Why this order
The craft first: what a product team is for, then how to ask a question customers cannot answer politely, then what to measure. The middle two move up a level to why some businesses compound. Chip War and Downfall close it, and they are the two that turn a product candidate into someone who can also talk about an industry.
The 7 of them, in order
1
Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love
Marty CaganEssentialBookStart here
The baseline everyone assumes you have read. Teams given problems, not roadmaps.
What to notice. An empowered team is given a problem, not a feature list.
The book product managers are assumed to have read. It is most useful for the distinction between a team that is handed a roadmap and one that is handed an outcome, which is the difference most candidates cannot articulate.
Where it shows up in a roomWhere it shows up in a room
Asked how you would run discovery, the answer that names risks in order, value then usability then feasibility then viability, comes straight from here.
2
The Mom Test
Rob FitzpatrickEssentialBookStart hereAn evening
One evening, and it fixes the single most common failure in a product case: asking a question that can be answered politely.
What to notice. Ask about what people already did, never about what they would do.
A short, practical book on customer conversations that do not produce flattering nonsense. The rule it is named for is the most portable idea in this collection.
Where it shows up in a roomWhere it shows up in a room
Any product case that starts with talk to users is really testing whether you know how to ask a question that cannot be answered politely.
3
Escaping the Build Trap
Melissa PerriRecommendedBookIntermediate
Outputs against outcomes. This is where a metrics answer stops being about how much shipped.
What to notice. Shipping is an output. Nobody is paying for outputs.
Why organisations measure how much they ship instead of what changed, and what has to be true structurally for that to stop. The most useful of the four if you are interviewing into a large company.
Where it shows up in a roomWhere it shows up in a room
Asked how you would measure success, the output against outcome distinction is the whole answer and most candidates give the output.
4
Platform Revolution
Geoffrey Parker, Marshall Van Alstyne and Sangeet Paul ChoudaryEssentialBookIntermediate
Up a level. Which side of a two-sided market is subsidised, and what a network effect actually is.
What to notice. A platform sets rules for a transaction it does not perform.
The mechanics of two-sided markets: who subsidises whom, why one side is priced at zero, and what actually creates a network effect as opposed to merely a large user count.
Where it shows up in a roomWhere it shows up in a room
It is the difference between saying a company has network effects and being able to say which side of the market they run on.
5
The Cold Start Problem
Andrew ChenRecommendedBookIntermediate
The practical sequel: how a network is started in one small market rather than launched at a large one.
What to notice. Network effects start in one small market, never across the whole one.
The honest sequel to the theory: how a network is actually started, city by city or campus by campus, and what usually kills it before it tips.
Where it shows up in a roomWhere it shows up in a room
Asked how you would launch a marketplace, the atomic network answer is far stronger than a marketing plan.
6
Chip War
Chris MillerEssentialBookStart here
The industry underneath all of it, and the answer to most supply chain questions this cycle.
What to notice. One company in the Netherlands is a single point of failure for everything.
How semiconductors became the chokepoint of the world economy. The most useful single book for anyone covering technology, and increasingly for anyone covering anything.
Where it shows up in a roomWhere it shows up in a room
Export controls and supply concentration now appear in technology, macro and credit interviews alike, and this is the one book that covers all three.
7
Downfall: The Case Against Boeing
2022EssentialDocumentaryStart hereAn evening
Last, and an evening. What a metric can destroy when nobody changes the incentive behind it.
What to notice. Financial discipline applied without limit eventually eats the engineering.
What happens when cost-out programmes and buybacks are run against an engineering culture. The lag between the decision and the damage appearing is the part worth sitting with.
Where it shows up in a roomWhere it shows up in a room
It is the strongest available answer to what a metric can destroy, which comes up in product, engineering leadership and research interviews alike.