I’ve been asked this question a few times lately (in nicer ways), so I thought I’d answer it for everyone.

I’ve also asked this question to a couple of product managers to see what they thought their job was.

I think a lot of people don’t understand what a product manager is or what one is supposed to do.

So let me tell you.

First of all, why is this important?

I’ll tell you why.

Startups are started by founders.

Those founders often play the role of a ‘product manager’ at the beginning.

So without this role, startups don’t start. We must be grateful for when a good product manager is in place with good engineers/designers, as magical things happen.

Okay - here’s the story:

Let’s take a trip down the history lane and explore when the first ‘product manager’ evolved.

Back in the day, everyone used to build their own house.