#ez-toc-container, .ez-toc-container, div.ez-toc-v2_0_17 { display: none !important; }
I am against hiring Product Managers in startups. Product should be the responsibility of the Founders, preferably the CEO.
At Vungle, I made this mistake and thought hiring PMs would magically fix our problems. I witnessed even more issues instead.
What Went Wrong
When we brought on Product Managers, things got worse:
- Sales team taking over our roadmap
- We shipped too many useless features
- Endless meetings and documents
A PM is going to be pulled in so many directions. They will say YES quickly and ship tactical features to show quick wins inside the org.
No Strategic Thinking
There is zero strategic thinking. There is no incentive to build long-term competitive moats.
Only the Founder or CEO can do this. They have the full context. They can say NO to most things. Learning how to become a better CEO means owning this responsibility yourself.
PMs Are Obsolete
In this day and age, you don't even need PMs.
Why bother with all that documentation when you can get it generated in seconds via an LLM? You can literally vibe code a full-stack MVP in hours without much technical knowledge.
This is one of the things I'm doing differently in my new AI startup.
Final Thoughts
Product is not something you should ever outsource. It belongs with the founders who have the vision, context, and authority to make the hard calls.
When you hand product responsibility to someone else, you lose the ability to say no. You lose strategic focus. You end up chasing quick wins instead of building something that lasts.
If you're a startup founder, own your product. It's too important to delegate.