When hiring your first PMM, a decision needs to be made on where the role reports into. To jump to the end, the answer is “it depends”. And that is not a glib answer, it’s a very real one.
Where “could” a PMM report into?
There are no right or wrong answers here, and there are many more nuances and reasons than listed below, this is by no means exhaustive, only representative.
- Product: This is common in technical founder led companies, which then tend to grow into engineering driven organizations.
- Marketing: This is a model that works well where a startup or company is looking to grow and scale, and quickly. Often the product has proven to be desired, customers have shown a willingness to adopt and pay for, and the goal is to better enable sales and grow an external community of champions.
- Direct to Founder or CEO: And this third relatively regular scenario is often seen when either the pmm being hired is a leader who will be looked to to build and expand the marketing function, or when there is a desire for direct oversight, inflience and control of the message.
How does this impact how you hire?
Each of these models can lead to a different profile of PMM who will excel in the role and deliver impactful value. Take note PMM’s, you should ask about the org chart, and enquire about how and why the model is being applied :)
- Product: Likely a very technical PMM will fit into this model, they will be excited to be a part of the engineering process, look to be your “first and best tester”, run up labs and focus on practitioner level showcase and enablement.
- Marketing: This PMM will likely be a storyteller, one who has strenth in messages and narratives, looks for ways to craft content that resonates at scale, and probably is excited to work closely with sales.
- Direct to Founder or CEO: And in this scenario, the PMM will be an experienced person with significant experience, they would have “been there and done that”, be comfortable sitting in senior environments, understands the realities of decision making, risk/reward calculations, and will be expected to be a generalist operator who can both do the various aspects of a PMM team, and hire exceptional talent as the business grows.
What is right for you?
And now we reach the end. It depends. Where are you in your maturity journey? How established is your product? What does your customer base look like? What is the comppetitive landscape? What is the focus for your PMM?
So many questions, so many nuances. And this is why I recommend you engage trusted and experienced advisors. Product marketing is indeed a nuanced discipline, the impact can be signficiant, but getting it right can be a challenge.
Help exists, will you accept it?
Adam