“Listen to this episode on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts What’s the difference between product training and product coaching—and why does it matter? In this episode, Petra Wille and Teresa Torres unpack a topic that comes up all the time in product orgs: when do individuals and teams need structured”
Teresa Torres and Petra Wille discuss how product people can deliberately build communities of practice to support long-term learning. Teresa describes an introvert-friendly approach centered on a personal learning…
Marty Cagan marks 40 years since starting his career in software engineering, reflecting on the long run of work he found rewarding and the lessons it taught him. He argues that learning and experience compound over…
Lenny Rachitsky argues, in response to anxiety over AI replacing product managers, that PMs are the best-positioned tech role to thrive in an AI-driven world. He contends that AI excels at execution while PMs' soft…
Torres argues that cold-applying for product roles rarely works, because large companies filter resumes by keyword and smaller ones have busy reviewers who skim them in seconds. Her remedy is an inside referral, ideally…
Marty Cagan argues that deep experience in a specific product domain is usually less important for product managers than people assume. He recounts two cases where a strong PM was doubted for lacking domain experience…
Marty Cagan revisits his earlier argument that the product manager should also be the product owner, admitting he made a strategic mistake by treating the two titles as synonyms. Many people who took short product owner…
Teresa Torres interviews Laura Klein, who moved from interaction design and user research into a product role at a small company. Laura argues the transition felt natural because good designers and researchers already…
Teresa Torres argues that job seekers should research their target market and specific companies before applying, treating the search like product discovery. She suggests interviewing the target companies' customers…
Marty Cagan argues that Imposter Syndrome is real and healthy when understood correctly: it is a signal that you have not prepared enough. Rather than trying to push past the fear, he uses it as motivation to study…
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…
Marty Cagan argues that product management certification is premature and counterproductive for the software industry. He notes that the field is far from scientific, that software product success rates are poor, and…
John Cutler reflects on his early product career, when a single product manager bundled research, analysis, design sketching, requirements writing, release coordination, support, and even coding into one role. He notes…
Julie Zhuo writes a letter to her 11-year-old daughter about the value of struggling through hard work when AI can make almost anything effortless. The piece frames the problem as a question of cultivating the eye…
Lenny Rachitsky's follow-up report uses data from TrueUp (new tech job openings) and Live Data Technologies (job changes) to map the state of the product job market. It covers a slow recovery, a tilt toward senior PM…
Marty Cagan argues that the core of the product manager job is product creation: working daily with designers and engineers to solve customer problems in ways that are both loved by customers and viable for the…
The article argues that Chief Product Officer roles have multiplied since 2020 as companies become more customer-centric, but the title is inconsistently applied and poorly defined. It distinguishes the CPO, who sets…
Teresa Torres argues that public portfolios are a poor fit for product professionals, since they encourage over-claiming credit for team work and expose proprietary or employer-owned material. Hiring managers still want…
Lenny Rachitsky follows up his tech worker sentiment survey by investigating how people who avoid or effectively manage burnout do it. Drawing on open-ended video surveys and interviews, he introduces ARMOR, a five-part…
Marty Cagan argues that the best product managers think like owners rather than employees, taking responsibility for outcomes instead of merely completing activities. He draws on Jeff Bezos's shareholder letters to…
Teresa Torres, after returning to coding for a product launch following five years away, argues that product managers and designers do not strictly need to code today, but that everyone should learn the basics. She…
Marty Cagan argues that the product management field suffers from a widespread problem: many people become product managers after only a Certified Scrum Product Owner course, which teaches delivery-process rituals…
This is a curated index of Lenny Rachitsky's best newsletter posts from his first two and a half years, organized into nine topics such as growth strategy, product management work and career, product-market fit…
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…