Lenny RachitskyHost of Lenny's Podcast | Author of Lenny's Newsletter

The Best PMs Leave, the Worst Stay

22 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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Lenny Rachitsky argues most product managers underperform and hurt their companies. The best PMs leave for CEO roles or startups because their skills transfer easily. The median PM stays, which skews the remaining pool toward lower performers.

something that I know you believe. Most product managers are bad and are often net negative to the company.
The skills you develop as a product leader are almost perfect for either other executive roles or starting your own company. Like, the great product managers are exiting the system, and on the other side of the distribution, anybody who's in is doing anything possible to stay in. I think mathematically, It's kind of like set up to be this profession where the median product manager is actually probably pretty bad.