It seems like there is another software Product Management blog born every month. This is fantastic news for product people who are hungry to learn more as they try to answer the question, “am I doing this right?” So, if you’re looking for the top Product Management blogs out there, you have come to the right place!
Product Collective (a 30,000-strong Product Management community and organizers of INDUSTRY: The Product Conference) asked our community to vote for their favorite blogs and, along with the opinions of our editorial team, have come up with a comprehensive list of the top resources available to you.
Note: to remain impartial, we have not included our own blog in this list. It does, however, have some good stuff in it (if we do say so ourselves), including a new post that finds and summarizes inspiring resources relating to a new product-centered topic each week. To get this and more in a newsletter each Friday, join Product Collective here for free. Some popular editions:
Success Metrics for New Products
Product Roles — Structuring Your Team Around Individual and Shared Responsibilities
Best 20 Product Management Blogs in 2021
1) Bring the Donuts
Ken Norton waxes lyrical on a myriad of Product Management topics in his viral blog. But what’s the number one piece of advice he’s shared? Why it’s “bring the donuts,” of course. He implores Product Managers to be the ones that do this simple action to gain some Kudo points with the engineers, designers, executives, and others we work with. Norton took some time off his newsletter while working with GV (Google Ventures), but now he’s back out on his own and regularly publishing on Substack.
Why do we like it:
Norton is simply one of the most thoughtful of product people out there who never fails to bring up at least one point per post that will make you think differently.
Where to start reading:
In this lengthy post, Ants and Aliens: Long-term Product Planning, Norton urges you to think in the long term. No, seriously, he’s talking 30-year long-term product strategy. The post was based on a talk that Ken did at one of the earliest editions of INDUSTRY: The Product Conference back in 2016.
2) Inside Intercom
You’ll see several software companies in this list with great blogs, but Intercom comes out on top for several reasons. For one thing, it’s been around for a fairly long time now (in Internet years). But more importantly, it contains many posts that Product Managers will find valuable.
Why do we like it:
Since Intercom has shifted its targeted customer from product to marketing and sales, the blog now contains much non-product content. However, dig deep into the Product & Design archive, and you’ll find lots of good stuff. Many of the early content was created by product leaders in the company like Des Traynor, a serious thought leader who always manages to stir something in your mind.
Where to start reading:
As mentioned, the blog has been around for a while, so you can search way back to find plenty of good content. We recommend taking a look at ‘Making Things People Want’ to get a taste of what you’re going to get elsewhere.
3) Silicon Valley Product Group Insights Blog
SVPG is Marty Cagan’s home, author of the seminal Product Management book INSPIRED and its recent follow-up, EMPOWERED.
Why do we like it:
The SVPG blog feels like Product Management ground zero. Cagan’s writings take you from the basics — Product Manager Job Description — to the complex — Factors in Structuring a Product Organization. Cagan’s writings (and some posts from his colleagues in the blog) go back 16(!) years, so this blog is like a Product Management encyclopedia.
Where to start reading:
The definition of product market fit is debatable. Cagan describes it as “once you have achieved a threshold number (I advocate at least 6) of live, referenceable customers for a given vertical market.” The rest of the post, Product Market Fit, is eye-opening.
4) First Round’s The Review
Some of the best Product Management content out there comes from a place you wouldn’t expect — a VC firm. First Round does a superb job of going really deep into various important topics for Product Managers.
Why do we like it:
First Round has a novel approach in featuring posts by top product people from startups in their portfolio and others from well-known companies like Atlassian. This results in posts full of practical and actionable advice.
Where to start reading:
Like Cagan’s post above, we loved reading about how email client Superhuman Built an Engine to Find Product/Market Fit and how founder Rahul Vohra measures this elusive metric.
5) Roman Pichler
Roman Pichler is rightly a brand unto itself now such is the prolificacy of Pichler’s musings on his blog. He’s also the author of several books with topics ranging from Scrum to product leadership. And you’ll regularly catch him on the conference and workshop circuit.
Why do we like it:
Pichler’s blog has one of those features that expose more posts as you scroll down the page. In doing so, you’ll be taken aback by how much work Pichler has put into his blog over the years. And it’s all quality stuff.
Where to start reading:
Technical Product Management teams will especially appreciate his writings on agile development. Start with Product Leadership in Scrum.
