Kevin Dunsmore

When I first heard that Meta cut roughly 10% of its Reality Labs division this week, I wasn’t entirely surprised. Over the past few years, Meta has gone through repeated rounds of workforce reductions. While I have strong opinions about many aspects of how the company is run and the strategies it has pursued, what I feel most strongly right now is sadness for those who were impacted. That feeling is especially strong because it’s now clear to me that the layoffs disproportionately affected the optics research group—an organization that began 11 years ago as a very small and uncertain experiment. At the time, Meta had no real presence in optics or display research, and many people in the field questioned why anyone serious about optics would choose to come to Facebook. The people who did choose to come took real professional risks. They joined without guarantees, without an established reputation to lean on, and often without broad external validation. Through their talent, persistence, and willingness to build something from nothing, they turned that early effort into a world-class optics and display organization which is what most people see today. Their work helped redefine what people now believe is possible in augmented and virtual reality displays. I’m glad that many were able to land in new roles and can, hopefully, continue that mission. But I’m deeply sorry for those who were not. To everyone impacted, I’m truly sorry. I’ll offer just a few thoughts: 1. There is life after Meta. Many of us were fortunate to work here during a time when there was room to explore and push boundaries in ways few companies would allow. 2. Layoffs are complex and often random. One of my mentors used to say success has two components: results and sponsorship. You can deliver strong results and still be affected by forces outside your control. These moments can also create space for reflection on what parts of our careers and performance we own and can improve. 3. Our relationships with companies are ultimately transactional. Look out for your own best interests, because companies will do the same. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care deeply or give your all—you should. But it does mean being thoughtful about where you invest your heart. And remember, you are far more than your professional role. I know first hand, the people who chose to build within the optics research team at Meta are capable of incredible things beyond any job title. More importantly, we are also friends, parents, children, partners, mentors, and colleagues. We bring lasting value to the people and communities around us—and no corporate process can take that away.

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At the last PMM_IRL, something stopped us mid-conversation. A PMM told the group she'd been applying to GTM Manager roles. Not because she was pivoting. Because when she read the job descriptions, they felt familiar. Three other people said the same thing that evening. I couldn't stop thinking about it on the way home. So I decided to actually go and check. I pulled 100 live job postings - 50 Product Marketing Manager roles, 50 GTM Manager roles - spanning 15 countries, 10+ industries, and every seniority level from specialist to VP. Then I tagged each one against 11 skills: positioning and messaging, sales enablement, ICP development, competitive intelligence, revenue ownership, product launches, pricing, and much more. The full dataset is in the Clay table attached in the comments. Every company, every role, every URL - feel free to audit it yourself. Here's what I found. 7 out of 11 skills appear in both role types at nearly identical rates. ➡️ Positioning and messaging: 98% of PMM postings list it. 90% of GTM postings do too. ➡️ Product launches: 98% PMM. 100% GTM. ➡️ Sales enablement: 92% PMM. 94% GTM. ➡️ Competitive intelligence: 90% PMM. 86% GTM. The chart makes it hard to argue with (see for yourself). So, PMM_IRL audience wasn't hallucinating. The job descriptions have largely converged. But, actually, here's where it gets even more intriguing. Three skills don't follow this pattern at all. And the gap isn't small - we're talking 46 to 50 percentage points of difference. Every one of those three skills is about one thing: who owns the number. I'm still digging, so more on that a bit later. If you're a PMM who's been applying to GTM roles or deliberately avoiding them - I'm curious what you're seeing out there. Let's have a chat!

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