November 1, 2014

Last week, I was asked by a student how I became a Product Manager and what was the right training to become one.

Tricky question. Because, as pointed out last week by Ellen Chisa in her great history of product management, there’s a lack of traditional resources on Product Management. Few great books, even fewer academic or training programs. Not much awareness among students.

This is a shame, because:

It’s the best job in the world (at least for me).

A lot of students and people starting their careers don’t even know this great job exists (I, for one, became a PM by accident)

A lot of time is spent reinventing the wheel.

Fortunately, people in the profession have stepped up to fill that void and write a cornucopia of great articles. It has helped me fantatiscally in my career I’ve been hoarding their best stuff like a squirrel for the last 4 years.

So here’s my collection, loosely organized. I hope it can benefit other people as much as it’s benefitted me.

All the credit goes to the great PMs and product leaders behind these lines. They’re part of the reason I love Product Management.

Level 0 - What is Product Management? #

Level 1 - Is it really for you? #

Level 2 - Becoming a Product Manager #

Level 3 - Building great products #

Level 4 - Get out of the building #

Level 5 - Requirements! #

(I’ve always found this area a bit poor in resources. Any recommendations?)

Level 6 - Roadmaps, planning and prioritization! #

Level 7 - Working with engineers (a.k.a Bringing the Donuts) #

Level 8 - UX and working with designers #

How to work with designers - Julie Zhuo

(I have more here but need to compile it a bit)

Level 9 - Giving and receiving feedback #

Level 10 - Ship, Measure and Win #

Level 11 - Organizing a Product Management team #

(I’ve done a lot of research on this subject but couldn’t find many good resources. Any recommendations?)

Level 12 - Managing Up #

Level 13 - Becoming great #

Level 14 - Moar! #

Ellen Chisa also mentions a few more.

Have more? You can comment and share your suggestions in this Hackpad.



You can also find this list:

Last note: Kenneth Norton, who sports some of the best articles in this list unfortunately lost his son Riley last week and is raising money for children with heart disease. Go donate if you like donuts.

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