Albuquerque’s Newsletter

Share this post
What books helped me become a better product manager?
www.andrealbuquerque.com

What books helped me become a better product manager?

Andre Albuquerque
Nov 29, 2021
Share this post
What books helped me become a better product manager?
www.andrealbuquerque.com

Or, in other words, what books should you read if you want to be a PM (or grow as one)?



- “Escaping the build trap” by Melissa Perri - perfect to learn the basics of being a PM.
- “Inspired” by Marty Cagan - a solid overview of PM dynamics and every scenario you’ll encounter from startups to large corps
- “Continuous Discovery Habits” by Teresa Torres - the fundamentals to understand how to know what to build. Also a great choice for PM basics.
- “The Mom Test” by Rob Fitzpatrick - learn how to interview and get the answers you need. Coupling this with Teresa’s book will make you a solid researcher.
- “Nudge” by Richard Thaler - learn psychology and the art of influencing your users through thoughtful design.
- “Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman - a deep dive into psychology, learn about the cognitive biases that influence how your users think.
- “Never split the difference” by Christopher Voss - Negotiation is a daily task of PMs. With stakeholders, competitors, users. Perfect to give you an edge in high-stake situations.
- “Who gets what - and why” by Alvin E. Roth - Understand market dynamics and power laws. Knowing why market variables move, will make or break the success of your product.
- “Hard Thing About Hard Things” by Ben Horowitz - If you work [with/directly for] founders, your PM life is probably tough. This is a perfect book to become more empathic about their struggle. 
- “Hooked" by Nir Eyal - Learn how product-led growth works, and what takes to make a product that sticks. The only growth/marketing book you’ll need imho.
- “Empowered” by Marty Cagan - the foundations to grow as a product leader. Recommended if you’re stepping up to Senior/Lead/Head PM.

To be a really strong PM, aim to be at a top reading percentile. 10 books a year will get you close. At 250 pages each, that means 7 pages a day. Even if you’re slow reading, that’s 15 minutes. Pretty simple.

As Naval Ravikant says, the best investment you can make is to be an optimist. I think the second best is reading voraciously.

PS: Thinking Fast and Slow, Hard Things, and Hooked are missing because I lent them. Be a person who lends books to others. Reduce the friction for anyone to read. Many don’t have the possibility of buying dozens of books. Be a person who lends books (and ask them back so you can re-read them).

PPS: I tagged some of the authors so you can follow them, and check their podcasts and content. Don't stop learning after you close their book.

Share this post
What books helped me become a better product manager?
www.andrealbuquerque.com
Comments
TopNewCommunity

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 Albuquerque
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing