Ask HN: What makes a Product Manager different from a Project Manager?

It depends a lot on the company, but:

1. Project manager: make sure the product (as defined by someone else) ships on schedule with the top priority features (as defined by someone else).

2. Product manager: make sure the product meets user needs. This may involve some project management as well.

That's a good way to put it.

Also good to note that titles and roles depend on the company.

A Project Manager at Company X might also be the Product Manager and vice-versa.

I like to think of the Product Manager as the Product Owner. He/she has the industry experience and target audience knowledge and is the driving force behind defining the product.

A project has a shorted life-span and specific outputs that would mark the end of the project.

A product might evolve and run "forever" without a specific outputs to mark the end of the product.

A Product Manager: What and Why

A Project Manager: When and How