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What is a PM for, now that building is cheap?

When software was expensive to build, someone had to decide what was worth the expense, and that was most of a product manager's job. Now that a model can build much of what anyone asks for, almost everyone here agrees the deciding matters more, not less. They split over who should do it. One side says the product manager's job is widening, into shipping code and owning the business outcome. The other says a team of people who build can make the product calls themselves, and that a product manager in the room invites everyone else to stop thinking about the product. Underneath runs a plain admission that nobody has worked this out yet. Dated, in their own words.

60 dated claims from 27 people · 3 views · most recent 29 Sept 2026. Every line below links to the person’s own words.

The views

What is a view?

Our reading of what a group of claims have in common, one level above a korrent: a korrent is our reading of what somebody said, a view is our reading of what several korrents share. The claims are printed under it, so the sentence can be checked against them.

Nobody is filed under a view — claims are. A person is named here because a dated claim of theirs sits under it, and somebody whose claims sit under two views appears under both.

  1. Building got cheap, so the scarce work is choosing what to build and knowing what good looks like

    Lenny RachitskyThariq ShihiparPeter SellisRobby SteinGeoff CharlesMarty CaganClaire VoTara SeshanDax RaadJason EvanishJakob NielsenDes Traynor

  2. The product manager's job is not disappearing: it keeps its core and takes on more of the building and the business

    Lenny RachitskyMike KriegerTara SeshanTamar YehoshuaRobby SteinGeoff CharlesDavid Heinemeier HanssonIan SilberMarty CaganTom VerrilliDan ShipperKen NortonMelissa Perri

  3. A team needs fewer product managers, or none, because the people who build can make the product calls themselves

    Peter SellisTamar YehoshuaAnish AcharyaIan SilberTom VerrilliDan ShipperEvan SpiegelLuke WroblewskiFrank ChimeroDylan FieldJulie Zhuo

A viewour reading

Building got cheap, so the scarce work is choosing what to build and knowing what good looks like

19 claims filed here, newest first — each in the words of whoever said it.

As building gets easier, choosing the right thing to build and knowing what good looks like matter more for product teams.

  1. Lenny Rachitsky Writer of Lenny's Newsletter and host of Lenny's Podcast As building gets easier, choosing the right thing to build, knowing what good looks like, and caring enough to fix it are becoming increasingly important for successful product teams. x.com
    Their wordsAs building gets easier, choosing the right thing to build, knowing what good looks like, and caring enough to fix it are becoming increasingly important for successful product teams.

    ↗@lennysan on Xx.com

The right response to more capable models is not more shipped features; it is spending that capability on understanding users and prototyping, so what ships actually works.

  1. Thariq Shihipar Building Claude Code at Anthropic the right way to use model capabilities is not to ship 10x more features to prod it's to spend more time understanding your users, trying experiments, building prototypes, learning about things you don't understand so that you can ship things that actually work x.com
    Their wordsthe right way to use model capabilities is not to ship 10x more features to prod it's to spend more time understanding your users, trying experiments, building prototypes, learning about things you don't understand so that you can ship things that actually work

    ↗Thariq (@trq212) on Xx.com

AI agents are less reliable than humans when a failure depends on a subjective definition of a good product experience.

Filed here becauseFiled here because a failure that depends on what counts as a good product experience is exactly the judgement this view says is now the scarce work.

  1. Lenny Rachitsky Writer of Lenny's Newsletter and host of Lenny's Podcast But they are far less reliable when a failure depends on your definition of a good product experience. lennysnewsletter.com
    Their wordsBut they are far less reliable when a failure depends on your definition of a good product experience.

    ↗Advanced evals: How to find (and fix) hidden AI failures in your productlennysnewsletter.com

Restraint, saying no to good ideas, is probably one of the few ways to exercise taste.

  1. Peter Sellis Former head of product at Discord exercising that kind of muscle of like saying no uh of restraint is probably one of the easiest like one of the few like muscles of taste you can exercise. If if a museum has all of their collection on the walls, then the curator hasn't done anything. 0:36:27 · youtube.com
    Their wordsexercising that kind of muscle of like saying no uh of restraint is probably one of the easiest like one of the few like muscles of taste you can exercise. If if a museum has all of their collection on the walls, then the curator hasn't done anything.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:36:27 plays here

    ↗90 minutes of unfiltered product advice from Snap and Discord’s product chief | Peter Sellisyoutube.com

    video · 1h 36m · spoken · machine transcript

When almost anything can get built, a product manager's true value lies in judgement and taste.

