Dean Peters
@deanpeters.bsky.social
Product Management trainer & coach, recovering developer w/a secret past as an opera singer. Views expressed are my own! More on me via my blog DeanOnDelivery.
Pinned
Dean Peters
@deanpeters.bsky.social
· Apr 5
Tired of being just a calendar warrior & backlog whisperer?
Now you can be an action figure.
Dress it. Accessorize it. Tagline it.
Mint-condition PM greatness—powered by ChatGPT 4o.
Drop a comment & I’ll send the prompt via DM.
(Note: backlog not included)
#ProductManager #ProductManagement
Now you can be an action figure.
Dress it. Accessorize it. Tagline it.
Mint-condition PM greatness—powered by ChatGPT 4o.
Drop a comment & I’ll send the prompt via DM.
(Note: backlog not included)
#ProductManager #ProductManagement
I'm not a big fan of Halloween, but in this case I'll make an exception.
Behold, my Larry Lounge Lizard kit comes back to life as an AI product manager costume.
Meanwhile, I'll be vibing together a webinar on building shit with AI for PMs is coming November 13th.
Be there, or be square.
Behold, my Larry Lounge Lizard kit comes back to life as an AI product manager costume.
Meanwhile, I'll be vibing together a webinar on building shit with AI for PMs is coming November 13th.
Be there, or be square.
October 31, 2025 at 10:33 PM
I'm not a big fan of Halloween, but in this case I'll make an exception.
Behold, my Larry Lounge Lizard kit comes back to life as an AI product manager costume.
Meanwhile, I'll be vibing together a webinar on building shit with AI for PMs is coming November 13th.
Be there, or be square.
Behold, my Larry Lounge Lizard kit comes back to life as an AI product manager costume.
Meanwhile, I'll be vibing together a webinar on building shit with AI for PMs is coming November 13th.
Be there, or be square.
Local LLMs torch toes, drain GPUs, & crank fans. They also give PMs freedom, privacy, & the thrill of off-road experiments. Spent past 2 weeks doing this. I Summarized my learning in this field guide:
🔫How to Shoot Yourself in the Foot with Localized LLMs:
deanpeters.substack.com/p/how-to-sho...
🔫How to Shoot Yourself in the Foot with Localized LLMs:
deanpeters.substack.com/p/how-to-sho...
How to shoot yourself in the foot with localized LLMs
Local LMMs. They torch toes, drain GPUs, and crank fans, but they also deliver PMs freedom, privacy, and the thrill of running off-road experiments. Here's my Comparative Guide to Localized Large Lang...
deanpeters.substack.com
August 17, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Local LLMs torch toes, drain GPUs, & crank fans. They also give PMs freedom, privacy, & the thrill of off-road experiments. Spent past 2 weeks doing this. I Summarized my learning in this field guide:
🔫How to Shoot Yourself in the Foot with Localized LLMs:
deanpeters.substack.com/p/how-to-sho...
🔫How to Shoot Yourself in the Foot with Localized LLMs:
deanpeters.substack.com/p/how-to-sho...
OpenAI: world's smartest AI, 700M users, unlimited resources. Still created user rebellion by ignoring PM basics:
→ Confused users overnight
→ Demoed to devs only
→ Killed features without warning
Competitors feast while they fix.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/even-the-w...
→ Confused users overnight
→ Demoed to devs only
→ Killed features without warning
Competitors feast while they fix.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/even-the-w...
Even the World's Best AI Can't Fix Bad Product Management
OpenAI's GPT-5 disaster proves even the world's smartest AI can't fix bad product management. 700M users revolted when they ignored PM basics. Brutal.
deanpeters.substack.com
August 14, 2025 at 3:34 AM
OpenAI: world's smartest AI, 700M users, unlimited resources. Still created user rebellion by ignoring PM basics:
→ Confused users overnight
→ Demoed to devs only
→ Killed features without warning
Competitors feast while they fix.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/even-the-w...
