How to ace technical/system design round in your PM interview?
System design/API questions are not just for software engineers. It is an integral part of all your PM interviews from Stripe to Google, Amazon, Meta & Salesforce, Oracle etc.
Recently, I read a LinkedIn post by Aakash Gupta (ex-Google) about his Stripe PM interview experience. He walked into what he thought would be a product strategy discussion but was instead asked to design a marketing CMS—a full-fledged system design interview! The interviewer drilled into details like API structure, database choices, and scalability.
That’s when it hit me: system design interviews are no longer just for engineers. PMs need to go deep into technical topics to stand out in interviews and excel at their jobs.
System Design & Tech Round Interviews Shouldn’t Be Scary
System design & technical questions around API, databases, etc. aren’t actually that hard—conceptually speaking. We’re not talking about organic chemistry here. If you’ve ever crammed for an exam last-minute and aced it, you can do the same with system design.
The real reason people fear system design interviews? There’s no good content tailored for PMs.
Most tech resources like - system design, API, data pipelines, LLMs etc. are made for engineers. But Product Managers and program managers aren’t evaluated on the same criteria.
Engineering candidates need to prove deep technical expertise, while PMs are assessed on how well they scope, structure, and communicate their design thinking.
For instance, at Google, system design interviews emphasize estimation and scoping rather than just the technical solution.
A recent Google L6 TPM candidate (according to Aakash Gupta LinkedIn post), shared that his interviewer focused more on how he structured the problem rather than just the architecture itself. And he got the offer!
Every company has its own rubric, but the core focus for PM system design is: how technically deep can they go?
While for engineers, the question is: are they amazing technically?
Yet, most of the content out there is either AI-generated fluff or so deep in technical details that it doesn’t serve non-engineering PMs well. That’s why I’m writing this today—to bridge the gap.
I want to share a personal experience also. When I first joined Razorpay, I noticed something surprising: Product Managers were designing APIs. At first, it felt unusual. But I quickly realized APIs aren’t just technical specs—they’re full-fledged products that drive business strategy.
Take UPI’s launch in India, for example. Most payment gateways had to make breaking changes, delaying adoption by months. But Razorpay’s forward-thinking API design allowed customers to integrate UPI payments on day one—seamlessly. 🚀
If you work in fintech, SaaS, or platform products, API knowledge isn’t optional anymore—it’s a must-have skill to ship scalable, user-friendly products.
I’ve spent 6.5+ years building large-scale API-driven products across fintech, ed-tech, HR-tech, and developer tooling. As a former Product Lead at Razorpay, I worked on mission-critical platforms like automated reconciliation and developer consoles. I also built a GenAI chatbot handling 220k+ merchant queries per month to improve content findability by 24%.
Now, I’m hosting my 5th live cohort from March 1st to 16th to teach Tech to Product Managers from first principles—designed specifically for Product Managers.
🎯 What You’ll Learn:
✅ Day 1: API Fundamentals – HTTP requests, JSON, Postman, REST vs GraphQL, live demos with Razorpay & YouTube APIs.
✅ Day 2: Advanced API Concepts – Authentication (OAuth, API keys), rate limiting, webhooks, SDKs, plus a hands-on API design challenge.
✅ Day 3: Building a database and exploring data pipelines.
✅ Day 4: AI - Machine Learning, Deep Learning, LLMs, Agentic AI
✅ Day 5/6: System design & NFRs
🚀 Why This Matters for You:
Interviews: Stripe, Google, and Amazon assess PMs on system design and APIs. Are you prepared?
Real-World Impact: UPI’s seamless integration at Razorpay was possible because of API-first thinking. You need the same mindset to scale products effectively.
Career Growth: PMs who understand system design and APIs stand out. This is your chance to level up.
💡 What You Get:
Crack API/system design interview questions confidently.
Collaborate with fellow PMs in a live, hands-on environment.
Lifetime access to recordings for continuous learning.
📌 Seats are filling fast! Secure your spot now:
👉 Enroll Now
[Note: The cohort starts on upcoming Saturday i.e. 1st March]
See you in the cohort!
Venkatesh