Lessons from Peter Yang

On the Core Role of a Product Manager

On the PM's ultimate responsibility: "A PM's job is to empower their team to build products that solve customer problems and make business impact." [1]
On leading through truth-seeking: "When you get into disagreements with others, remember that your job as a product manager is to find the truth, not to be right all the time." [2][3]
On advocating for the customer: "As a PM, your main job is to advocate for the customer. If you always come from that point, it takes the emotions or need to be defensive out of debates." [4]
On the evolution of the PM role with seniority: "When you're a new PM, you're given the problem and solution and you just need to execute. When you're a senior PM, you're given the problem but you have to define the solution. When you're a group PM or above, you often have to identify the problem itself." [1]
On the three pillars of product management: The essence of product management is about three things: Understanding, Identifying, and Executing. [4]
On the most important team member: Your customer is the most important person on your team. [5]
On the danger of internal focus: Many PMs at large companies get stuck in a "death loop" of internal meetings, pre-meetings, and product reviews, spending 80% of their time on these activities instead of on the product or with customers. [5]
On the true nature of the work: Don't confuse the "work behind the work" (internal meetings, slide decks) with the actual work of understanding the problem, identifying a solution, and executing. [5]

On Product Strategy and Vision

On the power of a shared purpose: "A great mission, vision, and strategy gives people on your team a shared purpose (why), a picture of what success looks like (what), and a plan to make that vision a reality (how)." [3][6]
On the root of disagreements: "The majority of disagreements happen when people are not aligned on the why." [3][6]
On simplifying strategy: The best strategies can be explained in plain English and consist of a diagnosis of the major challenges and a guiding policy to overcome them. [2]
On the goal of strategy: Strategy equals focus. [2]

On Product Craft and Quality

On bringing craft back to product management: The goal is to move beyond just pushing metrics and headcount to rediscover the joy of building something meaningful. [6]
On the definition of craft for PMs: While designers see craft in the UX, for PMs, craft involves the meticulous effort of evaluating outputs, like spending hours staring at spreadsheets to improve an AI's performance. [2]
On prioritizing quality: Be willing to miss a launch date or an OKR to make a product truly great, especially if beta users and designers are telling you it's not ready. [2]
On quality in the age of AI: With AI products, a PM's job isn't just to define the happy path but to be paranoid about all the edge cases to avoid erroneous suggestions. [2]
On the end goal: "Your end goal is not to hit some OKR. grow your headcount. or check some boxes in a career ladder. customers don't care about any of that your end goal should be to go above. and beyond for customers obsess about the details and give a damn about the product that you're delivering to the world." [2]

On Customer Centricity and Community

On building with your community: Build in public by asking customers about their problems and sharing updates and designs frequently. [2]
On the speed of improvement: The faster you can go through the feedback loop with your community, the faster your product will improve. [2]
On building relationships with customers: Don't just talk about your product; make time to hang out, post memes, and build relationships so customers feel comfortable sharing the honest truth. [2]
On the importance of talking to customers: If a startup founder doesn't talk to customers, their startup won't survive. The same principle applies to product managers in larger organizations. [5]
On making customer interaction casual: Talking to customers doesn't have to be a formal process; it can be as low-key as a direct message thread. [4]
On closing the feedback loop: Always close the feedback loop with customers, even if you can't prioritize their feedback immediately. Listen, summarize their feedback, and be transparent to build trust. [4]

On Career Growth and Productivity

On daily focus: "Every morning, identify no more than three tasks that you want to accomplish during the day. Update your calendar to reflect these priorities and say no to all non-essential work." [3][6]
On breaking into product management: It takes patience and grit. There are three main paths: an internal transfer, joining a smaller, high-growth company, or leveraging a top MBA program. [1]
On continuous learning: To stay competitive, all PMs will eventually need to become AI PMs. Start by playing with AI tools to understand how they work. [7]
On finding your niche: To build a personal brand and business, find the intersection of what you're good at and what you're genuinely curious about. [8]
On protecting your time: Use calendar blocking to reserve your best deep-thinking time for focused work. [4]
On async communication: Become great at asynchronous communication and running better meetings to protect your "craft time." [2]
On the power of saying no: Saying no to distractions is key to focusing on what matters most. Peter himself has said no to teaching courses and doing podcasts to focus on his newsletter. [5]

On AI in Product Management

On the future of the PM role with AI: AI will help automate mundane tasks, allowing PMs to focus more on high-level problem-solving and shipping products. [4]
On using AI for productivity: Use AI to distill long Slack threads, get a second opinion on tech specs, and draft PRDs from customer insights and market research. [9]
On prototyping with AI: Use AI to explore design variations and even create beautiful designs, not just "generic slop." [9][10]
On the importance of data for AI products: The better the data you use to train your AI, the better your product will be. Proficiency in analyzing and cleaning data is crucial. [7]
On building intuition for AI: The simplest way to get into AI product development is to start trying things and integrating AI into your daily routines to understand its strengths and weaknesses. [7]

On Growth and the Creator Economy

On the foundation of growth: Growth comes after product-market fit. Don't try to grow a product that doesn't have good retention and strong word-of-mouth. [11]
On the magic of onboarding: A magical onboarding experience gets a new user to the product's core value as quickly as possible. You can differentiate your product with an unforgettable first-time user experience. [11]
On the creator's hierarchy of needs: Creators are driven by three primary needs: love (the joy of creating), fame (growing an audience), and money (making a living). Products for creators should solve for at least one of these. [12]
On the shift in power: Power is shifting from platforms to creators, who are realizing the value of their audiences. [12]
On owning your audience: As a creator, renting your audience on a platform is risky due to algorithm changes and the threat of being banned. It's crucial to move your audience to a channel you own. [13]
On the importance of consistency for creators: On platforms like Twitch and Substack, consistency is key to growth. Creators need to publish or stream frequently to maintain and grow their audience. [14]
On the value of collaboration for creators: Creator-creator communities are as important as creator-fan communities. Collaboration helps all creators grow. [14]

On Mindset and Personal Development

On humility and collaboration: Be inclusive, have a low ego, and be open to trade-offs. Document viewpoints, even those you disagree with. [4]
On challenging your own opinions: Don't defend your opinions—challenge them. Debate with informed peers to seek the truth. [4]
On taking a step back: When given a product area, take a step back to look up and around. Speak up if you think you're solving the wrong customer problem for the business. [2]
On the long path to success: It took Peter three years of failure to transition into product management, a testament to the persistence required. [1]
On finding your "one big thing": Identify the single most important task for you as a creator or professional and focus your energy on making it as good as it can be. [5]
On the importance of personal well-being: Peter has written about the importance of focusing on life and family, a reminder not to lose sight of what's most important. [15]
On continuous growth: Seek feedback, look for gaps in your skills and knowledge, and always be asking, "How can I help?" [4]
On the role of humor: Peter often uses humor in his writing and social media, demonstrating that you can be insightful and relatable at the same time. [16]

Learn more:

Lessons from Peter Yang

On the Core Role of a Product Manager

On Product Strategy and Vision

On Product Craft and Quality

On Customer Centricity and Community

On Career Growth and Productivity

On AI in Product Management

On Growth and the Creator Economy

On Mindset and Personal Development

Written by Antoine Buteau

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Lessons from Neil Shen