→ Confused users overnight
→ Demoed to devs only
→ Killed features without warning
Competitors feast while they fix.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/even-the-w...
The GPT-5 launch sucked but the tech doesn't. While benchmarks test fruit letters, I'm getting real PM sh!t done with AI.
i.e.; I can scaffold a solid PRD, validate with simulated stakeholder feedback, and generate a working prototype in under 2 hours.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/sam-altman...
i.e.; I can scaffold a solid PRD, validate with simulated stakeholder feedback, and generate a working prototype in under 2 hours.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/sam-altman...
Sam Altman's Missing GPT-5 Benchmark: How Starting with Why Could Have Saved the Demo
The GPT-5 launch sucked but the tech doesn't. While benchmarks test fruit letters, here's how to actually get real PM shit done with AI.
deanpeters.substack.com
August 11, 2025 at 6:02 PM
The GPT-5 launch sucked but the tech doesn't. While benchmarks test fruit letters, I'm getting real PM sh!t done with AI.
i.e.; I can scaffold a solid PRD, validate with simulated stakeholder feedback, and generate a working prototype in under 2 hours.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/sam-altman...
i.e.; I can scaffold a solid PRD, validate with simulated stakeholder feedback, and generate a working prototype in under 2 hours.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/sam-altman...
When the smoke clears from the AI bonfire of hype & vibe, the last one standing won’t be “ChatGPT for Pets.” It’ll be some beige B2B company quietly using AI to catch fraud or reroute trucks. Not sexy. Not viral. Just printing money while others pivot.
July 26, 2025 at 12:44 PM
When the smoke clears from the AI bonfire of hype & vibe, the last one standing won’t be “ChatGPT for Pets.” It’ll be some beige B2B company quietly using AI to catch fraud or reroute trucks. Not sexy. Not viral. Just printing money while others pivot.
Great product managers don't negotiate in features, timelines, or headcount. They negotiate in the currency of trade-offs.
June 19, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Great product managers don't negotiate in features, timelines, or headcount. They negotiate in the currency of trade-offs.
Stakeholder Shuttle Diplomacy: When your roadmap becomes a ransom note & you're Henry Kissinger with a Kanban board, mediating between warring teams ping-ponging between Sales, Engineering, Marketing, and Legal?
Here's the Subtack. Survival Kit included 👇
deanpeters.substack.com/p/stakeholde...
Here's the Subtack. Survival Kit included 👇
deanpeters.substack.com/p/stakeholde...
Stakeholder Shuttle Diplomacy
It doesn't matter if it's a feature, roadmap, or vibe code. Shuttle diplomacy is how PMs survive the chaos of influence without authority. Read on if your roadmap reads like a ransom note.
deanpeters.substack.com
June 15, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Stakeholder Shuttle Diplomacy: When your roadmap becomes a ransom note & you're Henry Kissinger with a Kanban board, mediating between warring teams ping-ponging between Sales, Engineering, Marketing, and Legal?
Here's the Subtack. Survival Kit included 👇
deanpeters.substack.com/p/stakeholde...
Here's the Subtack. Survival Kit included 👇
deanpeters.substack.com/p/stakeholde...
It’s 2025. Every product manager is now, by default, an AI PM. Let’s stop title inflation & stay anchored in what matters: great product management.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/stop-calli...
deanpeters.substack.com/p/stop-calli...
Stop Calling It AI Product Management
It’s 2025. Every product manager is now, by default, an AI PM. Let’s stop title inflation & stay anchored in what matters: great product management. Start Calling It What It Is: Product Management.
deanpeters.substack.com
June 10, 2025 at 12:38 AM
It’s 2025. Every product manager is now, by default, an AI PM. Let’s stop title inflation & stay anchored in what matters: great product management.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/stop-calli...
deanpeters.substack.com/p/stop-calli...
Not every problem is a nail waiting for a hammer. Not every hypotheses requires vibe coding for validation.
Read on
deanpeters.substack.com/p/vibe-first...
