Top 5 Books on Product Management and Marketing

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We recently published our list of 25 must-read books for both product managers and marketers, but we felt like we were missing something.

Despite having read a multitude of books as part of our commitment to self-directed learning, we found that we were missing the real feedback from readers who are product managers and agents.

That's why we asked you which books have influenced your work the most and these are your suggestions:

5 books on product management recommended by readers
1. Sprint: The method for solving problems and testing new ideas in just five days
Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky

Jake Knapp, designer and author, created the five-day Sprint process at Google, where sprints were used in everything from Google search to Google X. In this book, he shares an easy-to-imitate formula that can be used by any team in any industry.

Rachel Honoway, Partner at Rust Built Ventures, says: “ Sprint gave us a practical blueprint for identifying problems and opportunities, and taught us how to work together as a cross-functional team to develop solutions. The authors explain how to accomplish a project as a group without getting bogged down in endless brainstorming sessions. Our team has used the process multiple times and is now helping other companies use this framework to improve their software-as-a-service (SaaS) products.”

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Below is a 14-minute video interview with author Jake Knapp about Google's five-step process for testing new ideas:

2. Hooked: How to Build Successful Habit-Forming Products and Services
Nir Eyal

We’ve mentioned this book before and even interviewed its author Nir Eyal. Basically, the book teaches product managers how to create “viral loops” in their work so that users instinctively search for the product. It improves customer engagement, which turns the customer into a repeat customer.

Rachel Honoway, Partner at Rust Built Ventures says: “ Hooked offers algeria phone number data an interesting take on product and UI-based communications. The premise is all about designing products that end users will become addicted to. The examples are great, and I found key elements of many of the tools to be ones that appeal to me. I really enjoyed the detailed information on how the placement of information and features in an app can change, improve, or even ruin a user’s experience with your product.”

Below is a 22-minute video interview with author Nir Eyal on the four keys to addictive products:


3. Inspired: How To Create Products Customers Love
Marty Cagan

Cagan, a partner at Silicon Valley Product Group, not only covers the basics of product management (especially for software applications), but also explains how he organizes product and engineering teams for the best collaboration possible. Inspired has become required reading for many product teams.

Lance Ellisor, Head of Growth at Journyx, Inc. , says, “This is the best product management handbook in the world of software product management today. I’ve made it required reading for my product managers.”

James Pollard, a marketing consultant who works with financial advisors at The AdvisorCoach.com says, “This book answered a lot of questions about how to build a good product. More specifically, it helped me decide what opportunities I should pursue. I could have built a product about cold calling or referrals. After doing some market research and analysis, I found that financial advisors would appreciate a product about cold calling, more than a product about referrals. Without this book, I would have spent a ton of time and money on a product that probably would have failed.”

Below is a two-minute video of Marty Cagan discussing the two-week rule in product development:


4. Scrum: The art of doing twice the work in half the time
Jeff Sutherland

As co-inventor of the Scrum software development process, Jeff Sutherland has plenty of stories about software project failures, which he shares in this book. He also shares how he used Scrum in many of these situations to save work that was years behind schedule and millions of dollars over budget. As such, the book is less a Scrum tutorial and more an inspirational piece of work on how to get work done effectively using the method.

Alec Sears, Digital Communications Specialist at Frontier Communications, says: “Reading the book gave me ideas and I began to change the way we work as a team. We have since moved to weekly sprints and daily stand-ups in front of our Kanban boards. This change took time, but it has allowed us to be more flexible and plan complex projects more accurately. We are now able to identify and overcome bottlenecks quickly. Since then, reading Scrum has become mandatory for other managers and other teams are starting to incorporate it into their training. Every team is different, but everyone is still looking for a way to use the book to significantly increase team cohesion and productivity.”

Below is a 15-minute TEDx talk in which Sutherland talks about how to get twice as much done in half the time:


5. The Lean Startup Method: How to Build Successful Companies Using Continuous Innovation
Eric Ries

Author Eric Ries shows how to leverage Lean principles (reducing waste, creating a minimum viable product, etc.) to shorten development cycles, measure real progress, and build a team that can adapt to changes and opportunities instantly.

Lance Ellisor, Chief Product Officer at Journyx, Inc., says, “While experimentation, minimum viable product, and fail fast are so commonplace as to be almost passé, this book was the start of it all. It’s a great lesson or refresher on the methods and benefits of applying basic scientific techniques into a unified approach to product strategy and execution.”