What is a Product Lead?

A Product Lead owns the product direction for a small, autonomous squad. You decide what to build, why it matters, and whether it worked. You're accountable for business outcomes, not just features shipped.

What makes this role different from a traditional Product Manager? You don't write specs and hand them off. You prototype ideas with AI tools before committing engineering time. You contribute code for straightforward changes (copy, config, feature flags, simple UI updates) so you can unblock yourself and move faster. You work in Git daily, read PRs, and understand what shipped without needing a status meeting.

The core job is still product judgment, discovery, and stakeholder alignment. But the technical bar is higher than a traditional PM role. You need to hold your own in architectural conversations, earn engineering's trust by being close to the work, and use AI coding tools as part of your daily workflow.

This isn'...