Read on
deanpeters.substack.com/p/vibe-first...
Vibe First, Validate Fast, Verify Fit
In an era of vibe coding and stakeholder theater, one bad prototype can cost more than a bad roadmap. Get to proof-of-life before you scale. Get to proof-of-life before playing at scale
deanpeters.substack.com
June 7, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Not every problem is a nail waiting for a hammer. Not every hypotheses requires vibe coding for validation.
Read on
deanpeters.substack.com/p/vibe-first...
Read on
deanpeters.substack.com/p/vibe-first...
A poetic, cautionary tale of Builder.ai’s collapse, told in classical maqāma form by a ḥakāwatī. This is a story where promises were compiled, but truth was never shipped.
What begins with a whispered warning in a café ends in a food truck and a fable. deanpeters.substack.com/p/the-maqama...ai
What begins with a whispered warning in a café ends in a food truck and a fable. deanpeters.substack.com/p/the-maqama...ai
The Maqāmāt of Builder.ai
A poetic, cautionary tale of Builder.ai’s collapse—told in maqāma form by a hakāwatī. Product lessons wrapped in satire, smoke, and sesame wisdom. A story where promises were compiled, but truth was n...
deanpeters.substack.com
June 1, 2025 at 6:27 PM
A poetic, cautionary tale of Builder.ai’s collapse, told in classical maqāma form by a ḥakāwatī. This is a story where promises were compiled, but truth was never shipped.
What begins with a whispered warning in a café ends in a food truck and a fable. deanpeters.substack.com/p/the-maqama...ai
What begins with a whispered warning in a café ends in a food truck and a fable. deanpeters.substack.com/p/the-maqama...ai
Most product managers get zero demo training, then wonder why their pitch falls flat. Here's what singing opera taught me about landing high-stakes product demos with clarity, confidence, and a backup plan when everything falls apart.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/stage-frig...
deanpeters.substack.com/p/stage-frig...
Stage Fright Is Real. So Is Product Demo Regret.
How singing opera taught me to command the room—glitches, flop sweat, and all. Most product managers get zero product demo training, then wonder why their pitch falls flat. Learn what singing opera ta...
deanpeters.substack.com
May 22, 2025 at 1:43 AM
Most product managers get zero demo training, then wonder why their pitch falls flat. Here's what singing opera taught me about landing high-stakes product demos with clarity, confidence, and a backup plan when everything falls apart.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/stage-frig...
deanpeters.substack.com/p/stage-frig...
Counting birthday blessings after a year teaching across continents & transforming 2,000 lives. This isn’t a victory lap—it’s an end-of-career mission: sending the ladder back down to the next great generation of product peeps. Join me on the journey.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/another-la...
deanpeters.substack.com/p/another-la...
Another Lap Around the Sun, 2025 Edition
Counting birthday blessings after a year teaching across continents & transforming 2,000 lives. This isn’t a victory lap—it’s an end-of-career mission: sending the ladder back down to the next generat...
deanpeters.substack.com
May 17, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Counting birthday blessings after a year teaching across continents & transforming 2,000 lives. This isn’t a victory lap—it’s an end-of-career mission: sending the ladder back down to the next great generation of product peeps. Join me on the journey.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/another-la...
deanpeters.substack.com/p/another-la...
For those impacted by the Microsoft Layoff, a distraction that I hope helps soften the blow.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/the-post-l...
deanpeters.substack.com/p/the-post-l...
The Post-Layoff Prompt Recovery Toolkit
Laid off by a bot? Replaced by a roadmap that doesn’t include you? Good. Now’s the time for revenge via satire. 3 prompts. 1 pink slip. 0 pity. Prompt past the chaos with parody-powered product manage...
deanpeters.substack.com
May 16, 2025 at 1:21 AM
For those impacted by the Microsoft Layoff, a distraction that I hope helps soften the blow.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/the-post-l...
deanpeters.substack.com/p/the-post-l...
