Podd: Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth

The things engineers are desperate for PMs to understand | Camille Fournier (author of “The Manager’s Path,” ex-CTO at Rent the Runway)

15 september 2024 | 83 min

Land your dream job in today’s market: negotiation tactics, job search councils, and more | Phyl Terry (Author, “Never Search Alone”)

12 september 2024 | 111 min

Phyl Terry is the author of Never Search Alone, which I’ve seen so many people reference as the most impactful guide they read for finding a job. Phyl was on the founding team of the first company Amazon acquired back in the ’90s and then was CEO of pioneering product consulting firm Creative Good, with companies like Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft as customers. Today, Phyl is the founder and CEO of Collaborative Gain, which 20 years ago pioneered bringing councils to senior product leaders and GMs in Silicon Valley. That’s their day job—in addition to that, Phyl runs a free global community for job seekers based on their latest book. In our conversation, we discuss:

• Why you should never search for a job alone

• How job search councils work

• How to determine your “candidate-market fit”

• How to conduct a listening tour

• Creating your job mission and OKRs

• How to negotiate job offers

• The art of asking for help

• Tactics for effective networking and interviewing

• Much more

—

Brought to you by:

• Sidebar—Accelerate your career by surrounding yourself with extraordinary peers

• Sprig—Build products for people, not data points

• Dovetail—The customer insights hub for product teams

—

Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/land-your-dream-phyl-terry

—

Where to find Phyl Terry:

• X: https://x.com/phylterry

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phylterry/

• Website: https://www.phyl.org/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Phyl’s background

(01:58) The concept of job search councils

(04:27) The power of community in job searching

(08:55) The scale and structure of job search councils

(12:27) The impact of job search councils

(20:19) The concept of candidate-market fit

(22:50) Writing a Mnookin two-pager

(24:37) Conducting listening tours

(30:12) Creating a focused candidate-market fit

(36:20) Advice on finding the right stage of company for you

(40:37) Identifying your unique path

(45:30) Navigating tough job markets

(49:07) Playing to win

(53:36) Negotiation tactics for job offers

(01:05:12) The gratitude house exercise

(01:10:48) The power of asking for help

(01:19:18) How to ask for help

(01:28:40) Final thoughts and advice

(01:38:21) Lightning round

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

How LinkedIn became interesting: The inside story | Tomer Cohen (CPO at LinkedIn)

8 september 2024 | 69 min

Tomer Cohen is the chief product officer at LinkedIn, responsible for setting the company’s product strategy, leading product development, user experience design, business development, content creation, and customer operations. He also hosts the Building One podcast, where he interviews exceptional builders across various disciplines. In our conversation, we discuss:

• How LinkedIn transformed its feed into an engaging content and social platform

• Tomer’s famous “We might be wrong, but we are not confused” mantra

• The importance of conviction and passion in product leadership

• LinkedIn’s approach to experimenting with and implementing AI features

• Lessons from Tomer’s rapid career progression at LinkedIn

• Strategies for embracing AI in product development

—

Brought to you by:

• Gamma—A new way to present, powered by AI

• WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs

• Merge—A single API to add hundreds of integrations into your app

—

Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-linkedin-became-interesting-tomer-cohen

—

Where to find Tomer Cohen:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomercohen/

• Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/building-one-with-tomer-cohen/id1726672498

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Introduction to Tomer Cohen and his role at LinkedIn

(02:28) The mantra “We might be wrong, but we are not confused”

(06:45) Clarity of thought and focus

(13:03) Setting ambitious goals and overdelivering

(16:18) Transforming LinkedIn’s feed: strategy and execution

(22:03) Running experiments at scale

(26:24) Goal setting and identifying opportunities

(30:58) AI’s role in LinkedIn’s evolution

(35:38) The AI-first mindset at LinkedIn

(35:38) Developing an AI-first mindset

(44:49) Letting go of your roadmaps and allowing room for exploration

(49:12) Career growth and personal insights

(55:01) Takeaways

(56:39) Lightning round and final thoughts

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

The original growth hacker reveals his secrets | Sean Ellis (author of “Hacking Growth”)

5 september 2024 | 104 min

Sean Ellis is one of the earliest and most influential thinkers and operators in growth. He coined the term “growth hacking,” invented the ICE prioritization framework, was one of the earliest people to use freemium as a growth lever, and, most famously, developed the Sean Ellis Test for product-market fit (which a large percentage of founders use today to track if they’ve found PMF). Over the course of his career, Sean was head of growth at Dropbox and Eventbrite; helped companies like Microsoft and Nubank refine their growth strategy; was on the founding team of LogMeIn, which sold for over $4 billion; and is the author of one of the most popular growth books of all time, Hacking Growth, which has sold over 750,000 copies. In our conversation, he shares:

• The proper use of the Sean Ellis Test for measuring product-market fit

• How to increase your activation and retention rates

• How to select the right North Star metric for your business

• Case studies from his work growing Dropbox and other products

• How growth strategy has changed over the past decade

• How AI is impacting growth efforts

• Much more

—

Brought to you by:

• Gamma—A new way to present, powered by AI

• CommandBar—AI-powered user assistance for modern products and impatient users

• Merge—A single API to add hundreds of integrations into your app

—

Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-original-growth-hacker-sean-ellis

