do they guide your thinking and narrow the potential courses of action?

Watch Most Recent Product QBR Quarterly business review is where we review the performance, past, present and future of each of our product lines.

Watch Recent Company Meeting to get a feel for current events at HubSpot and the overall state of the business

New Product Manager Onboarding at HubSpot

New Product Manager Onboarding

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