If your product strategy reads like a scroll of autocomplete, you're not leading, you're a sticky note clinging to the backlog, mistaking motion for meaning.
Intellectual Atrophy, what happens when PMs stop thinking, start prompting, and call it strategy.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/intellectu...
Intellectual Atrophy, what happens when PMs stop thinking, start prompting, and call it strategy.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/intellectu...
Intellectual Atrophy with Generative AI
In a future where the prompt replaces premise & completion supplants contemplation, the only thing more efficient than the machine is the mind it no longer needs to replace. From the 'Dystopian AI for...
deanpeters.substack.com
May 14, 2025 at 12:34 AM
If your product strategy reads like a scroll of autocomplete, you're not leading, you're a sticky note clinging to the backlog, mistaking motion for meaning.
Intellectual Atrophy, what happens when PMs stop thinking, start prompting, and call it strategy.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/intellectu...
Intellectual Atrophy, what happens when PMs stop thinking, start prompting, and call it strategy.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/intellectu...
Your sponsor isn’t watching story points—they’re watching $50K sprints vanish into dashboards and dev debt while you pitch “velocity” like it’s a business model.
Read why, and how not over on my Substack post.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/you-burn-5...
Read why, and how not over on my Substack post.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/you-burn-5...
You Burn $50K a Sprint — Act Like It
Burning $50K every sprint? Stop shipping fluff. Start thinking like your sponsor—because they’re not tracking stories, they’re tracking returns.
deanpeters.substack.com
May 9, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Your sponsor isn’t watching story points—they’re watching $50K sprints vanish into dashboards and dev debt while you pitch “velocity” like it’s a business model.
Read why, and how not over on my Substack post.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/you-burn-5...
Read why, and how not over on my Substack post.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/you-burn-5...
So I was in the used bookstore the other day when I spotted these beauties ...
substack.com/@deanpeters/...
substack.com/@deanpeters/...
Dean Peters on Substack
I bought both copies so I could read it in half the time.
substack.com
May 7, 2025 at 9:08 PM
So I was in the used bookstore the other day when I spotted these beauties ...
substack.com/@deanpeters/...
substack.com/@deanpeters/...
RTFM is dead. Long live the IKEA prompt comic strip. Turns complex workflows into absurd visuals your team might actually follow.
👇 Try it + steal the prompt:
deanpeters.substack.com/p/prompt-eng...
👇 Try it + steal the prompt:
deanpeters.substack.com/p/prompt-eng...
Prompt Engineering, The IKEA Way
Rebuilding RTFM as minimalist absurdity
deanpeters.substack.com
May 7, 2025 at 1:04 PM
RTFM is dead. Long live the IKEA prompt comic strip. Turns complex workflows into absurd visuals your team might actually follow.
👇 Try it + steal the prompt:
deanpeters.substack.com/p/prompt-eng...
👇 Try it + steal the prompt:
deanpeters.substack.com/p/prompt-eng...
RTFM is dead. Long live the IKEA prompt comic strip. Turns complex workflows into absurd visuals your team might actually follow.
👇 Try it + steal the prompt:
deanpeters.substack.com/p/prompt-eng...
👇 Try it + steal the prompt:
deanpeters.substack.com/p/prompt-eng...
Prompt Engineering, The IKEA Way
Rebuilding RTFM as minimalist absurdity
deanpeters.substack.com
May 6, 2025 at 8:50 PM
RTFM is dead. Long live the IKEA prompt comic strip. Turns complex workflows into absurd visuals your team might actually follow.
👇 Try it + steal the prompt:
deanpeters.substack.com/p/prompt-eng...
👇 Try it + steal the prompt:
deanpeters.substack.com/p/prompt-eng...
“Just a small fix,” they said. Meanwhile, QA’s crying. Devs are praying. The strategic roadmap is dying.
Feature Hostage Negotiations: Just a Small Fix
First in a series. Product Managers, you are not alone.
open.substack.com/pub/deanpete...
