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What is the difference between a President of Product, and a VP of Product? Obviously a President is "higher" than a Vice President, but most companies have a

What is the difference between a President of Product, and a VP of Product? Obviously a President is "higher" than a Vice President, but most companies have a VP Eng/Product, but not a President of Eng/Prod

kesor 7y ago
Usually, companies have just one President, with all the others being Vice Presidents of the various aspects required for the company.
nostrademons 7y ago
"President of Product" is somewhat idiosyncratic to Google - I don't know any other company with that particular title. The etymology, I think, is specific to some quirks in corporate law, which still has some anachronisms from the 1600s. When you form a new organization, there are 3 positions that are assumed to exist: President (overall leader), Treasurer (responsible for keeping the books & finances), and Secretary (responsible for writing down meeting minutes). These are enshrined in corporate law, so when you form a new corporation, the bylaws need to specify holders for these offices (it's common for the founder to hold all 3, or to split them up among founders). The idea of a corporation in the 1600s didn't really envision today's massive multinational tech companies, so the actual org structure departs fairly significantly from these "official" offices. There's a rough correspondence that's developed though: President = CEO, and Treasurer = CFO, and Secretary = whoever's keeping the minutes. Sometimes you'll see this in official titles, as "President and CEO of X". Sometimes - particularly when you have a visionary CEO who needs a strong operational COO - the President title will be assigned to the COO. This is Gwynne Shotwell's title at SpaceX, and is a strong indication that actual operational leadership of the organization rests with the COO. A "Vice President", by analogy, is someone who helps out the President with the details of their duties. In the U.S. government there's only one Vice President, but many corporations have dozens. Google's tripartite leadership, with Eric as President & CEO, Larry as President of Product, and Sergey as President of Technology, was a way of showing that all 3 of them were in charge, and actual leadership rested with the triumvirate. If Larry had been VP of Product (a title actually held by Jonathan Rosenberg), it would've put him subservient to Eric, which is not how Google's leadership was actually structured. The reason most companies don't do this is that it's usually a really bad idea: having multiple bosses typically results in the destruction of the organization. Google could get away with it because they were so far ahead of the competitors and so profitable that having Larry & Sergey running around sponsoring crazy innovative products did not seriously impede the running of its normal business. It also speaks extremely well to the working relationship among the triumvirate, and Eric's humility in leadership.
- deleted 7y ago
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- lioeters 7y ago
  Very insightful. I had the same question why it's always the VP of Engineering but rarely does one hear of a President of Eng/Product/Sales, etc. Thank you for providing historical context in explaining these roles and how they worked at Google. > the working relationship among the triumvirate, and Eric's humility in leadership Respect!

kesor 7y ago

Usually, companies have just one President, with all the others being Vice Presidents of the various aspects required for the company.

nostrademons 7y ago

"President of Product" is somewhat idiosyncratic to Google - I don't know any other company with that particular title. The etymology, I think, is specific to some quirks in corporate law, which still has some anachronisms from the 1600s. When you form a new organization, there are 3 positions that are assumed to exist: President (overall leader), Treasurer (responsible for keeping the books & finances), and Secretary (responsible for writing down meeting minutes). These are enshrined in corporate law, so when you form a new corporation, the bylaws need to specify holders for these offices (it's common for the founder to hold all 3, or to split them up among founders). The idea of a corporation in the 1600s didn't really envision today's massive multinational tech companies, so the actual org structure departs fairly significantly from these "official" offices. There's a rough correspondence that's developed though: President = CEO, and Treasurer = CFO, and Secretary = whoever's keeping the minutes. Sometimes you'll see this in official titles, as "President and CEO of X". Sometimes - particularly when you have a visionary CEO who needs a strong operational COO - the President title will be assigned to the COO. This is Gwynne Shotwell's title at SpaceX, and is a strong indication that actual operational leadership of the organization rests with the COO. A "Vice President", by analogy, is someone who helps out the President with the details of their duties. In the U.S. government there's only one Vice President, but many corporations have dozens. Google's tripartite leadership, with Eric as President & CEO, Larry as President of Product, and Sergey as President of Technology, was a way of showing that all 3 of them were in charge, and actual leadership rested with the triumvirate. If Larry had been VP of Product (a title actually held by Jonathan Rosenberg), it would've put him subservient to Eric, which is not how Google's leadership was actually structured. The reason most companies don't do this is that it's usually a really bad idea: having multiple bosses typically results in the destruction of the organization. Google could get away with it because they were so far ahead of the competitors and so profitable that having Larry & Sergey running around sponsoring crazy innovative products did not seriously impede the running of its normal business. It also speaks extremely well to the working relationship among the triumvirate, and Eric's humility in leadership.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
lioeters 7y ago
Very insightful. I had the same question why it's always the VP of Engineering but rarely does one hear of a President of Eng/Product/Sales, etc. Thank you for providing historical context in explaining these roles and how they worked at Google. > the working relationship among the triumvirate, and Eric's humility in leadership Respect!