6) Mind the Product
The team at Mind the Product can rightly be considered as pioneers in the modern Product Management space. Their community grew around the world with their Product Tank series, and in tandem with that, they produced a popular blog that explores a variety of Product Management tactics.
Why do we like it:
Mind the Product does a great job of getting fresh content out daily thanks to their network of contributors.
Where to start reading:
This one you can share with your mom to explain what you do: What is Product Management.
7) Andrew Chen
Chen took a blogging hiatus for a while, but ever since starting a new role at Andreesen Horowitz is back at it. But don’t let that dissuade you from checking the blog out — it has years of good stuff.
Why do we like it:
Chen is particularly adept at looking at the numbers behind product growth. Especially as they pertain to two-sided marketplaces. Most importantly, he makes complex topics digestible.
Where to start reading:
Taking a look at his top essays and tweetstorms of 2019 is a great place to start.
8) Product Coalition
Founded in 2015, Jay Stansell from Product Coalition has done a stellar job building a massive Product Manager resource. The site boasts over 3,500 articles and over 1,000,000 annual readers (are there that many of us out there?!).
Why do we like it:
Stansell’s motivations for creating this resource are awesome — to “strive for the highest standards of editorial content, and [being] committed to creating a vibrant and inclusive learning community for anyone interested in product development.” Plus, you’ll see as you scroll down through the list of contributors that there are many lending to an array of opinions and points of view.
Where to start reading:
The question is often asked – is a Product Manager better to be highly specialized in a certain area, or be more of a generalist. This post, Why Generalists Make Better Product Managers, explores that very topic.
9) Sachin Rekhi
Sachin Rekhi is another one-person band to make this list. He does so by posting insightful and highly readable content regularly throughout the year. As Rekhi boasts, he has written “150+ essays with over 2 million views sharing lessons learned from over a decade here in Silicon Valley as a product manager and startup founder.”
Why do we like it:
You don’t know what you will get with Rekhi each week, but you can be assured that it will be a well-thought-out piece. Posts range from thoughts on Basecamp’s Shape Up framework to leadership lessons by Linkedin’s Jeff Weiner.
Where to start reading:
Rekhi has been posting for years, but to see his most recent work check out his top posts of 2020.
10) Product Talk
Well-known product coach Teresa Torres leads Product Talk. Her writings draw on her vast experience working with various software-focused businesses like Spotify, CarMax, and Tesco.
Why do we like it:
Torres’s posts have practical, actionable advice that you can immediately apply to your work. And a lot of the content focuses on Product Discovery, a topic that is underserved in the product community, and it’s clear that she has considered it deeply.
Where to start reading:
Torres does the hard work here is assembling much of her writing relating to Improving Your Product Decisions.
11) ProductCraft
ProductCraft is the content arm of Pendo, a popular Product Management platform that helps providers onboard users and enhance their experience in an app. Even though ProductCraft only launched recently, they have already amassed a tonne of quality advice and resources.
Why do we like it:
ProductCraft has been quite deliberate in how it has approached its content strategy. Rather than simply publishing post after post to see which one sticks, they’ve divided the content into useful buckets — best practices, perspectives, and more.
Where to start reading:
We love the Debates feature where they pit one product person against another to discuss a controversial topic. For instance, are Product Managers Actually the CEO of the Product?
12) ProductPlan
Like Pendo with ProductCraft, ProductPlan has invested a significant amount of time and resources into developing original content for Product Managers. Their posts span an incredible amount of topics about product, and you’ll likely see them pop up on Google when you are hunting for advice.
Why do we like it:
Again, the sheer volume of advice here is fantastic – everything from MVPs and certifications to roadmaps and product leadership.
Where to start reading:
ProductPlan is roadmapping software, so it makes sense that they can write confidently on the subject. So check out this collection of Roadmapping posts here.
13) Lenny Rachitsky
Rachitsky, a former Product Lead at Airbnb, went out on his own and became a highly respected thought leader in the area of product growth and startup building. He has single-handedly built an audience of over 50,000 newsletter subscribers, answering “reader questions about product, growth, working with humans, and anything else that’s stressing you out at the office.”
Why do we like it:
Rachitsky’s newsletter is a fun read, with irreverent takes on the product world alongside seriously thought-provoking advice. Every newsletter is a little different, with interviews, topic deep-dives, guest posts, and jobs.
