[tompetry]

Sounds like he wasn't happy with his last PM haha. Interesting convo starter article though, as the PM role seems to also draw a wide range of opinions. In my view, the PM duties are critical, but the PM function is what a company makes it, as there are multiple ways to divvy up work and get things shipped.

To me, great products are a result of having a leader in the company who brings strong vision, customer focus, prioritizing the needle movers, and assembles the right technical talent to turn concepts into reality. This leader "gets it", and they make the tough decisions.

So while simply having a PM doesn't ensure these things, it doesn't necessarily prevent them either. Once you scale, the PM function brings much needed order to chaos. But if a company is relying purely on IC PM's to bring the vision, focus, needle movers, leadership, the company is flying blind as it's a signal that the founders / execs / board are absent. And that's a bigger problem than not loving your PM.