Make the case for or against dedicated product managers at engineering-led companies

The interviewer raises a skeptical view of your profession: some companies believe they have no need for product managers, and Google itself went for a period without them. What is your opinion? Take a position on whether a company needs product managers and defend it. ```hint Separate the work from the title Product decisions get made at every company, with or without PMs. Ask who does that work when there is no product manager, and under what conditions that arrangement stops working. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Are we talking about a small, early-stage company or a large organization with many products? - When these companies go without PMs, who owns product decisions instead: founders, engineers, designers? - Do you want a firm yes-or-no position, or is an answer that depends on the company's situation acceptable? - Should I draw on my own experience of teams that worked with and without a product manager? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A clear thesis that distinguishes the product management function from the product manager job title - The conditions under which a team can do well without dedicated PMs, and the signals that it has outgrown that - The specific value a PM adds, and the ways PMs instead become overhead, which is the skeptics' real point - Evidence from your own experience or a well-reasoned example, rather than abstract claims - How you, as a PM, would earn a place on a team that doubts the role ### Follow-up Questions - You join an engineering-led team that has never had a product manager and is skeptical of the role. What do you do in your first few months? - What would convince you that a team you support no longer needs a dedicated PM? - How would you measure whether a product manager is adding value?