Feature Hostage Negotiations: Just a Small Fix
First in a series. Product Managers, you are not alone.
open.substack.com/pub/deanpete...
Feature Hostage Negotiations: Just a Small Fix
1 tiny feature request. 2 weeks of chaos. QA's crying, the roadmap’s burning, & you're holding the duct tape. Welcome to Feature Hostage Negotiations.
open.substack.com
May 4, 2025 at 10:54 AM
“Just a small fix,” they said. Meanwhile, QA’s crying. Devs are praying. The strategic roadmap is dying.
Feature Hostage Negotiations: Just a Small Fix
First in a series. Product Managers, you are not alone.
open.substack.com/pub/deanpete...
Feature Hostage Negotiations: Just a Small Fix
First in a series. Product Managers, you are not alone.
open.substack.com/pub/deanpete...
Process isn't progress. Sauerkraut isn't a strategy.
Dream: a simple Dino Dogs cart.
Nightmare: a bloated food truck, flat tires, 47 sauces, no customers.
Read my Complexity Tale in Four Courses before your dream gets deep-fried.
open.substack.com/pub/deanpete...
#productManagement
Dream: a simple Dino Dogs cart.
Nightmare: a bloated food truck, flat tires, 47 sauces, no customers.
Read my Complexity Tale in Four Courses before your dream gets deep-fried.
open.substack.com/pub/deanpete...
#productManagement
Sauerkraut Is Not a Strategy
Neither is turning your simple dream into a food court with flat tires. A Complexity Tale in Four Courses of why scaling too soon, listening to the wrong advice, and forgetting your first customer kil...
open.substack.com
April 27, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Process isn't progress. Sauerkraut isn't a strategy.
Dream: a simple Dino Dogs cart.
Nightmare: a bloated food truck, flat tires, 47 sauces, no customers.
Read my Complexity Tale in Four Courses before your dream gets deep-fried.
open.substack.com/pub/deanpete...
#productManagement
Dream: a simple Dino Dogs cart.
Nightmare: a bloated food truck, flat tires, 47 sauces, no customers.
Read my Complexity Tale in Four Courses before your dream gets deep-fried.
open.substack.com/pub/deanpete...
#productManagement
🧨 Your HiPPO just said, “Let’s Add GPT” like it’s a strategy. Welcome to the fireline, product peeps. You’ve been parachuted into AI PM. Your chute? Made of sticky notes. Is your PRD is fire-resistant?
🔥 Read this before your roadmap goes up in smoke:
deanpeters.substack.com/p/a-smokejum...
🔥 Read this before your roadmap goes up in smoke:
deanpeters.substack.com/p/a-smokejum...
A Smokejumper’s Survival Guide to AI Product Management
Because “Let’s Add ChatGPT” is NOT a Strategy
deanpeters.substack.com
April 26, 2025 at 3:38 AM
🧨 Your HiPPO just said, “Let’s Add GPT” like it’s a strategy. Welcome to the fireline, product peeps. You’ve been parachuted into AI PM. Your chute? Made of sticky notes. Is your PRD is fire-resistant?
🔥 Read this before your roadmap goes up in smoke:
deanpeters.substack.com/p/a-smokejum...
🔥 Read this before your roadmap goes up in smoke:
deanpeters.substack.com/p/a-smokejum...
Let’s not sugarcoat it—most AI-generated user stories suck harder than a leaf blower in reverse. Here's how to stop the 'craplog' conveyor belt & generate stories that actually ship.
open.substack.com/pub/deanpete...
Why? Because automating the JIRA slinging ticket monkey is not a winning play.
open.substack.com/pub/deanpete...
Why? Because automating the JIRA slinging ticket monkey is not a winning play.
Why Your AI-Generated User Stories Suck (And What to Do About It)
Behold the feature dysfunction factory where AI generates 'craplogs' at scale
open.substack.com
April 23, 2025 at 6:27 AM
Let’s not sugarcoat it—most AI-generated user stories suck harder than a leaf blower in reverse. Here's how to stop the 'craplog' conveyor belt & generate stories that actually ship.
open.substack.com/pub/deanpete...
