Via Every

“At the PM level, I do think that the ability to build things is going to become much more important. My friend has this idea of a “Proto Manager.” […] Instead of being a product manager, you’re a prototype manager and you’re going to be expected to build prototypes instead of building documents.”

— She Built an AI Product Manager Bringing in Six Figures—As A Side Hustle – Ep. 24 with Claire Vo, at 39:38

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Claire Vo (Chief Product Officer at LaunchDarkly and founder of ChatPRD) envisions a transformation in the PM role where product managers become “proto-managers”—builders who create functional prototypes rather than static specification documents.

“I do think that the ability to build things is going to become much more important,” says Claire. ChatPRD is her tool for accelerating this transition.

The proto-manager skillset combines:

• Product thinking: Understanding user needs, business goals, and feature prioritization
• AI-assisted coding: Using tools like GitHub Copilot or Claude to implement basic functionality
• Design sensibility: Making tasteful interface design decisions with Tailwind and component libraries
• Rapid iteration: Moving from concept to clickable prototype in hours instead of weeks

This shift collapses the traditional waterfall from PRD → design mocks → engineering implementation into a single step where the PM produces a working artifact. The prototype becomes both the specification and the starting point for engineering refinement.

For junior PMs, AI enables leapfrogging traditional experience curves. As Claire notes about ChatPRD’s impact: “Junior PMs can use AI to upskill faster“—producing PRDs with the completeness and polish that previously required years of pattern recognition and accumulated knowledge.

The implication on PM careers: PM hiring criteria will shift from “years of experience writing specs” toward “ability to rapidly prototype and validate ideas with AI assistance.”