Peter Knudson Product Sense: How to Solve Problems Like a PM, Ace Your Interviews, and Get Your Next Job in Product Management

Good book, but more like 2.5 stars. Let me explain.If you're new to Product Management or just "PM-curious", and this happens to be the first book you pick up on the subject, then you might be inclined to give it five stars. Trust me, it will be a fine first foray too.It touches on all of the major PM talking points, offers great advice, provides solid frameworks (COMPASS), evaluation rubrics for assessing your answers (and possibly candidates), and has a good bit of extra sauce in the form of interviews with top PMs from FAANG companies. I really enjoyed the latter. Great launching pad.However, if you have arrived at this book after having read "Decode and Conquer", "Product Management's Sacred Seven", or even "Acing the Data Science Interview", then you will begin to discern some areas in which this book could improve.It's a bit too disorganized, overall. You can't discern this from the table of contents, but start reading and you'll see how some sections could have been reordered for a better idea flow. Minus one star.I ding another star because some sections are just too light on substance. Case-and-point: Chapter 5 is called "Bringing a Product to Market", so you'd expect this to be the meatiest section because, well, you know, this book is about product management! But the authors chose to spend just eight sparse pages discussing the "Phases of Product Development", bringing the entire chapter to a grand total of 26 pages for the entire thing. That's it. It reads more like a fleshed-out powerpoint.The biggest crime though, is reserved for Chapter 11: "Behavioral and Culture Questions". It is totally bankrupt in terms of ideas, substance, and execution. Better books have a bunch of mock interviews walking you through strong strategies for acing this part while showing you in no uncertain terms what pitfalls to avoid. How many sample questions do we have in this chapter you might ask? Zero. Nada. They just flat-out tell you to google questions and see what you can find. Ok...The entire section is just 3 pages long, but the last page is about how one of the authors used to be a Hiring Manager, so I guess it would have been nice to have more detail? It's just lazy. Can they really have the audacity to call this book "A Bootcamp in a book?". SMH...It's a shame cause it could have been much better and become one of the most recommended texts on the subject given the authors' experience.I'd say you can perhaps use it as a supplement to some of the other texts I mentioned previously, but I would not make it my primary choice.I cannot wholeheartedly recommend it.

In studying for PM interviews, I've read through 3 books in total: Product Sense, Cracking the PM Interview, and Decode and Conquer. All 3 have value, but Product Sense stands out in a particularly thoughtful and impactful way.1. Instead of teaching frameworks to regurgitate in an interview process, Product Sense guides the user into a mindset, and it does so through the breaking down the interview process as if that itself was a question in an interview. Product Sense uses itself reflexively to show why the book exists, how the reader (user) can make the best use of it, and why. This is an essential primer for the reader.2. Product Sense justifies every assertion it makes, and always adds the proper context, logically guiding its reader to the why of what it's trying to explain and why -> the exact skill a PM needs to be successful in an interview. As I absorbed more information throughout the read, I found myself thinking differently about product questions and falling into a mindset of consciously assessing products the right way.3. It's a humble and relatable read. It's made by real PMs who are not trying to flex, but who are trying to guide the reader through a sustainable process of prep, that will not only help them answer interview questions, but also be successful in their day to day life as a real PM.4. It provides concrete questions and answers to guide the reader through real scenarios without being too scripted. It's empowering rather than prescriptive.Needless to say, highly recommend.

Although the focus of this book is to help build and enhance the skills needed to be a Product Manager, the overall thought process and functions taught in this book help with real-world problem solving skills as well. Being in the mobile games industry, I can confidently say that the book is a great tool to help build the foundations of a good PM, and a great enhancement for any existing PM to sharpen their already existing skill set.

With a down-to-earth style and authoritative perspective, Peter & Braxton demystify the seemingly elusive role of the Product Manager and more importantly, how the best product manager think, in a concise, practical and essential way. A must read for anyone who wants to become a PM, or for PMs who want to become better in their craft.

It's a very good introduction into product, but it's not just for people who want to break into product management. The concepts can help anyone interacting or working closely with product teams. Definitely recommend this book.