What Makes a Great Product Owner?

You have a brilliant idea for an app. Your engineers are ready to code. But somehow, six months later, what they built looks nothing like what you imagined. Sound familiar?

This happens because there's a missing piece in the puzzle - a Product Owner. Think of them as the translator between your big dreams and the actual code that gets written.

What Does a Product Owner Actually Do?

A Product Owner is like the captain of a ship who knows exactly where they're going. They take your vision ("I want an app that helps people find parking spots") and turn it into clear, specific instructions that engineers can actually build.

Here's what they do every day:

They Write the Roadmap Instead of telling engineers "make it user-friendly," a great Product Owner says "when someone opens the app, they should see a map with green dots for available parking spots within 2 blocks of their location."

They Prioritize Everything Engineers love to build cool features. But a Product Owner knows the difference between "must-have" and "nice-to-have." They make sure the team builds the parking spot finder before they work on the fancy car wash booking feature.

They Speak Both Languages They can talk to you about business goals in the morning and explain technical requirements to developers in the afternoon. It's like having a bilingual friend who helps you order food in a foreign country.

Why Most Teams Get This Wrong

Many companies make a huge mistake: they think anyone can do this job. They'll have an engineer wear two hats, or they'll ask the CEO to write down what they want between meetings.

Bad idea.

When engineers try to be Product Owners, they often build what's technically interesting instead of what users actually need. When busy executives try to do it, important details get lost, and the team ends up building the wrong thing.

The Magic Behind Great Product Owners

The best Product Owners have a superpower: they obsess over the user experience. They don't just think about features - they think about problems.

Instead of saying "we need a login screen," they say "users need to feel confident their parking spot won't get stolen, so we need a secure way for them to claim spots."

They also know how to say no. When someone suggests adding a feature for finding gas stations, a great Product Owner asks: "Does this help people find parking spots better? If not, it can wait."

Red Flags to Watch For

Avoid Product Owners who:

• Always say "yes" to every feature request

• Can't explain why a feature matters to users

• Never talk to actual customers

• Think their job is just writing down what the boss wants

The Bottom Line

A great Product Owner is worth their weight in gold. They prevent expensive mistakes, keep your team focused, and make sure you're building something people actually want to use.

Without one, you're basically playing telephone with your engineers - and we all know how that game ends.

Want to learn more about what makes Product Owners tick and how to find a great one? Read the full breakdown here.

Coming Next Week:

Why Every Tech Team Needs a Project Manager - Keeping the trains running on time saves money and stress.

At Keiboarder, we help startups to Fortune 500 companies avoid costly software development mistakes with expert fractional CTO leadership, a clear roadmap, and a proven process to build and scale market-ready products. Get in touch with us, and let's build awesome things together! 🚀 Contact us