“In the previous post, we focused on how product managers share customer knowledge with engineers. We discussed how user personas are an effective way of telling the customer's story. We also looked at how some teams share artifacts (videos, audio, written reports) from usability tests to help communicate customer”
Cagan argues that the build-versus-buy question, long familiar in IT and product teams, is being reshaped by generative AI and user-programming tools like Lovable and Bolt. Despite hype that everyone will build and SaaS…
Marty Cagan recalls his early-1980s work at HP Labs, where research head Joel Birnbaum asked why most people dislike their computers, and proposed the idea of a 'domesticated computer' that adapts to people rather than…
Cagan argues that cost estimation in software stays confusing because management needs cost figures very early, while engineering can only produce accurate estimates after the solution is detailed. This mismatch leads…
Marty Cagan argues that the products most PMs will build in the coming years are "intelligent products" that blend deterministic and probabilistic behavior. He traces the history of AI from 1980s expert systems, whose…
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…
Part two of Lenny's pivot series argues that pivoting is fundamentally about opportunity cost and distinguishes early ideation pivots from hard pivots on live products. It draws on founder-reported data to suggest…
Teresa Torres examines the public debate sparked by Jonah Lehrer's claim that brainstorming does not work, which followed Scott Berkun's rebuttal. She traces brainstorming to Alex Osborn, an advertising executive whose…
Teresa Torres argues that hiring for product management should hinge on demonstrated ability rather than credentials. As a hiring manager and consultant, she says she cares about none of the usual gatekeepers, such as…
Lenny Rachitsky examines whether a startup needs a strong 'why now'—a clear reason the product is only possible at this moment. He argues it improves odds by enabling a 10x better product or a new untapped market, but…
Lenny Rachitsky examines whether startups need a strong 'why now' to win over investors and build large businesses. He argues a clear answer helps, since it can enable a much better product or open an untapped market…
Marty Cagan argues that the word "beta" has become so ambiguous that its meaning depends on what a team is trying to accomplish. He describes four distinct uses: a QA phase handled with real users, a gentle deployment…
Lenny Rachitsky introduces a two-part series on startup pivots, drawing on research into 30+ successful pivots. The post points to a companion spreadsheet covering why each company pivoted, how long it took, how the new…
Teresa Torres extends her earlier post on user stories by walking through the INVEST criteria (Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimatable, Small, Testable) with concrete examples. She argues that stories should be…
Lenny Rachitsky and Dan Shipper walk through how a Lenny-specific chatbot was built on GPT-3 using his newsletter archive. The piece explains the difference between GPT-3 and ChatGPT, why raw language models tend to…