Archives: on the science (and art)
of product management

Note: I abbreviate it PdM — here's why.

Welcome to the archives!

I'm glad you're here. Please enjoy this trimmed-down archive of my essays from what once would have been considered the recent past, but nowadays is almost prehistory. (Thanks Internet!)

You can also find me at austinproduct.pro and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/glenford.

—Sincerely, Glen.

Featured articles

Cakes, not whisks

My screenplay for a gritty reboot of the old tale about drills and holes.

Collaborative prioritization through live group stack ranking

Here's an easy technique to add to the PM toolbox that leads to immediate roadmap input from a variety of stakeholders, a greater feeling of involvement across your organization, and (surprisingly) consensus.

Great documentation and the TRS-80 CoCo

When I was a kid, the TRS-80 Color Computer blew my mind, but what really changed my life were the books that came with it. Where pedagogy and wonder meet, magic happens. What lessons can we take from this today?

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More highlights Product management UX Analytics

"When you stop feeling like a startup, you should start to worry."

Bob Metcalfe

"If you're doing something 'clever,' you're probably doing it wrong."

Ross Snyder, Etsy

"The teams at Bell Labs that invented the laser, transistor and solar cell were not seeking profits. They were seeking understanding. Yet in the process they created not only new products but entirely new—and lucrative—industries."

from "True Innovation" (nytimes.com)

"There is definitely a split between people who design primarily from horse sense, from instinct, and then let the spreadsheets fill in the blanks. And then there are the people who start with the spreadsheets."

Ananda Gupta, from "Designing The Best Board Game On The Planet" (fivethirtyeight.com)

"We should take refuge in the fact that very crude systems can accomplish an awful lot. Elegant capabilities are nice, but often unnecessary."

George C. Devol

"The computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any other invention—with the possible exception of handguns and tequila."

Mitch Ratcliffe

"Our virtues and our failings are inseparable, like force and matter."