Tom Verrilli, CPO at Whatnot, built his product org on a founding premise: he regrets that product management exists. Whatnot has crossed $8 billion in GMV and is the fastest-growing U.S. marketplace in history. Verrilli came up through Twitter during its most chaotic operational period, then led product at Twitch, which makes his skepticism of the PM role structurally informed, not performative.
The core argument Verrilli makes is that PMs too often become coordinators rather than builders, and AI is accelerating the reckoning. At Whatnot, AI has already restructured the data science function. He pushes toward senior ICs doing the actual work, not managing it. His 'play the accordion' mental model for leadership scope and his direct critique of 'hire great people and get out of their way' as a failure mode are the two frameworks worth reading the original for.
The full conversation covers what Verrilli actually looks for when he does hire PMs, what Twitter taught him about organizational dysfunction under pressure, and how he thinks the PM role should evolve as AI compresses the distance between strategy and execution. If you work in product or manage people who do, the specific details of how he runs Whatnot's team are worth your time.
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