What does a product manager do?

Ask what a product manager does and you'll often hear about roadmaps. The CEOs here start with the decision behind the roadmap.

Matt Mullenweg, who was a product manager at CNET, says the hard part is translating user pain and company goals into something a team can ship. Jason Lemkin says the job starts with spending more time with customers than anyone else.

Their answers cover deciding what to build, working with customers, and keeping a team focused.

Who you should listen to

Seven CEOs, including Matt Mullenweg, who was a product manager at CNET, and Kian Katanforoosh, whose product managers at Workera sit with design and engineering. Listen for how product works at a company like yours.

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  Matt Mullenweg · CEO of Automattic and co-founder of WordPress

  Listen for: Why the roadmap isn't the hardest part, from his time as a PM at CNET.

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  Jason M. Lemkin · CEO of SaaStr; co-founded EchoSign and scaled it through its acquisition by Adobe

  Listen for: Why customer time comes first.

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  Andrew Feldman · Co-founder and CEO of Cerebras Systems, which builds wafer-scale chips

  Listen for: Lining up engineering, sales, marketing, and customers behind one decision.

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  Bill Canady · CEO of Arrowhead Engineered Products and founder of The 80/20 Institute

  Listen for: Keeping a team on the few things that move the needle.

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  Vishen Lakhiani · Founder and CEO of Mindvalley, a personal transformation education company

  Listen for: The product manager as translator between founder and team.

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  Kian Katanforoosh · CEO and founder of Workera; adjunct lecturer in AI at Stanford

  Listen for: Using usage data to see whether a bet was right.

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  Matt Paulson · Founder and CEO of MarketBeat, a financial media company

  Listen for: Building around one core user behavior.

What do CEOs expect from a product manager?

Matt Mullenweg

CEO of Automattic and co-founder of WordPress

Co-founded WordPress at 19

Why themA rare view on running a large remote company built around open source.

Matt’s advice: Decides what gets built and why, then rallies design, engineering, and the business.

“A product manager is the person who decides what gets built and why, then rallies design, engineering, and the business around that decision. When I was a PM at CNET, I learned that the hardest part isn't the roadmap; it's translating user pain and company goals into something a team can ship.”

Go deeper with Matt

Jason M. Lemkin

CEO of SaaStr; co-founded EchoSign and scaled it through its acquisition by Adobe

Scaled EchoSign to $100M+ ARR

Why themDirect on B2B sales, fundraising, and scaling to $100M ARR.

Jason’s advice: Spends more time with customers than anyone, then turns their needs into a roadmap.

“A product manager's job is to spend more time with customers than anyone else, figure out what they actually need, and translate that into a roadmap engineering can ship.”

Go deeper with Jason

Andrew Feldman

Co-founder and CEO of Cerebras Systems, which builds wafer-scale chips

Co-founded SeaMicro

Why themCan speak to building hardware and competing in the chip market.

Andrew’s advice: Decides what gets built, why, and for whom, then lines everyone up behind it.

“A product manager is the person who decides what gets built, why, and for whom, then makes sure engineering, sales, marketing, and customers all line up behind it.”

Go deeper with Andrew

Bill Canady

CEO of Arrowhead Engineered Products and founder of The 80/20 Institute

30+ years leading companies

Why themConcrete on accountability, margins, and moving from founder to chief executive.

Bill’s advice: Owns what the team makes, for whom, and why it wins, then keeps the focus on a few things.

“A product manager owns the answer to what are we making, for whom, and why it wins. They translate customer pain and business strategy into a roadmap, then fight to keep the team focused on the few things that actually move the needle.”

Go deeper with Bill

Vishen Lakhiani

Founder and CEO of Mindvalley, a personal transformation education company

NYT bestselling author

Why themGood for big questions about purpose and the rules people live by.

Vishen’s advice: Translates the founder's vision into clear user problems and priorities.

“A product manager is the translator between the founder's vision and the team that builds it. They take what the founder sees in the field, turn it into clear user problems and priorities, and make sure engineering, design, and QA ship solutions that actually land.”

Go deeper with Vishen

Kian Katanforoosh

CEO and founder of Workera; adjunct lecturer in AI at Stanford

Co-created Coursera's Deep Learning Specialization

Why themWorks on measuring skills, useful for anyone thinking about learning and hiring.

Kian’s advice: Turns customer pain into decisions, then watches usage data to check the bet.

“A product manager translates a real customer pain into a decision framework the squad can execute against, then lives inside the usage data to see if the bet was right. At Workera, our PMs sit in trios with design, engineering, and AI, and their job is to make sure we ship what moves the customer outcome, not what moves the roadmap.”

Go deeper with Kian

Matt Paulson

Founder and CEO of MarketBeat, a financial media company

5.5M+ subscribers

Why themHands-on about email lists, online business, and angel investing.

Matt’s advice: Figures out what to build and makes sure the team ships it.

“A product manager figures out what to build and why, then makes sure the team actually ships it. At MarketBeat, our product calls come down to one core user behavior loop and stripping away everything that doesn't serve it.”

Go deeper with Matt

Everyone’s advice at a glance

What a product manager does, step by step

1. 1

   Talk to customers. Jason Lemkin says a product manager should spend more time with customers than anyone else and figure out what they need.

2. 2

   Decide what to build and why. Andrew Feldman, Matt Mullenweg, and Bill Canady all put this decision at the center: what, for whom, and why.

3. 3

   Turn it into priorities a team can ship. Vishen Lakhiani calls the product manager a translator, turning what the founder sees into clear user problems and priorities.

4. 4

   Get everyone behind it. Andrew Feldman says engineering, sales, marketing, and customers should all line up behind the decision.

5. 5

   Cut what doesn't serve the user. Matt Paulson's product calls come down to one core user behavior loop. Bill Canady keeps the team on the few things that move the needle.

6. 6

   Check whether it worked. Kian Katanforoosh's product managers live inside the usage data to see if the bet was right.