1/ A few weeks back I asked folks for suggestions on the best writing on product management. I promised to compile & share back everything I've found, so here goes:
2/ One quick clarification: because PM-ing is extremely cross-functional, most of these posts aren't of the "3 core things a PM needs" variety but rather great writing on certain topics that PMs need knowledge + experience in.
3/ First, an insightful and hilarious read from @kennethn on how to (not) work with engineers. If you're a PM, it will make you laugh. Next, it will make you cringe when you recognize some mistakes you've definitely made: kennorton.com/essays/how-to-…
4/ In a similar vein, @joulee's cheat sheet for working *with* designers is great too. I love the key reminder that language matters a lot: talk about users, not metrics (there are plenty o' stakeholders who will indulge you in metrics-mania - hi execs!) medium.com/the-year-of-th…
5/ Mea Culpa: there really needs to be more product posts like this one from @BrandonMChu - it's a front seat view to how a poor assumption + decision derailed a whole product launch: blackboxofpm.com/a-bad-product-…
6/ These days, everyone runs experiments... but it's not clear how many aren't suffering from GIGO: garbage in, garbage out. @janovergoor wrote a great post about common A/B testing pitfalls to avoid from his time at Airbnb: medium.com/airbnb-enginee…
7/ In other news, LTV can be risky too. If building products (and companies) was as simple as one math formula, LTV > CAC, everyone would succeed. @bgurley has the definitive warning (and word) here: abovethecrowd.com/2012/09/04/the…
8/ Since it's not all math, let's talk strategy. And if one of the best product strategists in the world writes openly about it, we may as well go to the source: @JeffBezos annual letters are a gold mine: phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?…
9/ And if we're thinking about a new product, @pmarca's the "only thing that matters" on product/market fit is a good place to start: web.archive.org/web/2007070107…
10/ Theory is great, but it's also fun to watch actual products unfold and get traction too. @rrhoover's post on the origins of Product Hunt is a fun read filled with the tweets, emails and screenshots from the early days: medium.com/on-startups/th…
11/ Products that do get traction often do *one* thing very, very well. Early Kindle is my favorite example of that. @dunn's got a good reminder wrapped up in Bonobos founding story: medium.com/@dunn/get-one-…
12/ Getting *one* thing very right is orders of magnitude better than a 100 things kinda-sorta right. The latter typically leads to @andrewchen's Next Feature Fallacy. Before you know it, you've got 200 things kidna-sorta right and 0 customers who care: andrewchen.co/the-next-featu…
13/ Finally, writing = thinking. It forces clarity since the tolerable jumble of ideas in your head requires structure, definition and logic to write it down cohesively. Good writing is a superpower for PMs and @stevesi has some good writing on writing: medium.learningbyshipping.com/writing-is-thi…
14/ PS Big thanks to everyone @'d in this thread. When I first scoured the internet for good writing on PM'ing in 2006, barely any could be found. Now there is a compounding treasure trove of PM writing and I'm sure more great stuff is WIP.
