Cagan - Inspired: how to create tech products customers love

1. Chapter 6
2. Chapter 8

SECOND EDITION

MARTY CAGAN
Founder, Silicon Valley Product Group

INSPIRED is the authority on how to build a product that customers actually want. It's not about hiring product managers it's about establishing a culture that puts the user first, and builds the organization and teams around that customer to ensure that you are building the best product possible. From CEOs to APMs, this is required reading.

Amanda Richardson, Chief Data and Strategy Officer, HotelTonight

We first started working with Marty when ImmobilienScout was entering growthstage, and he helped us set the organization up to rapidly scale and grow to become one of the largest and most successful technology startups in Germany. He remained a friend and advisor to the company for many years. His book INSPIRED helped people from all across the company, and the new version is sure to help many more companies.

Jrgen Bhm, CoFounder, Immobilien Scout GmbH

It does not matter if you are a seasoned product leader or a new product manager, INSPIRED will make you realise that you have the best job in the world and can have incredible impact especially if you follow Marty Cagan's words of wisdom. His book has been the bible of our industry for the past decade, and it will no doubt continue to be so with this latest update containing the most exciting bestinclass product practices.

Tanya Cordrey, former Chief Digital Officer at Guardian News & Media

Building a great product that nails Product/Market Fit is always a key first step to any successful startup. However, organizing the product and engineering teams, in ways that ensures scalability, speed, and quality is usually the next biggest challenge. Marty's insights and lessons learned can be applied to build highly productive teams to manage through dependencies, and build a culture that is positioned to scale. This applies whether your business is in need of a serious course correction, or on a rocket ship.

Scott Sahadi, Founder and CEO, The Experience Engine

Marty offers actionable advice on product management without being too prescriptive, making his wisdom applicable in many contexts. He draws from a wealth of experience, illustrating his advice with dozens of realworld stories. If you want to create digital products that people love, this book will get you started on the right path.

Teresa Torres, Discovery Coach

We have worked closely with Marty shaping product and building product management organisations in several of our portfolio companies. Marty's insight and advice is leadingedge and worldclass.

Harry Nellis, Partner, Accel

Early in my career in Product Management, I had the good fortune of meeting Marty Cagan. Since then, he has been an incredible mentor for me and the teams I've led. I have seen, firsthand at multiple companies, how Marty transforms product teams and unlocks sustained innovation and growth. Marty literally and figuratively wrote the book on Product Management for today's technology industry.

Sarah Fried Rose, Product Leader and COO

I've been lucky to work with some of the best product managers and product minds in the business. In my experience Marty Cagan is hands down the absolute best product management mind alive today. This book packs years of experience into 250 pages.

Marty Abbott, CEO, AKF Partners, former CTO, eBay

Great products delight customers. Marty Cagan has led and inspired countless product teams and in INSPIRED, you will learn how to build those products, both strategically and tactically.

Shripriya Mahesh, Partner, Omidyar Network

CEOs, Chief Product Officers, and anyone who cares about creating great products, must read this book. Your customers will love you for it.

Phil Terry, Founder and CEO of Collaborative Gain, coauthor, Customers Included

Marty is not only a seasoned expert on all aspects of the often ambiguous discipline of product management, his book also provides inspiration, tools and techniques, and really practical help.

Judy Gibbons, Startup Advisor and Board Member

Building great products is hard. Marty gives great insight into best practices and skills that really can only be discovered after years of experience and study. Just about every product person I respect learned product management from INSPIRED.

Jason Li, CEO and Founder, Boolan, Shanghai

If you want your customers to love your products, INSPIRED is an 'everyone in the company' must read book.

Jana Eggers, CEO, Nara Logic

What I really love about working with Marty is that his techniques are applicable to building really great enterprise products not just new consumer apps. INSPIRED is our true north. Anytime I feel the organization moving sideways, it's time to read it again!

Jeff Trom, Founder and CTO, Workiva

I've known Marty for nearly 20 years. By now, you'd think I'd have heard everything he has to say. And yet, every time I see him, his continued interest in learning about our field means that he always new ideas to share. And with honesty, humanity, frankness, and most of allperspective that never fails to give me fresh energy and a new approach. Thrilled that he's bottled it for us once more in this new edition of INSPIRED!

Audrey Crane, Partner, DesignMap

Marty's practical approach to building great products transformed the way we approached product development for the radical betterment of the Company and our customers. Just as importantly, his methodology helped shape multiple people's career trajectories both inside the Company and outside of it as they've gone on to drive product development in other organizations from Fortune 500 companies to other VC backed high growth companies. If you're in a leadership role or on the product team at an organization trying to build products your target audience loves, this should be the next book you read.

Shawn Boyer, Founder, Snagajob and goHappy

When I needed to stand up a productive, scalable product management function at Etsy, I turned to Marty. His playbook for establishing product management as a distinct discipline is invaluable for any team working on products powered by software and made by engineers. Rarely is a business book so clearly written and packed full of concrete advice. We used it as our product management guide in scaling Etsy, and I've used it in every company since.

Maria Thomas, Board Member and Investor

The art of Product Management is the art of life itself. Surround yourselves by great people, focus on your mojo, build great stuff with integrity, hold strong opinions but lightly. And Marty is one of the best teachers of this art.

Punit Soni, Founder and CEO, Robin, Former Google APM

Marty was a coach and mentor for my early years in product management and the book INSPIRED became the go to guide whenever I needed some clarity on the product manager's role, skill set or the daily challenges from product discovery to execution. And it still was a solid reference while stepping up to a product leadership role. Now, in my role as discovery coach, I recommend the book to every new client. It's not a methodology book; this book helps product people to get the right mindset regardless of the frameworks and techniques they are using.