Client Case Study
Sumeet Maniar
Head of AI & Data Products at League
Before & After
Sumeet was skeptical that a structured coaching program could add value at his experience level (15+ years, CPO/CEO background), unsure whether it was designed for senior leaders like him.
He recognized that even with deep experience, structured frameworks for articulating yourself and navigating a formalized PM industry were genuinely valuable, and he maintained a positive attitude through setbacks like being a finalist and losing out multiple times.
Sumeet had difficulty distilling his extensive 25+ year background into a concise, focused narrative, feeling compelled to include everything he had done.
Through iterative coaching, he developed a tight, curated TMAY/tell me about yourself that let the listener probe further, embracing 'less is more' as a senior executive with a wealth of experience to choose from.
Sumeet was hesitant to openly tell people he was looking for a job, self-censoring out of ego and fear of appearing weak or unemployed, which meant his network didn't know how to help him.
He overcame that hesitation and directly told people he was looking for a specific role, which immediately activated his network — people would refer him to relevant contacts and opportunities they otherwise wouldn't have surfaced.
Sumeet had no knowledge of structured interview methodologies for specific companies (e.g., Amazon, Meta) and planned to 'wing' interviews, unaware that a formalized approach even existed.
He learned company-specific interview frameworks, practiced the 'Tell Me About Yourself' (TMAY) answer through multiple iterations to create a concise, curated narrative, and participated in mock interview groups.
Sumeet's job search was ad hoc and unstructured — he would reactively apply to postings he came across and do a little networking without any systematic plan or cadence.
He adopted a structured, pipeline-driven approach: reaching out proactively to his network, targeting series C/D+ companies, and following a methodical outreach process (e.g., identifying a business school connection on LinkedIn to get a referral that led directly to the hiring manager).
“IJS is an ecosystem that's initially highly structured but flexible”
— Sumeet Maniar, Head of AI & Data Products at League
Sumeet Maniar's Story
Before I joined the Intentional Job Search program, my job search was ad hoc and scattershot — probably typical of most people, even with 25+ years of experience. I'd see a posting, respond, do a little networking. It was largely unstructured. My initial hesitation was: how is this going to help me at my experience level?
What pushed me over the edge was the structured content. Even though I've worked at larger orgs and been a CEO, I was like, 'Wow, I didn't know there were all these details.' Product management as an industry has become more formalized. One of the first aha moments was simplicity. Even at the executive level, less is more.
The other big shift was networking. At our level, there can be a little bit of ego or vulnerability — you don't want to tell everyone you're looking for a job. But when I tested it and just told people directly, they'd say, 'You should have just told me!'
For my role, I followed the program's LinkedIn process, found a business school connection at the company, and she immediately put me in touch with hiring managers through their internal Slack. It ended up being a 14-week interview process. I almost gave up because I ran out of ideas for what to say after so many interviews. But I stuck with it and landed a head of AI and data products role at a Series C company. If you give yourself ad hoc effort, the results are going to be ad hoc.
If Sumeet's story sounds familiar…
Apply to work with the Intentional Job Search program.
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