Spotify’s classic squad model puts product decisions close to small cross-functional teams. Each squad has a Product Owner who prioritizes the work, while the squad decides how to do it; related squads form a tribe. The PO therefore has real priority-setting authority, but is not the team’s manager.
Airbnb’s functional model is more centralized. During the pandemic, the company moved from multiple divisions to a single functional organization, with overall product direction more centrally coordinated. PMs can own roadmaps and prioritization, but they work with engineering, design, and leadership rather than deciding alone. Design also has a strong voice at the top: CEO Brian Chesky, a RISD-trained designer, sets the company’s vision and strategy and has embedded a design-driven approach into Airbnb.
Zappos’ holacracy distributes authority through roles and circles rather than traditional management titles. A PM title by itself does not automatically create authority; decision rights depend on the roles and domains a person holds.
I would choose Spotify. For a music product, user experience, taste, artistic sensitivity, and creative intuition are not secondary concerns; they are part of what makes the product valuable. Technical stability still matters, but I think artistic and product intuition can sometimes deserve just as much weight, because a product can work perfectly and still fail to understand how people actually experience music.
That is why Spotify’s balance appeals to me. Someone is still responsible for priorities, so the team has direction, but the people closest to the work still have room to shape the product. Airbnb’s centralized model seems efficient and coherent, especially given the crisis that pushed the company to focus, while Zappos asks for a stronger form of self-direction. I would rather work in a system with clear direction without making creative judgment too centralized.
Sourse:
- Henrik Kniberg & Anders Ivarsson, Scaling Agile @ Spotify with Tribes, Squads, Chapters & Guilds (2012).
- Figma, Navigating the Intersection of Design and Business: A Conversation with Airbnb’s Brian Chesky (2023).
- McKinsey & Company, Safe Enough to Try: An Interview with Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh.
