The Punk PM #26

Hey there, punk!

I've been thinking a lot about AI prototyping tools this week, sparked by a fascinating dinner conversation before our inaugural Product On The Tyne conference. What matters here isn’t just the tech, it’s what these tools reveal about where product management lost its way, and how we might find it again.

Let’s dig into it.

Quote of the Week 🙊

Insight 🦉

We've spent a decade obsessing over frameworks and theories. The Spotify Model. Inspired. Escaping the Build Trap. Great books, smart ideas—but somewhere along the way, we forgot something crucial:

Product management isn't about knowing theories. It's about building things that matter.

I've talked a lot over the last six months on this newsletter about how product is a business role. It's not about frameworks or processes or ways of working, it's about creating meaningful value for your customers, and your business.

That's it. Find valuable problems. Solve them. Everything else is just ceremony.

Now, AI tools like Lovable and Bolt have dropped into our laps like the samplers that landed in music studios in the '80s. Suddenly, we can turn ideas into testable prototypes in hours, not weeks. No more waiting for sprint capacity. No more death by PRD.

This isn't about replacing designers or engineers. Trying to build production code with AI is still a recipe for disaster. But for rapid experimentation? For testing hunches? For learning fast? It's revolutionary.

Just like those early samplers didn't make everyone a great musician, AI won't make everyone a great PM. You still need taste. Experience. Commercial instinct. But it might just help us remember what product management was always supposed to be about:

Turning ideas into impact.

Action 🚀

This week, pick one idea you've been sitting on. Don't write a spec—build something. Even if it's rough, even if it's wrong, make it real.

Inspiration 💡

AI Prototyping for Product Managers: How to Test a Hypothesis Fast – Janna Bastow breaks down the new playbook for rapid validation. No fluff, just practical ways to turn AI tools into your secret weapon for learning faster. Skip the capacity planning, start experimenting. Read more 

When AI Goes Wrong: Meta's Public Chat Disaster – David Gerrard delivers a sobering reminder about the downsides of moving too fast with AI. When Meta's chat tool users started accidentally sharing private conversations, it wasn't just embarrassing—it was a reminder how crucial it is to understand the tools we're using. Read more

Breaking Free from Story Writing – Joy Adamson calls out the elephant in the room: too many PMs have become professional ticket writers instead of decision-makers. It's time to reclaim our role as product leaders, not process managers. A sharp take on what really matters. Read more

Signing Off ✍️

If you're already playing with AI prototyping tools, hit reply and show me what you've built. And if you know someone who's drowning in PRDs and frameworks, maybe send this their way.

Play it your way,

Toby