Anton Zaides, a seasoned software engineer and leader, discusses the broken state of product management in the tech industry.
Key challenges include developing unused features, increasing software complexity, and misaligned incentives.
Product managers often become more like program managers, focusing on internal processes rather than customer engagement.
Anton advocates for changes like offloading program management, trusting product managers, and involving engineers in customer interactions.
He emphasizes the importance of direct communication between technical teams and customers to improve product development.
Practical implementation tips include involving engineers in customer conversations and giving them visibility through release messaging.
Recommended resources for further study include articles by Anton Zaides and John Cutle, as well as a book recommendation by Marty Cagan.
Anton Zaides has 15 years of experience in software engineering, from game development to leading DevOps and scaling startups.
He started sharing insights for engineering managers in 2023 and writes a newsletter called 'Leading Developers.'
Anton Zaides advocates for improving product management by bringing engineers and product managers closer, enhancing customer interactions, and treating product managers as business owners.