Ask any great product manager how she learned her craft, and you’ll hear about an early mentor. Product management is hard, experiential, and doesn’t come out of books. We learn by watching and doing and stubbing our toes. By making choices and analyzing previous choices. By getting coached through product strategies and economic decision-making. By seeing that collaboration among many smart people is better than being the smartest person in the room. 

Rich Mironov at Product Coalition