[kerblang]

I'm not saying engineers can't do the job; many engineers certainly are capable of working as product owners, and in most cases startup founders are their own product owners, regardless of ability (for better/worse, but usually for better if they're succeeding).

Rather, the point is that it's an extraordinarily critical function and not something to assume everyone is just good at because they say so or because they're "smart" in some sense.

[thunkshift1]

Its not so much about smartness, its about knowing what is the right move to make. That some one who isnt familiar with the product internals or the market knows better than the founders/engineers because of some innate ability is a bit far fetched