Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Follow the author
OK
Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love 2nd Edition
Learn to design, build, and scale products consumers can't get enough of
How do today's most successful tech companies¯Amazon, Google, Facebook, Netflix, Tesla¯design, develop, and deploy the products that have earned the love of literally billions of people around the world? Perhaps surprisingly, they do it very differently than most tech companies. In INSPIRED, technology product management thought leader Marty Cagan provides readers with a master class in how to structure and staff a vibrant and successful product organization, and how to discover and deliver technology products that your customers will love¯and that will work for your business.
With sections on assembling the right people and skillsets, discovering the right product, embracing an effective yet lightweight process, and creating a strong product culture, readers can take the information they learn and immediately leverage it within their own organizations¯dramatically improving their own product efforts.
Whether you're an early-stage startup working to get to product/market fit, or a growth-stage company working to scale your product organization, or a large, long-established company trying to regain your ability to consistently deliver new value for your customers, INSPIRED will take you and your product organization to a new level of customer engagement, consistent innovation, and business success.
Filled with the author's own personal stories¯and profiles of some of today's most-successful product managers and technology-powered product companies, including Adobe, Apple, BBC, Google, Microsoft, and Netflix¯INSPIRED will show you how to turn up the dial of your own product efforts, creating technology products your customers love.
The first edition of INSPIRED, published ten years ago, established itself as the primary reference for technology product managers, and can be found on the shelves of nearly every successful technology product company worldwide. This thoroughly updated second edition shares the same objective of being the most valuable resource for technology product managers, yet it is completely new¯sharing the latest practices and techniques of today's most-successful tech product companies, and the men and women behind every great product.
- ISBN-101119387507
- ISBN-13978-1119387503
- Edition2nd
- PublisherWiley
- Publication dateDecember 12, 2017
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions6.3 x 1.3 x 9.1 inches
- Print length368 pages
Discover the latest buzz-worthy books, from mysteries and romance to humor and nonfiction. Explore more
More items to explore
The Lean Product Playbook: How to Innovate with Minimum Viable Products and Rapid Customer FeedbackHardcoverGet it as soon as Monday, May 18
Working backwards (International Edition)PaperbackEUR 7.76 shippingGet it as soon as Wednesday, May 13
Customers also bought or read
- Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products (Silicon Valley Product Group)
HardcoverEUR10.95EUR10.95EUR 8.60 delivery Wed, May 13 - Transformed: Moving to the Product Operating Model (Silicon Valley Product Group)
HardcoverEUR16.22EUR16.22EUR 8.60 delivery Wed, May 13 - Continuous Discovery Habits: Discover Products that Create Customer Value and Business Value#1 Best SellerUser Experience & Website Usability
PaperbackEUR9.49EUR9.49EUR 8.40 delivery Wed, May 13 - The Lean Product Playbook: How to Innovate with Minimum Viable Products and Rapid Customer Feedback
HardcoverEUR16.12EUR16.12EUR 8.43 delivery May 18 - 27 - Cracking the PM Interview: How to Land a Product Manager Job in Technology (Cracking the Interview & Career)
PaperbackEUR15.58EUR15.58EUR 8.40 delivery Wed, May 13 - User Story Mapping: Discover the Whole Story, Build the Right Product
PaperbackEUR29.24EUR29.24EUR 8.40 delivery Wed, May 13 - Product Management in Practice: A Practical, Tactical Guide for Your First Day and Every Day After
PaperbackEUR27.36EUR27.36EUR 7.89 delivery Wed, May 13 - The Product Book: How to Become a Great Product Manager
PaperbackEUR14.84EUR14.84EUR 8.18 delivery Wed, May 13 - The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you
PaperbackEUR17.10EUR17.10EUR 7.76 delivery Wed, May 13 - Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
HardcoverEUR14.19EUR14.19EUR 8.40 delivery Wed, May 13 - Product Management's Sacred Seven: The Skills Required to Crush Product Manager Interviews and be a World-Class PM (Fast Forward Your Product Career: The Two Books Required to Land Any PM Job)
PaperbackEUR23.13EUR23.13EUR 9.18 delivery May 11 - 20 - The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