  1. Robby Stein Vice President of Product for Google Search And I think in some cases that's still true, but really if in the world of today, almost anything you can think of can get built, it's more clear to me than ever that the actual true value of PM is actually around judging. It's around taste. 2:46 · youtube.com
    Their wordsAnd I think in some cases that's still true, but really if in the world of today, almost anything you can think of can get built, it's more clear to me than ever that the actual true value of PM is actually around judging. It's around taste.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 2:46 plays here

    ↗What it takes to be a top PM today | Robby Stein (Google Search) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

    video · 19m · spoken · machine transcript

Above all else, the craft of product management is decision-making.

  1. Robby Stein Vice President of Product for Google Search but I think above all else actually the craft of PM is one simple thing that you should be the absolute best at. And that is decision making. 3:14 · youtube.com
    Their wordsbut I think above all else actually the craft of PM is one simple thing that you should be the absolute best at. And that is decision making.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 3:14 plays here

    ↗What it takes to be a top PM today | Robby Stein (Google Search) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

    video · 19m · spoken · machine transcript

Product teams still need a tastemaker who does what AI cannot and holds the bar for great product.

  1. Geoff Charles Chief Product Officer at Ramp; Ramp's first product hire Ultimately, you need someone who's holding the steering wheel and doing things that AI cannot do and holding the bar for what great product, great taste looks like. 17:24 · youtube.com
    Their wordsUltimately, you need someone who's holding the steering wheel and doing things that AI cannot do and holding the bar for what great product, great taste looks like.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 17:24 plays here

    ↗What product looks like when coding is solved | Geoff Charles (Ramp CPO) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

    video · 19m · spoken · machine transcript

Problem discovery is not very hard, and product managers who spend a lot of time on it neglect solution discovery, the real work they are paid for.

  1. Marty Cagan Founding partner of Silicon Valley Product Group (SVPG) Yes, you obviously need to make sure you understand the problem, who you're solving it for, and what the definition of success is. But honestly, that's not very hard. It's not very hard. And if you spend a lot of time on that, you're not going to do the real part you're paid for, which is solution discovery. 8:57 · youtube.com
    Their wordsYes, you obviously need to make sure you understand the problem, who you're solving it for, and what the definition of success is. But honestly, that's not very hard. It's not very hard. And if you spend a lot of time on that, you're not going to do the real part you're paid for, which is solution discovery.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 8:57 plays here

    ↗Marty Cagan: Strong Opinions, loosely held (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

    video · 22m · spoken · machine transcript

Cheap execution probably still needs judgment, now that teams can ship all their bad ideas.

  1. Claire Vo Founder of ChatPRD and host of the How I AI podcast and now we can ship all our bad ideas like congratulations to us cheap execution I think still needs judgment 9:44 · youtube.com
    Their wordsand now we can ship all our bad ideas like congratulations to us cheap execution I think still needs judgment

    Where this was said

    Watch from 9:44 plays here

    ↗Everyone’s shipping more. Does any of it matter? | Claire Vo (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

    video · 23m · spoken · machine transcript

The most important thinking a product manager does is defining the core hypothesis as pointedly as possible.

  1. Tara Seshan Product lead for ChatGPT Work at OpenAI And what that means is the thinking you need to do is being as pointed as possible about what your core hypothesis is. And that hypothesis definition is the most important thing. 0:08:38 · youtube.com
    Their wordsAnd what that means is the thinking you need to do is being as pointed as possible about what your core hypothesis is. And that hypothesis definition is the most important thing.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:08:38 plays here

    ↗AI’s third era: the rise of persistent AI coworkers | Tara Seshan (OpenAI’s product lead)youtube.com

    video · 1h 21m · spoken · machine transcript

The core of product management has always been finding the most essential question to ask about a product.

  1. Tara Seshan Product lead for ChatGPT Work at OpenAI But the core of it has always been about what is like the most essential question you need to ask about your product. Like what is the thing that will determine whether your product works or doesn't work? 0:09:27 · youtube.com
    Their wordsBut the core of it has always been about what is like the most essential question you need to ask about your product. Like what is the thing that will determine whether your product works or doesn't work?

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:09:27 plays here

    ↗AI’s third era: the rise of persistent AI coworkers | Tara Seshan (OpenAI’s product lead)youtube.com

    video · 1h 21m · spoken · machine transcript

Before product-market fit, coding faster does not help: it is better to think a lot than to swing a lot, and AI does not speed up the thinking.

