On My Shelf with Gabrielle Bufrem — Manager, Product Management at Pivotal Software, Inc. (San Francisco)
About
Gabrielle Bufrem is a Manager of Product Management at Pivotal in San Francisco. She is originally from Brazil, has lived in 9 countries across the world, and has built products across North America, Europe, and Asia. She has worked across seven industries helping companies digitally transform effectively. When she’s not building products she loves writing and speaking about Product Management.
On my shelf
Inspired (2nd edition)
How to create tech products customers love
by Marty Cagan
My opinion
For me, this is the bible in product management. It guides product managers and product leaders through industry best practices. It is a book that I keep going back to as new challenges arise and it always has something wise to teach me!
368 pages, John Wiley & Sons 2018
Radical Candor
Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity
by Kim Scott
My opinion
This book taught me how to be kind while being honest and direct. A lot of product management job involves communication and building relationships. This book is a must-read for those leading without and with authority!
272 pages, St. Martin’s Press 2017
Never Split the Difference
Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It
by Chris Voss
My opinion
I believe product managers need to be excellent negotiators since we are negotiating all the time — within the team, outside the team, and with stakeholders. This is a wonderful negotiation book written by an ex-FBI hostage negotiator that takes into account how we make irrational and emotional decisions. Must read!
288 pages, HarperBusiness 2016
The Lean Product Playbook
How to Innovate with Minimum Viable Products and Rapid Customer Feedback
by Dan Olsen
My opinion
This book gave me the 101 of product management when I became the first product manager within my division in my first job out of college. I am so thankful for it and recommend it to all PMs that are getting the lay of the land of the product world.
336 pages, Wiley 2015
Sprint
How to solve big problems and test new ideas in just five days
by Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky & Braden Kowitz
My opinion
This book taught me how to test ideas fast and often. It equipped me with the methods to run experiments and rapidly iterate to run effective product discovery!
288 pages, Simon & Schuster 2016
Creativity, Inc.
Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
by Ed Catmull
My opinion
An amazing book that tells the story of Pixar through business lessons. Every PM should be a great storyteller and no one does it better than Pixar. For some more insights check out Fareed’s talk for MTPCon in San Francisco.
368 pages, Bantam Press 2014
The PM Library series “On my shelf” features Product Leaders from all over the world who are passionate about reading and sharing with the community. If you want to join the movement and share your reading list with others send us a message or fill out the following form. Let’s get better together 📚.
