Newsletter - build mode launch

[ivanagas]

Summary

To support the launch of build mode on June 29th(ish), write post on why build mode and why people should care.

Headline options

• Go build mode
  • Why Product for Engineers is now build mode
• Going build mode
• Product for Engineers is now build mode

What (if any) keywords are we targeting?

n/a

Outline (optional)

• We published the first edition of Product for Engineers in March 2023. ChatGPT had blown up, GitHub Copilot was the trending tool, Claude hadn't even launched yet (it did one week later). We couldn't have imagined how big a shift was coding to software development thanks to AI.
• We started Product for Engineers thinking that engineers would swallow product, we didn't imagine that it would sort of be the opposite, that all roles would swallow engineering.
• It's not just engineers building products anymore. Everyone is becoming an engineer in a way.
• A knowledge of "product" is also not sufficient for building a successful product. A lot of it is about building a successful machine (business) to build that product.
  • We have written a lot about company culture, startup strategy, team building.
  • All of the stuff about AI doesn't fit nicely either, it's not really product and it's also relevant to many groups beyond engineers.
  • To help engineers (people building products) do their jobs better, we needed to write a lot more than just about product.
  • There's a lot more to building a successful product and career in 2026 than just product
• As building a product becomes more self-driving, all this becomes more important.
• Because of these two things, we felt "Product for Engineers" didn't fit anymore which is why we're going Build Mode.
• Building better AI tools, leveraging AI better, building AI-first company, managing context/skills. Expanding the relevance beyond just engineers, but to the people who build across the organization.