“….smart-creative product managers need to find the technical insights that make products better. These derive from knowing how people use the products (and how those patterns will change as technology progresses), from understanding and analyzing data, and from looking at technology trends and anticipating how they will affect their industry.”
“They don’t take all the product team minutes, they don’t project manage the various functions, they are not gophers for engineering. Good product managers don’t give direction informally. Good product managers gather information informally. Good product managers create leveragable collateral, FAQs, presentations, white papers. Bad product managers complain that they spend all day answering questions for the sales force and are swamped.”
PM Reader
A curated reading list for product managers and anyone who wants to think like one: strategy, AI, execution, growth, and leadership.
Product Canon 10
Essays every PM should read once and reread yearly.
- Good Product Manager / Bad Product ManagerBen HorowitzNew
- Product vs. Feature TeamsMarty CaganNew
- Product Management is Bring the DonutsKen NortonNew
- Why Does DARPA Work?Ben Reinhardt
- The Cadence: How to Operate a SaaS StartupDavid Sacks
- 2018 Letter to Shareholders (the power of wandering)Jeff Bezos
- 75 Years of US AdvertisingBenedict Evans
- Why Figma WinsKevin Kwok
- 7 Innovation Frameworks to Navigate DisruptionCB Insights
- How Competitive Forces Shape StrategyMichael Porter
AI Products & Business Models 7
How AI is changing what we build, how it's priced, and who captures value.
- Who Owns the Generative AI Platform?a16zNew
- AI's $600B QuestionDavid Cahn, SequoiaNew
- Building Effective AgentsAnthropicNew
- What We Learned from a Year of Building with LLMsYan, Bischof, Husain et al.New
- Your AI Product Needs EvalsHamel HusainNew
- The State of B2B SaaS & AI MonetizationKyle PoyarNew
- The New Business of AI (and How It's Different from Traditional Software)a16z
Generating Ideas 8
Where good ideas come from and how to spot waves early.
- How to Get Startup IdeasPaul GrahamNew
- The Next Big Thing Will Start Out Looking Like a ToyChris DixonNew
- Idea GenerationSam Altman
- Wave HuntingKunle
- When Tailwinds VanishJohn Luttig
- One ProcessJerry Neumann
- The Guide to Unbundling RedditGreg Isenberg
- Generating Ideas at AppleSelf Starter
Product Strategy 23
Moats, platforms, pricing, distribution, and market sizing.
- Aggregation TheoryBen ThompsonNew
- Strategy Letter VJoel SpolskyNew
- Commoditize Your ComplementGwern
- The Perils of Bad StrategyRichard RumeltNew
- Strategy LayersRich Mironov
- Moats Before (Gross) Marginsa16z
- Platforms in an Aggregator WorldBen Thompson
- Scale and Loyalty Online vs. OfflineGavin Baker
- Distribution: Channel as a Function of Product and Audiencea16z
- All Revenue Is Not Created EqualBill GurleyNew
- How to Miss by a Mile: Uber's Market SizeBill Gurley
- Four Myths of BundlingShishir Mehrotra
- App Store Pricing ControversiesJoshua Gans
- DoorDash and Pizza ArbitrageRanjan Roy
- Signaling as a ServiceJulian Lehr
- A Dozen Things I've Learned from John MaloneTren Griffin
- Lots of Things Happening at OnceMorgan Housel
- The Art of BusinessYoungling Feynman
- Services Marketplacesa16z
- Building Products for Power Users (podcast)a16z
- Product Work Beyond Product-Market FitReforge
- The Ultimate Guide to SaaS Product ManagementOpenView
- Valve Employee Handbook (PDF)Valve
Product Thinking 4
Mental models and first principles.
- Product Management Mental Models for EveryoneBrandon Chu
- The First Principles of Product ManagementBrandon Chu
- 12 Things About Product-Market FitTren Griffin
- How Superhuman Built an Engine to Find Product/Market FitRahul VohraNew
Execution 4
Shipping well and on time.
- The Time Value of ShippingBrandon Chu
- DeadlinesBrandon Chu
- Shape UpBasecampNew
- Working Backwards: The PR/FAQ ProcessColin Bryar & Bill CarrNew
Leadership & Organizations 9
Working with people, hiring, and growing into a leader.
- Navigating Success for Your StartupSam Altman
- How to Work with EngineersJulie Zhuo
- How to Work with DesignersJulie Zhuo
- Why Leaders Eat Last (video)Simon Sinek
- What to Do in Your First 30 Days as a PMKen Norton
- Find, Vet and Close the Best Product ManagersTodd Jackson
- How to Hire a Product Manager (10th anniversary)Ken Norton
- Crossing the Canyon: PM to Product LeaderReforge
- How to Become a Peak Product ManagerRavi Mehta
Frameworks 7
Tools for prioritizing, discovering, and setting goals.
- Opportunity Solution TreesTeresa TorresNew
- The Mom Test (customer interviews)Rob FitzpatrickNew
- What Is Jobs to Be Done?Alan Klement
- RICE: Simple PrioritizationIntercom
- What Is an OKR?What Matters
- Growth Loops Are the New FunnelsReforge
- The Road to $100MReforge
Product Design 3
Usability and onboarding.
- Laws of UXJon Yablonski
- 10 Usability HeuristicsNielsen Norman GroupNew
- First Run UX: Onboarding TeardownsKrystal Higgins
Analytics & Retention 3
Measuring what matters.
- The Power User CurveAndrew ChenNew
- What Is Good Retention?Lenny RachitskyNew
- Guide to Product AnalyticsMixpanel
Growth 9
Distribution, loops, and network effects.
- Four Fits: A Growth FrameworkBrian BalfourNew
- The Law of Shitty ClickthroughsAndrew ChenNew
- The Network Effects ManualNFXNew
- Do Things That Don't ScalePaul Graham
- What We Look for in FoundersPaul Graham
- How the Biggest Consumer Apps Got Their First 1,000 UsersLenny Rachitsky
- How Duolingo Reignited User GrowthDuolingo
- How Top Performers Use Innovation to GrowMcKinsey
- How to Achieve a Product-Led Growth StrategyHBS Online
Worth Reading 6
Great case studies that don't fit one box.
- TikTok and the Sorting HatEugene Wei
- Seeing Like an AlgorithmEugene Wei
- Shein: The TikTok of EcommercePacky McCormick
- Bill Gates Memo on Moviemaker (PDF)Sriram Krishnan archive
- Byte Down: Making Netflix's Data Infrastructure Cost-EffectiveNetflix
- Ecosystems as Major Drivers of Software DevelopmentDerek Jones
PM Interviews 3
Practice resources.
- Cracking the Google PM InterviewHackernoon
- PM Interview Question BankExponent
- Meta PM Interview Course (paid)Product Alliance
Blogs to Follow 5
Company and engineering blogs with consistently good writing.
- Netflix Tech BlogNetflix
- Spotify EngineeringSpotify
- DoorDash EngineeringDoorDash
- Figma BlogFigma
- Zendesk BlogZendesk