Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love, Second Edition
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Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love, Second Edition Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Marty Cagan (Author, Narrator), Audible Studios (Publisher)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 5,545 ratings
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How do today's most successful tech companies - Amazon, Google, Facebook, Netflix, Tesla - design, develop, and deploy the products that have earned the love of literally billions of people around the world? Perhaps surprisingly, they do it very differently from the vast majority of tech companies. In Inspired, technology product management thought leader Marty Cagan provides listeners with a master class in how to structure and staff a vibrant and successful product organization and how to discover and deliver technology products that your customers will love - and that will work for your business.

With sections on assembling the right people and skillsets, discovering the right product, embracing an effective yet lightweight process, and creating a strong product culture, listeners can take the information they learn and immediately leverage it within their own organizations - dramatically improving their own product efforts. Whether you're an early stage start-up working to get to product/market fit or a growth-stage company working to scale your product organization or a large, long-established company trying to regain your ability to consistently deliver new value for your customers, Inspired will take you and your product organization to a new level of customer engagement, consistent innovation, and business success.

Filled with the author's own personal stories - and profiles of some of today's most successful product managers and technology-powered product companies, including Adobe, Apple, BBC, Google, Microsoft, and Netflix - Inspired will show you how to turn up the dial of your own product efforts, creating technology products your customers love.

The first edition of Inspired, published 10 years ago, established itself as the primary reference for technology product managers and can be found on the shelves of nearly every successful technology product company worldwide. This thoroughly updated second edition shares the same objective of being the most valuable resource for technology product managers, yet it is completely new - sharing the latest practices and techniques of today's most successful tech product companies and the men and women behind every great product.

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  1. Listening Length
    7 hours and 45 minutes
  2. Author
    Marty Cagan
  3. Narrator
    Marty Cagan
  4. Audible release date
    March 20, 2018
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Audible Studios
  7. ASIN
    B07BDQVC45
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 7 hours and 45 minutes
Author Marty Cagan
Narrator Marty Cagan
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date March 20, 2018
Publisher Audible Studios
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B07BDQVC45
Best Sellers Rank #2,891 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#2 in Industrial Engineering (Audible Books & Originals)
#2 in Customer Relations (Books)
#39 in Business Management (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
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5,545 global ratings
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Top reviews from the United States

Ricardo Alexis Canizalez
5.0 out of 5 stars Nice, book lot of good ideas
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2024
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A nice book , with a lot of knowed about of how to create a tech product, that is very important in this age in special for product owners and product manager
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Danielle Thompson
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book for Product Managers
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2023
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This book was an excellent career development read. So much important information about the role of the Product Manager in the tech sector. The author is a clear expert on the topics presented in the book. Easy to read with real world examples with top tech products and companies. Definitely recommend for anyone aspiring to be a part of a product team.
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jacob j teitelbaum
4.0 out of 5 stars Too focused on individual steps rather the big picture
Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2021
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I read this as a book club read on my last role as a UX designer at bank. The intent was "hey this is how Silicon valley does it, let's to it like them"... I certainly appreciated the details and the thinking but this book is missing some key things.
- There is no one-view process diagram / map to illustrate their process. This means as you read through it, you are constructing each prior step in your head, thus one big memory challenge. This makes it hard to follow along and know where you are in the process. This is also absurdly counter to much of what the book preaches - in terms of communicating ideas efficiently!

- The last third (or more) of the book is dedicated to design research and low-fidelity design methods. If you have any experience as a design researcher or a designer, you are likely familiar with some (or all) of these. While a great reference for PMs / Dev, only pixel level designers would benefit from this information. Further there are better resources for design and research methods.

- This book is actually lacking any visuals at all! It is nearly 100% words. It's a big miss in my mind. We don't develop products with words only!

- I had to wonder if this was purposefully limited as a teaser for consulting work with his agency. If so, my gripes wouldn't do them any favors.

