On My Shelf with Richard Stromer — Freelance Product Manager (Munich)
About
Product manager (CPO) and co-founder at Picter. Named Forbes 30 under 30 in 2019. We’re building a visual project management software for better collaboration in the creative industries. Strong engineering background, worked 10+ years in software engineering with an interdisciplinary skillset. I love to turn ideas into products. I am very obsessed with how to efficiently test and build products that deliver true value. Learning is a journey that should not stop and reading is such a great and independent way to learn.
On my shelf
Strategize
Product Strategy and Product Roadmap Practices for the Digital Age
by Roman Pichler
My opinion
How to link your daily work with the vision some years ahead? This book helps you to understand how both ends are important in their context and how to bridge the gap in between.
172 pages, Pichler Consulting 2016
The Personal MBA
Master the Art of Business
by Josh Kaufman
My opinion
Great to learn the basics of business and get an overview of so many topics and further books to read. A must-read from my perspective for everyone like me who did not have a business background from education or elsewhere.
“A goldmine of useful ideas and helpful explanations. Every entrepreneur should own a copy.”
— James Clear, author of Atomic Habits
416 pages, Portfolio 2010
The Lean Startup
How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
by Eric Ries
My opinion
Since everything is lean nowadays, it’s key to understand what people talk about. There is a good reason why the lean concept got such wide adoption. And after reading the book you think in iterative loops and know what the words truly mean.
338 pages, Currency 2011
Thinking, Fast and Slow
by Daniel Kahneman
My opinion
It’s amazing to learn about human behaviour, our mind and the reasons why we do what we do. With this book, you experience your mind can be fooled while reading. It’s very enlightening to understand more about yourself and how you can better explain and handle your own biases.
512 pages, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2011
The Story of Philosophy
by Will Durant
My opinion
Although it’s not directly product related, I feel it’s very important we create products which do good to us and our world. It’s difficult to define good and on top, it’s hard to foresee where things might head. But reading learning from the past and exploring the thoughts of great minds, is a good way to start in my perspective.
215 pages, Simon & Schuster 2012
Appendix — Further books
- Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value by Melissa Perri
- The ONE Thing by Gary W. Keller & Jay Papasan
- Start with Why by Simon Sinek
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 📚.
