Are you looking for ways to improve your product management skills?
Check out our list of the best product management books! These books will teach you everything you need to know about this essential field.
Whether you are a seasoned product manager or just starting your career, these books will help you become a better product manager. They cover topics such as developing products that customers want, managing teams and projects, and much more.
Read one or all of these best-selling books on Amazon!
How We Choose These 8 Best Books for You
It can be tough to know which product management books are worth reading.
There are a lot of product management books out there, and it can be tough to know which ones are worth your time.
We've read through thousands of user reviews to come up with a list that will show you the best product management books. Whether you're just starting in product management or you're looking for more advanced techniques, we've got you covered.
Best for Startup
This comprehensive book delivers the knowledge and tools you need to stand out from the competition and land a role in a start-up or big tech company.
1. Cracking the PM Interview by Gayle Laakmann McDowell
What Is This Book About
Created by tech career expert Gayle Laakmann McDowell, this comprehensive book delivers the knowledge and tools you need to stand out from the competition and land a role in a start-up or big tech company.
In addition to covering important basics such as how the PM role varies among companies and what experience you need, this book offers expert advice on making sure your existing experience counts and crafting an unforgettable resume. Plus, it dives into one of the most crucial stages of interview prep - mastering those intimidating questions: estimations, behavioral, cases, products, technicals...and even that critical "Pitch."
Whether you’re interviewing for a traditional tech startup or more established tech giant, Cracking the PM Interview is your guide to confidently and successfully preparing for your next big step. Complete with friendly tips from author Gayle Laakmann McDowell – don’t miss out on grabbing your copy today!
Why You Will Love It
You will love this book because Gayle and Jackie not only provide the necessary resources to help you land a product manager job, but also equip you with tools and strategies that are essential for success in the role. You can easily map out your career with their guidance and build up your skillset to make a mark in the Product Management world. This is clearly a must-have resource if you are looking to get into product management!
Best for Innovation
This essential guide will teach you how to build what customers love. Through clear, step-by-step guidance and advice, this practical book will improve your chances of building successful products quickly—regardless of the size of your team or company.
2. The Lean Product Playbook by Dan Olsen
What Is This Book About
Are you tired of wasted time and money trying to build the perfect product? You’re not alone. Building great products is hard, and most new products fail. But don’t worry, The Lean Product Playbook by Dan Olsen can help!
This essential guide will teach you how to build what customers love. Through clear, step-by-step guidance and advice, this practical book will improve your chances of building successful products quickly—regardless of the size of your team or company. It covers everything from designing an experiment strategy and creating a minimum viable product to looking at customer analytics and hiring the right team.
Dan offers years of expertise with an approachable yet witty style that any reader can enjoy. Whether you’re developing a brand new idea or polishing up existing projects, The Lean Product Playbook will get you there in no time! All it takes is a few simple steps and soon enough you’ll have your own customized playbook tailored just for you.
Why You Will Love It
You will love The Lean Product Playbook because it is a comprehensive and accessible guide to the Lean Product Process, which is designed to help entrepreneurs and product managers achieve product-market fit. You'll learn how to identify underserved customer needs and create a winning product strategy, decide on your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and design its prototype, as well as test it with customers before making necessary iterations. With this methodical approach, you'll be ready to launch or build new products in no time. Executives, designers, developers, marketers, analysts and other passionate professionals alike will find this an invaluable resource for their projects.
Best for Tech Products
With this book, you'll get step-by-step guidance on how to make sure your product meets both customer needs while checking all the boxes required to make it work as a business venture.
3. Inspired by Marty Cagan
What Is This Book About
Marty Cagan provides readers with a master class on how to identify customer needs, discover and develop the best product solutions, and market the products that customers absolutely love. With this book, you'll get step-by-step guidance on how to make sure your product meets both customer needs while checking all the boxes required to make it work as a business venture.
You'll learn techniques to structure and staff your product organization as well as strategies on how to manage uneven innovation cycles that can be found within teams and functions such as sales or marketing. Plus, for those of you who struggle with understanding competitive positioning situations, Marty will teach you tactics from how to gather competitive intelligence from the market up through how to deliver an effective competitive response including prices, features, messaging and positioning.
