Product Management is dead.
Action is all that matters.
Published Sep 24, 2025 · Around 2 minutes to read
I was listening to Jonathan Courtney (AJ&Smart) interview Sam Ovens, the founder of Skool.com. Skool has 18 million users, and it's built by a team of 30ish people. They can manage this because everyone at Skool is obsessed with building, not process.
Sam learned how to create mockups in Figma himself. First by drawing stuff in Photoshop, then tracing over them with rectangles in Figma. He then paired with his engineers to make sure the working software matched his vision.
No PRDs. No backlog. No standups.
Everything is direct. The builders decide what to build, the feedback from users is immediate, and the only “backlog” is what is painful enough to need fixing now.
Most company cultures are allergic to directness. Engineers can’t talk to users. Designers can’t ship without a meeting. Too many cooks means slower and subpar software releases.
Obviously, what works for Skool won’t work for other companies. There is value in herding software-building cats. But it was refreshing to hear people focused with craft. Especially when that craft results in successful software.
When I build software for myself, I vibe code a prototype to get a sense of what’s possible. Then I’ll jump into Figma to flesh out the UX and visuals. Then I hop between Figma and Cursor / Windsurf to get my idea built out. My backlog is a markdown file in the repo.
Building something beautiful has to feel like play.
And process kills play.
—
P.S. I don’t like using the phrase “X is dead”, it’s been beaten to death (ha). But I was too tired to come up with a different title. This is the last thing I declare dead. I promise.
P.P.S. I love PMs. Every PM I've worked with has been super chill.
READ NEXT