Marty Cagan revisits his earlier skepticism of the 'CEO of the Product' metaphor and states a clearer position in favor of it, with caveats. He notes the concept's risk of making product managers act like bosses, but…
Cagan argues that the 'Business Analyst' role, common in IT and custom-software shops where it gathers requirements for developers, becomes a problem when transplanted into a product organization. There it duplicates…
Lenny Rachitsky answers a question from a newly minted product manager by describing five common early-career pitfalls: acting as a coordinator, a dictator, a dreamer, a feature factory, and a shield failing to filter…
“Hello and welcome to my humble newsletter where I attempt to answer your questions about building product, driving growth, working with other humans, and anything else that’s stressing you out at the office. Send me your questions and in return, I’ll give you candid real-talk advice 🤝 If you’re returning from last week, thank you! If you’re new to this newsletter, nice to have you! 🤜🤛 This week (just two questions, an experiment)…”
Lenny Rachitsky lays out a framework for setting team and company goals, placing goals between strategy and roadmap as the way to measure whether strategy is working. He covers the traits of a good goal, how to pick a…
Marty Cagan argues that customer-centricity is a core trait for product managers that is shaped heavily by company culture and by what leaders demonstrate. He stresses that the true customer should be defined narrowly…
Brainstorming in groups often underperforms because of social loafing, conformity, production blocking, and downward norm setting, yet teams still benefit from the diverse perspectives each member brings. This essay…
Marty Cagan argues that the common belief that great products come from listening to customers is a myth for technology products, because customers often cannot imagine what is possible or what they want until they see…
Cagan argues that once a product strategy is set, leaders face a fork: hand teams features to build (feature teams and roadmaps) or hand them problems to solve (empowered product teams). The difference is whether teams…
The essay challenges the common assumption that publicly expressed vulnerability signals humility. The excerpt, which is cut off early, suggests the author will argue that vulnerability performed with a veneer of…
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…
Marty Cagan argues that most digital transformations fail, and draws on two decades of hands-on work helping companies adopt the product operating model to name the root causes. He lists ten recurring mistakes, ranging…
Marty Cagan argues that most product coaches and trainers are steeped in the feature-team model, which is the opposite of what companies need when moving to a true product operating model. He frames a good coach through…
Marty Cagan describes an anti-pattern in which fast-growing, product-successful companies gradually lose their good habits after hiring senior leaders from large, brand-name firms that have stopped innovating. The…
Teresa Torres argues that product leaders should not be the sole decision-makers on what to build, and that a company should instead empower its whole team to generate and evaluate ideas. She contends that…
In this podcast episode, Teresa Torres and Petra Wille trade stories about the formative experiences that shaped their product careers. Teresa recounts running a startup through the 2008 recession, where prioritization…
Teresa Torres interviews Ellen Juhlin, a product leader at Orion Labs, about how she introduced continuous discovery habits to a team that had been driven by founder-led outputs, sales-driven feature requests, and…
Marty Cagan, after noticing that more than half of the 'rock star' product managers he knows are women despite women being a small share of the field, offers personal, non-statistical theories about why. He argues that…
Marty Cagan argues that when looking for a product job, the most important factor is not the company's name but the manager you would report to. Before leaving a current feature-team role, he suggests first trying to…
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…
Teresa Torres argues that engineers should be part of product discovery from the start, and offers three tactics for overcoming their resistance. Many engineers resist customer contact, but they still hold strong…
Marty Cagan argues that empowered product teams can only make good decisions if they understand the broader business context they operate in. He outlines six layers of strategic context that leaders should share and…
Marty Cagan argues that great products are necessary but not sufficient for a great company, because a company known for strong products attracts predatory investors and executives who strip value for quick financial…
Marty Cagan argues that the root cause of many large companies losing their product innovation is an over-reliance on process over people. He builds on his earlier overview of Product Ops models by focusing on why…