Why You Will Love It
Inspired is the perfect reference for technology product managers. This book shares the invaluable knowledge, practices, and techniques that tech-savvy professionals rave about―all to help you remain up-to-date on the most recent trends in the industry. INSPIRED provides a comprehensive approach to success, which explains why it is on the shelves of nearly every successful technology product company worldwide. This new edition promises to be even more comprehensive, offering Marty's compelling case for change and actionable steps that keep your company agile and ready for any challenge that comes its way.
So what are you waiting for? With this amazing book you can kickstart your journey into creating tech products that customers love!
The New York Times Bestseller
The Lean Startup encourages “validated learning” through rapid experimentation and unconventional practices for developing products faster without having to resort vanity metrics.
4. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
What Is This Book About
With its innovative approach, The Lean Startup by Eric Ries can foster growth and lead to more capital efficiency. Based on lessons from lean manufacturing, The Lean Startup encourages “validated learning” through rapid experimentation and unconventional practices for developing products faster without having to resort vanity metrics. It can also teach you how to understand what customers really want and shift product development cycles more agilely. And best of all — it's easy-to-follow so you don't have to worry about being a rocket scientist! With The Lean Startup by Eric Ries at your side you're sure get the results you desire with an innovative and friendly approach.
Why You Will Love It
This book provides realistic, actionable advice to all entrepreneurs and managers looking for the best way to manage their startups. Eric Ries’s book is packed with inspiring anecdotes and essential principles you'll be thankful you knew earlier. Forget long-winded business plans that offer little guidance - The Lean Startup offers a data-driven, methodical approach that allows entrepreneurs of all sizes to regularly monitor their goals and pivot according to the results. You won’t regret putting your trust in Ries - innovation has never been more important for businesses to survive, he gives us the science-backed direction we need.
Businessweek Bestseller
This book offers strategies on how to bridge this gap. You'll learn what "edge strategy" is and get tips on which customer segments you should target as well as how you can best communicate your technology's benefits so that everyone wants to join in!
5. Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore
What Is This Book About
Welcome to Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore! Are you an innovator or marketer looking for ways to accelerate adoption of your products? Then you'll benefit from the important insights offered in this revolutionary book. It shows that when it comes to a Technology Adoption Life Cycle, there is a wide chasm between early adopters, those willing to try out new technology and embrace its advantages, and the early majority, who are more hesitant and wait until they know that any technology they use will lead to increased productivity. This book offers strategies on how to bridge this gap. You'll learn what "edge strategy" is and get tips on which customer segments you should target as well as how you can best communicate your technology's benefits so that everyone wants to join in! So if you're ready to cross the chasm with ease and propel yourself into the future of technology, then pick up a copy of "Crossing the Chasm" by Geoffrey A. Moore today!
Why You Will Love It
You will love this book because it brings Moore's classic work up to date with the most up-to-date insight and findings, new strategies for marketing in the digital world and dozens of examples of successes as well as failures in high-tech marketing. You will also benefit from two valuable appendices - one that connects the ideas in Crossing the Chasm to subsequent work published in his Inside the Tornado, and another presenting groundbreaking research in technology adoption models for high-tech consumer markets. In conclusion, Crossing the Chasm is a must-have for anyone who wants to stay ahead in the world of high-tech marketing.
Best for Value Creation
‘Escaping the Build Trap’ provides an invaluable blueprint for building a great product from the ground up.
6. Escaping the Build Trap by Melissa Perri
What Is This Book About
In Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value by Melissa Perri shows you how to break free from the ‘build trap’ and create a product culture that benefits your business and your customer! With practical advice grounded in proven, tangible principles, this book guides you through every step of developing a successful, customer-oriented product management plan.
Split into five parts, ‘Escaping the Build Trap’ takes you on an empowering journey of growth. Discover why organizations accidentally fall into the 'build trap,' where features are shipped before the value they promise has been developed. Learn how to put together a scalable product organization, how to keep your team focused on communicating and collaborating with both existing and potential customers, as well as how to tie it all in with an overarching strategy for success.
Whether your company is big or small, ‘Escaping the Build Trap’ provides an invaluable blueprint for building a great product from the ground up. Readily digestible yet highly effective strategies distilled from Melissa Perri’s considerable expertise guarantee that this book is essential reading if you want to get ahead of the competition and delight your customers.
Why You Will Love It
You will love this book because Melissa Perri does an excellent job introducing Product Management (PdM) to a wide range of people. Whether you are a senior manager, client, or software developer, each of us can benefit from the insights shared by Perri in this book! You'll find practical advice as well as illuminating case studies, making it informative and enjoyable to read.If you want to know how effective product management is this book is a must-read. You won't be disappointed!
