Jupiter Money: Shamelist & Learning

I was a Product Manager-2 at Jupiter Money for over a year. This is my shamelist — things I did wrong — and what I took away from them. Writing it down increases self-awareness and accountability.

Shamelist

1. Requested developer changes without aligning with the product manager first — it broke the homepage UX and created unnecessary rework.
2. Publicly pointed out strategic issues in group chat instead of handling it privately. It created friction and made me look like I was playing politics.
3. Escalated product discovery problems to leadership without first proposing solutions. That's not what leadership wants from a PM.
4. Failed to clearly communicate product vision using frameworks like the Minto Principle. My ideas were right; my communication wasn't.
5. Let cross-functional teams drive the vision rather than leading proactively. The PM is supposed to be the north star. I wasn't always that.
6. Spent 4 weeks developing an untested feature based on intuition alone. No user validation, no signal. It didn't land.
7. Didn't sufficiently value domain experts' customer insights. I trusted data over people who'd been on the ground for years. Both matter.
8. Asked rhetorical questions to peers instead of stating my assumptions directly. It came across as passive-aggressive.
9. Neglected personal relationship-building with the team early on. I focused on output over trust.

What I'm Taking Forward

1. Connect long-term vision to each OKR. Every sprint goal should trace back to a clear product north star.
2. Direct, clear communication. No more rhetorical questions. State the assumption, invite disagreement.
3. Single ownership of documents and accountability. Ambiguity in who owns what kills execution speed.
4. Tailor messaging to the audience. What works in a 1:1 with engineering doesn't work in an all-hands.

The point isn't to beat myself up. It's to not repeat these in the next role.