On My Shelf with Bijan Shahrokhi — founder of Product Management Exercises (San Francisco)
About me
I created Product Management Exercises, a web application that helps over 10,000 product managers each month to prepare for PM job interviews. My full time job is Head of Product at a tech startup in San Francisco. I’ve been a product manager for over 10 years.
On my shelf
Thinking in Bets
Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts
by Annie Duke
My opinion
It’s a fascinating book that helps us realize the important difference between a ‘good decision’ and a ‘good outcome’. Sometimes outcomes cloud our judgements about the quality of our decisions. The book is written by a professional poker player who does business consulting today and talks about why businesses should optimize for ‘good decisions’ rather than ‘good outcomes’. I think the book is a must read for product managers, particularly the ones that believe in moving fast and experimenting.
288 pages, Portfolio 2018
Get this book (amazon.com, amazon.de, amazon.es)
The PayPal Wars
Battles with eBay, the Media, the Mafia, and the Rest of Planet Earth
by Eric M. Jackson
My opinion
An amazing book that gives you an inside view of how things turned out the way they did for PayPal. For many people outside Silicon Valley, the challenges associated with creating a disrupting technology are unknown. The book helps you see how fragile everything was at PayPal until the day they were acquired by eBay.
350 pages, WND Books 2012
Get this book (amazon.com, amazon.de, amazon.es)
The Sociopath Next Door
by Martha Stout
My opinion
A very interesting book for any product leader that’s looking to build a team. 1 in every 25 American is a sociopath and hiring them can be very costly to a team. The book talks about the behavioural patterns of sociopaths, how to identify them, and how to deal with them. I really liked the scientific approach of the book to describe how this small group of people can be so harmful to the society or their communities.
256 pages, Harmony 2006
Get this book (amazon.com, amazon.de, amazon.es)
Hooked
by Nir Eyal
My opinion
A good book for product managers looking to learn more about how to create new habits among their users. The book does a detailed analysis of social media platforms and talks about why Facebook and Instagram are addictive while LinkedIn is not. It’s a really interesting book to read for any product manager looking to build a consumer digital product.
256 pages, Portfolio 2014
Get this book (amazon.com, amazon.de, amazon.es)
The Four Steps to the Epiphany
Successful Strategies for Products that Win
by Steve Blank
My opinion
A must read book for any product manager that’s looking to build a brand new product. It highlights the importance of understanding your users and building something that they actually want. The book is a practical toolkit for any product manager who is considering the entrepreneurial route.
384 pages, Wiley 2020
Get this book (amazon.com, amazon.de, amazon.es)
Our series “On my shelf” features product people from all over the world who are passionate about reading and sharing their best book recommendations with the community. If you want to join the movement and share your reading list with others send us a message. Let’s get better together 📚.
