# Dan Olsen

> Dan Olsen is a Silicon Valley-based product management consultant, author, and speaker best known for writing The Lean Product Playbook (Wiley, 2015) - a practical, framework-driven guide to achieving product-market fit. His Product-Market Fit Pyramid and six-step Lean Product Process have become foundational tools used by product teams at Google, Facebook, Uber, Amazon, and hundreds of other companies worldwide. Through his consulting firm Olsen Solutions (founded 2005), he serves as an Interim VP of Product and strategic advisor. He also runs the Lean Product & Lean UX Meetup, which has hosted 181+ events with over 12,700 members in Mountain View, California.

- **Role:** Founder & Principal at Olsen Solutions
- **Organizations:** Olsen Solutions, Lean Product & Lean UX Meetup, Intuit, Friendster, YourVersion
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BS, Electrical Engineering, Northwestern University, MS, Industrial Engineering, Virginia Tech, MBA, Stanford University
- **Known for:** Author of The Lean Product Playbook (Wiley, 2015) - 4.27/5 stars on Goodreads from 3,646 ratings, Created the Product-Market Fit Pyramid framework, used by product teams at Google, Facebook, Uber, Amazon and hundreds of other companies, Founded the Lean Product & Lean UX Meetup - 12,700+ members, 181+ events, 4.8-star rating

## Career timeline

- **early career** — Designed nuclear-powered submarines for approximately 5 years
- **late 1990s - early 2000s** — Joined Intuit, led Quicken product team to record sales and profit
- **early 2000s** — VP of Product Management at Friendster, one of the first social networks
- **mid 2000s** — Co-founded YourVersion, a personalized news startup; won a TechCrunch award
- **2005** — Founded Olsen Solutions, product management consulting firm
- **2014** — Founded the Lean Product & Lean UX Meetup in Mountain View, CA
- **2015** — Published The Lean Product Playbook (Wiley)
- **2024** — Launched Substack newsletter covering product strategy and AI in product management
- **2025** — Published 'Product Management is NOT Dead' rebutting AI-displacement narratives
- **2026** — Hosting AI-focused workshops including 'How to Work Smarter & Faster with Claude'

## Achievements

- Author of The Lean Product Playbook (Wiley, 2015) - 4.27/5 stars on Goodreads from 3,646 ratings
- Created the Product-Market Fit Pyramid framework, used by product teams at Google, Facebook, Uber, Amazon and hundreds of other companies
- Founded the Lean Product & Lean UX Meetup - 12,700+ members, 181+ events, 4.8-star rating
- Advised and consulted for 25+ companies including Google, Facebook, Uber, Amazon, Box, Walmart, PayPal, Microsoft
- Won a TechCrunch award for YourVersion
- Led Quicken product team at Intuit to record sales and profit
- VP of Product at Friendster, the pioneering social network that predated Facebook
- Stanford MBA, Northwestern BS EE, Virginia Tech MS IE
- Speaker at 53+ product conferences worldwide
- Book endorsed by Marty Cagan, Aaron Levie, Dave McClure, Sean Ellis

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Upcoming 'Uplevel Your AI Prototyping with Context Engineering' event at Lean Product Meetup
- **2026-05** — Hosting 'How to Work Smarter & Faster with Claude' event at Lean Product Meetup (May 21, 2026)
- **2026-02** — Published 'Your Guide to the Best 2026 Product Conferences' listing 53 upcoming product conferences
- **2025-01** — Published 'Product Management is NOT Dead' - major blog post rebutting AI-will-kill-PM narratives
- **2024-03** — Launched Substack newsletter with 2,000+ free subscribers covering product strategy and AI in PM

## Links

- Website: https://dan-olsen.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danolsen98/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/danolsen
- GitHub: https://github.com/dan-olsen
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DanOlsen

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/dan-olsen
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-26