  1. Dax Raad Builds developer tools — SST, and now OpenCode at Anomaly But I've always thought it's better to think a lot instead of swinging a lot. I think you could you can eliminate a lot of ideas or directions just by, you know, spending a lot of time in your head and with your team talking. Um, obviously AI doesn't speed that part up. 0:04:58 · youtube.com
    Their wordsBut I've always thought it's better to think a lot instead of swinging a lot. I think you could you can eliminate a lot of ideas or directions just by, you know, spending a lot of time in your head and with your team talking. Um, obviously AI doesn't speed that part up.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:04:58 plays here

    ↗Building OpenCode with Dax Raadyoutube.com

    video · 1h 21m · spoken · machine transcript

Cheap delivery turned the roadmap-of-features model into a feature factory that produces bad products faster.

  1. Marty Cagan Founding partner of Silicon Valley Product Group (SVPG) Much of the product world now recognizes the project model as a turbo-charged feature factory, capable of producing more bad products, faster, than ever before. svpg.com
    Their wordsMuch of the product world now recognizes the project model as a turbo-charged feature factory, capable of producing more bad products, faster, than ever before.

    ↗Build to Learn vs Build to Earnsvpg.com

Customers often request solutions that are not actually what should be built.

  1. Jason Evanish Founder and CEO of Get Lighthouse At the same time, the reality is that customers are terrible product managers. What they request as features is often a rushed solution that isn't actually what you should build. jasonevanish.com
    Their wordsAt the same time, the reality is that customers are terrible product managers. What they request as features is often a rushed solution that isn't actually what you should build.

    ↗5 Harsh Truths of Customer Feedback that hold Products Backjasonevanish.com

Deciding what software should do and why is still a human job: vibe coding changes the implementation phase far more than the planning phase.

  1. Jakob Nielsen Usability pioneer; co-founder of Nielsen Norman Group… Vibe coding can execute instructions, but deciding what the software should do and why is not automated. Product managers and designers must still do user research, market analysis, and creative brainstorming. In that sense, vibe coding changes the implementation phase more than the planning phase of the product lifecycle. jakobnielsenphd.substack.com
    Their wordsVibe coding can execute instructions, but deciding what the software should do and why is not automated. Product managers and designers must still do user research, market analysis, and creative brainstorming. In that sense, vibe coding changes the implementation phase more than the planning phase of the product lifecycle.

    ↗Vibe Coding and Vibe Designjakobnielsenphd.substack.com

Building a great product means being great at saying no -- not maybe, not later, no.

  1. Des Traynor Co-founder of Intercom If you’re building a product, you have to be great at saying no. Not “maybe” or “later”. The only word is no. Building a great product isn’t about creating tons of tactically useful features which are tangentially related. intercom.com
    Their wordsIf you’re building a product, you have to be great at saying no. Not “maybe” or “later”. The only word is no. Building a great product isn’t about creating tons of tactically useful features which are tangentially related.

    ↗Product strategy means saying nointercom.com

A real product decision says a proposal is a great idea and still turns it down for something else.

  1. Des Traynor Co-founder of Intercom Real product decisions aren’t easy. They require you to look at a proposal and say “This is a really great idea, I can see why our customers would like it. Well done. But we’re not going to build it. Instead, here’s what we’re doing.”. intercom.com
    Their wordsReal product decisions aren’t easy. They require you to look at a proposal and say “This is a really great idea, I can see why our customers would like it. Well done. But we’re not going to build it. Instead, here’s what we’re doing.”.

    ↗Product strategy means saying nointercom.com

A viewour reading

The product manager's job is not disappearing: it keeps its core and takes on more of the building and the business

22 claims filed here, newest first — each in the words of whoever said it.

The PM job is expanding, not disappearing: PM, engineering and design are each widening rather than collapsing into one "builder".

  1. Lenny Rachitsky Writer of Lenny's Newsletter and host of Lenny's Podcast Instead of the PM, eng, and design circles of the Venn diagram collapsing into one “builder,” each role is instead evolving and expanding. x.com
    Their wordsInstead of the PM, eng, and design circles of the Venn diagram collapsing into one “builder,” each role is instead evolving and expanding.

    ↗@lennysan on Xx.com

Faster building has not made the PM role go away; it now demands more operational excellence than before.

  1. Mike Krieger Works in Anthropic Labs; co-founder of Instagram And I think all that's happened now is that because we can move faster, that role is like you have to be operationally excellent in that role in a way that like even beyond what you had to be before. But it definitely has not gone away. 4:20 · youtube.com
    Their wordsAnd I think all that's happened now is that because we can move faster, that role is like you have to be operationally excellent in that role in a way that like even beyond what you had to be before. But it definitely has not gone away.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 4:20 plays here

    ↗Why Claude can’t be your PM (yet) | Anthropic CPO Panel (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

    video · 28m · spoken · machine transcript

The usual PM craft still applies, but testing things empirically and moving faster matter more than ever.

