[tbragin]

I'm a product manager, and I'm glad that many commenters in this thread agree that we are not all useless :) Of course, just like with any role, there are those that are good and bad at it, but I am glad most of you worked with good PMs and know the value such a person can bring.

I also saw astute comments from folks that recognize that if the product manager role does not exist as a distinct role, someone else in the organization has to take on the work of determining what to build and when, based on market and customers needs - usually engineering or product marketing. There is nothing wrong with that, btw, just different way to slice the same pie of responsibilities. Finally, several folks rightfully pointed out that a product manager (person accountable for building the right product for the market) is very different from a project or program manager (a person coordinating internal activities).

The only thing I'd add here is that product management roles can also be very different, depending on the stage of the company (early stage vs late stage), the type of product it builds (e.g. B2B vs B2C), and the industry vertical. Looking at the author's LI profile, he seems to work for larger companies, in the financial sector, in the UK. Perhaps in that world (which I perceive to be a fairly rigid, regulated industry), the role of the product manager is quite different from what I have personally experienced working as a PM in the Bay Area for early and mid stage startups.