Jay Harel

I’m a product management leader living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area. For over two decades, I have managed products and teams in various markets, including SaaS, security, enterprise software, networking, consumer internet, and education. Through countless product lifecycles, I experienced the ups and downs of the journey. This website showcases the books I’ve written in a humble effort to capture the lessons I learned.

Jay Harel
Product Leadership

Product Leadership

Product managers are creators of vision, strategy, design, products, services, and, ultimately, value. They must be equally comfortable with everything and everyone they work with, including engineering, sales, marketing, finance, and legal, and of course, customers and partners. A well-rounded product manager has a deep understanding of the product and the market. They must see the forest and the trees.

This book covers the whole gamut of product management: it starts by discussing core skills such as effective communication, continues with basic tasks like backlog management, and covers key topics like finding the right product to build. On top of that, it discusses the broader scope of work that product managers are involved in, including hiring, team management, sales, and marketing.

The book will guide you along the roller-coaster ride of the product life cycle and walk you through the ups and downs of the journey. It consists of short and mostly independent chapters describing best practices and pointing out pitfalls to avoid. The sum total provides a clear sense of how to do product management right and how to become an effective product leader.

Effective Product Management

Effective Product Management

Product managers are the unsung heroes of the tech industry. An effective product manager can be the difference between wasting resources chasing a mirage and making a sound investment in winning products. They are catalysts of good processes, capable of turning chaotic situations into impeccable execution engines.

This book covers the day-to-day aspects of being a product manager: core skills such as effective communication, basic tasks like backlog management, and key topics like finding the right product to build. It will guide you along the roller-coaster ride of the product life cycle and walk you through the ups and downs of the journey.

The book consists of short and mostly independent chapters describing best practices and pointing out pitfalls to avoid. The sum total provides a clear sense of how to do product management right.

Synapse Juice

Synapse Juice

My first poetry book.