Build to Sell: The Lean Secret to Crafting Irresistible Products
About this ebook
Jeff Gothelf, Author of Lean UX
“I love this book – I wish I had written it!”
Michael Ballé, Author of The Lean Strategy
THERE IS NO GREATER WASTE THAN A PRODUCT THAT DOESN’T SELL.
Are you trying to bring a new product concept to life, find the Product Market Fit for your brilliant idea, scale up your company, or pivot? Then you will need a Chief Product Engineer.
Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Linus Torvalds, Coco Chanel, and Stan Lee all embody the Chief Product Engineer mindset. They are visionary leaders who combine technical expertise with strategic and financial insight.
We think genius is not a birthright and can be developed. This is why we wrote BUILD TO SELL, to combine our decades of experience in the tech industry in a practical handbook for current and future Chief Product Engineers.
We blend examples from big tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Airbnb, Netflix, Meta, Google, Salesforce, Snapchat, OpenAI, and Uber with stories from Chief Product Engineers in real-world businesses across various industries. You will meet Surya as she courageously leads the team through a new product concept that leverages legacy core tech. You’ll wonder with JB what emotions a digital insurance product can evoke. You will also discover how three CEOs manage to scale by keeping a razor-sharp focus on their product.
And you will meet my favorite mug... It’s more interesting than it seems.
We designed BUILD TO SELL to provide a clear starting point to entrepreneurs, CEOs, product, tech, and data leaders. It’s a colorful handbook brimming with visuals and tools that also serves as a practical guide to transform products into irresistible offerings.
We applied our product techniques to the book itself, revealed in Chapter 15. Along the way, you will find...
...How to avoid the 3 main causes of product failures
...A framework to align your product strategy with your innovation strategy
...The most important product practice to uncover a customer problem truly worth solving, free from bias
...The definitive tools to understand why customers should choose your product over your competitors'
...How to pose an enthusiastic challenge that gets buy-in from engineers and designers
...Our method for achieving emotion-centric design that dives deep into user emotions
...How performance-based product thinking helps you avoid getting trapped in feature frenzy mode
...The 5-step Design To Cost method to design for profitability from the start and avoid the cash wall trap
...A model to identify what needs to change and what doesn’t at each product iteration
...How to articulate a bold vision in a concept paper
...The Product Manifesto to communicate your bold vision and win the hearts of stakeholders and investors
Ready? Let’s make you a true Chief Product Engineer!
BUILD TO SELL is exceptionally insightful and perfectly aligned with our product philosophy. The book offers invaluable insights and practical guidance that resonate with our approach to creating compelling digital products. It’s a must-read for anyone looking to craft their product strategy.
Jonathan Widawski, Co-Founder & CEO at Maze, San Francisco
“There are many books that try to explain the success of Silicon Valley companies. Sandrine puts process, product and leaders together and shows how the combination of the three is critical. And she provides guidance for companies and founders on how to get there.”
Mark Striebeck, Co-Founder at Arta Finance, San Francisco
Discover more
About the author
Sandrine is a lean strategy expert and cofounder at Taktique. She's the main author of Build To Sell and co-author of The Lean Sensei. With a strong focus on sustainable business scaling, product design and a thorough background in lean strategy, she empowers CEOs and teams worldwide.
Flavian is co-founder and CEO of Taktique and co-author of Build to Sell. He has extensive experience in technical and product leadership. He has led significant projects and teams in technology across various industries, focusing on lean principles and digital transformation.
Caroline is Taktique's experienced Chief Product Officer and co-author of Build To Sell, is passionate about digital innovation and lean UX. She has skillfully blended her expertise in product and UX design to create user-centered digital solutions for over a decade.