  1. Tara Seshan Product lead for ChatGPT Work at OpenAI all the usual stuff still applies except the importance of testing things empirically and moving faster has only increased. 23:19 · youtube.com
    Their wordsall the usual stuff still applies except the importance of testing things empirically and moving faster has only increased.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 23:19 plays here

    ↗Stop planning for 2027: how OpenAI builds product 90 days at a time | Tara Sesha and Nan Yu (OpenAI) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

    video · 29m · spoken · machine transcript

Product roles in the AI era are not only overlapping; they are expanding.

  1. Tamar Yehoshua Chief Product and AI Officer at Atlassian As we said, the roles are overlapping, but they are also expanding. 2:21 · youtube.com
    Their wordsAs we said, the roles are overlapping, but they are also expanding.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 2:21 plays here

    ↗Roles aren't converging—they're expanding | Tamar Yehoshua (Atlassian CPO) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

    video · 21m · spoken · machine transcript

A product manager's job is the same as it always was: finding product-market fit and building products people love.

  1. Tamar Yehoshua Chief Product and AI Officer at Atlassian So the job of a PM is really the same as it always was. What is your job? It's to find product market fit. It's to build products that people love. 2:36 · youtube.com
    Their wordsSo the job of a PM is really the same as it always was. What is your job? It's to find product market fit. It's to build products that people love.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 2:36 plays here

    ↗Roles aren't converging—they're expanding | Tamar Yehoshua (Atlassian CPO) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

    video · 21m · spoken · machine transcript

This is probably the best time to be a product manager, and product managers will probably still be here ten years from now.

  1. Tamar Yehoshua Chief Product and AI Officer at Atlassian I think this is the best time in the world to be a PM. I think it's super exciting. I am an optimist and I think we'll all be here 10 years from now. 21:10 · youtube.com
    Their wordsI think this is the best time in the world to be a PM. I think it's super exciting. I am an optimist and I think we'll all be here 10 years from now.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 21:10 plays here

    ↗Roles aren't converging—they're expanding | Tamar Yehoshua (Atlassian CPO) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

    video · 21m · spoken · machine transcript

The product manager's playbook in the AI era is mostly the same work, made possible in a new light by AI.

  1. Robby Stein Vice President of Product for Google Search And it's you have to still do all the same things. Like, a lot of this is not new, but it's it's possible in a totally new light with AI. 17:52 · youtube.com
    Their wordsAnd it's you have to still do all the same things. Like, a lot of this is not new, but it's it's possible in a totally new light with AI.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 17:52 plays here

    ↗What it takes to be a top PM today | Robby Stein (Google Search) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

    video · 19m · spoken · machine transcript

It has probably never been a more important time to be a product manager, and great decision-making has probably never mattered more.

  1. Robby Stein Vice President of Product for Google Search I think it's never been more important time to be a PM and to do product and to be a builder. And I think the skill of making great decisions that can lead to great products has also never been, you know, more important. 18:24 · youtube.com
    Their wordsI think it's never been more important time to be a PM and to do product and to be a builder. And I think the skill of making great decisions that can lead to great products has also never been, you know, more important.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 18:24 plays here

    ↗What it takes to be a top PM today | Robby Stein (Google Search) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

    video · 19m · spoken · machine transcript

The bottleneck in product development has shifted to product people, who should be as lazy as engineers.

  1. Geoff Charles Chief Product Officer at Ramp; Ramp's first product hire So, here's a tip. Be more like engineers. Be as lazy as engineers. Because the reality is that the bottleneck has now shifted to us. 3:24 · youtube.com
    Their wordsSo, here's a tip. Be more like engineers. Be as lazy as engineers. Because the reality is that the bottleneck has now shifted to us.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 3:24 plays here

    ↗What product looks like when coding is solved | Geoff Charles (Ramp CPO) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

    video · 19m · spoken · machine transcript

Product organizations are probably not investing nearly enough in technical product managers who build the internal factory.

  1. Geoff Charles Chief Product Officer at Ramp; Ramp's first product hire The first track is the technical track and something that I don't think we are investing nearly enough. It's the PM that's building the actual factory, 16:54 · youtube.com
    Their wordsThe first track is the technical track and something that I don't think we are investing nearly enough. It's the PM that's building the actual factory,

    Where this was said

    Watch from 16:54 plays here

    ↗What product looks like when coding is solved | Geoff Charles (Ramp CPO) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

    video · 19m · spoken · machine transcript

Product managers will probably expand into general managers who own the business outcome across marketing, sales, growth and operations.