HardcoverEUR11.69EUR11.69EUR 8.40 delivery May 11 - 20 - Product Leadership: How Top Product Managers Launch Awesome Products and Build Successful Teams
PaperbackEUR13.87EUR13.87EUR 7.76 delivery Wed, May 13 - Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making
HardcoverEUR13.44EUR13.44EUR 8.83 delivery Wed, May 13 - Lean Analytics: Use Data to Build a Better Startup Faster
PaperbackEUR25.07EUR25.07EUR 8.60 delivery Wed, May 13 - Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters
HardcoverEUR15.53EUR15.53EUR 8.43 delivery May 11 - 22 - Crossing the Chasm, 3rd Edition: The Updated Version of the Insightful Guide on Bringing Cutting-Edge Products to the Mainstream (Collins Business Essentials)
PaperbackEUR13.68EUR13.68EUR 7.70 delivery Wed, May 13 - The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition
PaperbackEUR9.48EUR9.48EUR 7.89 delivery May 12 - 22 - The AI Product Playbook: Strategies, Skills, and Frameworks for the AI-Driven Product Manager
PaperbackEUR17.96EUR17.96EUR 8.60 delivery Wed, May 13 - Swipe to Unlock: The Primer on Technology and Business Strategy (Fast Forward Your Product Career: The Two Books Required to Land Any PM Job)
PaperbackEUR22.24EUR22.24EUR 8.40 delivery Wed, May 13 - Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (3rd Edition) (Voices That Matter)
PaperbackEUR31.64EUR31.64EUR 8.18 delivery Wed, May 13 - Cracking the PM Career: The Skills, Frameworks, and Practices to Become a Great Product Manager
PaperbackEUR31.85EUR31.85EUR 9.18 delivery Wed, May 13 - Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs
HardcoverEUR10.02EUR10.02EUR 7.89 delivery May 12 - 22 - Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations
PaperbackEUR11.33EUR11.33EUR 7.76 delivery Wed, May 13 - Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon
HardcoverEUR15.23EUR15.23EUR 8.40 delivery May 12 - 22 - The Product Manager's Survival Guide, Second Edition: Everything You Need to Know to Succeed as a Product Manager
HardcoverEUR18.42EUR18.42EUR 8.43 delivery Wed, May 13
From the brand
-
Marty Cagan founded the Silicon Valley Product Group in 2001 to pursue his interests in helping others create successful products through his writing, speaking, and advising. Along with the SVPG team, he is the voice behind the innovative and bestselling Silicon Valley Product Group book series, which helps organizations and industry leaders bring great products to life.
-
The Books
-
From the Publisher
Editorial Reviews
From the Inside Flap
How do today's most successful tech companies Amazon, Google, Facebook, Netflix, Tesla define, design and develop the products that have earned the love of literally billions of people around the world? Perhaps surprisingly, they do it very differently than the vast majority of tech companies. In INSPIRED, technology product management thought leader Marty Cagan provides readers with a master class in how to structure and staff an empowered and effective product organization, and how to discover and deliver technology products that your customers will love and that will work for your business.
With sections on assembling the right people and skills, discovering the right product, embracing an effective yet lightweight process, scaling the product organization, and creating a strong product culture, readers can take the information they learn and immediately leverage it within their own organizations dramatically improving their own product efforts.
Whether you're an early stage startup working to get to product/market fit, or a growth-stage company working to scale your organization, or a large, long-established company trying to regain your ability to consistently deliver new value for your customers, INSPIRED will take you and your product organization to a new level of customer engagement, consistent innovation, and business success.
Filled with the author's own personal stories and profiles of some of today's most-successful product managers and technology-powered product companies, including Adobe, Apple, BBC, Google, Microsoft, and Netflix INSPIRED will show you how to turn up the dial of your own product efforts, creating technology products your customers love.
The first edition of INSPIRED, published ten years ago, established itself as the primary reference for technology product managers, and can be found on the shelves of nearly every successful technology product company worldwide. This thoroughly updated second edition shares the same objective of being the most valuable resource for technology product managers, yet it is completely new sharing the latest practices and techniques of today's most-successful tech product companies, and the men and women behind every great product.
