Essential books for product builders—part 2

Lenny Rachitsky's paid newsletter, the second part of a series, recommends 24 long-standing books for product builders, grouped by the jobs they help with, such as design, taste, influence, starting a company, career growth, and happiness. He limits picks to three per category that he has personally finished and favors books that have stood the test of time. He also shares a habit of reading briefly before bed and capturing one actionable takeaway per book.

01Key takeaways

• Read a short stretch of a book nightly and capture one actionable nugget to apply at work that week.
• Design quality can be evaluated objectively, and a product's usability problems are often design failures rather than user failures.
• Taste is a learnable skill, and protecting early half-baked ideas helps teams create better work.
• Influence rests on being genuinely interested in others and on understanding how people change their minds.
• Career advancement comes from doing fewer things extremely well and focusing on high-leverage work rather than mere efficiency.

Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.