I did like the short chapters, as you could make good progress reading in just a few minutes. He also lists several techniques that tech behemoths use effectively (I can vouch for them!). In summary - this is worth a read if you are in product development, but you will be wanting more visuals to describe process and examples, not just a book of words!
7 people found this helpful
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Artem
5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful book - everything you need to know about product management
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2023
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This book contains a tons of experience in real product management.
So it's not only a theory but more practice!
-How to provide a Discovery
-How to provide a Delivery
-How to make a good relationships with stakeholders
-How to Hire a team
-Which specialists your team should contain
Love it!
Must read!
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Kenneth
5.0 out of 5 stars Content A+! Publisher paper F!
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2024
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Great book in the content can be used across any SaaS product manager.

Maybe find a PDF or something if you plan on highlighting, although this is a pricey book at $20 for the hardcover, the paper it is like newspaper. If you plan on highlighting avoid this as it bleeds through.
5-stars for content
2-stars for physical paper
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John Gibbon
5.0 out of 5 stars Want to ace a product management interview? Read Marty's book and steal at least a few insights - you'll sound like a genius
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2018
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The second edition of Inspired is even better than the first (which used to be my favorite product management book).

It is the best articulation of how to be successful in product management and how to create successful products that I have ever read. It is impossible not to run into into insights about challenges you are having or have had as a product manager when reading it. (This can be a little creepy, how does he know about all these mistakes I have made, is he a psychic?)

Do you want to get a job as a product manager? Read and re-read Marty’s book and steal at least a few of his insights for the interview - you’ll sound like a genius.

Some of the topics that resonated for me (I’m sure there will be different ones for you):

-Product management is distinct from other essential roles: design, engineering, product marketing, and project management (Chapter 1).

-Two inconvenient truths that often cause failed product efforts are: at least half our ideas are just not going to work (customers ultimately won’t use it - which is why you need customer validation early in the process) and it takes several iterations to implement an idea so that it delivers the necessary business value (Chapter 6).

-The three overarching product development principles from Lean and Agile which help you create successful products are (Chapter 7)
-Risks should be tackled up front, rather than at the end.
-Products should be defined and designed collaboratively, rather than sequentially.
-Its is all about solving problems, not implementing features.

-You need a team of missionaries, not mercenaries to create the smallest possible product that meets the needs of a specific market of customers (Chapter 8,9).

-A product manager must bring four critical contributions to their team (Chapter 10):
Deep knowledge
1) of your customer
2) of the data
3) of your business and its stakeholders
4) of your market and industry

-Product managers (PMs) need product designers - not just to help make your product beautiful - but to discover the right product (Chapter 11).

-Typical product roadmaps are the root cause of most waste and failed efforts in product organizations (Chapter 22). It is all too easy to institute processes that govern how you produce products that can bring innovation to a grinding halt. You need to try to wean your organization off of typical product roadmaps by focusing on business outcomes, providing stakeholders visibility so that they know you are working on important items, and by eventually making high-integrity commitments when critical delivery dates are needed (Chapter 60). Part of this is managing stakeholders which includes engaging them early in the product discovery process ideally with high-fidelity prototypes (Chapter 61).

-Products should start with a product vision in which the product team falls in love with the problem, not the solution (Chapter 25).

- Strong product teams work to meet the dual and simultaneous objectives of rapid learning and discovery while building stable and solid releases in delivery. Product discovery is used to address critical risks: (Chapter 33)
-Will the customer buy this, or choose to use it? (value risk)
-Can the user figure out how to use it? (usability risk)
-Can we build it? (feasibility risk)
-Does the solution work for our business? (business viability risk)

- PMs can’t rely on customers (or executives or stakeholders) to tell us what to build: customer doesn’t know what’s possible, and with technology products, none of us know what we really want until we actually see it (Chapter 33).

