# Brandon Chu > Building Every AI (https://every.ai). Worked on product at Shopify from 2015 to 2023. Writes "The Black Box of Product Management". Invests in early-stage startups, and sits on the boards of Motion and Heard. Lives in Toronto. Each post below links to a Markdown copy. Add ".md" to any post URL to get the same. ## Essays - [Product Management Mental Models for Everyone](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2018-08-19-product-management-mental-models-for-everyone.md): Mental models are simple expressions of complex processes or relationships. These models are accumulated over time by an individual and… - [Managing and Developing Product Managers](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2018-06-01-managing-and-developing-product-managers.md): If the craft of Product Management is often mired in ambiguity, managing product managers is ambiguity². - [The First Principles of Product Management](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2018-01-07-the-first-principles-of-product-management.md): Some of the best PMs I know make their decisions based on first principles. A first principle is a “basic, foundational proposition or… - [Making Good Decisions as a Product Manager](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2017-07-11-making-good-decisions-as-a-product-manager.md): While product managers may not build the actual product, they do produce something very tangible for a team: decisions. - [Deadlines](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2017-04-12-deadlines.md): For as long as I’ve been working in tech I’ve heard this oscillating debate about the use of deadlines in projects, with particularly… - [Ruthless Prioritization](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2017-03-06-ruthless-prioritization.md): All high functioning teams must prioritize. Not once a month, not once a week — but rigorously, and ruthlessly. - [Applying Leverage as a Product Manager](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2016-11-29-applying-leverage-as-a-product-manager.md): I get every new PM I manage to read (or re-read) High Output Management by Andy Grove within the first month of joining my team. It’s a… - [Scaling Conversational Commerce](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2016-10-06-scaling-conversational-commerce.md): We just enabled 325,000 merchants to sell in messaging, without building a bot. - [Why Hey and Thanks still matter](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2016-09-04-why-hey-and-thanks-still-matter.md): Hey, - [A Bad Product Decision](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2016-08-25-a-bad-product-decision.md): I often wonder if I should have been fired for it - [MVPM: Minimum Viable Product Manager](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2016-04-04-mvpm-minimum-viable-product-manager.md): You’ve probably seen this diagram before. It elegantly shows that product management is the intersection of a diverse skill set. - [Product Partnerships (pt. 2/2) — Executing a Partnership as a PM](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2016-01-10-product-partnerships-pt-2-2-executing-a-partnership-as-a-pm.md): This is a continuation of Part 1: The Making of a Partnership - [Product Partnerships (pt. 1/2)— The Making of a Partnership](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-12-30-product-partnerships-pt-1-2-the-making-of-a-partnership.md): I realized the other day that I’ve spent a lot of the last few years building products in partnership with other companies. I’ve led teams… - [The Black Box of Product Management](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-11-01-the-black-box-of-product-management.md): PMs get sad when you ask them why they exist - [7 Heuristics for being a Product Director](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-08-25-7-heuristics-for-being-a-product-director.md): I’m a big believer in developing heuristics over the course of your life. These are rules of thumb you internalize so that you don’t have… - [Canadian Startup People: you might want to exercise those options early](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-07-24-canadian-startup-people-you-might-want-to-exercise-those-options-early.md): Short post here. - [What stories have you never finished?](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-07-15-what-stories-have-you-never-finished.md): That’s it, I’m shipping these unfinished thoughts. - [Start with Lunch](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-04-23-start-with-lunch.md): The simplest, most delicious way to become a great team - [The #1 cold email I get](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-04-02-the-1-cold-email-i-get.md): “How can I get into product management?” - [Product Managers are Forged in the Crucibles of Launches](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-03-11-product-managers-are-forged-in-the-crucibles-of-launches.md): Come spend a day in the fire - [The Time Value of Shipping](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2014-08-21-the-time-value-of-shipping.md): Unpacking “Shipping as a Feature” - [PMs, you don’t need that technical degree](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2014-05-30-pms-you-don-t-need-that-technical-degree.md): In defense of “non-technical” product managers - [Why I Quit my Startup](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2013-08-29-why-i-quit-my-startup.md): A 100-days later, from the other side - [Product Management is a lot like Playing Poker](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2013-08-13-product-management-is-a-lot-like-playing-poker.md): Some lessons from the felt ## Podcast - [David Hariri on co-founding Ada, the pivot that created a unicorn, and what product-market fit…](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2021-07-28-david-hariri-on-co-founding-ada-the-pivot-that-created-a-unicorn-and-what-product-market-fit.md): In this episode I speak with David Hariri, co-founder of Ada, an AI powered customer support platform that raised at a 1.2B valuation in… - [Craig Miller on being Shopify’s CPO, Marketing by an Engineer, Leadership, and Scale](https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2021-04-28-craig-miller-on-being-shopify-s-cpo-marketing-by-an-engineer-leadership-and-scale.md): Black box of PM Podcast: Season 01, Episode 01 ## Investing - Motion (https://motionapp.com): Creative analytics for performance ad teams. Board · Independent director. - Heard (https://www.joinheard.com): The financial back office for therapists. Board. - Railway (https://railway.com): The cloud for shipping software. Also where this site runs. Angel investment. - Numeral (https://www.numeralhq.com): Sales tax compliance on autopilot. Angel investment. - Brex (https://www.brex.com): AI-native corporate cards and spend management. Angel investment. - 1Password (https://1password.com): Identity and password security. Angel investment. - Formation Bio (https://www.formation.bio): AI-native drug development. Angel investment. - Ada (https://www.ada.cx): AI agents for customer service. Angel investment. - NexHealth (https://www.nexhealth.com): The patient experience platform. Angel investment. - Momentum (https://www.momentum.io): Revenue intelligence for sales teams. Angel investment. - Every investment: https://brandonmchu.com/investing ## Contact - Email: brandon@brandonmchu.com - X: https://x.com/BrandonMChu - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonmchu - GitHub: https://github.com/Brandonmchu - Newsletter: https://blackboxofpm.substack.com - Medium: https://medium.com/@brandonmchu