SVPG · Marty CaganOct 31, 2011
Oct 31, 2011 · 4 min
Marty Cagan argues that Product Market Fit and the Product Vision are related but distinct, and that teams often confuse them. The Product Vision describes the services and customers a company intends to serve over…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 129
Jan 18, 2022 · 15 min
Deb Liu, who led the team behind Facebook Marketplace, recounts how an idea she pitched in 2009 languished for years before a small Groups-based commerce test revealed organic buying and selling behavior. The team's…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 146
Apr 12, 2022 · 26 min
Andy Johns, a growth leader who stepped away from a presidency at Wealthfront after a heart scare, argues that high achievers need a deliberate way to recognize and respect their personal limits. He introduces a…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 129
Aug 16, 2022 · 24 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyStep six of Lenny Rachitsky's consumer-business series explains how products grow through a small set of engines: virality, SEO, and paid growth, plus sales and supply-driven demand for marketplaces. It argues founders…
Product Talk · Teresa TorresJan 4, 2023
Jan 4, 2023 · 8 min
“Happy New Year! For the past several years, I’ve published a state of the business report as my initial blog post of the year. And this year will be no different. In this post, I’ll reflect on the past year and look at the year ahead. Let’s”
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 231
Sep 24, 2021 · 12 min
Niya Dragova, co-founder of Candor, shares ten rules for salary negotiation aimed at tech professionals who find negotiating uncomfortable. She argues that compensation is deliberately opaque and that most people lose…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 85
Dec 9, 2021 · 10 min
This excerpt from Andrew Chen's book argues that networked products should first build a small, self-sustaining 'atomic network' before expanding. The atomic network is the smallest unit that can stand on its own, and…
producthabits.com · Hiten ShahDec 10, 2018
Dec 10, 2018 · 19 min
This case study traces how Pieter Omvlee built Sketch, a lightweight vector drawing app for Mac, into a serious alternative to Adobe's Illustrator and Photoshop. Omvlee started with a student project, charged for it…
Product Talk · Teresa TorresFeb 1, 2013
Feb 1, 2013
This is a weekly roundup of product-building reads rather than a single argument. It pulls together a few threads: deciding what to ignore so you can focus on the most critical work, the primacy of conversion strategy…
SVPG · Marty CaganDec 28, 2009
Dec 28, 2009
Marty Cagan argues that the coming decade will be among the most productive for product innovation. He points to four converging forces: ubiquitous connected mobile devices, powerful platforms that give apps instant…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 263
Dec 10, 2024 · 10 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny Rachitsky, working with a labor-data firm, ranks roughly 50 companies by how much they accelerate the post-departure careers of their former product managers, using promotion, leadership, CPO, first-PM, and…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 48
Jul 13, 2021 · 12 min
Lenny Rachitsky examines how labor marketplaces find and grow their supply side, drawing on interviews with founders and early team members of roughly a dozen fast-growing companies. Because these platforms connect…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 32
Aug 3, 2021 · 7 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyThe post argues that marketplaces succeed by choosing one of three routes: delivering far more convenience, offering a significantly lower price, or unlocking desirable supply that customers want. It also explains what…
SVPG · Marty CaganApr 21, 2013
Apr 21, 2013 · 3 min
Marty Cagan argues that many product teams, both in startups and established companies, spend most of their effort capturing value (pricing tests, ad optimization, cost cutting) rather than creating it. Startups often…
Product Talk · Teresa TorresJun 17, 2013
Jun 17, 2013 · 3 min
Teresa Torres reviews Lean Analytics by Alistair Croll and Ben Yoskovitz and argues it is an essential, accessible guide to product and startup analytics. She notes it covers the basics of good metrics and segments…
Product Talk · Teresa TorresDec 11, 2025
Dec 11, 2025
This episode of Just Now Possible features Mowie's CEO Chris O'Connor and co-founder Jessica Valenzuela discussing how their AI marketing platform for small and medium businesses grew out of a hands-on concierge…
HEY World · Jason FriedMay 8, 2025
May 8, 2025
Jason Fried, co-founder of Basecamp, answers a common question: why build something brand new instead of adding it to an existing product? He argues that a fresh start gives teams the freedom to explore new technology…
Product Talk · Teresa TorresNov 4, 2015
Nov 4, 2015 · 8 min
Teresa Torres recounts a difficult period in 2011 when she was CEO of a struggling startup, dealing with severe anxiety and feeling unable to ask for help. After the company was sold and she stepped away, a master's…
SVPG · Marty CaganSep 9, 2024
Sep 9, 2024 · 11 min
Marty Cagan argues that when companies grow, boards often push founders to hand over leadership to professional managers, but the stronger path is to coach founders into strong product leaders. He contrasts two failure…
Product Talk · Teresa TorresMar 17, 2014
Mar 17, 2014 · 5 min
Teresa Torres argues that an MVP should be defined by what you need to learn, not by the smallest or easiest feature set to ship. Using a hypothetical SMS-based event tool for soccer teams, she shows how the riskiest…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 1,017
Jul 8, 2025 · 20 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny Rachitsky collected over a thousand reader stories about personal tools they built through vibe coding, then curated 50+ examples spanning health, parenting, work, music and fun. His core argument is that…
Product Talk · Teresa TorresJul 9, 2026
Jul 9, 2026 · 3 min
Teresa Torres interviews the founders and CTO of Snapbar, a 14-year-old company that started as a wedding photo booth business, pivoted to a virtual product when COVID eliminated its events, and then rebuilt itself…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 30
Nov 17, 2020 · 10 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny Rachitsky catalogs over thirty examples of 'magical growth loops,' where new users come mainly from existing users rather than paid acquisition. He groups them into four types: supply driving demand, demand…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 84
Apr 26, 2022 · 12 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny Rachitsky surveys about two dozen venture investors on what growth rates count as good or great at each stage of a business. The post argues that early-stage investors weigh time-to-$1M ARR, retention, and…