Here's what I'm noticing: the new PM is no longer T-shaped, but pyramid-shaped.
Companies are deciding who should lead product, with some choosing developers, others designers, or PMs. But regardless of who's in charge, the product lead now owns and executes the entire stack.
What does that mean?
- Smaller teams.
- Product and marketing roles merge.
- You'll need to do and own more without external resources. They run vision, product, marketing, go-to-market, and revenue (CRO/LTV/P&L) — pulling in resources when needed and scaling as they go.
It doesn't seem very scalable, so this might be short-lived. But from what I've heard from founders, they expect team members to take on adjacent roles. Developers handling design and product marketing. Marketers getting closer to the build. And so on.
The real question is: if the end goal is P&L and each role can now step into adjacent responsibilities, who takes the lead: Development, Design, Product, or Marketing/Sales?
CMOs have a clear perspective (eager to run the show), but I'm not sure a CTO would feel quite as comfortable driving this shift, if you know what I mean.
What do you think? Who should lead product and how are those functions changing?