New York Times Bestseller
Sprint is like a breath of fresh air compared to other business books; it lays out a concise 5-day process that makes tackling complex issues easier. You'll get an insider's look into how technology giants Google, LEGO, and Slack approach tough challenges too!
7. Sprint by Jake Knapp
What Is This Book About
This book is perfect for introducing a general audience to PdM, making it appealing and accessible for everyone from senior managers to software developers.
Sprint contains so many useful ideas, suggestions, and case studies that any reader can draw great value from. From team sprints to user testing, this book covers it all! With examples from Google Ventures, including the techniques that have driven successes such as Uber and Slack, this book comprises invaluable advice for anyone looking to develop their product. And don’t worry; it’s interesting too! Sprint is a really fun read: engaging yet easy enough that anyone can understand it.
So why not give Sprint by Jake Knapp a go? It’s full of useful tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your product development process.
Why You Will Love It
Melissa Perri does an excellent job introducing Product Management (PdM) to a wide range of people. Whether you are a senior manager, client, or software developer, each of us can benefit from the insights shared by Perri in this book! You'll find practical advice as well as illuminating case studies, making it informative and enjoyable to read. You won't be disappointed!
You will absolutely love this book if you're looking for powerful methods for hatching ideas, solving problems, testing solutions, and finding the small correct habits that can make all the difference. Sprint is like a breath of fresh air compared to other business books; it lays out a concise 5-day process that makes tackling complex issues easier. You'll get an insider's look into how technology giants Google, LEGO, and Slack approach tough challenges too! Plus, the stories contained within these pages will make the journey even more enjoyable.
National Bestseller
This highly acclaimed book is filled with groundbreaking insights and research on the fundamental question of why some products capture widespread attention while others flop.
8. Hooked by Nir Eyal
What Is This Book About
Are you looking to create products that truly engage and entertain customers? Look no further than Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal! This highly acclaimed book is filled with groundbreaking insights and research on the fundamental question of why some products capture widespread attention while others flop. It explains the four-step Hook Model designed to help product marketers and creators subtly encourage customer behavior.
Nir Eyal has done extensive research, consulting and practical experience for this must-have book so you don't have to waste your time looking elsewhere. No more depending on costly advertising or aggressive messaging - it's all in here! With an easy to read guide and advice, the book helps you understand the power of habit forming technology and how you can use it to take your products to the next level.
Discover how you can better engage customers with Hooked, by learning what they want, need, and expect from each product using this simple and effective model. Get up close and personal with innovation firsthand - be bold, be creative and make magic happen with stand-out products that grab their attention!
Why You Will Love It
You will love this book because Eyal provides readers with a unique combination of practical insights, actionable steps, and fascinating examples. You'll learn how to create user habits that stick and craft products people love by leveraging the four-stage cycle of addiction. You'll also find intriguing examples which help bring the material to life - from the iPhone to Twitter, Pinterest to the Bible App, and many other habit-forming products. Put simply, Hooked gives you the blueprint for the next generation of products.
Best Product Management Books FAQs
You're considering buying the best product management book, but you have some questions.
It can be tough to figure out which product management book is the right one for you. There are so many different titles on the market, and it's hard to know which one will help you achieve your goals.
We've compiled a list of the most Frequently Asked Questions about best product management books to help make your decision easier.
What should product managers read?
Product managers should read books that give them a broad perspective on business and management. Here are a few suggestions:
- The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses, by Eric Ries
- The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail, by Clayton M. Christensen
- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don’t, by Jim Collins
- Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
What are the 3 major areas of product management?
The three areas of product management are strategy, development, and marketing.
Strategy is about figuring out what products to build and how to make money from them. Development is about turning those ideas into a reality by creating a plan and then executing that plan. Marketing is about getting the word out so people know about the product and want to buy it.
What are the top 3 skills of a product manager?
The top 3 skills of a product manager are: 1) Strong design intuition and user empathy; 2) Excellent communication and problem-solving skills; and 3) Proven ability to manage timelines, stakeholders, and resources.
What is the hardest thing about product management?
The hardest thing about product management is managing the expectations of stakeholders.
Product managers are responsible for developing and delivering products that meet the needs of their organization's customers. This can be a challenging task, especially when stakeholders have high expectations for a new product or feature.
