deadpm

Unpopular Opinion: It's a great time to be a PM

No, I'm not talking about the job market. That's dog shit -- barely any vacancies, and engineers earn 25%ish more.

However, in a world with 10x better Co-Pilots and other GenAI tools, problem identification is going to be every employee's moat. 'Tech-Enabled' Business PMs will have the brightest futures. There's already a rise in PM-led vs Eng-led startups. This will become clearer 5-10 years down the line.

Also, supply-demand is not as skewed as you think. Everyone thinks this job is easy, and hence, a bunch of folks are aspiring PMs on LinkedIn. I believe quality PMs are still rare (personally have a long way to go).

Would love to hear more. I'm young in my career and maybe naive but this is what I feel.

9mo ago

Kamlesh

Stealth9mo

Yet to see a PM launch a startup without knowing how to code. There may be a few here and there, but if it was that easy more people would be doing it.

Sounds good on paper but when you start executing and facing tech problems with a platform and language you barely understand, you'll see why good engineers are still needed.

Engineers can be PMs but PMs can't be engineers. Learning curve is too high for coding.

deadpm

Stealth9mo

Definitely true but we are moving towards a future where deploying an MVP is going to be much easier. To some extent, it already is.

I think PMs will thrive in an environment like that.

Kamlesh

Stealth9mo

True, but what about scaling that MVP? It's still very difficult for non engineers.

If it's cookie cutter basic stuff like setting up Shopify stores, no problem. Anything more customized and complex would still need coders beyond a point.

Many people still don't understand how APIs work, how to setup custom domains, emails, hosting etc. Even I barely understand it all myself. I am forced to depend on an external dev agency for handling all of that.

RealOldmonk

Stealth9mo

GenAI tool can list down the template, but without having hands on I don’t know if it can build a system which can handle Millions RPS, if it can do that then it won’t need the PM as well, AI will do everything on its own, probably turn sentient

deadpm

Stealth9mo

I'm not saying engineers are going to become redundant.

Product sense as a skill will become more valuable because it's unstructured and harder to replicate with Gen AI
Entry barrier to tech is going to reduce -- launching MVPs will be much easier

RealOldmonk

Stealth9mo

Have you talked to an engineer with a product problem which will touch a Billion user, with 500M request per day, have you even thought about what will happen if thats the case?

Undercover08

Startup9mo

What is your product experience? What is your specific value add in your organisation, you feel? Just curious

deadpm

Stealth9mo

3 YOE. Worked on a 0-1 product for a unicorn and now at a seed stage startups.

Value adds (in order of impact):

Problem identification and opportunity sizing through research/analytics
Process optimisation with business teams -- decreasing scope for internal products/saving cost
Building hacky automations, eliminating dependencies, etc. -- anything that saves eng time
Initial solutioning, alignment, GTM, impact analysis
Random generalist shit

CheckOut

Flipkart9mo

😅 another 0-1 wetback thinks he knows the world smh

salt

Gojek9mo

I am inclined to agree. There is an advantage to Product first Engineers and Engineering first PMs.

AI can bridge the gap between the two yielding a better ROI.

CheckOut

Flipkart9mo

Lol. U r sounding more as a hopeful prayer. Good that you have hope if nothing else as a PM...

Discover more

Curated from across

UpiJuspay2mo

Wdy think about this take on PM careers by amul.exe? Is future this grim?

2.2K views

UpiJuspay9mo

PM future seems bleak?

Almost every other post about PM function is as eye opening as this. What do you guys think?

x.com

PhonyDollarSAP7mo

We need PMs more than you think...

Lately I am seeing a lot more people talk about the fact that being a PM is a sub optimal strategy for an eventful career in Tech. However, let me remind you that people in tech tend to be predominantly engineers and they like the people...

saltGojek1mo

AI Will Replace 50% of Product Managers soon, and that's a good thing...

It's time we face an uncomfortable truth: AI is coming for our jobs, and it's coming fast. But it might be the best thing that has happened to ProdMan. Here's why:

AI will eliminate mediocrity because significant portion of PMs are...

26K views

CaptainPlanetStealth18mo

Seeing lot of anti Product Manager sentiment on this app off late. Was Product Management also a fad?

Consultant, Investment Banking went from sought after careers to fads post 2008 crisis when the world realized that these folks are crooks due to their role in propogating the Great Financial Crisis.

Given the backlash tech companies ha...

Top comment

Someone here said engineers can become PM but PM can't become engineers. It can't be more correct than this. But real...

Or get it on the stores.

Privacy Terms

Guidelines Help