Marty Cagan argues that the most important thing a product manager can do is get ideas in front of real target users, since that is where real learning happens. He addresses two kinds of gatekeepers who try to stand in…
Marty Cagan argues that many product companies pride themselves on a 'consensus culture', but in practice this breeds frustration, slowness, risk-aversion and unimpressive products. The root problem, he says, is…
Marty Cagan continues his coaching series by describing how managers can help product managers close specific skill gaps identified in an earlier assessment. He covers product knowledge (users, data, industry, business…
Hilary Gridley, a WHOOP product director, argues that AI can help managers become "supermanagers" by scaling their coaching and feedback. She shares five practical strategies, from building custom GPTs that replicate…
April Dunford gives a practical guide to product positioning, using a story about a mispositioned database product to show how context shapes customer assumptions. She argues positioning should be built by starting from…
“The product trio leads discovery. But this doesn’t mean that other teams aren’t involved. Being thoughtful about product discovery means staying on good terms with others throughout your company. You might need to get buy-in or support from leadership, you may need to collaborate with user research”
Cagan argues that a great product comes from pairing a real customer need with a solution that has just become technically possible, which makes the product manager and engineer relationship critical. He frames the two…
Cagan argues that the old model of carefully controlled, consistent product messaging no longer works, because most people first hear about a product from others outside the company's control. Messaging must now engage…
Marty Cagan, a consultant who works mainly with CEOs and product leaders, writes an open letter to designers about common mistakes that undermine their impact on products. He argues that designers should be involved…
Lenny Rachitsky shares how he learned to say no to the constant flow of requests as a solopreneur, arguing that protecting focus on the few things that made you successful is essential. He offers a decision framework…
Marty Cagan argues that a common and avoidable form of waste in product teams is when one member, often a user researcher, learns something important about customers but the rest of the team doesn't absorb it. Findings…
Marty Cagan argues that as startups grow and split into functional groups, walls form between product, technology, marketing and design, with product-technology being the most damaging. Teams loyal to their function…
Teresa Torres reflects on her first year of blogging at Product Talk, which she started in November 2011. She found that writing sharpened her own thinking, often surprising her with conclusions she hadn't expected, and…
Teresa Torres argues that product managers and designers should not split the work cleanly into 'PM defines the problem, designer owns the solution.' Problem definition and solution generation form a two-way feedback…
Two former Reddit leaders outline a four-step framework for building products with a vocal, opinionated user base: measuring trust, listening to representative voices, moving debate into private advisory councils, and…
This podcast episode, hosted by Teresa Torres with Petra Wille, examines the difference between organizations that fund projects and those that fund teams. The conversation argues that project-based funding clashes with…
The article introduces a two-way feedback model that the author credits with changing how she coaches people. It argues that one-way "radical candor" style criticism can demotivate, so feedback should give both parties…
Lenny Rachitsky addresses the tension managers face between incorporating team input and making firm decisions themselves. He argues that managers must often overrule their teams, and offers five strategies to balance…
Teresa Torres recounts a poorly timed home-page redesign that disrupted a live sales demo, and uses it to examine the tension between continuous deployment and the disruption frequent product change causes. She argues…
Lenny Rachitsky's weekly Q&A newsletter tackles three practical questions: how a startup founder can tell they are approaching product/market fit, what matters most when interviewing for a Director of PM role, and…
Lenny answers a reader who lacks a technical background and struggles to follow engineers and make trade-off decisions. He lays out a three-step path: learn core concepts like how software systems, APIs, and databases…
Marty Cagan follows up on his earlier argument that product organizations often degrade into service teams that merely document others' decisions. He offers ten practical moves for reclaiming influence: deep customer…
Executive coach Natalie Rothfels observes widespread workplace anger among clients and offers a four-step process for turning it into useful insight. Drawing on Buddhist, Internal Family Systems, and somatic ideas, she…
Teresa Torres argues that continuous discovery generates a lot of artifacts, and teams often waste effort by creating separate documents for doing, communicating, and archiving work. She recommends using one set of…