“Listen to this episode on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts When things feel uncertain, many companies default to command-and-control leadership. It feels faster, safer, and more decisive. But is it actually effective? In this episode, Teresa Torres and Petra Wille unpack the real role of command and control in modern”
Lenny Rachitsky offers a three-step process for a product person to say no to a manager while keeping their trust: listen and ask questions, form an independent point of view, then respond constructively using one of…
Cagan argues that the main purpose of prototyping is to discover a successful solution, not to ship a product. Recent gen-AI prototyping tools have sharply cut the cost of live-data prototypes, changing the economics…
Melissa Perri shares advice gathered from experienced operators on what product leaders should prioritize during the COVID-19 crisis. Her core argument is that survival comes first: preserve cash, shift the roadmap…
Lenny Rachitsky compiles a list of fifteen practical sources for product roadmap ideas, drawn partly from community suggestions. The core argument is that strong ideas come from direct customer contact, observing…
Teresa Torres argues that good continuous discovery depends on first surfacing the hidden assumptions behind each idea, since teams can't test beliefs they haven't named. She proposes five assumption categories…
Teresa Torres walks through a worked example of a clear product vision using her side project GratiGrams, a service for sharing specific appreciation with others. She shows how a vision statement, mission, core values…
Cagan argues that the core goal of product discovery is finding the smallest valuable, usable, feasible product as fast as possible by failing fast. He describes two techniques: disposable user prototypes tested with…
Teresa Torres argues that many product managers run experiments poorly: they struggle to choose what to test, decide how long to run tests, lack scientific training, find tools hard to use, and overgeneralize results…
Marty Cagan argues that the common split between a 'problem space' (owned by product) and a 'solution space' (owned by engineering) is overly simplistic and kills innovation. Validating that a customer problem is real…
Jason Fried, co-founder of Basecamp, answers a common question: why build something brand new instead of adding it to an existing product? He argues that a fresh start gives teams the freedom to explore new technology…
The post argues that 'AI agent' covers very different systems, so teams should first categorize each idea by architecture before prioritizing. It proposes three categories (deterministic automation, reasoning and acting…
Teresa Torres introduces opportunity solution trees as a visual tool that lets product trios map the paths from a desired outcome to customer opportunities, candidate solutions, and assumption tests. The article argues…
Marty Cagan argues that companies often confuse product roles, and that one person can legitimately cover more than one role. He focuses on a combination he increasingly recommends: a strong engineering lead or CTO who…
Marty Cagan argues that product teams can only be empowered and make good autonomous decisions when they understand the broader context, which starts with a compelling product vision and a clear product strategy. The…
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…
Jason Fried describes a six-week sprint at Basecamp focused on smoothing the trial-to-paid onboarding experience, which bundled many small changes at once: a sample Getting Started project, a one-step project creation…
Teresa Torres and Petra Wille open 2026 with a casual behind-the-scenes conversation about what is changing in their work and what they are experimenting with. Teresa explains retiring live Deep Dive cohorts in favor of…
This episode of a product podcast walks through how Xelix built an AI Helpdesk for accounts payable teams, which often receive over a thousand vendor emails daily. The product turns that inbox noise into structured…
Teresa Torres argues that job titles and disciplinary boundaries matter for advancing each craft, since naming skills lets people debate, invest in, and share them. However, she warns that the same labels become harmful…
Marty Cagan argues that empowered product teams can only make good decisions if they understand the broader business context they operate in. He outlines six layers of strategic context that leaders should share and…
Teresa Torres and Petra Wille discuss how they use AI as strategic thought partners across writing, coding, and product work rather than as ghostwriters. Petra describes a voice-first, bilingual transcription workflow…
Jason Fried argues that business cannot be learned from books, posts, or threads, because it is a practical skill built through doing. He compares it to music and sports, where reading about a craft never substitutes…
Teresa Torres argues that product teams should start by defining what success looks like, since a clear goal is the ultimate measure that makes alignment and decisions easier. She warns against drowning in dozens of…