“I love seeing big ideas turn into great products. In this talk, Jack Dorsey talks about the big idea that eventually led to Twitter and his new big idea behind Square. Few people have the ability to go from big idea to successful product like Jack does. Even for ideas”
Teresa Torres interviews the co-founders of Earmark, a productivity suite that runs multiple AI agents during live meetings to produce finished artifacts such as specs, tickets, and prototypes rather than passive…
Marty Cagan argues that enterprise software companies sometimes need to become consumer or small-business companies, whether because enterprise markets are saturated, investors demand bigger markets, or leaders tire of…
Marty Cagan argues that the word "pivot" is overused in product teams and that teams too often abandon their product vision far too early. He separates two kinds of pivots: vision pivots, which change the underlying…
This post, part three of a marketplace series, lays out ten strategies that leaders at large marketplaces such as Airbnb, Uber, DoorDash, Etsy and Lyft use to protect service quality as they scale. The most common…
Teresa Torres argues that the rapid user decline of BranchOut, a Facebook-based social recruiting app, was predictable because its core assumption failed. Her team had built a similar product and, through interviews…
Marty Cagan argues that a product proving it works and is usable is not the same as a product people will actually choose to buy and use. He calls the smallest functional, usable version a 'Minimal Product' and reserves…
Cagan distinguishes two lightweight planning tools that are often confused: the Business Model or Lean Canvas and the Opportunity Assessment. The Canvas suits new businesses or entirely new product lines, where many…
Jason Fried argues that owning an independent company is a rare privilege, one that frees leaders to experiment in ways that public companies and businesses forced to justify every move cannot. He encourages owners not…
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…
Lenny Rachitsky profiles Saturn, a calendar-centered social app for high school students that became a top App Store performer. The post draws five lessons from its founders on building viral consumer social products…
Lenny Rachitsky argues that good PMs make product teams better, and that the core PM jobs (shaping, shipping, and synchronizing) must be covered by someone regardless of hiring. He outlines three signs it's time to hire…
This essay traces Medium's history from its 2012 launch by Evan Williams through its 2018 monetization struggles. It argues Medium's minimal design and long-form focus reinvigorated interest in in-depth writing and…
Marty Cagan argues that Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs)—technical product creators who embed with customers to deeply understand their problems—are a powerful practice that applies well beyond the hard, high-stakes…
Carole Robin, co-creator of Stanford's 'Touchy Feely' course, answers a reader whose co-founder relationship is deteriorating while the business still needs it to work. She argues that co-founder friction, like marriage…
Jason Fried responds to the recurring criticism that Basecamp makes 'yet another' to-do list, chat, or messaging product. He admits the pull toward grander missions in tech is real, but argues it looks odd when applied…
Melissa Perri argues that product leaders should deliberately invest in "the product of you" and plan their career path toward product leadership. Beyond building core skills, aspiring leaders need to decide what kind…
Lenny Rachitsky answers a reader who just sold their startup and is moving into a product manager role without formal PM training. Drawing on his own experience after Localmind was acquired by Airbnb, he admits he was a…
This guest-written issue, drawn from Ali Abouelatta's First 1000 research, catalogs 60 examples of 'Turbo Boosts,' one-off events that temporarily accelerate growth. It frames them as the fuel-like components of a…
Lenny answers a reader's question about growth levers beyond his consumer growth series. He recaps the Racecar Growth Framework (kickstarts, growth engines, lubricants, turbo boosts), then introduces two mid-stage…
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…
Cagan argues that strong products are the foundation of a healthy business: weak products inflate acquisition costs, lengthen sales cycles, pressure prices and burden customer service. The most powerful antidote is a…
Teresa Torres responds to a recommendation in Monetizing Innovation that teams simply ask customers about their willingness to pay, which she firmly rejects. She argues that hypothetical answers are unreliable because…
Teresa Torres recounts meeting a fitness-trainer founder at a startup pitch event whose customer definition was vague and whose validation relied on survey answers about hypothetical future purchases. She argues that…