Lights. Camera. Action!

Welcome to pm-notebook.com, a space where product management meets gaming, crypto, and the art of building great things.
 

I'm Patrick McGrath, a product leader who's spent over a decade in the trenches of Free-to-Play (F2P) gaming. Currently, I'm the founder of Moonlit Games, where we're exploring the intersection of web3 and gaming. Throughout my career, I've built development studios from the ground up, launched successful products, and learned countless lessons that you won't find in any textbook.

Why This Blog Exists

This blog serves three purposes. First, it's my way of processing thoughts and organizing the chaos. Just as showing your work in math helps validate the solution, writing helps me understand how I got from point A to B – and, more importantly, how to do it again. Second, it's about sharing knowledge that often goes unspoken in our industry. Having come up in an era where product managers were rare in gaming companies, I learned through trial, error, and persistence. Now, I want to help others avoid some of those same pitfalls.

Finally, it's about paying it forward. The gaming industry has given me incredible opportunities to work with talented teams, build products that touch millions of lives, and solve complex problems that span entire organizations. From revenue generation to team building, from user psychology to business strategy – I've had to navigate it all, often simultaneously.

What You'll Find Here

This blog is where the "why" meets the "how." You'll find deep dives into:
 

• The evolving landscape of gaming: past patterns, present challenges, and future opportunities

• Product management strategies that work in high-stakes environments

• The intersection of gaming, crypto, and web3

• Practical frameworks for tackling complex, interconnected problems

• Unfiltered observations about our industry and where it's heading

One thing I've learned in my career is that whether you're building games for kids, car enthusiasts, or grandparents, certain fundamentals remain surprisingly constant. The distribution of player motivations across different demographics is remarkably similar – competitive grandmas and hardcore racing fans have more in common than you might think.

I've also discovered that gaming is one of the few industries where merit truly trumps pedigree. Some of the most valuable people I've worked with never set foot in a college classroom, but their impact was undeniable. It's a reminder that in our industry, what you can do matters more than where you came from.

Join the Conversation

Whether you're a fellow product manager, a gaming industry veteran, a crypto enthusiast, or simply someone interested in how complex problems get solved, I hope you'll find something valuable here. This blog is as much about sparking conversations as it is about sharing insights.

Look around, find something that interests you, and don't hesitate to reach out. The best insights often come from unexpected discussions, and I'm always eager to learn from others' experiences.
 

Welcome aboard!