- While Amazon has a culture of “write the press release first”, Marty suggests PM should write a “happy customer letter first." Imagine a letter sent to the CEO from a very happy and impressed customer which explains why he or she is so happy and grateful for the new product or redesign. The customer describes how it was changed or improved his or her life. The letter also includes an imagined congratulatory response from the CEO to the product team explaining how this has helped the business (Chapter 36).

- Product managers need to consider the role of analytics and qualitative and quantitative value testing techniques (Chapter 54).

- What it really means for a PM to be the CEO of Product is testing business viability: listening to Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, Finance, Legal, BD, Security, etc. before building the product (Chapter 56).

-Establishing a strong product culture requires (Chapters 66-67)
-Innovation culture: compelling product visions, strong product managers, empowered business and customer savvy teams product teams often in discovery
-Execution culture: urgency, high-integrity commitments, accountability, collaboration, results orientation, recognition, strong delivery management, frequent release cycles
(and it is hard to do both)
167 people found this helpful
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Prescott
4.0 out of 5 stars Straightforward and effective
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2024
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The thesis of inspired is clear and powerful. The lessons to be learned from Marty’s decades of experience are obvious.

Unfortunately, the structure and motivational techniques of the book aren’t fantastic. Opening chapters, intertwined topics, and opaque examples make it difficult to understand how an idea or technique relates to the thesis. I was never completely lost while reading, but I did have to re-read chapters once in a while to understand what the argument of the chapter was, or to make sure I digested the conclusions.

It also would have been nice to have examples of interactions with poor performing product teams along with the great product teams.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read to explain product management
Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2024
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Book was recommended by a senior VP to learn about product management. Book does a great job discussing product owner and product management.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Flor
5.0 out of 5 stars Fácil de leer y práctico
Reviewed in Mexico on August 12, 2023
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Me estoy iniciando en el mundo del product management y este libro es un buen lugar para empezar. Te da las bases de todo lo que se ocupa saber. Además es ágil de leer, nada monótono, buenos tips, muy práctico. Recomendable al cien.
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pixelradius
5.0 out of 5 stars A valuable resource for anyone looking to create tech products that customers love.
Reviewed in Canada on May 29, 2023
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Marty Cagan's "Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love" is a classic book on product management. The book is a helpful guide for creating the right product culture for success. Cagan shares his experiences and insights from his storied career in product management, which took him from HP to Netscape to eBay, where he served as senior VP of Product Management and Design.

The book is an easy read with lots of valuable advice. Cagan is a big fan of spelling out lists, which makes it easy to follow. The book covers the four product risks: usability risk, value risk, feasibility risk, and business viability risk. It also covers the importance of tackling risks upfront, instead of at the end, and defining products and their overall brand.

While the book may not be for complete newcomers to tech or to product, it is ideal for someone with three months to thirty years of experience working in some capacity with a product team. The book is not filled with examples or stories from the trenches of product management, but it still doesn’t feel too theoretical or “fluffy”.

Overall, "Inspired" is a valuable resource for anyone looking to create tech products that customers love. It is a must-read for product managers, designers, and engineers who want to build great products that solve real problems.

Recommendation: I highly recommend "Inspired" to anyone who wants to learn more about product management and how to create products that customers love. It is a valuable resource that provides practical advice and insights that can be applied to any product development process.
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Ritu
5.0 out of 5 stars Good quality book
Reviewed in India on April 4, 2024
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The book quality is good, it is good for beginners who want to bein product management, but not good for those who already know the product management.
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Maria
5.0 out of 5 stars Very nice book
Reviewed in Germany on August 3, 2023
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Awesome book for those who are interested in digital products mainly.
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F.M.
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspired by this book, even before finishing it
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 3, 2023
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I am almost halfway through the book but already impressed. If you can buy only one book on Product Management, this is the one.

It's all about building inspiring product and that requires inspired teams. That is what the book is all about. Easy to do? Read the book and see for yourself.
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