The Identity Crisis of Product Management
Product management gave me financial stability and amazing relationships. The role forces you to work with almost everyone in the company, which helped me build a strong network. This network got me my new job in just one month.
But here’s the problem. Most companies outside big tech don’t really understand what product managers do. They think we’re project managers or business analysts. Every time you join a new company, you spend months explaining your value and fighting for respect.
How many times have you explained to someone that you’re a product manager, not a project manager? This role is still too new and changes based on whoever is in charge.
Product Managers Always Take the Blame
We’re responsible for metrics like revenue or user growth, but we don’t control the things that actually drive those numbers. When things go well, marketing and sales get credit. When things go bad, everyone points at the product manager.
You can measure almost anything as a PM, but there’s always something intangible that will hurt you. Other teams have clear metrics they can point to. We don’t have that luxury.
The Problem With Product Leadership
Look up product leaders at any major company on LinkedIn. Most went to Stanford, Harvard, Yale, or Columbia. Product management is becoming an elite club for privileged people who studied business, not technology.
Where are the revolutionary products? Where are the new Googles and Apples? Too many PMs today care more about maximizing business value than actually loving technology.
I’ve interviewed people who say Steve Jobs inspired them to get into product, but they don’t know who Steve Wozniak is. If you don’t care about how technology works, you can’t have a vision for how to use it.
Moving Forward
This role has given me a lot, but I feel like an outsider in my own industry. I’m surrounded by people who can’t even explain their own products properly.
If you’re staying in product management, find a place where you’re appreciated. If you’re not happy, start your own company or find something else. The best companies right now don’t have product roles - they have product people as founders and executives.