Here's a hot take: the PO role is redundant. Yep, I said it. In a well-functioning product team, the responsibilities of a PO should be shared between the PM and the engineering manager (EM). Maybe it's time we stopped adding layers to a process that's already complex enough.
Recently, I had a call with a recent grad who was considering pursuing PO as a career. I'm glad I didn't lie to him saying that a PO is not a career path. It's like saying that you're a financial modeler or a Figma file manager. These are all functions of bigger roles.
It's interesting to see the stats on PO growing in tech, in my experience PO is actually becoming less common. Most companies are trying to be more lean so you effectively have a PM doing the job of a project manager, product owner, and product marketing.
The first time I heard someone say someone's job was Product Owner, I was so confused. I always had just seen it as a function, never as a title.
And for those how have a PO and PMs, where are they getting the budget for this? 😅
Not my budget haha
Recently, I had a call with a recent grad who was considering pursuing PO as a career. I'm glad I didn't lie to him saying that a PO is not a career path. It's like saying that you're a financial modeler or a Figma file manager. These are all functions of bigger roles.
It's interesting to see the stats on PO growing in tech, in my experience PO is actually becoming less common. Most companies are trying to be more lean so you effectively have a PM doing the job of a project manager, product owner, and product marketing.
I sort of agree. I think most product teams would benefit from a Product Manager + Product Analyst (or Researcher) duo a lot more than PO/PM.