

Viewpoint: CEO = Product Manager - betashop
http://betashop.com/post/7729476127/the-ceo-of-a-startup-must-be-the-primary-product#disqus_thread

======
SoftwareMaven
The startup CEO's primary responsibility is keeping the company going, whether
that means funding, sales, or product development. The problem is the current
need can alter at a moment's notice.

There is a reason Bill Campbell (CEO of Intuit) said your first hire should be
product management. I've written about that here:
[http://softwaremaven.innerbrane.com/2009/10/hire-product-
man...](http://softwaremaven.innerbrane.com/2009/10/hire-product-management-
first.html)

The article's general thought is right: early product management (we generally
refer to it as customer development here) is critical. It is just too
important to leave in her hands for long!

------
freejack
I'm not sure I agree with the author's view of product management or of how
singular control of the product strategy and execution is useful. Good product
managers don't insist on having things done their way, they insist on
understanding what users want and managing a team towards solving the hard
problems related to those user needs. The only reason Steve Jobs is successful
in how he approaches product development is because he is the CEO. No other
product manager I know of wields that sort of control over the product and the
paycheck of those he works with.

Success comes from having the right people do the right things at the right
time. I'd rather hire kick-ass product managers to help the rest of my product
team do kick-ass things than insist that the team does it "exactly my way".

I'd probably quit if I worked for someone that forced the team to do it
exactly his way...

~~~
betashop
I believe in the collaboration of the team being critical to building great
products. And, I believe in getting input and creativity from all parts and
players. BUT, in a startup, I do believe that the CEO has to feel direct
responsibility for the user experience, and that cannot be delegated. It can
be influenced, but not delegated.

And, I believe that it is very, very hard for a startup to succeed when
someone beyond the CEO is directing the product. That means the CEO is
managing someone else's creation.

I look to Google's return to product management running the company as
critical to that company's success. And I think Zuck and Jobs are also
testaments to this theory.

------
mancjew
When I first developing my startup I thought it was product first, but I soon
realized it's customer first. CEO should give a high level direction of the
company, connect with customers and feedback to the team. Sure he/she might
give their opinions to the pixel level but that's not their primary job. If
you're so hung up on building a great product as a CEO without spending enough
time to validate with the market, you're wasting your time.

------
ForrestN
This could be reframed as a debate between the usefulness of different CEO
archetypes. I might agree, especially for tech companies (I assume that's what
the author means by "Startups"), that the visionary product designer CEO is a
very effective one, especially at the beginning. But depending on the company,
other archetypes can become at least as useful: the skillful manager, who
hires all the right people and maximizes their utility; the
negotiator/competitor/strategist who reads the market, plays the press and
out-maneuvers other companies; the spokesman marketer who makes the case for
his product to the world.

Also, people should realize that Jobs is great at all of these skills, in part
because he's a genius but also because he's just really experienced.

------
drewcoo
Two topics:

The guy focuses on his strengths. Good on him. Not everyone should be him.
Talk about that or don't.

This is linkbait. CEOs should post linkbait. Discuss?

------
dustingetz
dude, your job is to be everything. so yeah, if the pixels are wrong, it's
your fault and you have to fix it, but probably not by diving into CSS. its
your job to go hire someone that is better than you at UX so you can fix the
stuff only a CEO can fix.

[http://bhorowitz.com/2010/05/30/how-andreessen-horowitz-
eval...](http://bhorowitz.com/2010/05/30/how-andreessen-horowitz-evaluates-
ceos/)

------
ebaysucks
Viewpoint: People = Generalizing their own experience

------
kirillzubovsky
Agree.

