A list of books, blogs and podcast that we recommend if you are a self taught Product Manager. These resources are ideal for new and aspiring PMs who want a taste of the Tech and PM industry without delving too deep into frameworks and complex subjects.
Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All The Facts
"Annie Duke, a former World Series of Poker champion turned business consultant, draws on examples from business, sports, politics, and (of course) poker to share tools anyone can use to embrace uncertainty and make better decisions. For most people, it’s difficult to say “I’m not sure” in a world that values and, even, rewards the appearance of certainty. But professional poker players are comfortable with the fact that great decisions don’t always lead to great outcomes and bad decisions don’t always lead to bad outcomes."
"This highly anticipated follow-up to the bestselling title The Phoenix Project takes another look at Parts Unlimited, this time from the perspective of software development. The Unicorn Project, we follow Maxine, a senior lead developer and architect, as she is exiled to the Phoenix Project, to the horror of her friends and colleagues, as punishment for contributing to a payroll outage. She tries to survive in what feels like a heartless and uncaring bureaucracy and to work within a system where no one can get anything done without endless committees, paperwork, and approval. One day, she is approached by a ragtag bunch of misfits who say they want to overthrow the existing order, to liberate developers, to bring joy back to technology work, and to enable the business to win in a time of digital disruption. To her surprise, she finds herself drawn ever further into this movement, eventually becoming one of the leaders of the Rebellion, which puts her in the crosshairs of some familiar and very dangerous enemies.The Age of Software is here, and another mass extinction event looms—this is a story about rebel developers and business leaders working together, racing against time to innovate, survive, and thrive in a time of unprecedented uncertainty…and opportunity."
Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
"Hooked is based on Nir Eyal’s years of research, consulting, and practical experience. He wrote the book he wished had been available to him as a start-up founder—not abstract theory, but a how-to guide for building better products. Hooked is written for product managers, designers, marketers, start-up founders, and anyone who seeks to understand how products influence our behavior."
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
"Described as provocative and persuasive, this book by Daniel H. Pink deep dives into the concept of motivation. Dividing motivation into three parts -autonomy, mastery, and purpose – Pink succinctly tackles things like job satisfaction, and our desire to do good in the world. Not only will this be insightful in terms of our own personal motivations, but also for better understanding our users."
The Hard Things About Hard Things
"In The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz and one of Silicon Valley's most respected and experienced entrepreneurs, draws on his own story of founding, running, selling, buying, managing, and investing in technology companies to offer essential advice and practical wisdom for navigating the toughest problems business schools don't cover."
Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman is one of the most loved podcasts in the product management world. Reid Hoffman is the co-founder of LinkedIn, a Silicon Valley investor, and a Greylock partner who pushes his theory of scaling businesses. The podcast offers insight into everything from leadership to entrepreneurship, strategy, fundraising, management, and more.
The Product Hunt Radio podcast is a weekly podcast that delves into the exploration of future trends with impactful people. The podcast consistently puts out high-quality content with some of the most well-known names in the industry. Hosted by Ryan Hoover and Abadesi Osunade, the podcast invites founders, co-founders, journalists, investors, and product makers to discuss the latest tech in various industries.
How I Built This is hosted by National Public Radio’s (NPR) famous radio host and journalist, Guy Raz. The podcast focuses on inviting industry leaders from successful and upcoming companies, such as Lyft and Bumble. Each episode goes over how the guests got started, stories behind its success, and tips that can help other entrepreneurs reach that point. The idea is to help everyday innovators develop great products and scale their companies.
This website and blog cover all things around product management. Sachin is well written and more than accomplished in the field. After working in Silicon Valley both as a PM and as a founder, he knows a lot. His work is fresh, easy to read, and offers a lot of different perspectives on a wide range of product management topics.
Ken Norton is a well-known product leadership coach, speaker, and writer. He worked for more than 14 years at Google. Currently, he is an executive coach to product leaders. In addition to coaching hundreds of product managers, Ken regularly publishes articles on product management topics. The best part of Ken’s blog is that it doesn’t only focus on planning, prioritization, and strategy but also gives career advice about product management, tips, and insights into the life of a product manager.
The Black Box of Product Management
This blog has a great mix of personal and technical content that makes it easy and interesting to read for product managers. Brandon looks at the philosophy of product management today, advice for running and creating good product teams, and the way a manager should look at product development. He also covers soft skills like prioritization and decision making when working with a product team.
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