Drawer 07 · 466 notes · 91 people · 2005–2026

PM career & craft

Becoming a better PM, interviews, promotions, and product sense

Q:
Answers from PM career & craft notes, cited
SVPG · Marty CaganJan 18, 2008

Are You Technical Enough?

Jan 18, 2008 · 6 min

Cagan asks how much technical competency a product manager really needs, noting that managers and candidates alike are unsure where the bar sits. He argues technology knowledge matters because great products pair a real…

SVPG · Marty CaganJan 11, 2023

Becoming a Product Coach

Jan 11, 2023 · 25 min

Marty Cagan argues that the product industry needs more skilled product coaches, and that many self-described coaches lack real product experience. He insists that effective product coaching must rest on relevant…

Lenny’s Podcast93 min

Lessons in product leadership and AI strategy from Glean, Google, Amazon, and Slack

Tamar Yehoshua · Sep 26, 2024
Key learnings
  • Excel in your current role before chasing the next one; advancement follows demonstrated impact, not just hitting goals or…
  • Evaluate a potential employer's engineering partner before joining, since great ideas that can't be built lead nowhere.
  • Don't assume a company must be well run to succeed; hyper-growth firms often run chaotically, but prioritize companies whose…
SVPG · Marty CaganJul 16, 2019

Coaching – Thinking

Jul 16, 2019 · 4 min

Marty Cagan argues that the most important trait of a capable product manager is the ability to think, which is distinct from raw intelligence. Product management is fundamentally problem solving under many simultaneous…

Lenny’s Podcast120 min

The high-growth handbook: Molly Graham’s frameworks for leading through chaos, change, and scale

Molly Graham · Jan 4, 2026
Key learnings
  • Keep handing off the work you've mastered so you can take on the next, bigger challenge; the job keeps growing, so you must keep…
  • Name and externalize the emotional reactions to change, then give them about two weeks; anything lasting longer deserves a real…
  • When a team struggles, snorkel before you scuba: check structure (goals, roles, expectations) and team dynamics before blaming…
SVPG · Marty CaganAug 27, 2025

Product Leadership Archetypes

Aug 27, 2025 · 4 min

Marty Cagan responds to a Product Therapy interview with Shreyas Doshi, which described three product leader archetypes: craftsperson, operator, and visionary. Cagan argues that deep product craft is non-negotiable…

SVPG · Marty CaganOct 17, 2008

Laid Off; Now What?

Oct 17, 2008 · 4 min

Marty Cagan argues that a layoff, though painful, can be turned into a valuable period for building product management skills and becoming a more desirable candidate. He briefly advises keeping professional social…

Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 64

On taking time off

Apr 20, 2021 · 12 min

Lenny's newsletter opens with his own sabbatical experience and then hands the floor to DJ DiDonna, founder of The Sabbatical Project, who has interviewed over 250 people about extended time off. DJ argues that…

SVPG · Marty CaganJun 14, 2021

The MBA Pathology

Jun 14, 2021 · 10 min

Marty Cagan argues that the MBA pathology, the set of habits instilled by many business programs, continues to produce weak product managers and weak products despite claims that it would self-correct. He stresses he is…

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 Podcast72 min

How Revolut trains world-class product managers: The “local CEO” model, raw intellect over experience, and a cultural obsession with building wow products

Dmitry Zlokazov · May 15, 2025
Key learnings
  • Treat product managers as end-to-end owners of their area, closer to local CEOs, with authority over the roadmap, team direction…
  • Hire for raw intellect and an unquenched hunger to build things, rather than for years of experience, since experienced hires…
  • Look for people who have founded startups or worked as tech co-founders, since they tend to be hands-on across many areas and…
SVPG · Marty CaganNov 3, 2020

Product Manager Job Description

Nov 3, 2020 · 3 min

Marty Cagan shares an explicit product manager job description tailored to empowered product teams, where PMs are accountable for outcomes rather than just delivering features. He explains that the PM owns making sure a…

Product Talk · Teresa TorresOct 28, 2013

How Not To Find a Product Job

Oct 28, 2013

Torres argues that the standard job-hunt routine of polishing a resume and mass-applying to postings rarely works, even for strong candidates. Instead, she proposes treating yourself as a product and applying the…

Lenny’s Podcast153 min

Marc Andreessen: The real AI boom hasn’t even started yet

Marc Andreessen · Jan 29, 2026
Key learnings
  • Expect AI to make already-skilled people far more capable; the gains are largest for those who pair deep expertise with AI tools.
  • Rather than fearing job loss, focus on task loss: jobs persist while the individual tasks composing them shift, which is how…
  • Combine at least two or three domains deeply (e.g., coding, product, design); the combination of skills creates far more value…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 24

Should I become a product manager

Jan 19, 2021 · 6 min
Subscriber post — summary only

Lenny Rachitsky answers a reader weighing a move from software engineering to product management after three years. He describes his own switch and lays out the daily work of PMs across shaping, shipping, and…