Working notes from product people

Ask the people who’ve done it.

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Answers quote and cite the source notes

01 — TopicsFourteen drawers, sorted.

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Open drawer · 08

Go-to-market & sales

145 notes · 50 people · 2005–2026
HEY World · Jason FriedAug 27, 2026

$5300 in $100s: The verdict

Aug 27, 2026

“Yesterday I wrote about a free event we were throwing which cost $100 to attend, but the full $100 was refunded at the door if you showed up. I said I'd share the results. Ok, so the event was this morning. It went incredibly well. Here are those results: 55 people paid $100 to attend. 50 of those people showed…”

HEY World · Jason FriedAug 26, 2026

$5300 in $100s

Aug 26, 2026

Jason Fried describes an experiment for a free in-person Basecamp event in Chicago: attendees pay a $100 refundable deposit at registration and get the cash back at the door if they show up. The problem is that free…

@hnshah · Hiten Shah on X♥ 10
If you use AI for competitor research, steal this rule. Every claim gets a date. Last week Claude answered a simple question about Linear’s competitors using an old source as if it were recent. It also stated a guess as fact. The skill forced the answer to show the dates,
Lenny’s Podcast111 min

How to close $100K+ enterprise deals, step by step

Jen Abel · Aug 23, 2026
Key learnings
  • Target only the executive decision-maker or their direct report (N minus one) using a 'pincer' approach, with the founder…
  • Lead outreach with the executive-level value, the alpha your product unlocks for their career and business unit, not just…
  • Run the intro call as an informal one-on-one conversation: no demo, no slides, no recording, and let the buyer talk first to…
The Looking Glass podcastJun 9, 2026

The Art and Excellence of Sales

Jun 9, 2026
Key learnings
  • Treat sales as a craft worth mastering, not a lesser discipline; understanding how customers buy makes product leaders far more…
  • Learn to listen closely to what customers are actually trying to accomplish before proposing solutions or pitching value.
  • Build trust through consistent follow-through, since credibility compounds over repeated interactions with buyers and internal…
@hnshah · Hiten Shah on X♥ 14
Founders are doing product marketing earlier than they think. It usually shows up when a buyer says something you weren’t expecting. That gap between how you describe the product and how buyers see it can change the story you tell and what gets built next. If you’re a founder

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.