Why? Because automating the JIRA slinging ticket monkey is not a winning play.
open.substack.com/pub/deanpete...
Why? Because automating the JIRA slinging ticket monkey is not a winning play.
Platform PMs—
You’re not a backlog babysitter.
You’re a battlefield cartographer.
Think vibe coding vs. devops scalability
You don't build a layer.
You built alignment, leverage, & peace.
That’s not a compromise.
That's Platform Product Management!
open.substack.com/pub/deanpete...
You’re not a backlog babysitter.
You’re a battlefield cartographer.
Think vibe coding vs. devops scalability
You don't build a layer.
You built alignment, leverage, & peace.
That’s not a compromise.
That's Platform Product Management!
open.substack.com/pub/deanpete...
Dig like an Arms Merchant – Deal like a Peacemaker
A Platform PM Play where vibe coders rush in & platform purists push back
open.substack.com
April 21, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Platform PMs—
You’re not a backlog babysitter.
You’re a battlefield cartographer.
Think vibe coding vs. devops scalability
You don't build a layer.
You built alignment, leverage, & peace.
That’s not a compromise.
That's Platform Product Management!
open.substack.com/pub/deanpete...
You’re not a backlog babysitter.
You’re a battlefield cartographer.
Think vibe coding vs. devops scalability
You don't build a layer.
You built alignment, leverage, & peace.
That’s not a compromise.
That's Platform Product Management!
open.substack.com/pub/deanpete...
If You Pitch a Programmer a Problem - A soothing tale of chaotic solutionism for sleepless PMs.
It started with a problem.
Then came the chatbot.
Then blockchain.
Then a refactored codebase.
Then a Friday night deploy no one asked for.
Read on & enjoy!
deanpeters.substack.com/p/if-you-pit...
It started with a problem.
Then came the chatbot.
Then blockchain.
Then a refactored codebase.
Then a Friday night deploy no one asked for.
Read on & enjoy!
deanpeters.substack.com/p/if-you-pit...
If You Pitch a Programmer a Problem
A soothing tale of chaotic solutionism for sleepless product peeps
deanpeters.substack.com
April 18, 2025 at 2:33 PM
If You Pitch a Programmer a Problem - A soothing tale of chaotic solutionism for sleepless PMs.
It started with a problem.
Then came the chatbot.
Then blockchain.
Then a refactored codebase.
Then a Friday night deploy no one asked for.
Read on & enjoy!
deanpeters.substack.com/p/if-you-pit...
It started with a problem.
Then came the chatbot.
Then blockchain.
Then a refactored codebase.
Then a Friday night deploy no one asked for.
Read on & enjoy!
deanpeters.substack.com/p/if-you-pit...
IT started as an MVP. Then HiPPOs made it bigger. Engineering added platform. Sales added bloat. Marketing ... you get the gist.
Enjoy "If you Give Management an MVP," the 2nd in my 'Broken Bedtime Stories' for Product Managers series, now on Substack.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/if-you-giv...
Enjoy "If you Give Management an MVP," the 2nd in my 'Broken Bedtime Stories' for Product Managers series, now on Substack.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/if-you-giv...
If You Give a Manager an MVP
A cautionary bedtime story of when "minimal" means everything and "viable" means now.
deanpeters.substack.com
April 14, 2025 at 4:20 PM
IT started as an MVP. Then HiPPOs made it bigger. Engineering added platform. Sales added bloat. Marketing ... you get the gist.
Enjoy "If you Give Management an MVP," the 2nd in my 'Broken Bedtime Stories' for Product Managers series, now on Substack.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/if-you-giv...
Enjoy "If you Give Management an MVP," the 2nd in my 'Broken Bedtime Stories' for Product Managers series, now on Substack.
deanpeters.substack.com/p/if-you-giv...