Most founders have sat through endless strategy meetings that never ship a line of code, or found themselves iterating blindly on a product without understanding the bigger picture. Tom Verrilli, CPO of Whatnot, gets it. In a recent chat, Verrilli made a provocative claim: product management’s widespread existence is regrettable. Instead, he pushes for empowering engineers and designers, and he's got a method for that—a mental model he calls 'Play the Accordion.'

This isn't about ignoring strategy or building without thought. It's about a relentless, intelligent rhythm between zooming out to define your goals and then quickly pushing in to deliver real value. Verrilli wants ambitious builders in their 20s and 30s to adopt this continuous oscillation, ensuring every iteration is informed and every strategy is tested.

Key Takeaways

  • Tom Verrilli, CPO of Whatnot, argues that the widespread existence of traditional product management roles is regrettable, advocating instead for empowering engineers and designers.
  • Verrilli stresses that senior product leaders must stay deeply 'in the weeds' and engage in hands-on IC (Individual Contributor) work to truly understand and shape product outcomes.
  • Whatnot employs a lean PM model with stringent hiring practices, pushing for deep domain expertise and a bias for execution within their product teams.
  • Verrilli’s 'Play the Accordion' framework offers a mental model to constantly balance broad strategic thinking with focused, value-creating execution.

The Tom Verrilli's 'Play the Accordion' Product Development Method

Stretch Out (Strategic Expansion):

Before you can 'play a note' or ship a new version, you must 'stretch the accordion all the way out' – meaning, zoom out to understand the full context. Ask: 'What is it we're trying to get done here?' This involves thinking through the problem, anticipated implications, and potential long-term effects of what you're building, as well as playing out potential scenarios (e.g., if usage explodes, unexpected knock-on effects).

Compress (Execution & Shipping):

To 'make music' (create value), you 'press the key and push it all the way back into V1' – meaning, execute and ship the smallest thing possible to validate your understanding. This is where the actual value is created.

Re-evaluate and Repeat:

After shipping V1, 'pull it all the way out again.' Ask: 'Okay, given what we just learned, what do we do?' Re-evaluate your understanding based on the experiment results and data, and then build the next progression. This constant motion avoids both endless strategic planning and directionless iteration.

When This Works (and When It Doesn't)

This method is crucial for product teams to continuously learn and adapt, avoiding the pitfalls of over-indexing on either long-term roadmaps or pure iteration. It ensures that execution is always informed by a broader strategic understanding, and strategy is constantly updated by real-world learning, particularly valuable in fast-evolving environments like early-stage startups or dynamic market segments. Verrilli explains, “You've got to get used to this motion that says like this isn't creating value. Like pulling it out doesn't actually do anything. All the value is created here, but until you are going through this motion constantly of saying we'll re-evaluate what we understand, how does this change what we're doing? You're probably not playing the right thing.”

Where does it break down? If your problem space is incredibly stable and well-understood, or if the cost of iterating (shipping V1, gathering feedback) is exceptionally high due to regulatory hurdles or extreme technical complexity, then a more linear, upfront planning approach might be less risky. However, for most software and consumer products, a bias towards action and rapid learning, as the Accordion suggests, beats slow, deliberate planning that risks building the wrong thing.

What to Do With This

This week, pick one key feature your team is working on or a problem you’re trying to solve. Before jumping into solutions, apply the 'Accordion' framework. Stretch Out: Convene your engineering and design leads. Instead of diving into user stories, spend an hour discussing the 'why.' Ask: What's the biggest business outcome we're chasing? If this feature exploded in usage, what's the worst downstream effect? What's the real long-term implication? Document these scenarios. Then, Compress: Define the absolute smallest V1 that could start creating value and validate your core assumptions. Ship that. Finally, Re-evaluate and Repeat: The moment V1 goes live, pull out your notes from the 'stretch' session. How do the initial results align (or not) with your initial scenarios? Use this new data to inform the very next iteration.