@shreyas · Shreyas Doshi on X♥ 141
This is also true in tech careers. A lot of people I speak with are successful by every conventional metric, but they find it difficult to decide what to do next, in their career and their life.
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 146
How to know when to stop
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…
SVPG · Marty CaganAug 21, 2008
Product Management Certification?
Aug 21, 2008 · 4 min
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…
The Beautiful Mess · John Cutler♥ 63
TBM 432: Bundling & Unbundling Capabilities (and AI)
Jul 26, 2026
“Early in my product career, I wore many hats. I conducted research, analyzed data, sketched interfaces and wireframes, wrote requirements, coordinated releases, answered support questions, and even, shudder, wrote some code. Some of that was empowering. Some of it was amateur hour. But it was all bundled into the loose idea of “product management.””
The Looking Glass · Julie Zhuo♥ 169
Eye, Hand, AI: a letter to my daughter
Aug 5, 2026
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…
@shreyas · Shreyas Doshi on X♥ 50
If it is useful to know, this private playlist provides deep, super-candid answers for the following 23 questions, with 1 video for each question: What signals do you look for that indicate a PM is ready to be promoted to the Director level? How do you get better at storytelling? How do you decide…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 175
State of the product job market, part 2
Sep 24, 2024 · 10 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny 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…
SVPG · Marty CaganMay 27, 2025
The Era of the Product Creator
May 27, 2025 · 3 min
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…
produxlabs.com · Melissa PerriJul 9, 2020
What it takes to be a CPO
Jul 9, 2020 · 3 min
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…
Product Talk · Teresa TorresAug 16, 2012
To Portfolio Or Not To Portfolio
Aug 16, 2012 · 3 min
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’s Newsletter♥ 278
How tech’s most resilient workers handle burnout
Jun 17, 2025 · 14 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny 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…
Lenny’s Podcast108 min
How Anthropic’s product team moves faster than anyone else
Cat Wu · Apr 23, 2026
Key learnings
- Shorten the path from idea to user: AI-era timelines have shrunk from six months to days or a week, so PMs should focus on…
- Ship features as clearly labeled research previews to lower the commitment of launching and get fast user feedback that can be…
- Set a clear, specific goal for who the key user is and what success means, which rules out many approaches and speeds decisions.
SVPG · Marty CaganJun 24, 2019
Coaching – Owner vs. Employee
Jun 24, 2019 · 6 min
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…
Product Talk · Teresa TorresJan 24, 2012
Should You Learn To Code?
Jan 24, 2012 · 4 min
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…
SVPG · Marty CaganJun 9, 2021
The CSPO Pathology
Jun 9, 2021 · 5 min
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…
Lenny’s Podcast87 min
Gokul Rajaram on designing your product development process, when and how to hire your first PM, a playbook for hiring leaders, getting ahead in you career, how to get started angel investing, more
Gokul Rajaram · Jun 13, 2022
Key learnings
- Do core work well but stay curious about other teams; serendipity and relationships built by helping people often create the next…
- When choosing a company, prioritize a founder who authentically lives the mission, a problem you feel energy for, and a company…
- Early-stage teams should plan weekly, then add quarterly and annual layers as they grow; keep tooling simple like a spreadsheet…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 239
The Best of Lenny’s Newsletter 2021
Aug 17, 2021 · 6 min
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…
SVPG · Marty CaganApr 30, 2024
Good Product Coach / Bad Product Coach
Apr 30, 2024 · 8 min
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…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 342
Essential books for product builders—part 2
Jun 9, 2026 · 7 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny 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…
SVPG · Marty CaganMar 18, 2012
The Product Manager Contribution
Mar 18, 2012 · 4 min
Marty Cagan responds to a CTO's question about whether a strong product designer and technical lead still need a product manager, arguing the PM's contribution is often invisible or poorly done. He frames the discussion…
Product Talk · Teresa TorresMay 5, 2026
Taste - All Things Product Podcast with Teresa Torres & Petra Wille
May 5, 2026
Teresa Torres and Petra Wille examine the sudden popularity of "taste" as a prized human skill in the AI era. Teresa argues the term is rarely defined, hard to teach, and can disguise personal preference as expertise…
SVPG · Marty CaganNov 28, 2023
Alternatives To Product Managers
Nov 28, 2023 · 6 min
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…
SVPG · Marty CaganMay 21, 2024
Good Product People
May 21, 2024
Marty Cagan argues that some of the best product people are not product managers at all, and that many strong product thinkers he knows are engineers. He defines a strong product person as someone obsessed with solving…
SVPG · Marty CaganFeb 17, 2012
Social Contract for Product Managers
Feb 17, 2012
Marty Cagan uses the social contract that Stanford's d.school Launchpad course requires of its students as a lens on what strong product leaders must commit to. The contract centers on not complaining about workload…