Product managers must carefully manage stakeholder expectations by communicating clearly and frequently about the progress of their projects. They must also be prepared to adapt to changes in requirements or schedules as needed. By managing stakeholder expectations effectively, product managers can help ensure that their projects are successful.
What are the 4 Ps of product management?
The 4 P's of product management stand for planning, producing, pricing, and promoting.
Is product management a tough career?
Yes and no. It can be tough because the job requires a lot of skills - from business and technical expertise to communication and problem-solving abilities. However, it can also be very rewarding because you have the opportunity to make a real impact on a product that people use every day.
At its core, product management is all about creating great products that solve real problems for people. It's a challenging but immensely satisfying job, and if you're up for the challenge, it can be an incredibly rewarding career.
What product managers should avoid?
There are a few things that product managers should avoid if they want to be successful in this field. First, they should avoid micromanaging their team. This can lead to a lack of trust and decreased productivity. Second, they should avoid trying to do too many things at once. This can lead to disorganization and poor decision-making. And finally, they should avoid becoming bogged down in details and losing sight of the big picture. This can prevent them from making strategic decisions that will help their product succeed.
What personality fits a product manager?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the role of product manager can vary dramatically from company to company and even team to team. However, there are a few key personality traits that are often associated with success in the role of product manager.
Generally speaking, successful product managers are analytical and strategic thinkers who have a strong interest in technology and a tendency towards perfectionism. They can see the big picture and think long-term, while also being able to focus on the details and manage day-to-day tasks. They are excellent communicators and thrive in fast-paced environments. And lastly, they must be able to work well with people across all levels of an organization.
Do product managers use SQL?
Yes, product managers use SQL. SQL (Structured Query Language) is a language used to communicate with databases. It is used to pull data out of databases, as well as to insert new data and modify existing data.
Product managers use SQL to gather data about their products - such as how many users the product has, what features the product has, what the user base looks like, etc. They also use SQL to track user activity on the website or app - such as which pages are being visited most frequently, what search terms are being used most often, etc. This data can then be used to make decisions about which features to add or remove from the product and how best to market and sell.
What should a product manager do every day?
A product manager should do the following every day:
1. Evaluate customer feedback and prioritize product features
2. Work with the engineering team to develop a product roadmap and track progress against goals
3. Gather data to measure the success of the product and make necessary adjustments
4. Communicate with stakeholders, including customers, executives, and other team members.
Is Python needed for product management?
Python is not necessary for product management, but it can be extremely useful. For example, Python can be used to quickly prototype or test new features, automate tasks or reports, or analyze data.
Is coding necessary for a product manager?
Yes. Coding is one of the most important skills for a product manager.
A product manager is responsible for overseeing the development and execution of a product vision. This means that they need to be able to understand and communicate complex technical concepts, as well as collaborate with engineers to make sure that products are developed in a way that meets customer needs and business objectives.
Coding skills are essential for this type of work, as they allow product managers to better understand the products they're developing and how they're being built. In addition, coding skills can also help PMs troubleshoot problems and find solutions faster.
Is SQL losing popularity?
SQL is not losing popularity, but the way businesses are using it is changing. In the past, businesses used SQL to store data in a central location that could be accessed by all employees. However, as businesses have shifted towards cloud-based storage solutions, SQL is no longer necessary for this purpose.
Now, businesses are using SQL to query data that is stored in different locations across the internet. This allows employees to access data from any device, regardless of where it is stored. So while SQL may not be as popular as it once was, its usage is still very prevalent in the business world.
Do product managers use Excel?
Many product managers use Excel for data analysis and visualization. It's a versatile tool that can be used to create charts and graphs, calculate formulas, and filter data.
In addition to Excel, many product managers also use other tools such as Jira, Aha!, and Trello for project management. These tools allow product managers to track tasks, collaborate with team members, and keep track of progress.
Conclusion
Product management is an essential skill for anyone who wants to build a successful career in tech. Luckily, there are plenty of great books out there that can help you hone your product management skills. We’ve compiled a list of the best product management books based on verified customer reviews so you can find the perfect one for you. With those books you will learn several subjects related to product management, such as the concept of minimum viable products, how to target customers, including tech products customers, how to obtain rapid customer feedback, real world examples of Silicon Valley product group,
So click on the buttons above and pick your copies now!