  1. Geoff Charles Chief Product Officer at Ramp; Ramp's first product hire I think PMs will absolutely evolve and expand their role to not just the product organization, but the marketing organization, the sales organization, the growth organizations, the operational organizations. PMs will become GMs and they will own the actual business outcome and lead the entire function. 17:36 · youtube.com
    Their wordsI think PMs will absolutely evolve and expand their role to not just the product organization, but the marketing organization, the sales organization, the growth organizations, the operational organizations. PMs will become GMs and they will own the actual business outcome and lead the entire function.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 17:36 plays here

    ↗What product looks like when coding is solved | Geoff Charles (Ramp CPO) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

    video · 19m · spoken · machine transcript

Part of a product manager's job now is to elevate everyone's ambitions.

  1. Tara Seshan Product lead for ChatGPT Work at OpenAI Um, part of your job now is to elevate everyone's ambitions and say, "Actually, isn't the possibility ceiling meaningfully higher?" 0:24:43 · youtube.com
    Their wordsUm, part of your job now is to elevate everyone's ambitions and say, "Actually, isn't the possibility ceiling meaningfully higher?"

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:24:43 plays here

    ↗AI’s third era: the rise of persistent AI coworkers | Tara Seshan (OpenAI’s product lead)youtube.com

    video · 1h 21m · spoken · machine transcript

Software is product management, and those are the skills the agentic era rewards — skills that are not evenly distributed among programmers.

  1. David Heinemeier Hansson Creator of Ruby on Rails, CTO of 37signals The reason I say that is there's a lot of programmers who are not very good product managers. Software is product management. What should it do? Who should it do it for? How should it do it? How should it look? What are our priorities? What do we start with first? What does version one include? All of those skills are not easily or equally distributed across all programmers. 0:53:20 · youtube.com
    Their wordsThe reason I say that is there's a lot of programmers who are not very good product managers. Software is product management. What should it do? Who should it do it for? How should it do it? How should it look? What are our priorities? What do we start with first? What does version one include? All of those skills are not easily or equally distributed across all programmers.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:53:20 plays here

    ↗DHH: Future of Programming, AI, Agentic Engineering, Vibe Coding & Linux | Lex Fridman Podcast #501youtube.com

    video · 5h 15m · spoken · official transcript

Even as roles blur, an excellent product manager who can rally multiple teams still adds a lot of value.

  1. Ian Silber Designer who led product design at OpenAI I still find a lot of value, for example, in having like an excellent PM that can help rally multiple teams together 0:20:17 · youtube.com
    Their wordsI still find a lot of value, for example, in having like an excellent PM that can help rally multiple teams together

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:20:17 plays here

    ↗Chatbots are not the final interface: OpenAI’s Head of Design on what’s next | Ian Silberyoutube.com

    video · 1h 12m · spoken · machine transcript

AI gives an individual contributor so much leverage that one very senior product manager beats three entry-level ones.

  1. Tom Verrilli Chief product officer at the live-shopping marketplace Whatnot you can have one very senior PM across more things and they can be more efficient than having, you know, three relatively entry-level PMs. 0:14:22 · youtube.com
    Their wordsyou can have one very senior PM across more things and they can be more efficient than having, you know, three relatively entry-level PMs.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:14:22 plays here

    ↗This CPO regrets that product management exists | Tom Verrilli (CPO of Whatnot)youtube.com

    video · 1h 24m · spoken · machine transcript

AI data tooling has cut the product manager's need for data scientists while multiplying the time they spend in the data themselves.

  1. Tom Verrilli Chief product officer at the live-shopping marketplace Whatnot as a product manager, I've spent less time in the last year talking to a data scientist than I ever have in my career, even though I've probably spent 10 times more time in data and understanding actually how the product's working than I have ever have in my career. 0:36:52 · youtube.com
    Their wordsas a product manager, I've spent less time in the last year talking to a data scientist than I ever have in my career, even though I've probably spent 10 times more time in data and understanding actually how the product's working than I have ever have in my career.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:36:52 plays here

    ↗This CPO regrets that product management exists | Tom Verrilli (CPO of Whatnot)youtube.com

    video · 1h 24m · spoken · machine transcript

Product managers are the AI era’s big winners: coding models are now good enough to pair a lightly technical PM’s product sense with actually shipping.

