Why product management’s org placement shapes its success

In my experience, where you place product management is as critical as whom you hire and how you train them. A team expected to serve the whole organization needs the influence and independence to act for the whole organization. My view comes from working in companies ranging from trillion-dollar enterprises to startups, and from ongoing conversations with peers and industry leaders building product functions of their own.

I have watched a particular mistake repeat itself, most often in smaller organizations under pressure to show fast results with technology. These organizations make the…