My first title when I joined Amazon (15 years ago) was TPPM - Technical Product Program Manager. What does that mean? Well, here is a thread on types of PMs.
I have generalised a lot for brevity - obviously, there are a lot of nuances and different companies use these titles differently.
1. Product Managers own the definition of the product. They decide the "what" and "why" to build. They communicate the requirements through product specifications.
2. Project Managers own the execution of a project. They own launching the product on time as per specifications.
3. Program Managers own a program. A program could span across multiple projects and products and so they work with multiple project managers and product managers. Also, a program is ongoing while a project has a definite start and end.
4. Marketing Managers own the GTM (Go To Market) strategy and ongoing adoption of the product. They own taking the feedback from the market back to the product team.
5. Engineering Managers own hiring, training and allocating engineers to multiple projects. They own the people management and career growth of their Engineers.
6. Business managers own the P&L of a business or a business unit. Category Managers are a type of business managers who own the P&L of a category.
7. Technical Program Managers create technical requirements for a product. They take the product specifications and convert into more detailed technical specs. 'Program' here refers to 'programming' and not the collection of projects. They are usually part of Engineering.
8. Product Marketing Managers are product managers who are more outward facing. They own the 'Brand' of the product but leave the actual definition of the product to a different product manager. They own the 'Why' while product managers own 'What' and program managers own 'How'.
9. Technical Product Managers are product managers who are more inward facing. They have a tech background and work on technical aspects of a product. They could own a Tech Platform that multiple products use or own products internal to the company, or work on a core tech product
10. Product Program Managers own both the definition and the delivery of a product. They create requirements and also work with engineering to deliver them.
11. TPPMs (Technical Product Program Managers) have a tech background and own both the definition and delivery of a product.
12. There are other titles such as Delivery Manager and Development Manager. They might refer to Engineering Manager or Program Manager depending on the company.
13. Amazon also used the title 'Project Program Manager' which I never understood the need for. I think that title is no longer used. In fact, Amazon has simplified the PM titles a lot recently.
So who is the min-CEO? In some cases, Program Managers are the mini-CEOs hiring Product Managers to define products. In other cases, Product Managers act as mini-CEOs hiring program and project managers to manage the delivery.
There are cases where business managers or category managers are the mini-CEOs hiring program managers and product managers under them. Their case became strong when a Head of Category became the CEO of the largest startup in India 😉.
You can follow @sujayath.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled:

By continuing to use the site, you are consenting to the use of cookies as explained in our Cookie Policy to improve your experience.