This CPO regrets that product management exists | Tom Verrilli (CPO of Whatnot)

Product management functions often become bloated as companies scale, leading to unnecessary layers of alignment and politics that can infantilize engineers and designers. At Whatnot, the product team operates on the premise that product management should be a specialized, high-leverage trade rather than a default requirement for every team. By prioritizing individual contributor work, senior product leaders maintain a direct connection to ground truth and make faster, more effective decisions. AI tools further accelerate this shift by enabling non-PMs to handle data analysis and technical scoping, reducing reliance on traditional, meeting-heavy management structures. Successful product teams thrive by empowering senior leaders to stay hands-on, focusing on high-impact problems rather than administrative coordination, and using data-driven insights to maintain velocity without sacrificing product quality.