About the Authors

Brian Lawley is the CEO and founder of the 280 Group, the world’s leading product management consulting and training firm. He is the author of five best-selling books: The Phenomenal Product Manager (Happy About), Expert Product Management (Happy About), 42 Rules of Product Management (Super Star Press), 42 Rules of Product Marketing (Super Star Press), and Optimal Product Process (280 Group Press). He’s the former president of the Silicon Valley Product Management Association (SVPMA) and received the Association of International Product Marketing and Management (AIPMM) award for thought leadership in product management. He has been featured on World Business Review and the Silicon Valley Business Report and is the editor of the Optimal Product Management blog and newsletter.

Prior to founding and running the 280 Group, Brian spent many years working on innovative products at world-leading companies, including Digidesign (acquired by Avid), Apple (as product manager for the MacOS human interface), Claris, Symantec, and Whistle Communications. Brian is a Certified Product Manager (CPM) and Certified Product Marketing Manager (CPMM) and has a bachelor’s degree in management science from the University of California at San Diego with a minor in music technology and an MBA with honors from San Jose State University.

Pamela Schure is director of products and services with the 280 Group. Prior to joining the company, she worked for many years in U.S. and international roles in product management, product marketing, and marketing for Apple and Adaptec. She has launched over 40 software and hardware products and managed teams of product managers from all parts of the world. Along the way, she also received two product patents. Pamela ran her own businesses in the United Kingdom and South Africa. Pamela is a Certified Product Manager (CPM), Certified Product Marketing Manager (CPMM), and Agile Certified Product Manager (ACPM). After attending two years of French lycée secondary education, she earned a bachelor of science degree in applied mechanics from the University of California at San Diego and an MBA from Columbia Business School. Pamela speaks English, French, and some Italian and learns other languages as a hobby.

Authors’ Acknowledgements

We as authors want to thank the many people who had the patience and kindness to help us learn what we have learned so that we may pass it on. Our apologies if we forget anyone on this list!

Brian: I would like to thank many of the people I worked for who believed in me, taught me the craft of product management, and gave me the opportunity to practice it, including Charlie Oppenheimer, Jim Stoneham, Bill Campbell, John Zeisler, Mike Holm, Peter Gotcher, John Atcheson, John Mracek, Gordon Ritter, John Hamm, Jim Li, Marci Reichelstein, and hundreds of incredible peer-level product managers and other folks I had the privilege of working with.

In addition, the entire 280 Group team deserves a huge amount of credit for helping create both the Optimal Product Process methodology and one of the most amazing companies in the world. The 280 Group folks include (in random order) Will Iverson, Dave Dersh, Melissa Holtzer, Jillian McLaughlin, Cynthia Petti, Aaron Hyde, Mira Wooten, Aaron Canales, Duncan Gilmore, Mimi Salman, Phil Burton, Chuck Myers, Jim Reekes, David Fradin, Rosemary Yates, Bill Haines, Colleen O’Rourke, Tom Evans, Dan Torres, Eric Krock, Alyssa Dver, Bill Pieser, Jen Brecheen, J. F. Ouellette, Hector Del Castillo, Leslie Bixel, Linda Merrick, Rick Bess, John Cook, Megan McNamara, Michael Gonzalez, Ken Feehan, Greg Cohen, Roger Snyder, Matthew Lawley, and, of course, my co-author, Pamela Schure. A huge thanks to AIPMM, Therese Padilla, Paula Gray, and Chris Frandsen for their immense contributions to the profession of product management.

And last but not least, a huge thank you to the tens of thousands of product managers and product marketing managers who have helped move the profession forward, have purchased the 280 Group’s products and services, and have inspired me to want to help others deliver incredible products to market that delight customers!

Pamela: I would like to first thank the product management team at Apple U.K.: Jane Burley (now Pearce) for putting me in the role and teaching me the ropes — and so much more; Jan Edbrooke for keeping me in product management once I left the United Kingdom; Clive Girling, Nigel Turner, and Neil Holland for being amazing colleagues (among many amazing colleagues at Apple U.K.) and Bianca Walker for taking over once I left; and Marc Jourlait for being part of the team that reinvented our European roles. The team at Adaptec, starting with Jean-Eric Garnier, who thought I’d make a good software product manager — thank you; Rob Griffith, who gave me the space to discover what customers really wanted; Long Huynh and Scott Chambers, who started me off as a manager of product managers; David Manner and David Stokes, who taught me an amazingly collaborative way of managing teams; and Greg Agustin, Joel Lardizabal, Jason Ivan, Naser Mgariaf, Mia Giannotti, and Vadim Sigalov for reinventing product delivery and launches in record times.

A big thanks to the team at the 280 Group, who are amazingly interesting and thoughtful to work with. I am truly lucky to work with you every single day.

A big shout out also to my children, Adair, Aidan, and Amara. Definitely my A team. Finally, last, but certainly not least, Joe Bailey for being the loving ballast in my life.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

Acquisitions Editor: Tracy Boggier

Project Manager: Linda Brandon

Development Editor: Linda Brandon

Copy Editor: Megan Knoll

Technical Editor: Greg Cohen

Production Editor: Antony Sami

Cover Photos: © Peshkova/iStockphoto