What happens when you don’t start with a PM

AI-native, hyper-growth companies like Cursor, Lovable, and Linear have one thing in common. They didn’t start with a product manager!

In their early days, founders have publicly shared how teams were set up (links in comments):

• Design and engineering at the center,

• Strong product judgment, with designers holding a high bar for quality and craft,

• And ownership sitting with the people closest to the work.

PMs came later —

when the challenge shifted from what to build to how to align at scale.

What’s interesting isn’t the absence of a role.

It’s what filled the space instead.

As playbooks shift and roles blur in an AI-First world,

design (finally) stops being merely the execution of strategy, and starts leading with having a point of view on what should exist at all!

Worth sitting with that.

Linear — Founder-led product built around taste, craft, and distributed product judgment rather than early PM roles.

https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-linear-building-with-taste

Lovable — Early team deliberately collapsed roles so senior builders could make fast, high-judgment product decisions.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/elenaverna_this-1000-this-at-lovable-we-shortcut-activity-7357095943877369856-_mIm/

Cursor — Rapid growth driven by small, senior teams keeping product judgment close to builders before formal structure.

https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-rise-of-cursor-michael-truell?utm_source=chatgpt.com