From the Author On my 44th birthday, I found myself thinking about a goal I made in grad school: to become a founder, learn how to build companies, and help other entrepreneurs do the same.
Life didn't turn out exactly how I imagined, but the arc wasn't that different. I did start a company. I did learn how to build. In my career, I made things up day by day-banked some wins, some losses, some things I'm proud of, some I'd do differently.
My inner voice told me I needed to write this book. Even if it reached just one person, that would be enough.
What follows is unedited, messy and raw in some parts, sometimes uneven but always authentic. I've left my words as they are-a record of how I think, what I've seen, and what I learned. I hope it resonates with those who need it.
- Fahm Saeteurn
About the Book Building products at startups means making decisions with incomplete information. There's no playbook, the data is messy, and the path forward is rarely clear.
Tiny Seeds is the book Fahm Saeteurn wishes she had when she started in product-honest accounts from years of building at Silicon Valley startups, written for people navigating the same uncertainty.
What's covered:
- Your first 30 days as a product manager
- Building roadmaps that adapt, and shipping fast and iteratively
- The soft skills that matter-boundaries, self-management, growth, courage
- Designing your personal life the way you'd design a product
- Real product stories, including building during Covid
- How to interview, land roles, and negotiate at startups
- When to build a team and how to leave gracefully
This isn't a book of frameworks. It's one product leader's unfiltered view of what actually happens when you're building something from scratch-the tradeoffs, the uncertainty, the small decisions that compound over time.
If you're looking for a step-by-step guide, this isn't it. If you want advice from a friend who's already weathered the chaos of startup life and is willing to tell you what it's really like, keep reading.
