In a startup or scaleup these days, everyone has an opinion about product – i.e. the design, the user experience, the journey and transformation the user experiences when using a product that’s thoughtful and delightful.
And this is great, because you don’t get thoughtful and delightful without being product-centric.
OK, but is the pendulum swinging too far on this one now. Like you are supposed to have a CEO, CTO, CMO, CFO, etc, like people who think about strategy, technology, marketing and finance.
But by being OBSESSED with product, there’s a danger that you just end up with N variants of a CPO – chief product officer – and no one would be any good at it. Being a CPO is a skill, just like I’m not going to have anyone put my name forward to be a CFO.
There’s specialism for a reason, and there’s need to be more attentive to product for a reason, but let’s avoid a situation where everyone ends up as a watered-down and slightly rubbish CPO.