NEW BOOK
The Broken Telephone
From Product Owner to Product Engineer
How AI and Founder Mode Are Transforming Software Development
The Broken Telephone Problem
Customer needs pass through multiple intermediaries—Product Owners, Business Analysts, Project Managers—before reaching developers. By the time requirements become code, the original intent is lost.
Products ship that technically meet specifications but fail to solve real problems.
What You'll Learn
Founder Mode
Paul Graham's thesis on direct engagement. Why hands-on leadership beats delegation for product success.
Product Engineer
The new developer profile. Builders who understand customers directly and ship what's actually needed.
AI Transformation
How AI tools are democratizing product development. 55% productivity gains and the new workflows that matter.
Who Is This Book For?
If you work in software—any role—this book is for you. The changes coming don't respect job titles.
Developers
Learn why coding skills alone won't be enough, and how to become the Product Engineers companies desperately need.
Product Managers
Understand why your role is transforming, and the paths forward—whether technical or strategic.
Leaders
See how to restructure teams for the AI era, and why the old org charts are breaking.
Founders
Find validation that being close to the product matters more than "scaling yourself" through layers of management.
READER REVIEWS
What Early Readers Say
"The most useful tech career book I've read in years. The 'Two Engineers, One Problem' example hit hard—I'm Engineer A. I deliver story points. I write elegant code. And according to this book, I'm creating way less value than the engineer who ships half as much but actually talks to customers."
Marcus Chen
Senior Software Engineer, Austin
"This book pissed me off. Then it made me think. It forced me to confront uncomfortable truths about my profession. The author isn't entirely wrong—and that's what makes it so uncomfortable to read. Despite my frustrations, I'm glad I read it."
Sofia Rodriguez
Senior Product Manager
"This book gave me the vocabulary I didn't have. When investors ask 'where's your team?', I now have an answer. The economics section hit hard: traditional startup costs of $600K/year versus $18K/year for AI-native. Staying lean isn't a weakness. It's strategy."
Elena Virtanen
Solo Founder, AI Startup, Helsinki
"This book explains why software projects fail in ways that consultants never articulated. We spent $2 million on a failed digital initiative. This is the book I wish I'd read before. The 'Broken Telephone' concept made our entire team understand what went wrong."
Robert Hansen
CEO, Manufacturing Company, Minneapolis
88%
Companies using AI
55%
Productivity gain
29
Chapters
6%
Are high performers
30 COMMON MISTAKES
Are You Making These Software Development Errors?
The book identifies the most common mistakes across Product, Development, and AI adoption—and shows how to fix them.
Product Errors
- • Building the Wrong Thing
- • Subjective Prioritization
- • Shielding Engineers from Customers
- + 7 more...
Developer Errors
- • The 90% Done Illusion
- • Over-Engineering
- • Custom Framework Syndrome
- + 7 more...
AI Errors
- • Shipping Code You Don't Understand
- • Trusting Without Verification
- • Hallucinated APIs
- + 7 more...
FREE RESOURCE
AI Development Template
A complete framework for building software with AI assistance. Architecture guides, agent definitions, critical rules, and workflows—all free on GitHub.
Ready to Fix the Broken Telephone?
Get the book and start your transformation today.