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Leading Product without Disempowering
When you’re a small startup – let’s say below 12 people – you’re one product team. One of the co-founders is almost always the lead product person. They make the calls, the chain of command is clear, and all is relatively easy. When your company scales past 40ish people, things change. You’re likely to start hiring product managers – that is, people whose job is to run certain areas of your product. As the founder, you’re no longer directly in control. There’s someone else sitting between you and the designers and engineers making the magic. This, it turns out, can be a very confusing transition for both the founder and the team.
