Product Owner: From business or from tech?

There's a never-ending debate: Should a PO be chosen from the business side - or from the technical side? Let's look into this question.

What's a Product Owner?

In short, the Product Owner is the person who is key to the product's success. They decide what is being built - and with that, they decide how the money is spent. The PO is responsible for setting the team's priority, thereby deciding how the product generates value.

This begs the question: What does any of this have to do with their position in the Org Chart?

Advantages of a business PO

The PO from a business background often tends to be closer to real users of the product, i.e., they might have a better understanding how the product contributes to the company's success. Also, due to their background, they might have a communication advantage when talking with non-technical people. This advantage can become even greater if they have already established a network with real users.

Advantages of a technical PO

The PO with a technical background might have a more sound judgment on the development cost of features. They may be better at asking the right questions which open technical alternatives to minimize the effort for meeting customer needs. Likewise, they are able to correct misunderstandings faster if developers and customer have different intentions.

What neither may bring

As mentioned above, the PO is about maximizing the value of the product. This requires a deep understanding of concepts like "value", "ROI", "cost of delay", "opportunity cost", "investment", "customer satisfaction", "growth potential", "priority" and "sustainability". 

On top of that, there are soft skills like dealing with conflicting interests, making tough choices and others. The PO requires more grit than anyone else on the team.

It doesn't matter as much what the PO did in the past - if they aren't good at the items mentioned in this section, you have the wrong PO. If they can do these things in the organization's best interests, the rest can be remedied over time.

Summary

The past of a PO, i.e. their background, doesn't matter all that much. What matters is: Does your PO have the right understanding, mindset and skillset to do their current job?

If the PO doesn't have these, they need some basic training and good coaching. That should help. Otherwise, find someone who can bring thse. Technical, business - doesn't matter.