Technical PM Interview Questions

Netflix

Design an algorithm that computes a similarity score between two users' watch histories

Design a system to calculate the similarity between two users based on their viewing habits and explain how you would validate its effectiveness.

#37

Netflix

Design an algorithm to automatically generate subtitles for a movie.

Design an algorithm that automatically generates subtitles for movies based on dialogue and context.

#38

Netflix

Redesign Netflix's recommendation algorithm.

Propose improvements to Netflix’s recommendation algorithm to enhance content discovery and user satisfaction.

#51

Premium

The average number pins has gone down 6%. What might have caused this?

Diagnose why impressions rose 8% while pins fell 6%, and map the telemetry you’d use to restore engagement.

Resolve Walmart.com users suddenly unable to add items to their carts

Troubleshoot why shoppers can’t add items to carts and map the steps to restore checkout flow.

#129

Airbnb

Explain Airbnb’s business model simply

Explain Airbnb’s business model to a five‑year‑old.

#130

Airbnb

Explain what happens when you type a URL

What happens when you type in www.google.com and hit enter?

#131

Airbnb

Compare SQL and NoSQL databases

What’s the difference between SQL and NoSQL? When would you use one over the other?

#156

Algorithm to predict users’ future invested assets

Design an algorithm that predicts how much money a given user will have invested in Robinhood (i.e. the total value of all their financial holdings on the app) one year from now.

#157

Implementing max-heaps and min-heaps

How would you implement a max-heap? How would that differ from a min-heap?

#158

Explaining and implementing pub-sub architecture

How does a “pub‑sub” architecture work? How would you implement it?

#159

Explaining options trading to a child

How would you explain options trading to a 5-year-old?

#160

Explaining Robinhood’s revenue model

How does Robinhood make money?

#161

Explaining crypto investment to a beginner

Explain to my grandma why she should invest in crypto and how she should get started.

#375

Microsoft

Diagnosing an 80% monetization drop in a streaming platform

You are the PM of a video streaming platform. You log in one day and notice that monetization metrics have dropped by 80% overnight. What would you do?

Derive a Resume Metric

[Picks a metric on your resume] How did you derive this metric? What methodology did you use to compute it? Were there any flaws in this methodology?

AWS SNS Backend Architecture

AWS SNS (Simple Notification Service) offers APIs to send text messages. Sketch out the databases and other backend systems that might power this service.

Amazon Web Browser Architecture

Say Amazon wanted to create a new web browser. Talk me through the necessary technical requirements and components we’d have to build.

Amazon Search Backend

Sketch out the backend technologies that Amazon’s search result page might use.

Amazon Music Backend

Tell me how you'd design the backend for a music-streaming service like Amazon Music.

Amazon Luna Backend

How would you design the backend for Amazon Luna, the cloud gaming service?

Alexa Peloton System Design

Do a system design for an Alexa-enabled Peloton. Define APIs and system architecture, and explain various components that you find interesting.

#409

Amazon

Collaborative Filtering for a 5-Year-Old

Explain collaborative filtering to a five-year-old.

Amazon Logistics Secret Sauce

How do you think Amazon’s logistics and supply chain are so efficient? What is the “secret sauce,” if any?

#411