PM Books

Technical Product Management

Master API products, platform products, developer tools, technical depth, and architecture basics for PMs

9 books in this category
Swipe to Unlock: The Primer on Technology and Business Strategy book cover
Technical Product Management
Swipe to Unlock: The Primer on Technology and Business Strategy
by Neel Mehta
4.6
(1,234)

Understand the technology and business strategies behind successful tech companies.

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Platform Revolution book cover
Technical Product Management
Platform Revolution
by Geoffrey G. Parker
4.4
(1,234)

How networked markets are transforming the economy and how to make them work for you.

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Software Engineering at Google book cover
Technical Product Management
Software Engineering at Google
by Titus Winters
4.6
(789)

Lessons learned from programming over time at one of the world's leading tech companies.

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The Mythical Man-Month book cover
Technical Product Management
The Mythical Man-Month
by Frederick P. Brooks Jr.
4.4
(2,341)

Classic essays on software engineering and project management that remain relevant today.

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Designing Data-Intensive Applications book cover
Technical Product Management
Designing Data-Intensive Applications
by Martin Kleppmann
4.9
(1,823)

The big ideas behind reliable, scalable, and maintainable systems.

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The Software Arts book cover
Technical Product Management
The Software Arts
by Warren Sack
4.2
(145)

Understand software as a cultural and artistic medium, not just engineering.

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The Unicorn Project book cover
Technical Product Management
The Unicorn Project
by Gene Kim
4.5
(2,134)

Sequel to The Phoenix Project - developers perspective on DevOps transformation.

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The Art of Doing Science and Engineering book cover
Technical Product Management
The Art of Doing Science and Engineering
by Richard W. Hamming
4.6
(543)

Classic lectures on learning to learn and doing great work from computing pioneer.

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Team Topologies book cover
Technical Product Management
Team Topologies
by Matthew Skelton
4.6
(876)

Organize teams for fast flow using four fundamental team topologies.

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About Technical Product Management Books

Technical product management books help you build the technical depth needed for complex products like APIs, platforms, developer tools, and infrastructure. These books cover technical communication, working with engineering teams, understanding system architecture, API design, and making technical trade-offs. For PMs working on technical products or who want to level up their technical skills, these books are essential.

Why Technical Product Management Matters

Technical products require PMs who can speak the language of engineering, understand technical constraints and possibilities, and make informed technical trade-offs. Whether you're building APIs, platforms, or infrastructure, technical depth helps you earn respect from engineers, make better decisions, and ship better products. You don't need to code, but you need to understand how systems work.

Who Should Read These Books?

Product managers on technical products, platform PMs, API product managers, infrastructure PMs, developers transitioning to product management, and any PM who wants to improve technical communication with engineering teams.

Key Topics Covered

  • API product management
  • Platform product strategy
  • Developer experience (DX)
  • System design basics
  • Technical trade-offs
  • Performance and scalability
  • Technical debt management
  • Infrastructure and DevOps

Frequently Asked Questions

Do technical PMs need to code?

You don't need to write production code, but basic coding knowledge helps you understand what's possible, estimate complexity, and communicate with engineers. Many successful technical PMs can read code and hack together prototypes, but focus on understanding systems and trade-offs over coding proficiency.

What makes an API product different?

API products serve developers as customers, who have different needs than end users. Success requires excellent documentation, robust error handling, versioning strategy, developer tools (SDKs, sandboxes), and strong backwards compatibility. Developer experience is paramount.

How technical should a product manager be?

Technical depth requirements vary by product. Platform and infrastructure PMs need deep technical knowledge. Consumer product PMs need less. At minimum, all PMs should understand: how their product works architecturally, major technical constraints, common technical trade-offs, and be able to discuss technical topics with engineers effectively.

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