On My Shelf with Lewis C. Lin — Author of The Product Manager Interview (Seattle, United States)
About me
I’m the creator of the CIRCLES Method, featured in my PM book Decode and Conquer. CNN named me the “top 10 job tweeters you should be following.” I was also Microsoft’s Director of Product Management, responsible for the Bing advertising platform. Before Microsoft, I worked at Google, leading new AdWords product launches.
On my shelf
The Lean Product Playbook
How to Innovate with Minimum Viable Products and Rapid Customer Feedback
by Dan Olsen
My opinion
It’s the best book on what the day-to-day PM role is all about from start-to-finish. It’s a perfect introduction for beginners, but an equally useful reference for experts. Dan gets credit for being prescriptive and to the point, which is a rarity in this space.
336 pages, Wiley 2015
Zero to One
Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
by Peter Thiel, Blake Masters
My opinion
He makes an elegant case for being small and focused. He also is a big advocate for contrarian thinking. Focus, small, contrarian thinking are the keys to successful innovation. Most PMs struggle with this.
Here are two of my favorite quotes from the book:
“A new company’s most important strength is new thinking: even more important than nimbleness, small size affords space to think.”
“This is what a startup has to do: question received ideas and rethink business from scratch.”
224 pages, Currency 2014
That Will Never Work
The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea
by Marc Randolph
My opinion
Penned by Netflix’s co-founder, it’s a reminder that innovation isn’t fast, elegant, or special. In other words, there’s no magic.
Here’s one of my favorite tales from the book: it’s a story of a guy driving around the Bay Area trying to mail DVDs in a greeting card envelope.
336 pages, Little, Brown and Company 2019
How To Win Friends And Influence People
by Dale Carnegie
My opinion
Successful PMs get things done. And they can’t get things done without others. Dale Carnegie’s book is filled with tips on how to get along with others.
320 pages, Simon & Schuster 2009
Traction
How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth
by Gabriel Weinberg
My opinion
Growth is finally having its moment with product managers, and this is the best book on growth marketing tactics.
240 pages, Portfolio 2015
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 📚.
