Are you looking for product management books? Here are our top book choices that every product manager should read according to the product executives that drive our network’s product conversation.
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Product Management Books on Team Management
“This is a really good book about OKR’s. It starts off with a story of a startup and ends with practical tips to implement OKR’s.” — Michael Fisher, former Pivotal Labs Product Lead, Product Talk EP 60.
Radical Focus: Achieving Your Most Important Goals with Objectives and Key Results by Christina Wodtke.
“This is a really good book about OKR’s. It starts off with a story of a startup and ends with practical tips to implement OKR’s.” — Michael Fisher, former Pivotal Labs Product Lead, Product Talk EP 60.
The Manager’s Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change by Camille Fournier.
“If you manage people or if you are on a team this is a great book to read.” — Ashley Phillips, Venmo Product Lead, Product Talk EP 56.
Books on User Testing and Research
Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug.
“Practical (read) about the basics of user testing and user research. All about building simple products.” — Eric Singley, Yelp Product Lead, Product Talk EP5.
Books on Human Psychology
The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life by Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson.
“This (book) is about latent motivations that under pin your decision making. I thought it was great.” — Dacheng Zhao, Google Product Lead, Product Talk EP 57.
Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler.
“Product Management’s first principle is human psychology – what drives us as human beings. I recommend reading this book to get up to speed on that (principle).” — Teresa Torres, Product Discovery Coach, Product Talk EP 20.
The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things In Motion by John Hagel, John Seely Brown, and Lang Davison.
“This book allows you to understand the larger impact of technology.” — Sangeet Paul Choudary, Entrepreneur and Business Author, Product Talk EP 3.
Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely.
“This book is all about what you think is going to happen vs. what people actually do. Dan Ariely is brilliant and he is one of my favorite ted talkers.” — Sally Thornton, Forshay Founder, Product Talk EP 24. Also recommended by Eric Singley, Yelp Product Lead, Product Talk EP5.
Webs of Influence: The Psychology of Online Persuasion by Nathalie Nahai.
“I always recommend this book and think everyone should read it.” — Andrea Saez, ProdPad Head of Customer Success, Product Talk EP 13.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari.
“A great book to frame and put our current environment in context. It focuses on everything we do as humans and our society — framing it in the context of how we have evolved.” — Michael Fisher, former Pivotal Labs Product Lead, Product Talk EP 60.
Product Management Books on the New York Times Best Sellers List
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.
“It’s like a series of magic tricks (and a must read).” — Alistair Croll, Fwd50 Founder, Product Talk EP 16. Also recommended by Teresa Torres, Product Discovery Coach, Product Talk EP 20.
Books by Legendary Entrepreneurs
Principles by Ray Dalio.
“He shares his crazy story, and this is a great read.” — Michael Fisher, former Pivotal Labs Product Lead, Product Talk EP 60.
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz.
“This is a great book (to read) if you are part of a scaling company.” — Justin Bauer, Amplitude Vice President of Product, Product Talk EP 35. Also recommended by Dacheng Zhao, Google Product Lead, Product Talk EP 57; Marty Cagan, Silicon Valley Product Group Partner, Product Talk EP 21; and Paige Conrad, Acorns Product Lead, Product Talk EP 52.
Zero to One by Blake Masters and Peter Thiel.
“This is a really great read written by Peter Thiel.” — Dacheng Zhao, Google Product Lead, Product Talk EP 57.
Books on Building For Customers
Inspired: How To Create Products Customers Love by Marty Cagan
“Must read. Marty Cagan is a product guru.” — Dan Olsen, Business Author, Product Talk EP 6.
Books on How to Build For Success
High Growth Handbook: Scaling Startups from 10 to 10,000 People by Elad Gil.
“Elad Gil – if you don’t know that name and you are building products you should. His book is seminal in how to overcome challenges and build products for companies.” — Alex Kinnier, GetUpside Chief Executive Officer, Product Talk EP 61.
Validating Product Ideas: Through Lean User Research by Tomer Sharon.
“This is a strong book about validating product ideas.” — Marty Cagan, Silicon Valley Product Group Partner, Product Talk EP 21.
Designing Connected Content: Plan and Model Digital Products for Today and Tomorrow by Carrie Hane and Mike Atherton.
“I have been passing this around the office (for everyone to read).” — Jenny Wanger, SpotHero Senior Product Manager, Product Talk EP 58.
The Design Sprint by Google Ventures.
“This books talks about how to do discovery sprints. A terrific Book!” — Marty Cagan, Silicon Valley Product Group Partner, Product Talk EP 21.
Books on Business Strategy
Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore.
“A great book to recommend to anyone.” — Adam Lashinksy, Fortune Editor, Product Talk EP 36. Also recommended by Justin Bauer, Amplitude Vice President of Product, Product Talk EP 35.
7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy by Hamilton Helmer
“This is a worthwhile read. We use this in the fabric of our strategy. (It discusses) how you think about going out and creating a disproportionate leverage in the market.” — Jeetu Patel, Box Chief Product Officer, Product Talk EP 46.
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About the speaker
Products that Count is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that helps everyone build great products. It celebrates product excellence through coveted Awards that inspire 500,000+ product managers and honor great products and the professionals responsible for their success. It accelerates the career and rise to the C-suite of >30% of all Product Managers globally by providing exceptional programming – including award-winning podcasts and popular newsletters – for free. It acts as a trusted advisor to all CPOs at Fortune 1000, and publishes key insights from innovative companies, like Capgemini, SoFi, and Amplitude, that turn product success into business success.