Inspired
How To Create Products Customers Love
by Marty Cagan · first published 2008
89% recommend11% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Concise, practical overview of product management covering people, process and product, including how to reduce value, usability, feasibility and viability risk. Suits new PMs and engineers moving toward product work.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Why do some products make the leap to greatness while others don’t? Creating inspiring products begins with discovering a product that is valuable, usable, and feasible. If you can’t do this, then it’s not worth building anything. • How do you decide which product opportunities to pursue? • How do you get evidence that the product you’re going to ask your engineering team to build will be successful? • How do you identify the minimal possible product that will be successful? • How do you manage the often conflicting demands of company execs, customers, sales, marketing, engineering, d
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…come to finding a "spiritual successor" to The Soul of a New Machine by Kidder. If you liked The Soul of a New Machine, or if you like watching Halt and Catch Fire, you may well like Dreaming in Code. Inspired by Marty Cagan. Really solid overview of the essentials of product management. The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect by Judea Pearl. Judea Pearl is, of course, a giant in the worlds of…
on “Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?” ↗To add a few that span outside entrepreneurship, but are of course very valuable to entrepreneurs: Inspired: How To Create Products Customers Love (http://www.amazon.com/Inspired-Create-Products-Customers-Lov...) - The best if not only required reading for product management Peopleware (http://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-S...)…
on “Books Every Entrepreneur Should Read” ↗I read this one: http://www.amazon.com/Inspired-Create-Products-Customers-Lov... Inspired: How To Create Products Customers Love by Marty Cagan It's short, well written and covers several visions (product, engineering, etc).
on “Good books to read on Product Development” ↗Inspired: How To Create Products Customers Love by Marty Cagan It's an awesome book covering product management at all stages and both in startups and at scale.
on “Ask HN: What are the best books you've read this year?” ↗If you're looking for potholes to avoid when starting a company, I'd encourage you to read Inspired by Marty Cagan. Not a startup book per se, but a fantastic read on how to eliminate the 4 types of risks for any product (value, usability, feasibility, and business viability risks).
on “Ask HN: Why did your startup fail?” ↗…Methods. Again, straightforward, flip to any page and get an idea when you're brainstorming. * Thinking in Systems - I recommend you skim this book through, but come back to it a lot, it grows with you. * Inspired by Marty Cagan - again, love nuts and bolts process books. * Don't Make Me Think! - still a classic, still see these mistakes being made all the time in modern app dev.
on “Alan Kay's answer to ‘what are some forgotten books programmers should read?’” ↗Read the book Inspired by Marty Cagan. If that doesn't get you excited about Product Management I don't know what will. Having 11 years of experience in tech will help tremendously but you'll need to have some awesome soft…
on “Ask HN: How can I move away from engineering?” ↗Anyone interested in product management shoulder read "INSPIRED: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love" by Marty Cagan.
on “Ask HN: Which book can attract anyone towards your field of study?” ↗Inspired: How To Create Products Customers Love by Marty Cagan
on “Need book recommendations for programmer to product developer transition” ↗…your technology infrastructure while maintaining a robust and efficient development pipeline is crucial. This book delves into the principles and practices of continuous delivery and automation. 6. "Inspired: How to Create Products Customers Love" by Marty Cagan - If your role involves product development, this book is a must-read. It provides insights into building products that resonate with customers…
on “Ask HN: What books would you recommend to newly appointed ScaleUp CTO?” ↗…Tuned In - great book, describes how to really understand user perspectives as opposed to 'inside-out' development. The book's based on many principles taught in the Pragmatic Marketing prodm course. Inspired (Marty Cagan) - good cross section of PM, covers People, Process and Product separately. Startups to large companies. The Art of Product Management - a series of articles, describes software PM in startups…
on “Ask HN: Please suggest some good books on software product management.” ↗…understand the theories and challenges of developing software. This helps when you're communicating with developers. I think a big issue is understanding the software development process. I would check out "Inspired" by Marty Cagan and a lighter (more anecdotal) read in "Dreaming in Code".
on “What To Look For In A Business Co-Founder” ↗You should check out Inspired - How to create products customer love by Marty Cagan. I found it extremely concise and useful. http://www.amazon.com/Inspired-Create-Products-Customers-Lov...
on “Ask HN: are there any "must read" product management books?” ↗…become that role and hire people around you. If not, you'll have to try again. It's more risky but potentially could get you to a PM role faster. In the end, I'd recommend you pick up Marty Cagan's "Inspired" http://www.amazon.com/Inspired-Create-Products-Customers-Lov... -- it discusses product management in much more detail.
on “What constitutes a good product manager and when should we hire one?” ↗…more helpful to a dev-signer like yourself. Other useful resources http://robertlenne.com/requiredreading/ Universal Design Princples http://www.amazon.ca/Universal-Principles-Design-William-Lid... Inspired: How to Create Products Customers Love (great for teams) http://www.amazon.ca/Inspired-Create-Products-Customers-Love...
on “Ask HN: UX Books / Wait for revised/updated or buy now?” ↗