From the Back Cover
PRAISE FOR INSPIRED
"It is rare to find someone like Marty who has impacted early founders, high-growth startups, and multi-billion dollar companies over decades through his product leadership. So when he decides to distill his knowledge in a book, it becomes a must read!"
Avid Larizadeh Duggan, General Partner, GV (Google Ventures)
"If you only have one book on product management, this is the one."
Chad Dickerson, Former CEO, Etsy
"This book was a catalyst for helping us transform how we organize and operate. Marty gave us a compelling case for change, actionable steps, and the fundamental truths to keep us on course."
Ann Yauger, AVP Product, CarMax
"When I was a product leader, I experienced a fair bit of accidental successes and puzzling failures. Marty's writing has helped me understand how product managers and product organizations really should work. I wish I'd had this book years ago."
Jeff Patton, Agile Product Leadership Coach
"I don't know of any other person who has the breadth and depth of knowledge and insight in Product Management that Marty possesses. This is not your typical business book where you skim it in 30 minutes and wonder why it was worth $14.99. INSPIRED is a book you can study, discuss, use to teach, show to your management, and use as a force for change in your company or in your career."
Kyrie Robinson, VP User Experience, Chegg
"INSPIRED was an invaluable resource to me and the Heroku team when we were scaling through the challenging 50-150 employee phase. This book should be on the shelf of anyone in a product leadership position."
Adam Wiggins, Co-Founder, Heroku
"The first edition of INSPIRED shaped my thinking as a young product manager, and I now assign it to my students to make sure they are making the right things in the right way. INSPIRED teaches you to think like Silicon Valley's smartest product managers."
Christina Wodtke, Author, Professor, and Startup Advisor
"Product Management is the art and science of creating the products that give each company its existence. It's the core of a business. For the digital world, Marty Cagan helps you understand and master Product Management like no other. This is essential reading to remain relevant tomorrow."
Frerk-Malte Feller, Workplace by Facebook
"When asked what product is, and how companies can accelerate growth, I always start with 'read INSPIRED and then we can talk.'"
Sarah Bernard, VP Product, Jet.com
"When Marty talks and writes about product, it becomes clear that his knowledge is based on walking the walk. He knows the difference between great technology, and great products based on great technology."
Bjorn Carlson, Engineering Team Lead, Google Cloud Platform
About the Author
MARTY CAGAN, widely recognized as the primary thought leader for technology product management, is the founder of the Silicon Valley Product Group (SVPG). He served as an executive responsible for defining and building products for some of the most successful companies in the world, including Hewlett-Packard, Netscape Communications, and eBay.
Product details
- Publisher : Wiley
- Publication date : December 12, 2017
- Edition : 2nd
- Language : English
- Print length : 368 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1119387507
- ISBN-13 : 978-1119387503
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.3 x 1.3 x 9.1 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #7,826 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1 in Product Management
- #1 in Business Research & Development
- #53 in Entrepreneurship (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
Product Videos
About the author

Before founding the Silicon Valley Product Group to pursue his interests in helping others create successful products through his writing, speaking, advising and coaching, Marty Cagan served as an executive responsible for defining and building products for some of the most successful companies in the world, including Hewlett-Packard, Netscape Communications, and eBay.
During his career, Marty has personally performed and managed most of the roles of a modern technology product organization, including product management, software development, product marketing, user experience design, software testing, engineering management, and general management.
As part of his work with SVPG, Marty is an invited speaker at major conferences and top companies across the globe. Marty is the author of INSPIRED: How To Create Tech Products Customers Love, co-author of EMPOWERED: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products, and co-author of TRANSFORMED: Moving To The Product Operating Model
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Generated from the text of customer reviewsSelect to learn more
Reviews with images
Excellent!
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews. Please reload the page.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2026Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseA fantastic guide for anyone interested in product management. It’s filled with practical advice on building products people love.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2018Format: KindleVerified PurchaseThe second edition of Inspired is even better than the first (which used to be my favorite product management book).
It is the best articulation of how to be successful in product management and how to create successful products that I have ever read. It is impossible not to run into into insights about challenges you are having or have had as a product manager when reading it. (This can be a little creepy, how does he know about all these mistakes I have made, is he a psychic?)
