Ken Sandy - The Influential Product Manager: How to Lead and Launch Successful Technology Products

Praise for The Influential Product Manager

Its the instruction manual (and now my go-to desk reference) that only the most seasoned, thoughtful, honest product guru and mentor could createguiding you through the hiccups of making truly great products and even demystifying tough topics like how to go about understanding users needs and how to collaborate with your team while leading them too.

Marisa Gallagher, Head of UX and Design, Amazon Music

This book outlines stellar frameworks and, more importantly, philosophical guidance on how Product and Engineering can build relationships, collaborate effectively, and share mutual respect. While the companies Ive worked for have had a variety of cultures, ultimately the core principles around effective collaboration stay the same, and this book shines a bright light on these principles for both Product and Engineering leaders to embrace.

Eric Bogs, Engineering Leader, Facebook, and former engineering leader, Google, Spotify, Yahoo!, Etsy, and Hinge

The Influential Product Manager captures the art of product development all in one place. Ken Sandy emphasizes courage, focus, commitment, respect, and openness, which strike me as values that apply to all aspects of product development, from ideation and design to implementation and delivery to the customer. I plan on recommending this book to all my product management, engineering, and design colleagues as an excellent guide to working together to delight our customers and build great products!

David Zabowski, Vice President of Engineering, Nerdwallet

The Influential Product Manager is essential reading for both product managers looking to hone their craft and stakeholders who would like to improve their working relationship with a product organization. Ken Sandy packs his incredible talent for coaching and developing teams onto the page, providing the most comprehensive survey of the product discipline and tools for success that Ive ever read.

Matt Sanchez, Senior Vice President of Platforms, Hearst Magazines

Kens book is a fantastic addition to the product managers toolbox. Its unique in that it provides a comprehensive 360-degree view into the product manager role, and its full of practical insights that product managers can take to work right away. This is going to be an essential part of product boot camps for my team, and I recommend that all product managers in India building for the next billion users read this book to sharpen their craft.

Rahul Ganjoo, Vice President and Head of Product, Zomato

The Influential Product Manager is an in-depth playbook thats perfect for both those new to product management and those who want to have an even greater impact on product at their company. This is my new go-to resource for how to be an effective strategic partner throughout the product development life cycle.

David Sherwin, coauthor of Turning People into Teams and author of Creative Workshop and Success by Design

Ken Sandys book does an amazing job of breaking down complex concepts, helping product managers learn the discipline it takes to wade through the sea of data to find the signal in the noise. This book gives you tried-and-true, practical frameworks for solving problems as a product manager and ultimately for your customers.

Rachel Wolan, Vice President of Product, LiveRamp

Early in your career, leadership comes not because you are the smartest but because you ask the right questions and have the tools to lead your team to the right answers. The Influential Product Manager provides a complete tool kit to help you succeed in your new role.

Mark Cook, Vice President of Product, Trax Retail

This book offers critical insight on practical product management strategies, from how to influence complex organizations and how to break down complex problems to get (the right) stuff done!

Daniele Farnedi, cofounder and Chief Technology Officer, Solv; former Chief Technology Officer, Trulia; and former Director of Technology, Shopping.com

This valuable guide will help product managers lead their organizations and better serve their users and will help product executives uplevel their teams effectiveness and business impact.

Brent Tworetzky, Senior Vice President of Product, InVision, and former Executive Vice President of Product, XO Group Inc.

Excellent practitioners guide for budding and experienced product managers alike. What sets this book miles apart is the way Ken draws from his experience, goes beyond theoretical advice, and provides excellent examples and pragmatic techniques to become a successful PM. This book is a must-read for every tech product manager in India.

Sachin Arora, cofounder of Chqbook.com and former Chief Technology Officer, Myntra.com

Unlike so much literature in this field, Ken has not adopted a one size fits all approach but rather has drawn on deep, practical experience to craft a coherent and pragmatic guide for product managers working on any internet-based product. The net result is that by reading this book, literally all product managers will become more effective in their organization. This will be good for them, their teams, and their company. It will result in less wasted time and fewer failed projects.

Martin Hosking, cofounder of Redbubble

THE INFLUENTIAL
PRODUCT MANAGER

HOW TO LEAD AND LAUNCH
SUCCESSFUL TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS

KEN SANDY

The Influential Product Manager

Copyright 2020 by Ken Sandy

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First Edition

Paperback print edition ISBN 978-1-5230-8746-4