What’s a Product Manager (PM)?

A PM is a decision maker.

Products are the sum of decisions that compound over time. Great products have more good decisions than bad ones. Someone has to make those decisions.

Making good decisions requires context, understanding, taste, vision, and courage.

Without context, you are guessing. Without understanding, you can’t build a coherent system. Without taste, the product feels wrong. Without vision, you build what everyone else builds. Without courage, you play it safe and end up average.

So, do you need PMs? As a role, not necessarily. Anyone can do the job with the right ingredients and the right skills: engineers, designers, founders, etc. But as organizations grow, you’ll typically need full-time PMs.

PMing can be learned. Decision-making is a muscle you can develop. But some people are naturals.

If a PM just coordinates decisions but doesn’t make any, either the PM is bad, or the organization is broken. Often both.

Good PMs are more builders than “managers.” They don’t just run a tight ship. They transform it. They make it fly. They talk to users, run experiments, and use the product. They understand the system and see how the pieces fit together. They have high standards and pay attention to detail. They have a clear picture of the future they want to build. They take risks. They trust their gut.

Good PMs are rare, invaluable, and awesome to work with.