Escaping the Build Trap

Why do so many companies ship features nobody uses? Melissa Perri’s answer is the “build trap”: organizations that measure success by how much they ship rather than by the value they create. This short, sharp book diagnoses the problem and prescribes the cure.

Why Read This

Where Cagan tells you what great product management looks like, Perri tells you what bad product management looks like and how to escape it. The “build trap” is her term for organizations that have become feature factories: shipping constantly, measuring velocity, and never asking whether any of it matters to customers.

Perri’s framework is practical and organizational. She covers how to align product strategy with business outcomes, how to structure teams around value streams rather than features, and how to shift from a project mindset to a product mindset. The book is shorter and more focused than Inspired, making it an excellent complement.

What to Expect

A concise, well-structured book with a clear narrative thread following a fictional company. The prose is accessible and the frameworks immediately applicable. Shorter than Inspired and more focused on organizational transformation. Published by O’Reilly.