  1. Dan Shipper Co-founder and chief executive of Every But the coding models have gotten good enough that he can pair the kind of the technical knowledge he does have with his really spiky product sense and sense for writing and sense for users. 1:09:46 · youtube.com
    Their wordsBut the coding models have gotten good enough that he can pair the kind of the technical knowledge he does have with his really spiky product sense and sense for writing and sense for users.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 1:09:46 plays here

    ↗AI predictions: Job markets, Codex beats Claude, and the death of org charts | Dan Shipperyoutube.com

    video · 1h 34m · spoken · machine transcript

Product management is merging with the GM role as more companies become software companies, not disappearing.

  1. Melissa Perri CEO of Produx Labs; author of Escaping the Build Trap… As more and more companies become predominately software companies, I believe the Product Management role and GM roles are going to merge. melissaperri.com
    Their wordsAs more and more companies become predominately software companies, I believe the Product Management role and GM roles are going to merge.

    ↗Are We Getting Rid of Product Managers?melissaperri.com

Product management is not going away, but hiring product owners who just feed developers tasks should stop.

  1. Melissa Perri CEO of Produx Labs; author of Escaping the Build Trap… I don’t think Product Management is going anywhere, but I do hope the days of hiring Product Owners who just feed developers tasks are done. melissaperri.com
    Their wordsI don’t think Product Management is going anywhere, but I do hope the days of hiring Product Owners who just feed developers tasks are done.

    ↗Are We Getting Rid of Product Managers?melissaperri.com

A viewour reading

A team needs fewer product managers, or none, because the people who build can make the product calls themselves

15 claims filed here, newest first — each in the words of whoever said it.

The way the product management profession is set up, its median practitioner is probably pretty bad.

Filed here becauseFiled here because it is the case against the role as it is usually staffed, not against product judgement itself.

  1. Peter Sellis Former head of product at Discord mathematically uh it's kind of like set up to be this profession where the the median product manager is actually probably pretty bad. 0:18:18 · youtube.com
    Their wordsmathematically uh it's kind of like set up to be this profession where the the median product manager is actually probably pretty bad.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:18:18 plays here

    ↗90 minutes of unfiltered product advice from Snap and Discord’s product chief | Peter Sellisyoutube.com

    video · 1h 36m · spoken · machine transcript

The AI builder is a real job: some startups now hire builders instead of product managers or designers.

  1. Tamar Yehoshua Chief Product and AI Officer at Atlassian And the AI builder job is real. There are startups that are not hiring PMs or not hiring designers. They are hiring builders. 1:18 · youtube.com
    Their wordsAnd the AI builder job is real. There are startups that are not hiring PMs or not hiring designers. They are hiring builders.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 1:18 plays here

    ↗Roles aren't converging—they're expanding | Tamar Yehoshua (Atlassian CPO) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

    video · 21m · spoken · machine transcript

When every idea can be tried, many product managers will probably find they are not that good at zero-to-one work.

Filed here becauseFiled here as a prediction about how many product managers the cheaper building will leave standing, not a claim that teams should have none.

  1. Anish Acharya General partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) I think a lot of PMs are going to realize they're actually not that good at zero-to-one and it's much more fulfilling to work on someone else's good idea than your own bad idea. 0:17:43 · youtube.com
    Their wordsI think a lot of PMs are going to realize they're actually not that good at zero-to-one and it's much more fulfilling to work on someone else's good idea than your own bad idea.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:17:43 plays here

    ↗Why companies are becoming a series of loops | Anish Acharya (a16z)youtube.com

    video · 1h 19m · spoken · machine transcript

The lines between product, design and engineering roles have always been blurry and are becoming blurrier.

  1. Ian Silber Designer who led product design at OpenAI I think there's those lines have always been blurry, but they're becoming blurriier for sure. 0:19:38 · youtube.com
    Their wordsI think there's those lines have always been blurry, but they're becoming blurriier for sure.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:19:38 plays here

    ↗Chatbots are not the final interface: OpenAI’s Head of Design on what’s next | Ian Silberyoutube.com

    video · 1h 12m · spoken · machine transcript

A company should hire a product manager only against a specific need, never by default.

  1. Tom Verrilli Chief product officer at the live-shopping marketplace Whatnot we articulate it that way to kind of force ourselves to remember that you don't hire a PM just for the sake of hiring one, you hire one with a really specific need. 0:09:53 · youtube.com
    Their wordswe articulate it that way to kind of force ourselves to remember that you don't hire a PM just for the sake of hiring one, you hire one with a really specific need.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:09:53 plays here

    ↗This CPO regrets that product management exists | Tom Verrilli (CPO of Whatnot)youtube.com

    video · 1h 24m · spoken · machine transcript

Hiring product managers by ratio infantilizes engineers and designers who were perfectly capable of deciding for themselves.

