You count your PMs by ratio. That ratio stopped measuring what you th…
Tom Verrilli argues for fewer, more senior PMs over any headcount ratio. He gives no number, and that is the thesis. What the ratio actually measured, and the question left when you cannot afford his answer.
Tom Verrilli runs product at Whatnot, the live auction platform. On 2 August he publicly defended a position that is uncomfortable for his own craft: he regrets that product management exists in its current form. His thesis fits on one line. Fewer, more senior PMs doing real hands-on work beat any organisation built on a headcount ratio. The detail most write-ups missed: he gives no number. What it means for you (PM, PO, product lead): the "one PM per N people" ratio you size teams with measures a workload that changed nature while the number stayed put. This week: take your past week and split it into coordination on one side, judgement calls on the other. Why now: the question was just raised publicly by someone who runs the function, which makes it askable internally without sounding…