Do you want to get a job as a product manager? Read and re-read Marty’s book and steal at least a few of his insights for the interview - you’ll sound like a genius.
Some of the topics that resonated for me (I’m sure there will be different ones for you):
-Product management is distinct from other essential roles: design, engineering, product marketing, and project management (Chapter 1).
-Two inconvenient truths that often cause failed product efforts are: at least half our ideas are just not going to work (customers ultimately won’t use it - which is why you need customer validation early in the process) and it takes several iterations to implement an idea so that it delivers the necessary business value (Chapter 6).
-The three overarching product development principles from Lean and Agile which help you create successful products are (Chapter 7)
-Risks should be tackled up front, rather than at the end.
-Products should be defined and designed collaboratively, rather than sequentially.
-Its is all about solving problems, not implementing features.
-You need a team of missionaries, not mercenaries to create the smallest possible product that meets the needs of a specific market of customers (Chapter 8,9).
-A product manager must bring four critical contributions to their team (Chapter 10):
Deep knowledge
1) of your customer
2) of the data
3) of your business and its stakeholders
4) of your market and industry
-Product managers (PMs) need product designers - not just to help make your product beautiful - but to discover the right product (Chapter 11).
-Typical product roadmaps are the root cause of most waste and failed efforts in product organizations (Chapter 22). It is all too easy to institute processes that govern how you produce products that can bring innovation to a grinding halt. You need to try to wean your organization off of typical product roadmaps by focusing on business outcomes, providing stakeholders visibility so that they know you are working on important items, and by eventually making high-integrity commitments when critical delivery dates are needed (Chapter 60). Part of this is managing stakeholders which includes engaging them early in the product discovery process ideally with high-fidelity prototypes (Chapter 61).
-Products should start with a product vision in which the product team falls in love with the problem, not the solution (Chapter 25).
- Strong product teams work to meet the dual and simultaneous objectives of rapid learning and discovery while building stable and solid releases in delivery. Product discovery is used to address critical risks: (Chapter 33)
-Will the customer buy this, or choose to use it? (value risk)
-Can the user figure out how to use it? (usability risk)
-Can we build it? (feasibility risk)
-Does the solution work for our business? (business viability risk)
- PMs can’t rely on customers (or executives or stakeholders) to tell us what to build: customer doesn’t know what’s possible, and with technology products, none of us know what we really want until we actually see it (Chapter 33).
- While Amazon has a culture of “write the press release first”, Marty suggests PM should write a “happy customer letter first." Imagine a letter sent to the CEO from a very happy and impressed customer which explains why he or she is so happy and grateful for the new product or redesign. The customer describes how it was changed or improved his or her life. The letter also includes an imagined congratulatory response from the CEO to the product team explaining how this has helped the business (Chapter 36).
- Product managers need to consider the role of analytics and qualitative and quantitative value testing techniques (Chapter 54).
- What it really means for a PM to be the CEO of Product is testing business viability: listening to Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, Finance, Legal, BD, Security, etc. before building the product (Chapter 56).
-Establishing a strong product culture requires (Chapters 66-67)
-Innovation culture: compelling product visions, strong product managers, empowered business and customer savvy teams product teams often in discovery
-Execution culture: urgency, high-integrity commitments, accountability, collaboration, results orientation, recognition, strong delivery management, frequent release cycles
(and it is hard to do both)
- Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2026Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseThis book is a great, practical overview of the role of a Product Manager in technology. It clearly explains what makes a good PM and how to actually be effective in the role.
What stood out most is how actionable it is. Rather than being theoretical, it focuses on real-world challenges—understanding users, balancing business needs, and working within technical constraints. It reframes product management as solving real customer problems, not just building features.
Highly recommended for anyone in product, or anyone considering a PM role.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2026Format: KindleVerified PurchaseI’m just starting in my product career (1 YOE) and I immediately noticed so many things I was not doing correctly. Not only that but I also found many things that my company was doing were incorrect too. It’s an eye opener!
- Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2018Format: KindleVerified PurchaseProduct Management and development is critical to organizations in the digital world. Understanding the approaches, steps and techniques related to product development is critical. This book provides a detailed, direct and no-nonsense approach that people who are new to product management need.
