Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in professional development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Bosky Mukherjee, Founder of PMDojo, located in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

My venture PMDojo is a global and diverse learning community that empowers people from all walks of life, experiences, and learning abilities to upskill to succeed and thrive in the tech industry that has extremely high barriers to entry. Even entry-level roles require 2 to 5 years of experience. This is even more challenging for women and people from marginalized communities where the decks are stacked against them.

PMDojo offers a unique Product Accelerator program to tech and product enthusiasts from all over the world. This is the only 10-week global, part-time, immersive, and apprenticeship-style program to help career transitioners gain industry experience in roles from product management, UX design, UX Research, or software development. They collaborate as a cross-functional and diverse team along with Sr. Leaders to launch a live product in the market just like in the real world. Unlike other courses or boot camps, PMDojo participants learn beyond theoretical case studies or generic projects using a curriculum designed by Hiring Managers. They also receive mentorship and lifelong access to a global community of peers and Hiring Managers. PMDojo is a global community with diversity and inclusion at its core.

PMDojo is designed for:

  • Professionals looking to pivot into product management.
  • UX Researchers, UX Designers, or Software developers who want to skill up & gain real-world experience.
  • Early career transitioners.
  • Experienced product professionals looking to switch domains or gain end-to-end experience.

​We champion people from all diverse backgrounds, experiences, learning styles, and abilities.

Tell us about yourself

I started PMDojo in 2019 after what can seem like a successful career of 18 years in the tech industry. I believed I was able to shatter the so-called glass ceiling by rising up the career ladder. By that time, I was promoted as the President/GM of a software company. From the outside and my LinkedIn profile, no one would have guessed what I was going through. My health had collapsed due to intense pressure, somewhat of a chronic PTSD, and burnout over the years and unknowingly made me hollow and completely unhappy. However, it was an internal struggle to accept that I needed to step down in order to discover myself. There is so much pressure that we put on ourselves about what success looks like as per societal definition that we sometimes forget what we really care about. Being an immigrant, I believe sink or swim, working extra hard to prove oneself, or being a woman of color in a tech world does not help the cause. You can read about my journey struggling with this in a LinkedIn post I published.

All those years, I have seen the struggle and experienced Imposter Syndrome of being the only woman in the room or woman of color in the room right up to the exec room or boardroom. Personally, I wanted to do something to help with the lack of diversity in the tech industry. Second, I got into tech without experience more than two decades back, and I wanted to create a safe environment where we could help people looking to break into the tech industry break the cycle of the chicken and egg problem - you need the experience to get the job, BUT you need the job to get the required experience.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

More than 92% of fellows who graduate from PMDojo have successfully transitioned into tech and product roles, many with multiple lucrative offers even in a down market like right now. Many have 3x their salary. This kind of impact and the ability to transform lives is a huge accomplishment for a completely bootstrapped venture that is solo founded.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

I think for me, it's dealing with making those extremely hard choices of being a mom to a young one and running and growing a bootstrapped venture. These are everyday hard choices. Not having childcare or family support means many long nighters and trying to learn to do all the million things needed to run a business. Being bootstrapped means having a strict focus on priorities while at the same time not making a short-term financial decision. Out of over 1000 applications for every cohort, we still select a handful of 25-30 fellows. It would have been an easy fix to admit everyone, and making huge financial strides, I have intentionally chosen the harder path here, which comes at a significant personal cost.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Start with a problem that exists in the market instead of an idea to launch.
  2. Test your idea before spending too much effort. Be open to invalidating your hypothesis. Know that 90% of ideas and startups fail. This is not a bad thing.
  3. Be scrappy. How to build and the mechanics of the website etc., come in much later. The most important thing is to make sure there is a pain point so important to solve in the market that if we do not solve it, nothing else will matter. Most people worry about logistics, development, and marketing first.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

  1. Product Accelerator cohort fills up quickly. So you can apply here.
  2. Want to partner up to make the tech industry more diverse and inclusive. Reach out at bosky@pmdojo.me.
  3. I am also writing a book about how people navigate life and work in the tech industry with real-life stories. You can learn more on this page.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.pmdojo.me/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gopmdojo
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teampmdojo/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/team_pmdojo
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/teampmdojo/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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