  1. Tom Verrilli Chief product officer at the live-shopping marketplace Whatnot hiring so many PMs infantilizes the engineers and the designers who are perfectly capable of making good decisions, but just never had to because there was always a PM to babysit them. 0:07:10 · youtube.com
    Their wordshiring so many PMs infantilizes the engineers and the designers who are perfectly capable of making good decisions, but just never had to because there was always a PM to babysit them.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:07:10 plays here

    ↗This CPO regrets that product management exists | Tom Verrilli (CPO of Whatnot)youtube.com

    video · 1h 24m · spoken · machine transcript

Product managers should be assigned to problems, not attached to engineering teams.

  1. Tom Verrilli Chief product officer at the live-shopping marketplace Whatnot rather than mapping PMs to teams where you kind of assume that the PM will always do that, we tend to map them to kind of problems or kind of like core projects. 0:10:36 · youtube.com
    Their wordsrather than mapping PMs to teams where you kind of assume that the PM will always do that, we tend to map them to kind of problems or kind of like core projects.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:10:36 plays here

    ↗This CPO regrets that product management exists | Tom Verrilli (CPO of Whatnot)youtube.com

    video · 1h 24m · spoken · machine transcript

A whole class of product managers built a career on politics rather than on technical or customer skill, and that skill is now worth nothing.

  1. Tom Verrilli Chief product officer at the live-shopping marketplace Whatnot there's definitely a group of PMs and I certainly used to be one of them earlier in my career whose specialty wasn't technical or customer-oriented, it was politics. 0:18:14 · youtube.com
    Their wordsthere's definitely a group of PMs and I certainly used to be one of them earlier in my career whose specialty wasn't technical or customer-oriented, it was politics.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:18:14 plays here

    ↗This CPO regrets that product management exists | Tom Verrilli (CPO of Whatnot)youtube.com

    video · 1h 24m · spoken · machine transcript

Designers have stopped handing work off — they open the pull request themselves, which changes how companies build.

  1. Dan Shipper Co-founder and chief executive of Every And what you see when we work with them internally is now they're just like they're just making pull pull requests. Like they don't they don't need to hand it off as much. Sometimes they do but like a lot of times they just make pull requests and it's like the thing is built and that's it and I think that's incredible for the way that companies work 1:11:50 · youtube.com
    Their wordsAnd what you see when we work with them internally is now they're just like they're just making pull pull requests. Like they don't they don't need to hand it off as much. Sometimes they do but like a lot of times they just make pull requests and it's like the thing is built and that's it and I think that's incredible for the way that companies work

    Where this was said

    Watch from 1:11:50 plays here

    ↗AI predictions: Job markets, Codex beats Claude, and the death of org charts | Dan Shipperyoutube.com

    video · 1h 34m · spoken · machine transcript

Designers, not product managers, should own product direction, and a company can go a long way with designers doing the PM work themselves.

  1. Evan Spiegel Co-founder and CEO of Snap Inc. in the early days, my view was not that we don't need PMs. My view was that designers should do that work. 0:32:28 · youtube.com
    Their wordsin the early days, my view was not that we don't need PMs. My view was that designers should do that work.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:32:28 plays here

    ↗How to win when software is not a moat | Evan Spiegel (Snapchat CEO)youtube.com

    video · 1h 10m · spoken · machine transcript

AI has become a way for engineers, designers and product managers to wish each other away instead of working together.

Filed here becauseFiled under this view as its counter: it says the same dissolving of roles is how people wish each other away instead of working together.

  1. Frank Chimero Designer and writer in New York The fractures fell neatly along disciplines: engineers using AI to wish away designers, designers wishing away engineers, product managers wishing away both. In this climate, AI becomes frenemy identification technology, another way to avoid working together. frankchimero.com
    Their wordsThe fractures fell neatly along disciplines: engineers using AI to wish away designers, designers wishing away engineers, product managers wishing away both. In this climate, AI becomes frenemy identification technology, another way to avoid working together.

    ↗Beyond the Machinefrankchimero.com

AI prototyping ends the era of product managers asking designers to draw an idea, which frees designers for deeper work and lets anyone join the first conversation.

