Welcome to The Product Leader’s Playbook
A space for builders who lead — and leaders who still love to build.
Hi — I’m Sam Robertstad, and I’m thrilled you’re here.
🗭 Why this? Why now?
After 15+ years leading product at companies like Amazon, T-Mobile, Sinclair Digital, and early-stage startups, one thing is clear:
Product leadership is as much about mindset as it is about mechanics.
Yet most product content either:
Stays surface-level
Gets lost in process over purpose
Or ignores the messy, human side of the work
So I launched The Product Leader’s Playbook — a newsletter and complementary podcast dedicated to the strategic, human, and evolving side of product management.
Especially now, as AI reshapes how we work, PMs need a space to pause and level up how they think, not just what they do. They need clarity, confidence, and community.
🌱 Who is this for?
If you’re a:
Product exec navigating scale
Senior PM aiming to step into strategy
Startup founder wearing the PM hat
Or a builder who’s tired of feature factory thinking...
You’re in the right place.
This isn’t just a newsletter. It’s a community for thoughtful conversation, honest questions, and practical tools to help us lead better and build smarter.
🗓 What to Expect
With each post, you’ll get:
A high-leverage product insight rooted in real-world experience
Mental models and frameworks you can apply immediately
Deep dives into strategic topics like product thinking, AI, outcomes vs. outputs, and more
A fresh episode of The Product Leader’s Playbook podcast — for those who prefer to listen to the conversation
Initial posts include:
The Velocity Loop — how to move fast without breaking everything
The Focus Loop — how to say no (without slowing teams down)
The Output Trap — how to escape the feature factory mindset
✅ Subscribe. Share. Say hi.
⭢️ Subscribe to get new posts direct to your inbox
⭢️ Share this with a fellow PM, founder, or builder
⭢️ Comment to say hi — I'd love to hear what you’re working on
🎧 Prefer audio?
The Product Leader’s Playbook podcast is streaming on:
🔹 Spotify
🔹 YouTube
Thanks for being here. I’m excited to build this with you.
— Sam