Why is positioning a pre-build decision now?

Because the build stopped being the expensive step. When a prototype exists by Friday, positioning written afterward only describes what the prototype already decided. The questions positioning answers, who it's for, what they use today, and why they'd switch, are the same questions the problem statement answers, so they get written together, first.

What does the PM own and what does the PMM own?

The PM owns the problem and the evidence: what the customer is trying to get done, how often, and what it costs them. The PMM owns the competitive alternatives and the claim a skeptical buyer will believe. Design owns the behavior. Each owner signs their own section of one file.

What did Emily Kramer's job post analysis find about PMM?

Kramer describes product marketing splitting into systems-building PMMs who set shared context and campaign-managing PMMs who run launches. 44% of PMM posts ask for AI skills, and 23% ask for running campaigns end to end, against 35% across all marketing posts. A positioning file every agent reads is one of the systems she names.

Where should the positioning file live?

In the product repo, next to the spec, because that is where the agents doing the building read their context. Richard Melick argues PMMs belong in GitHub at four points: issues, pull requests, project boards, and releases. He cites the Product Marketing Alliance finding that 28.1% of PMMs carry roadmap planning.

Why do PM and PMM need the same boss?

Because each section of the file otherwise gets approved against a different scorecard on a different calendar, and the prototype ships before the argument ends. Under the CPO, who owns whether what shipped got bought and used, it's one conversation and one outcome number.

Who Owns Positioning When the Prototype Is Free?

Who owns positioning when the prototype is free and 44% of PMM job posts ask for AI skills?

THE SHORT ANSWER

The PM and the PMM own it together, in one file, written before the build. When a prototype costs a day, the expensive decision is which problem, for whom, against what alternative, and that is positioning. The PM owns the problem and the evidence. The PMM owns the alternatives and the claim the buyer will believe. The file lives in the repo next to the spec, where people and agents read it. Emily Kramer's October 2026 analysis of more than 1,100 marketing job posts shows product marketing splitting into systems builders and campaign runners, with 44% of PMM posts asking for AI skills and a positioning file every agent reads among the systems. Both owners answer to the CPO, who owns whether what shipped got bought and used.

When a prototype costs a day, the expensive decision moves to before the build: which problem, for whom, against what alternative, and why they'd switch. That's positioning, and it's also the first half of the problem statement. So they're one file now.

The PM owns the problem and the evidence. The PMM owns the alternatives and the claim. The file lives in the repo next to the spec, where the agents read it. Emily Kramer's analysis of more than 1,100 job posts shows the PMM seat splitting into systems builders and campaign runners, and the systems builder is the one who belongs with the build. Both owners answer to the CPO.

The full argument is part 2 of The Product Marketing Transition, which follows part 1 on why product marketing reports to the CPO. Every part is on the series hub, and the CPO side of the case is in The CPO Transition.

Last reviewed 2026-11-06 · 1 min read

Who owns positioning when the prototype is free and 44% of PMM job posts ask for AI skills?

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THE LONG VERSION

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