Spotify: squads and tribes. Squads are small cross-functional teams, each with a product owner who sets the backlog. When there are multiple squads, they roll up into tribes. Additionally, chapters and guilds keep engineering practices consistent across them (Kniberg & Ivarsson, 2012). On paper, the PM is a “mini-CEO” and the squad decides what to build. In practice, a former Spotify PM says PMs had to negotiate with every engineer, because they had no engineering-manager peer, and that leadership doesn’t really supply the alignment autonomy needs (Lee, 2020).
PM authority: high on paper, negotiated in practice.
Airbnb: functional, design-led. Airbnb tried business units, then went back to a functional org with Brian Chesky being the CPO. At Config 2023, he said Airbnb “got rid of the classic product management function,” merged PM into product marketing, and made designers equal partners (Mind the Product). I also found an episode on Lenny’s Podcast interviewing Chesky – where he emphasized that what gets built comes from one company roadmap that Chesky reviews on a fixed schedule (Lenny’s Podcast, 2023).
PM authority: narrow. Instead of owning the final call, PMs own the story and the launch.
Zappos: holacracy. Zappos replaced managers with self-governing “circles” of roles. A circle’s “lead link” assigns roles and priorities but can’t hire or fire (Fortune). Decisions go through governance meetings, so no one in particular (PMs included) owns the product. When Tony Hsieh made it “adopt or leave,” 18% of employees decided to leave the company (Fast Company). Sadly, Zappos has since quietly backed away from it (Quartz).
PM authority: spread thin by design.
Where I’d work: Among the three companies listed above, I would work at Airbnb. I care most about user empathy and design, where I always believe that good design should be traced back from customer needs. However, the trade-off is less PM ownership. Early in my career, though, I’d rather learn from a clear vision than negotiate for authority that exists only on paper.