Where to start reading:
For those considering a career as a Product Manager (or even check to see if it’s still right for you!), Rachitsky has written a great guide on How to Get Into Product Management (and Thrive).
14) Hacker Noon
Okay, this isn’t strictly a Product Management blog, but don’t let that dissuade you from checking it out. If you are a generalist or a highly specialized Product Manager, you’ll find plenty worthwhile to read here.
Why do we like it:
There’s just so much to consume; it’s a little overwhelming when you first hit the homepage. But scroll down or click on the menu dropdown, and you’ll see that the content is divided up into technology categories like Blockchain, AI, and programming languages. You could easily spend days browsing through all the great stuff here and come out as a complete technologist on the other end.
Where to start reading:
Eh, that’s a tricky one — as we mentioned, there’s a lot here. But for Product Managers, it seems like it would be most beneficial to jump into the software category.
15) Aha!
Aha!, a Roadmapping software product, has gone to similar lengths to another competitor in this list (guess who?) to build a comprehensive blog filled to the brim with great advice for Product Managers.
Why do we like it:
Although a good proportion of the blog is self-promoting with product updates etc., the Aha! Team posts so often that there is also a bevy of great advice for Product Managers of all levels. And the c-suite isn’t afraid of getting their hands dirty, with the likes of CEO Brian de Haaff writing about ‘19 Questions All Curious Product Managers Ask’.
Where to start reading:
Again, de Haaff steps up to share the top 18 Blog Posts That Inspired You Most in 2020, including exploring strategy, roadmaps, prioritization, and customer empathy.
16) Nir and Far
Nir Eyal’s popular book, Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, explored how modern digital products are becoming more addicting (think the auto-play function after each episode on Netflix). His blog explores similar themes relating to consumer psychology and other good stuff like time management skills.
Why do we like it:
Eyal has a unique voice in the world of product, and you’re sure to be enlightened by many of his posts.
Where to start reading:
Even if you haven’t got around to reading Hooked yet, you’ll find this collection of posts about consumer psychology riveting.
17) Rich Mironov
If you were looking to crown someone the OG of software Product Management, it might be Rich Mironov. Over the past two decades-plus (sorry for aging you, Rich), he has published many seminal posts that have inspired Product Managers worldwide.
Why do we like it:
Mironov shares beneficial Product Management insights (an ability to perform as a smokejumper product leader for many struggling companies in the past). He publishes new articles nearly every month, all of them essential reading.
Where to start reading:
Why not start at the very beginning (for it’s a perfect place to start), and read Avoiding a Ticking B-O-M from 2002. Then work your way back from there!
18) The Amplitude Blog
The hottest space in Product Management software is undoubtedly analytics. There is a myriad of options available to you, including Amplitude — a sophisticated platform that’s notably ranked as the number one choice by G2.
Why do we like it:
Amplitude is an industry leader in software analytics, and it shows in the quality of their writings on the subject.
Where to start reading:
Interestingly, Amplitude got the opportunity to work with Wiley to publish Product Analytics for Dummies. Seems like a good place to start, right?
19) Product Manager HQ
The number of modern software Product Management communities sprouting up online (including Product Collective!) is indicative of how popular the profession has now become. Product Manager HQ is one of them, and they are doing an admirable job in assembling a solid resource for Product Managers with their blog.
Why do we like it:
The Product Manager HQ team has made it easy to find content relevant to you with their category groupings on the homepage, including Job Descriptions, Salaries, and AMAs.
Where to start reading:
You’ll find this list of articles relating to interviewing useful for those looking for a new role.
20) UserVoice
Rounding out our top 20 software Product Management blogs is another SaaS company, UserVoice. Their team has produced a serious number of posts that range from agile development to customer empathy and everything in between.
Why do we like it:
They were one of the first SaaS companies to see the benefits of content marketing, so their work goes back long. Because of this, you’ll likely find a lot of helpful information either by browsing the site or making sure that you include “uservoice.com” in your Google searches.
Where to start reading:
Handily, they have collected all their most popular posts and put them on one page for you.
As you can see, there is no shortage of Product Management blogs out there from which to learn and get inspiration. Many software companies are producing top-notch material, and there is plenty of original thought coming from new and established product influencers alike.
