Product Management Tips

So you want to be a product manager? Or you are just product-curious? Here are some resources and tips I recommend to folks who are looking into a career in product. Of course, every product manager will have a different list of recommendations. So you should ask others whom you respect for their list too. Never stop learning!

Reading List

Introductions  to Product Building

Technology & Innovation

UX and Design

Business & Marketing

Biographies and Autobiographies

Leadership and Influence

Talks and Useful Videos

  • Empowered Product Teams by Marty Cagan
  • Product is Hard by Marty Cagan
  • The art of Innovation by Guy Kawasaki
  • What is Agile by Mark Shead
  • Intro to Scrum in Under 10 Minutes
  • 20 years of Product Management in 20 minutes:
  • Steve Jobs – The Lost Interview
  • Steve Jobs Commencement Address

Entertainment

TV & Movies about Tech, Business, and Growth

  • HBO Silicon Valley
  • The Company Men
  • Steve Jobs
  • Fyre Fraud  & Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened
  • The Inventor: Out for Blood
  • Halt and Catch Fire
  • The Social Network
  • The Internship
  • The Pixar Story
  • Office Space
  • Pirates of Silicon Valley
  • Something Ventured

Articles

Classes

Informational Interviews

  • Find 4 product managers from these backgrounds
    • Customer Service
    • Business, Marketing, or Consulting 
    • Technology
    • Design
  • Ask them these questions
    • Why did they become a product manager?
    • What did they learn in their previous role that they use regularly?
    • What areas did they have to teach themselves? What resources were useful?
    • Think of the really good product managers they have worked with. What did they do better than others?

Interviewing for Product Manager Jobs

  • Read the Product Manager Interview by Lewis C. Lin