Title: Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value
Author: Melissa Perri
Publication date: November 29, 2018 (O’Reilly Media)
Pages: 197 (paperback)
Value for PMs & founders (problem it solves)
A playbook to escape the feature factory by managing to outcomes: define a product-led organization, connect product strategy to company vision & economics, and use iterative discovery/validation to prioritize what creates real value.
Summary
Across five parts, the book covers: why companies fall into the build trap; how to set up a product-led org; how product strategy ties vision to economic outcomes; how to identify/prioritize opportunities through an iterative framework; and how to build an outcomes-over-outputs culture. O’Reilly lists the book at 197 pages.
3 community-reported takeaways (with sources)
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Build trap = outputs over outcomes—define value and manage to it, not to feature count. O’Reilly
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Product-led beats sales/tech-led for sustainable value creation. Medium
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Strategy as a decision framework—link vision→outcomes→portfolio→initiatives; use practices like Product Kata. Lethain
Buy online (international)
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O’Reilly (publisher page / online reading). O’Reilly
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Amazon (US) — paperback (197 pp.). Amazon
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Bookshop.org — paperback/ebook. Bookshop
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Barnes & Noble (US) — paperback/ebook. Barnes & Noble
Author of Impact Factories / Co-founder of Shy Robotics and Product Whys / Head of Product at Dassault Systèmes / Engineer passionate about innovation and entrepreneurship
Full bibliography here
