Product Management - A Shreyas Doshi Thread

Get ready to CMD/CTRL + Click the hell out of this article. Shreyas Doshi(@shreyas), a product manager at Stripe, has an amazing tweet to value ratio. He doesn’t use Twitter like most of us. His tweets are crafted, not written. In this blog, I curate some of Shreyas’ tweets for anyone interested in viewing product management through his lens.

What is Product Management?

This is THE question and, as a PM would say, there is no right answer. Product management can get tricky to define because it’s different at each company, depending upon the different stages. Shreyas’ definition of Product Management is practical, not bookish. And no, a PM is not the CEO of the product. His thread on good product managers vs great product managers is, by his own words, his biggest contribution.

Shreyas warns us that Product Management can be a lonely job but an important one. If you’re new (or aspiring to), then nibble on the PM Career Skill areas. This book recommendation list and useful resources might be a quick start guide.

Succeeding as a product manager

Shreyas talks about the intangibles of succeeding as a product manager like strategy, thinking and writing (clear writing). He also talks about tangible ones like discovering, testing and shipping products, thinking one level higher and getting better at product work (the three levels of product work)

Shreyas also offers useful wisdom that’s generally applicable but more so for product managers. Top of the list being this thread on high agency which he defines as a prerequisite for making profound impact in one’s life and work. Others include product sense, PM operating modes and product editing.

Growing as a product manager

Start with this thread on PM Career Management which is based off of his talk on the same topic. Once you’re done with that, place yourself in the spectrum and you can pick one book from this list

It’s a pity Shreyas’ product management wisdom overshadows his leadership wisdom. His actionable advice for leadership (modern leadership) is widely applicable but more so for product managers. Here’s one on good managers.

Shreyas’ Twitter is a carefully designed rabbit hole. This article is simply a primer and I hope this leads you to his Twitter where you spend hours and hours, just like I did. This is not a collection of his best tweets. Head over to his profile to discover some amazing gems.

P.S If you enjoyed this article, then you might like my parody videos on Product Managers in design meetings and How to sound smart in product meetings