A terminology distinction used to scope a hire correctly:
The two can differ: a company may need a product leader (someone accountable for outcomes) without needing a PM leader (someone managing PM headcount), or vice versa. Getting this wrong produces a hire optimized for the wrong axis.
Feeds directly into Founder–Leader Ownership Map (the ownership tiers only make sense once it's clear which role is being staffed) and into how the MSN List (Must/Should/Nice-to-Have Hiring Framework) bullets should be written.
Doshi decouples "product leader" from the PM function or title: the role can be held by an engineer, a designer, or someone on the business side — not just a manager of PMs. He points to an organizational reality that cuts against title-based thinking: in smaller or earlier-stage startups, the CEO, not a formally titled CPO, is often the actual ultimate product leader.
"sometimes by the way that ends up being if it's a smaller company it's actually the CEO not the CPO the ultimate product leader sometimes is the CEO"
This reinforces the vocabulary split: "product leader" tracks who owns a product's outcomes regardless of title, while "PM leader" specifically means making successful products via others and building self-managing teams — see Create Clarity: The Core Job of a Product/PM Leader (Strategy, Editing, Meta Execution, Coaching) for what the job entails once held.