Resources for getting started in product management

I found out last week that a friend of mine, who has never been a product manager before, just got a job as a product manager. She’s going to be great at it and goodness knows I love a non-traditional background for product management. I’ve been thinking of resources to send her and thought that these might be useful for others too. If you’re just getting into product management, are interested in it or are considering a career change while the world is topsy-turvy, here is a jumping off point for you!

(I will note the resources that I haven’t yet personally read, but that have come highly recommended by my peers in parentheses. Ya know, because honesty is best!)

Basics

Looking for a place to start?

Product Owner in a Nutshell (YouTube) is a great video that explains what product ownership is in Scrum. This is a great place to start and is, coincidentally, the video I send my family when they ask what I do for a living.

The Scrum Guide is a basic place to start reading up on if you’re just starting out in product management. That said, I refer to it often because it is a framework and is therefore up for interpretation. When I’m trying to figure out how to get something done or how we should go about something, I reference the Scrum Guide. At a minimum, reading this thoroughly will ensure you have a clue what people who work in Agile software development are talking about!

Update October 13, 2020 This comprehensive guide to What is Product Management? covers a lot about what it means to be a product manager.

Articles

These articles are a bit more specific to certain areas of product management but they will give you an idea of what we have to think through in this job.

Problem definition

• My product management toolkit (4) — Problem statements
• Ditch the Solution-First Mindset and Start by Defining the Problem
• How to write a real customer problem statement
• How might we: How to Actually use “How Might We…?” Questions
• How might we: Stanford School “How Might We” Questions

Experimentation

• Hypothesis: The 5 Components of a Good Hypothesis
• Hypothesis: Applying the Scientific Method to Product Management

Research

• The Best Templates for Product Managers to Complete Competitive Analysis
• Market Size Estimations for Product Managers
• Assessing Product Opportunities

Miscellaneous

• Making Sense of MVP

Books

• Sprint by Jake Knapp, with John Zeratsky and Braden Kowitz (Haven’t read this in its entirety yet.)
• Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore
• Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love by Marty Cagan
• The Product Book by The Product School, Josh Anon and Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia free in exchange your email address (I’m currently reading this one.)
• Lean Startup by Eric Ries (Haven’t read this in its entirety yet.)

Blogs

• The Black Box of PM by Brandon Chu
• Insights by the Silicon Valley Product Group
• Product Talk by Teresa Torres (I want to start reading this blog more often but it is recommended by my peers.)

I am certain that there are many, many other great resources. If you have favourites, please add them to the comments and I will update this post. Until next time, stay safe and wear a mask!