  1. Dylan Field Co-founder and chief executive of Figma PMs are no longer saying to the designer, hey, can you draw this thing out for me? That frees up designer time to go explore more deeply the stuff they need to go into and it allows anyone to kind of add to that first conversation of where should we go and look further and wider and broader at the option space. 0:46:16 · youtube.com
    Their wordsPMs are no longer saying to the designer, hey, can you draw this thing out for me? That frees up designer time to go explore more deeply the stuff they need to go into and it allows anyone to kind of add to that first conversation of where should we go and look further and wider and broader at the option space.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:46:16 plays here

    ↗Figma’s CEO: Why AI makes design, craft, and quality the new moat for startups | Dylan Fieldyoutube.com

    video · 1h 26m · spoken · machine transcript

AI has made individuals capable enough that the boundaries between engineer, designer, researcher and product manager should be dissolved.

  1. Julie Zhuo Co-founder of Sundial; former vice president of product… And so the main thing that I felt so excited about and this is something I tell my team all the time is we need to dissolve the boundaries of these traditional roles. 0:15:36 · youtube.com
    Their wordsAnd so the main thing that I felt so excited about and this is something I tell my team all the time is we need to dissolve the boundaries of these traditional roles.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:15:36 plays here

    ↗From managing people to managing AI: The leadership skills everyone needs now | Julie Zhuoyoutube.com

    video · 1h 36m · spoken · machine transcript

Putting a product manager on a team invites everyone else to delegate the product thinking away, which is why she does not hire them.

  1. Julie Zhuo Co-founder of Sundial; former vice president of product… I find that sometimes when you have like a designer or product manager and let's say I'm an engineer, then when I have a problem like, oh, I need to figure out the product definition, my default will be, well, I've got these people and that's kind of their job description, so I'm just going to delegate that to them. 0:17:17 · youtube.com
    Their wordsI find that sometimes when you have like a designer or product manager and let's say I'm an engineer, then when I have a problem like, oh, I need to figure out the product definition, my default will be, well, I've got these people and that's kind of their job description, so I'm just going to delegate that to them.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:17:17 plays here

    ↗From managing people to managing AI: The leadership skills everyone needs now | Julie Zhuoyoutube.com

    video · 1h 36m · spoken · machine transcript

Read, and under none of the views

On the topic, but saying something the views above do not cover.

Nobody has figured out how to build products in the AI era yet, and there is no one way to do it.

  1. Lenny Rachitsky Writer of Lenny's Newsletter and host of Lenny's Podcast But what everyone agreed on is that there’s no one way to do it. My takeaway is we’re all still figuring it out, and the best way to do that is together. x.com
    Their wordsBut what everyone agreed on is that there’s no one way to do it. My takeaway is we’re all still figuring it out, and the best way to do that is together.

    ↗@lennysan on Xx.com

Whether a product manager should write code or steer the team depends on the type of product and the phase it is in.

  1. Tamar Yehoshua Chief Product and AI Officer at Atlassian So we've done a bunch of experiments. We've organized teams in different ways, measured outputs, and the answer that we have come to is it depends. It depends what type of product it is. It depends on what phase in the product it is. 5:23 · youtube.com
    Their wordsSo we've done a bunch of experiments. We've organized teams in different ways, measured outputs, and the answer that we have come to is it depends. It depends what type of product it is. It depends on what phase in the product it is.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 5:23 plays here

    ↗Roles aren't converging—they're expanding | Tamar Yehoshua (Atlassian CPO) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

    video · 21m · spoken · machine transcript

The only real case for product management as a specialist function is that it is a trade, not a qualification — something you get good at by doing.

  1. Tom Verrilli Chief product officer at the live-shopping marketplace Whatnot The only argument as far as I'm aware for why you would want product management to be a specialist function is really it's a trade, not a qualification. 0:04:40 · youtube.com
    Their wordsThe only argument as far as I'm aware for why you would want product management to be a specialist function is really it's a trade, not a qualification.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:04:40 plays here

    ↗This CPO regrets that product management exists | Tom Verrilli (CPO of Whatnot)youtube.com

    video · 1h 24m · spoken · machine transcript

Being skilled at tracking project requirements doesn't make someone skilled at product management.

  1. Jennifer Pahlka Author of Recoding America But being good or even excellent at that does not automatically make you good at understanding user needs and making informed judgement calls about what features will meet those needs and how they should be designed. eatingpolicy.com
    Their wordsBut being good or even excellent at that does not automatically make you good at understanding user needs and making informed judgement calls about what features will meet those needs and how they should be designed.

    ↗The Digital Service Was Never the Pointeatingpolicy.com

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