Why is Airbnb killing the PM function? 🥺
Airbnb's sudden move will change org structures for PMs.
Welcome to the 160th edition of the GrowthX Newsletter. Every Tuesday & Thursday I write a piece on startups & business growth. Today’s piece is going to 95,300+ operators & leaders from startups like Google, Stripe, Swiggy, Razorpay, CRED & more
2021 : Airbnb killed most of its paid ads 🤯
2023 : It reported $1.9 billion in profits 💸
Airbnb is making another disrupting move ⬇️
Quick context 🗓
It all started yesterday with Brian Chesky (CEO of Airbnb) announcing they are morphing the product management function into an Apple-style product marketing function.
Is he firing product managers? 🙈
Absolutely not. Airbnb PMs will now have to transition to a role where they will not just own building a product or a feature but also own the end to end success of it.
Why is this all of a sudden? ⚡️
It's not sudden. At GrowthX®, we have seen this happening across hundreds of internet companies. You can not build / launch a product without knowing how to market it - it's the atomic truth.
Airbnb's move has created a trigger 🕹
And you will see a lot more companies (especially large companies) follow this org structure going forward.
So, how should you navigate as a PM? ⬇️
1/ Understand the why behind the change ♥️
It's not being done with a malice. It's done to get product managers closer to revenue impact than before. You are not just technical managers, you own the end metric for "business".
2/ Get clarity for your own charter 🔍
Sit down with your pod leader - ask them if we are doing a similar change and will PMs also own distribution (marketing) with their marketing counterparts. Also, check how soon we might move to this model.
3/ Write down your skill gaps 📝
It's time to really think which of the "marketing" skill set you lack and segment them into softer and technical skills. As a PM you are not supposed to know say how to run paid ads - but you will definitely need to understand the channel.
4/ Speak to marketers in your team ❤️
They are going to be your buddies in this transition journey. Learn what they work on/ how they think & ask them deeper questions that you can learn from.
5/ Upskill yourself, ASAP ⚡️
As a PM, your life will go through a journey of compounding. You will no more be just someone who is building the product but also distributing it with your business teams.
Over 700+ curated product managers are inside GrowthX® community (which is 2,200+ member strong). They are compounding on the right structure to building products & also nailing their distribution play. They learn with peers who are growth leaders from top product companies like Airbnb, Razorpay, Netflix, Freshworks, Amazon, Google, Meta & more. Here’s how their learning experience looks like.
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Interesting read AP, how does this impact growth marketers and how can we bridge the gap on the product front?
Good thing to know which can help product managers also be prepared to get into growth and have an endless learning towards this.