Decode and Conquer, 4th Edition

I was pretty anxious preparing for my PM interview with Amazon, so months prior, I asked around to see what books to read, and Decode and Conquer was one of the most highly recommended books.It lived up to my expectations and beyond. Loved it. There’s no fluff; it was to the point, fruitful, and easy to follow. I loved how examples were often explained using a dialogue between an interviewer and a candidate. Helps you envision what the real interview will be like and prepares you well.Everything about this book is memorable and lovable. Not long after reading it, I went into my interviews at Amazon and landed my first PM role.This book is a must-read for anyone preparing for their upcoming PM interviews. If you’re considering getting this book at all, I highly advise that you get it.

A friend of mine recommended a couple of books to help me prep for my PM interviews: Cracking the PM Interview, Swipe to Unlock and Decode and Conquer. After reading all three, I can honestly say Decode and Conquer was my favorite. This book prepared me the best for my PM interviews, hands down.Decode and Conquer mainly focuses on CIRCLES, a useful framework to help you answer any design question. Lin did a fantastic job at explaining this method, making everything easy to understand and follow. There are so many things to keep in mind as you prepare for PM interviews, but I easily remembered the tips and tricks in this book. If you’re looking for helpful and actionable tips to ace the interview, this book is all you need.I probably could’ve gotten away with just reading this book to prep for my interviews. It’s like the holy grail of PM interview books. From designing desktop applications to strategy questions, this book has it all.The best part: I ended up landing a PM position at a startup after reading this. I credit most of this achievement to Lin and this book. Go pick it up!

I became a PM before this book was made, but I wish it was out when I was preparing for my own PM interviews! Here are some thoughts before you buy:1. This book is simply fantastic. Loved every inc. You can tell the author is an industry insider and very well-versed in product management (he's worked at Microsoft and Google before, so it makes sense).2. Easy to follow. Every time I see comments about Decode and Conquer, this is one of the biggest reasons why people love this book - and they're absolutely right. No one wants to read a PM book full of jargon and writing that's just hard to read. There are plenty of diagrams to illustrate any explanations, and Lin's writing style made this an enjoyable read!3. It has everything you need to know to prepare for your PM interviews. With detailed explanations and an immense amount of practice, you can trust that you'll be well-equipped for the interview after reading this book.People often ask me what content this book covers. Here's a brief overview:- How to critique design- The CIRCLES Method and how to use it to answer all types of design questions- How to approach a technical interview question- How to approach analytical questions (estimations, pricing, metrics)- How to approach strategic questions (trade-offs, new market entry, CEO-level issues)- How to answer vision questions- How to approach the stress test- How to win the behavioral interviewGreat stuff. If you're on the edge about buying this book, don't hesitate. Go get it!

I am a software engineer looking to get into product management. I wanted a detailed overview of PM and the interview process, so my PM friend recommended this book. Given my background, I was worried that I would not understand the concepts in this book, but to my surprise, the book was easy to understand and easy to read. Lewis Lin does a great job breaking down complex topics into easy-to-digest frameworks including:- CIRCLES for product design questions- AARM for metrics questions- DIGS for behavioral questions (so much better than STAR method)Each chapter is supplemented with practice questions and sample answers so you can put the frameworks you just learned into practice. The sample answers are presented as a dialog between the interviewer and the candidate. To reinforce the concepts you just learned, Lin points out the a-ha insights (and little nuances) that I would have missed.Working through the practice questions helped me gain more confidence in solving PM problems. As someone relatively new to PM, this book was the perfect guide to mastering PM concepts.I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to comprehensively and thoroughly prepare for their product management interviews.

I started as Software Engineer out of college then Intrigued into Product Management role throughout the work experience with onsite customer interviews, sales chat and technical marketing team members.I have to say Lewis has done an amazing job preparing me for the world of Product Management, to help me re-shape my thinking, constructed communication as well as critical PM skills that to become a better PM.Lewis's latest book "Decode and Conquer, 4th edition" is a great treasure for anyone who is in the Product Management field or just want to break-into the space, to help you gain the skills you need as well as better prepare for the PM interviews in the modern time.I am now a PM at FAANG and I still learn many things within the book, I highly recommend "Decode and Conquer, 4th edition" to anyone 🙂

The most recommended book for candidates of Product Manager interview

This is a really solid book. I’ve worked in product management for years, but this gives you a really great grasp on frameworks that can help level you up!Excited to reapply to some of the big tech companies out there now that this book gave me a deeper understanding of how to use these frameworks and better frame my past experience.

Decode and Conquer covers an extensive number of topics that every person should know inside and out before heading to their PM interviews. I loved the way the information in this book was organized. It goes through all the foundational knowledge you need in a format that’s easy to follow and makes sense.The book starts off talking about critiquing design, and then smoothly transitions into how to design services, apps, webpages, and more. Then, it goes in-depth about how to answer technical, analytical, and strategy questions. I liked how he ended the book by talking about creating a vision, passing the stress test, and behavioral questions. I feel like these areas can sometimes be overlooked in other PM books, so I’m glad he dedicated sections explaining them.Overall, I really enjoyed Decode and Conquer. It was an easy read and gave me a lot of insightful tips that I didn’t find in other books. In fact, it helped me land my PM role at Facebook! Highly recommend you pick up this book.

A couple of weeks ago I attended a webinar on how to become a PM, and the number one book they recommended was Decode and Conquer. I decided to pick it up and give it a read to help me prepare for my upcoming interview. It was fantastic.I’d never heard of the CIRCLES method before, but after reading about it through this book I can say I absolutely love it. Lewis Lin explains the framework so that it’s super easy to remember, making the framework in itself actionable and effective.Also, I loved his usage of diagrams and illustrations. I’m more of a visual learner, so I appreciated the number of visuals he incorporated into this book. Reinforces the fact that this book is just so easy to understand.Don’t miss out on this book, go buy it!

I bought this book to prepare for interviews for competitive Associate Product Manager roles for new grads. Ultimately, I received an offer that I definitely would not have gotten without Decode & Conquer.