👋 I'm a PM and Product Exec and have focused on helping early stage startups develop product market fit. This is a set of resources that, while not exhaustive, have been helpful in shaping my understanding of the role of product management.
The role of a product manager is shaped almost entirely by the stage and needs of the company. PMs fill the gray spaces between engineering and the rest of the org and are ultimately responsible for getting the best possible version of the product to market and ensuring that it adopted well. Occasionally, when the size and effectiveness of the team line up, you will have partners in making that happen, but you will always have to assume the responsibility for making the product successful. That success depends on understanding your customer, the jobs they are trying to get down and the unique ways that your product solves that problem. And while being right about his matters in the long run, the first thing that always matters is shipping. Get your team shipping and then get them shipping the right thing.
A great place to start when learning about product management is Elad Gil's overview in High Scale Growth: https://growth.eladgil.com/book/chapter-7-product-management/product-management-overview/
- Inspired: https://www.svpg.com/books/inspired-how-to-create-tech-products-customers-love-2nd-edition
- A classic book that most PMs are required to read at some point. Most teams I've worked with are based in some part on the setup described by Marty Cagan in Inspired.
- Demand-Side Sales: https://therewiredgroup.com/learn/demand-side-sales-101/
- Bob Moesta's approach to learning from customers and synthesizing their feedback has been instrumental for me in terms of understanding why people buy products.
- Competing Against Luck: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/competing-against-luck-clayton-m-christensentaddy-hallkaren-dillondavid-s-duncan?variant=32207691743266
- The original book about Jobs to Be Done from Clay Christensen
- The Lean Startup: https://theleanstartup.com/
- A key book with seminal concepts like the MVP and lean product development
- Lenny’s Podcast: The best (currently) product podcast with interviews from Founders and Product Managers
- Kari Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4muxFVZ4XfM
- Shreyas Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP_QghPLG-8
- Bob Moesta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQV7HVyAJjc
- Jeff Weinstein: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbZQjprTnrU
- Hamilton Hemler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKq1_KPSqy0
- Ian McAllister: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gaPPrAd7nc
- Invest Like the Best: A business podcast where several episodes shaped my thinking about Products and Strategy.
- Collison Brothers: https://joincolossus.com/episode/collison-a-business-state-of-mind/
- Andy Rachleff: https://joincolossus.com/episode/rachleff-building-something-people-want-to-buy/
- Daniel Ek: https://joincolossus.com/episode/ek-the-future-of-audio/
- Instagram Guys: https://joincolossus.com/episode/krieger-how-to-build-a-great-product/
- Bill Gurley: https://joincolossus.com/episode/gurley-all-things-business-and-investing/
- 11 Laws of Showrunning: https://okbjgm.weebly.com/uploads/3/1/5/0/31506003/11_laws_of_showrunning_nice_version.pdf
- Product management is a bit like show running: lots of decisions and you get judged on the outcomes of what you orchestrate
- Products are Functions: https://www.feltpresence.com/functions/
- From Ryan Singer, formerly or of Basecamp, and it provides a nice, tight metaphor for thinking about products
- Superhuman's PMF Engine: https://review.firstround.com/how-superhuman-built-an-engine-to-find-product-market-fit/
- A look at how Superhuman quanitifies product-market-fit
- Schumpeter on Strategy: https://reactionwheel.net/2019/01/schumpeter-on-strategy.html
- An interesting read on how value acrues