Working notes from product people

Ask the people who’ve done it.

Q:
Answers quote and cite the source notes

01 — TopicsFourteen drawers, sorted.

3 more drawersBrowse all 14 topics →
Open drawer · 07

PM career & craft

466 notes · 91 people · 2005–2026
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 1,602

500,000

Sep 11, 2023 · 11 min

“This week the newsletter hit 500,000 subscribers, which I’m told makes it among the top five largest newsletters on Substack and one of the largest newsletters broadly. Friggin’ bonkers. A big round number is a good time to reflect, so I’ve collected some lessons from my journey. I still only sort of know what I’m doing, and it’s unclear where this all goes, but if you’re thinking about embarking on a writing journey, or are just…”

Substack · Shreyas Doshi♥ 324

10 ideas for 2026

Dec 30, 2025

Shreyas Doshi argues that clear thinking underpins everything product people do, yet most of us have significant gaps in how we reason. In this year-end essay he offers ten ideas for 2026, framed explicitly as useful to…

@shreyas · Shreyas Doshi on X♥ 241
ON TOUGH TIMES AT WORK People are different, and different people need different things to get them through tough times at work — times when work is stressful, or you’re dealing with annoying politics, or just when the motivation tank is running low. For some, it’s energizing
The Looking Glass podcastApr 14, 2026

How to Spot a World-Class Designer

Apr 14, 2026
Key learnings
  • World-class designers are distinguished by judgment and taste, not just the ability to execute polished visuals.
  • Excellent designers obsess over the underlying problem before jumping to solutions, which separates them from those who iterate…
  • Strong designers can articulate why a decision is right, tying craft choices back to user needs and business constraints.
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 363

How to develop product sense

Mar 15, 2022 · 18 min

Jules Walter argues that product sense is a learned skill rather than an innate talent, defined as consistently crafting products that have the intended impact on users through empathy and creativity. He offers four…

@shreyas · Shreyas Doshi on X♥ 229
Most mid-career product people who are doing reasonably well make 2 implicit assumptions that affect their quality of life: 1. the ceiling of key product skills is just an inch higher than where they are now (i.e. they’re basically already at the ceiling) 2. the point of any upskilling is to get a…

02 — FrameworksModels, annotated.

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03 — PeopleWho wrote the notes.

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04 — QuestionsAnswered from the notes.

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Where notes come from

NewsletterLenny’s Newsletter106 free posts, with a longer excerpt.
Subscriber postsSummary only229 paid posts: our summary, at most two short quotes, and a link.
PodcastLenny’s Podcast322 episodes, each with 5–8 key learnings and timestamps.
EssaysSVPG · The Beautiful Mess499 essays from Marty Cagan and John Cutler.
Substack & blogsShreyas · Julie · Jason · Hiten577 essays and posts from independent writers.
XPosts on product58 posts, filtered for product relevance.