by Marty Cagan | Mar 31, 2018
The concept of the product manager as CEO of the Product has been one of the more controversial and polarizing topics in product, and most people are either strongly against this metaphor or strongly for it. In truth, I’ve been conflicted. I was first exposed to the...
by Marty Cagan | Dec 27, 2017
If you’ve had a chance to read the new edition of INSPIRED, you hopefully noticed that in this version I decided to focus quite heavily on the principles underlying modern tech product management: I want to be clear as to why you’ll see so many principles called out...
by Marty Cagan | Jul 2, 2017
Sharing what we learn in a startup typically happens naturally because the product team and the company are pretty much the same thing. However, as companies scale, this becomes substantially more difficult, yet it also becomes increasingly important to do. A...
by Marty Cagan | Nov 24, 2015
One of my all-time favorite quotes in our industry comes by way of the legendary VC, John Doerr, where he argues that “we need teams of missionaries, not teams of mercenaries.” This point captures so much, and gets right to the heart of the most important trait...
by Marty Cagan | Nov 10, 2015
In my last article I discussed how we need to simultaneously learn fast in product discovery, yet still release with confidence in product delivery. I got a very good response from this article, as well as many questions as to how teams can get better at one or both....
by Marty Cagan | Oct 22, 2015
Most of us are working on solving some pretty hard problems, and it usually ends up taking some fairly complex systems in order to power these solutions. As such, for most teams there are two very significant challenges to tackle: First, discovering, in detail, what...
by Marty Cagan | Oct 28, 2014
In my last article I discussed the differences between an IT Mindset and a Product Mindset. I must have struck a chord because I heard from so many people, from all over the world, that they were stuck in an “IT Mindset” organization. Unsurprisingly, their next...
by Marty Cagan | Oct 14, 2014
The role of the product organization is to consistently deliver significant new value to the business through continuous product innovation. At a startup, the product team either innovates and provides real value or the startup dies. However, in larger, more...
by Marty Cagan | Feb 23, 2014
One of the most significant changes in how we do product today is our use of analytics. Any capable product leader today is expected to be comfortable with data, and understand how to leverage analytics to learn and improve quickly. Note: For the purposes of this...
by Marty Cagan | Jun 27, 2011
One topic I’ve never written explicitly about is the need for product passion. I’ve referenced it at the top of the list of traits for good product leaders, but it’s easy to take this for granted especially since the people I surround myself with professionally are...