This is the book is the best one I have found for people wanting to know what it really takes -- the steps in building a new technology product.
This is particularly helpful as it is easy to think of product management and development to be more art and inspiration than science and hard work. This is because much of the hard work is hidden from engineers, marketers and others. There is a lot of hard work, can't be skipped steps and complexity associated with product development and this book brings all of this out.
This book is more of a guide and methodology book that tells you like it is rather than telling you a story. This can make a first reading a little taxing, but the real value is in coming back to this text to plan a product development project, check your progress and know what comes next.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2025Format: KindleVerified PurchaseI read this in 2022 and reread it in 2025 to go over the significant amount of practical advice. Like every good book on agile, software development, and marketing, this book makes the same points: you think you know everything, but you don’t. Identify your assumptions and prove or disprove them from the market. Learn from that data and proceed accordingly. This is why having a product roadmap is a bad idea since it communicates “we’re doing this,” assuming that users want these features and, of course, they’ll pay for them, and of course, there aren’t going to be adaptation concerns. This is never the case. Instead have a business outcome against your backlog items, describe the problem you’re solving and keep working till it is solved rather than the feature is marked “complete”.
All modern organizations are learning organizations. Agile is not about doing things incrementally, its about doing experiments and learning incrementally. This book explains this concept from the product lens.
Top reviews from other countries
-
Thais UeharaReviewed in Brazil on December 16, 20255.0 out of 5 stars Divaram
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchaseótimas condições, livro muito bom para quem trabalha com produtos digitais
-
Mehmet A.Reviewed in Turkey on March 12, 20223.0 out of 5 stars Amazon göndermesine rağmen kitap oldukça kirli geldi, depoda üzerine basılmış gibi
Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseMuhteşem bir kitap, kötü ve özensiz bir teslimat, bembeyaz ciltli kapak siyah kirlerle dolu olarak geldi.
KwabenaReviewed in the Netherlands on June 5, 20225.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book
Format: KindleVerified PurchaseWhat I like about the book is the way how everything about product management is explained. I would recommend this book for any person who aspire to become a product manager for a tech company. This book easily is worth 5 star rating because it reveals all that you need to know on how great products are being created. To solve customer problems and why it’s important to be in love with the problem rather than the solution.
AndreaReviewed in the United Kingdom on September 8, 20245.0 out of 5 stars Truly inspired!
Format: KindleVerified PurchaseI’m honest, I probably didn’t like the book at the beginning, I thought the author described a role and an organisation that was too black or white. I decided to go ahead and keep reading and this turned out to be one of the best books I’ve ever read. It was truly inspirational although in my opinion it’s more useful for experienced product managers and quite top line level. If you haven’t read it yet, another great book that you can read after this one is “The Lean Product Playbook”. If you liked this, you won’t be disappointed!
pixelradiusReviewed in Canada on May 29, 20235.0 out of 5 stars A valuable resource for anyone looking to create tech products that customers love.
Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseMarty Cagan's "Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love" is a classic book on product management. The book is a helpful guide for creating the right product culture for success. Cagan shares his experiences and insights from his storied career in product management, which took him from HP to Netscape to eBay, where he served as senior VP of Product Management and Design.
The book is an easy read with lots of valuable advice. Cagan is a big fan of spelling out lists, which makes it easy to follow. The book covers the four product risks: usability risk, value risk, feasibility risk, and business viability risk. It also covers the importance of tackling risks upfront, instead of at the end, and defining products and their overall brand.
While the book may not be for complete newcomers to tech or to product, it is ideal for someone with three months to thirty years of experience working in some capacity with a product team. The book is not filled with examples or stories from the trenches of product management, but it still doesn’t feel too theoretical or “fluffy”.
Overall, "Inspired" is a valuable resource for anyone looking to create tech products that customers love. It is a must-read for product managers, designers, and engineers who want to build great products that solve real problems.
Recommendation: I highly recommend "Inspired" to anyone who wants to learn more about product management and how to create products that customers love. It is a valuable resource that provides practical advice and insights that can be applied to any product development process.











