"Default to functional for new/small businesses, switch to GM model when you have distinct business opportunities that need dedicated focus"
Evidence from the Archive
Duolingo (ex-Airbnb, Etsy, Shopify)
Etsy's functional org enabled coordinated product development across a unified marketplace
Airbnb Experiences had a GM structure with its own operations, marketing, and product -- enabling it to define its own success criteria
Has worked inside both functional (Etsy) and GM (Airbnb Experiences) structures at scale, giving her firsthand comparative experience that most leaders lack Their core argument: Default to functional for new and small businesses, graduate to GM when you have distinct business opportunities that need dedicated focus and autonomy.
The evidence is specific: Etsy's functional org enabled coordinated product development across a unified marketplace. Furthermore, airbnb Experiences had a GM structure with its own operations, marketing, and product -- enabling it to define its own success criteria. When Airbnb divested from new bets during the pandemic, it reverted to a function-led structure for its core business.
In Nickey Skarstad's own words: "There's kind of two overarching popular organizational modes for product org specifically. There's either the functional organization where everyone in the product team will report up through either a VP product, or a chief product officer." (Framing the two fundamental models of product org design.)