Such a good article. At its core, Product Management is three interrelated activities: 1) understanding what customers want, 2) turning that understanding into a working product that serves customers, and 3) translating that product into a valuable asset for the business. These activities must be done for an organization a to succeed. It's important to understand that the debate about the role of Product should be about where in the organization these activities are done -- by product managers or others -- rather than about whether they should be done at all.
I just love this article. So spot on in all of these. Fav: "I’d love to see the lines between product, design, and engineering blur more so everyone can contribute to crafting the customer-facing product." I was reflecting the other day that being a generalist who bounces between product and design might be limiting my career but maybe not after all.
Peter - I love this one so much! It’s so poignant and honest and one can tell this comes from someone who’s experienced and had a clear sense of who they are. Very inspiring.
Great post. This captures so much of where PM has gone wrong: "To put it bluntly — if you don’t have this feedback loop going with real customers, you shouldn’t be working on your vision, strategy, or any other fancy artifact."
The best PMs are essentially vertically integrated technologists (mini-Musks sans the politics). The worst are feature automatons who neither understand upwards (business) nor downwards (tech/UX/design ..).
And then there is the middle that grind out mediocrity.
Meme's are defined by mediocrity - generally frameworks institutionalize mediocrity. A
good PM is a good GM, the buck stops there .. but such PMs are few and far between
Congratulations for your newsletter organization. I think you has created a system that we can use as well. Yours 3 sections are divided into topics, which in turn are divided into guides and interviews. This gives it an aura of learning that I believe increases your paid subscriptions. I think it is a good way to organize a Substack to get subscriptions. For example:
I really like the last point where PM needs to learn how to build.
Usually we takes too much time to build, even build a prototype and rely on multiple layer (Researcher, Designer, Engineer, Account Manager) to validate ideas/solutions to users.
With new AI capabilities, PM needs to build prototype/MVP by themself and validate directly.
I think it will be a new world of Product Management
I'm not a PM, but I've worked with many, and this was a truly insightful piece. In my experience, the strongest PMs are powerful marketers and sellers. They want to be in the room when you are developing campaigns or meeting with customers. Nailed this.
Such a good article. At its core, Product Management is three interrelated activities: 1) understanding what customers want, 2) turning that understanding into a working product that serves customers, and 3) translating that product into a valuable asset for the business. These activities must be done for an organization a to succeed. It's important to understand that the debate about the role of Product should be about where in the organization these activities are done -- by product managers or others -- rather than about whether they should be done at all.
I just love this article. So spot on in all of these. Fav: "I’d love to see the lines between product, design, and engineering blur more so everyone can contribute to crafting the customer-facing product." I was reflecting the other day that being a generalist who bounces between product and design might be limiting my career but maybe not after all.
Thanks Zack!
Great read. Being an ex-entrepreneur who’s now a big tech PM at Meta, couldn’t agree more.
Absolutely awesome post.
Love it.
The broad msg is not only PM specific but could apply to all Orgs.
Peter - I love this one so much! It’s so poignant and honest and one can tell this comes from someone who’s experienced and had a clear sense of who they are. Very inspiring.
haha thank you, I'll write some more real talk posts then :)
Great post. This captures so much of where PM has gone wrong: "To put it bluntly — if you don’t have this feedback loop going with real customers, you shouldn’t be working on your vision, strategy, or any other fancy artifact."
Glad you liked it Ben!
Amazing content, i really love this article. Thanks a lot for sharring it!
You nailed it Peter. Well done!
Most of the better ai make much better PM 🤷♂️
The best PMs are essentially vertically integrated technologists (mini-Musks sans the politics). The worst are feature automatons who neither understand upwards (business) nor downwards (tech/UX/design ..).
And then there is the middle that grind out mediocrity.
Meme's are defined by mediocrity - generally frameworks institutionalize mediocrity. A
good PM is a good GM, the buck stops there .. but such PMs are few and far between
Congratulations for your newsletter organization. I think you has created a system that we can use as well. Yours 3 sections are divided into topics, which in turn are divided into guides and interviews. This gives it an aura of learning that I believe increases your paid subscriptions. I think it is a good way to organize a Substack to get subscriptions. For example:
https://creatoreconomy.so/p/creator-track
Good insight 😌 Can i translate part of this article into Spanish with links to you and a description of your newsletter?
OK go for it
I really like the last point where PM needs to learn how to build.
Usually we takes too much time to build, even build a prototype and rely on multiple layer (Researcher, Designer, Engineer, Account Manager) to validate ideas/solutions to users.
With new AI capabilities, PM needs to build prototype/MVP by themself and validate directly.
I think it will be a new world of Product Management
Honestly, some days it feels like everyone is talking about the same things in product management.
I'm not a PM, but I've worked with many, and this was a truly insightful piece. In my experience, the strongest PMs are powerful marketers and sellers. They want to be in the room when you are developing campaigns or meeting with customers. Nailed this.
Great article. Changing a performative culture is one of the most difficult things. Has to start at the top.