Marty Cagan contrasts the traditional project model, where IT builds specific features by fixed dates, with the product model, where durable teams own business outcomes. He argues projects are slow, costly, and produce…
“Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of my humble newsletter, where I attempt to answer your questions and offer candid advice about building product, driving growth, working with other humans, and anything else that’s stressing you out at the office 🤝 If you’re returning from the last edition (or the marketplace series), thank you! If you’re new to this newsletter, nice to have you! 💛 This week: 1. How to break into a growth…”
Marty Cagan describes the Group Product Manager (GPM), a hybrid role between an individual contributor and a first-level people manager, which he has seen work well in fast-growing product organizations. A GPM is…
Guest author Ben Erez argues against the view that feature-team PMs are merely project managers, contending they do real product work and that feature-factory setups can suit CEOs with strong product visions. He…
Lenny Rachitsky and Peter Yang distill tactics from AI-forward companies like Shopify, Ramp, Zapier, Duolingo, Intercom, and Whoop on driving employee AI adoption. The core argument is that the main barrier is…
Marty Cagan responds to a public interview with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky by examining alternatives to product managers. He defines product management as owning the value and viability of what gets built, and argues that…
Marty Cagan argues that many feature-team product managers and delivery-team product owners are actually doing project management or backlog administration, and that companies are beginning to recognize this. He calls…
Marty Cagan argues that generative AI will reshape product teams over the next 3-10 years. Delivery work (building, testing, deploying) will become nearly instantaneous and automated, leaving product discovery, which is…
Marty Cagan profiles eight strong product leaders featured in his new book EMPOWERED, spanning product management, design, engineering, and company leadership. Drawing on years of working alongside them, he sketches how…
Marty Cagan follows up his article on product management theater by arguing that where PM theater exists, product leadership theater usually exists too. Product leaders often blame senior executives, such as non-product…
Marty Cagan argues that no single product management model fits every company; the right one depends on context, and it is best chosen by starting from the problems a company is actually experiencing. Drawing on his…
Marty Cagan introduces the product operating model as a set of first principles that leading product companies use to consistently create technology-powered solutions that deliver customer value and business results…
Marty Cagan announces that the next SVPG book, TRANSFORMED, is in progress with Lea, Jon, Christian and Chris as co-authors, targeting early 2024. The book addresses the many established companies that struggle to shift…
Teresa Torres argues that great products rest on three pillars: a clear vision, thoughtful processes that support sound day-to-day decisions, and the right team. She admits her own uncertainty about what makes products…
Marty Cagan responds to readers who argued that any tool or process can be used well or badly, so blaming the process is misplaced, and that culture matters more than process. He agrees culture is central but argues…
Marty Cagan argues that project-based funding, where companies approve discrete projects with business cases, is a poor model for building strong products. Teams cannot know early whether a project is worth pursuing or…
Marty Cagan asks whether product discovery applies to feature teams, which are handed a list of features rather than problems to solve. At a simple level, discovery is irrelevant there because the solution is already…
This Product in Practice story from Ramsey Solutions explains how the company got engineers to take part in product trios, despite their reluctance. Engineers feared falling behind technically and saw the tech lead role…
Teresa Torres and Petra Wille argue that product transformations stall when teams are trained in continuous discovery but leaders keep managing through feature requests and roadmaps. Training leaders first is presented…
Lenny Rachitsky shares high-level structures from 20+ large companies' product management career ladders, including titles by level, evaluated competencies, and where IC and manager tracks split. He argues career…
Cagan argues that product people operate in the idea business, and that depending only on one's own ideas severely limits potential. The core lesson is to actively seek out the smartest people across the company, since…
Melissa Perri recounts how her consulting work began by sneaking product management into companies under buzzwords like agile and digital, since 'product management' itself got doors shut. Executives' stated reason for…
Cagan argues that product decisions in most companies stall because the right people are never in the same room, and proposes a Product Council: a small cross-functional group of senior managers whose sole job is to…
Teresa Torres argues that remote teams are becoming the norm, and that companies focus too much on their benefits while underestimating the challenges. Drawing on her experience with distributed graduate-school teams…