▲ 1 r/careerguidance
Have any app developers here also been made the Product Owner?
Is it normal to feel overwhelmed being both the app developer and Product Owner?
My boss recently told me I’m basically handling both roles. I’m still developing the app full-time, but now I’m also expected to think about product direction, feature prioritization, monetization, user behavior, and overall business decisions.
The thing is, I realized I don’t really enjoy the PO side as much as actual development. Especially because I don’t fully see or connect with the vision of the app itself, so trying to make product and monetization decisions feels mentally exhausting on top of coding everything.
For developers who’ve been in similar situations:
- Did you eventually adapt to the product side?
- Is this common in smaller companies/startups?
- How do you tell whether you’re just burned out vs genuinely not suited for product ownership?
- Is it okay to prefer staying more technical instead of handling business/product responsibilities too?
Would appreciate hearing honest experiences from others.
u/Fickle_Response_9366 — 3 days ago