I think it difficult to judge which one is more important. The investor is the person who supports the budget for the project, and the manager is the person who manages the project to keep it going. The project will never be successful without either one of them.
However, if I have to pick only one person, I think the manager is more important. If the project is not managed properly, even a large investment will run out of budget. Conversely, if managed well, a successful project can be achieved with a small budget.

@wonbum-sohn I think you make a great point about how a good manager can make a big difference. however I still believe that the investor is still more important. This is because I have had first hand experience with how important it is to have funding for your project to ensure it can run smoothly. Delays in funding can grind the whole project to a halt since you will not have access to important tools and materials needed for the completion of the project. Meanwhile a team members do not necessarily need a manager as long as the maintain good communication with one another. Having a manager with no funding wont get you anywhere but having funding with no manager, while maybe less efficient than with a manager can still complete the goal.

Investors usually have expectations in terms of how they want the resources they are providing to be used and it is the managers responsibility to make sure that they coordinate with the team in order to meet those expectations and to keep investors happy. As indicated by @wonbum-sohn, if a manager is not present to coordinate with their team to schedule tasks and map out critical paths and to oversee the project to completion, then the resources provided by investors will not be optimized/used efficiently. However, without the resources a project may not even be possible in the first place but managers may come up with solutions for working on small budget. What you have proposed seems like a lose-lose situation, but depending on the project there are less risks with not having a manager rather than investors and vice versa. I think it is more important to have resources to work with as opposed to oversight when first starting out but as the company grows its easier for the company to sustain itself and not need investors, unless the company is always trying to be at the forefront of innovation. Does anyone agree or disagree with my claim?

Both are equally as important, however if one option had to be chosen I believe the manager is more important. A good manager can effectively utilize company resources in order to complete project on time and correctly. An investor is vital to any project but at the end of the day its just supplying the funding for others to complete the work. An inefficient manager can waste investor money leaving a project incomplete while the investors are left empty handed. No amount of funding can override the decisions of poor management. This is why before seeking investors for a project its imperative to have a clear direction within the project team.

I agree with @anthonynjit in that both are very important with the project manager edging out the stakeholder for importance. @anthonynjit raises a really great point about "No amount of funding can override the decisions of poor management." Since the project manager has a direct relationship to the progress of the project, the project manager really dictates how promptly the project can be finished. The project manager is also responsible for putting out any fires that may arise and being the key person that the team looks at for guidance.  In comparison, the stakeholder provides the funding for the project. Nothing can be done without either, however since the project manager has a more hands on role in the project, I think that the project manager is more important than the stakeholder.

Does anyone else agree or disagree?

Thanks,

Matt

I personally feel that yes while investors are important for funding and direction - managers are responsible for the execution. You will not have a successful project without a successful manager. You may have a lot of stakeholders and investors in the project but it will fail without anyone to lead the team and give firm actions and directions. Being in a manager role, I found the value in being able to give direction and bring a project to fruition, while investors may have some input but the work comes in the execution.

@njq3 I agree with you on this. Managers are the ones guiding their teams to be successful in completing a task. They are the last line of defense before the project gets submitted to the investors so I personally think managers have a huge responsibility when executing a project. On the other hand, investors play an important role because they fund and provide an outline of what they are looking for in the project, but I personally think the project managers play a very important role when completing a project.