Product Manager Playbook
The complete PM toolkit
Who This Is For
PMs at any level, aspiring PMs, founders doing PM work
Any stage company
You're responsible for deciding what to build and making sure it ships
The best PMs are problem experts, not solution experts. Your job is to deeply understand the problem space and empower engineers and designers to find the best solution. You're not the idea person—you're the context person.
1. Understand the Problem
Great products start with deep problem understanding. Don't skip this.
Problem Definition
Directly experiencing the product as a user or provider reveals fundamental flaws in problem definit...
View Skill → →Conducting User Interviews
Observational research reveals 'orthogonal' problems that are invisible in data funnels.
View Skill → →Analyzing User Feedback
Unfiltered community platforms like Reddit provide higher-signal feedback on product flaws and 'real...
View Skill → →2. Set Direction
Translate understanding into a clear vision and strategy that aligns the team.
Defining Product Vision
Product vision in media should center on the core content (journalism) enhanced by a user experience...
View Skill → →Writing North Star Metrics
The value of a North Star metric lies more in its ability to galvanize and align an organization tha...
View Skill → →Setting OKRs & Goals
Avoid 'toddler soccer' (everyone chasing the same metric) by detangling goals into specific input me...
View Skill → →3. Prioritize Ruthlessly
Saying no is the most important skill. You can't do everything.
Prioritizing Roadmap
Growth roadmaps must be sequenced based on the underlying growth model and available resources rathe...
View Skill → →Evaluating Trade-offs
In highly uncertain environments, focus on order-of-magnitude differences rather than wasting effort...
View Skill → →Competitive Analysis
Competitive 'War Gaming' distributes market research across the team, ensuring deep immersion into c...
View Skill → →4. Spec & Ship
Turn strategy into tactics. Write clear specs, cut scope aggressively, ship fast.
Writing PRDs
Traditional written requirements are being replaced by functional prototypes and prompt sets as the...
View Skill → →Scoping & Cutting
Shift the focus from 'Minimum Viable Product' to 'Minimum Lovable Product' to ensure the initial rel...
View Skill → →Shipping Products
When shipping an acquired product, prioritize technical integration and feature parity (like stats/s...
View Skill → →5. Align & Communicate
PM is a team sport. Keep stakeholders informed and aligned.
Stakeholder Alignment
Growth leaders must bridge the gap between rapid experimentation and product craftsmanship to gain o...
View Skill → →Written Communication
Scale your impact by identifying recurring verbal explanations and codifying them into asynchronous...
View Skill → →Running Effective Meetings
Ending meetings with standardized questions ensures alignment and prevents the need for 're-meetings...
View Skill → →Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Writing specs before understanding the problem
- Prioritizing based on who yells loudest
- Treating engineers as ticket-takers
- Shipping features without success metrics
- Avoiding hard prioritization decisions