—

Where to find Sean Ellis:

• X: https://x.com/seanellis

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanellis/

• Website: https://www.seanellis.me/

• Substack: https://substack.com/@seanellis

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Sean’s background

(02:18) The Sean Ellis test explained

(06:28) The 40% rule

(08:06) Case study: improving product-market fit

(12:34) Understanding and leveraging customer feedback

(16:50) Challenges and nuances of product-market fit

(22:22) When to use the Sean Ellis Test

(23:46) When not to use the Sean Ellis Test and other caveats

(27:13) Defining your own threshold and how the Sean Ellis Test came about

(36:13) Tools for implementing the survey

(37:30) Transitioning from surveys to retention cohorts

(39:13) Nubank’s approach

(40:18) Case study: Superhuman’s strategy for increasing product-market fit

(45:18) Coining the term “growth hacking”

(48:24) How to approach growth

(57:25) Improving activation and onboarding

(01:05:17) Identifying effective growth channels

(01:10:28) The power of customer conversations

(01:12:43) Developing the Dropbox referral program

(01:14:47) The importance of word of mouth

(01:15:23) Freemium models and engagement

(01:19:21) Picking a North Star metric

(01:24:30) The evolution of growth strategies

(01:27:12) The ICE and RICE frameworks

(01:30:11) AI’s role in growth and experimentation

(01:32:52) Final thoughts and lightning round

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Airbnb’s Vlad Loktev on embracing chaos, inquiry over advocacy, poking the bear, and “impact, impact, impact” (Partner at Index Ventures, Airbnb GM/VP Product)

1 september 2024 | 97 min

Vlad Loktev spent 10 years at Airbnb, where he started as an IC PM and quickly advanced to lead the core Airbnb marketplace business and then GM the entire homes business, managing over 1,000 people and reporting directly to CEO Brian Chesky. He recently left Airbnb and joined Index Ventures as their newest partner. Vlad was my manager at Airbnb for many years, and is the person I credit most for teaching me how to be a great product manager. Prior to Airbnb, Vlad spent a year at Zynga, where he helped grow Words with Friends to over 14 million daily active users. In our conversation, Vlad shares:

• Insight into Brian Chesky’s leadership style

• Why success as a PM is all about impact, impact, impact

• Why chaos can be good

• Why as a leader it’s OK to let some fires burn

• Why you should learn to “poke the bear”

• Balancing product release speed with quality

• Lessons on prioritization, decision-making, and organizational design

• Advice for founders on building company culture

• Much more

—

Brought to you by:

• Pendo—The only all-in-one product experience platform for any type of application

• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security

• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments

—

Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/impact-impact-impact-vlad-loktev

—

Where to find Vlad Loktev:

• X: https://x.com/vladimirloktev

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vladimirloktev/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Vlad’s background

(02:54) Reflecting on transformative years at Airbnb

(04:28) Skills and mindsets for success

(11:03) Impact-driven mindset

(13:16) Saying no and inquiry before advocacy

(17:54) “Poking the bear”

(22:46) Psychological tools for leadership

(30:08) Building and scaling teams

(36:12) Letting fires burn

(47:34) Embracing chaos

(54:40) The unsell email strategy

(01:02:01) Finding your place in an organization

(01:05:38) The importance of company culture

(01:13:16) Airbnb’s unique approach to product management

(01:26:41) Failure corner

(01:31:32) Lightning round and final thoughts

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

How to consistently go viral: Nikita Bier’s playbook for winning at consumer apps (co-founder of TBH, Gas, advisor, investor)

25 augusti 2024 | 98 min

Nikita Bier is one of the most in-demand consumer, social, and growth experts in the world. He’s the co-founder of TBH (sold to Meta for more than $30 million) and Gas (sold to Discord for millions more) and has helped more consumer apps that have hit #1 in the app stores than any other person I’ve come across. He currently spends his time advising founders on growth, product, and design and is an investor and advisor to some of the best consumer tech companies, including Flo, Locket, Eight Sleep, Citizen, BeReal, Captions, and more. In our conversation, we discuss:

• The inside story of how TBH and Gas achieved explosive growth

• Strategies for building viral consumer apps

• Why teens are such a great audience

• Fighting the human trafficking hoax at Gas

• The challenge of creating durable social products

• His experience working as a PM at Facebook

• Advice for founders on building consumer apps

• Much more

—

Brought to you by:

• Webflow—The web experience platform

• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security

• Explo—Embed customer-facing analytics in your product

—

Book Nikita for 1:1 consultation/mentoring: https://intro.co/NikitaBier

—

Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-consistently-go-viral-nikita-bier

—

Where to find Nikita Bier:

• X: https://x.com/nikitabier

• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@nikitabier

• Website: https://intro.co/NikitaBier

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Nikita’s background

(06:08) Nikita’s early ventures: Politify and Outline

(08:42) Transition to consumer apps

(13:45) The birth of TBH

(16:43) Building for teens vs. adults

(20:00) TBH’s viral success

(32:18) Leveraging live chat

(34:08) Lasting lessons from TBH

(37:00) Selling TBH to Facebook

(42:19) Big-tech product management

(48:46) Nikita on why “product management is not real”

(51:49) The Tim Cook painting story

(53:53) Leaving Facebook and starting a new venture

(58:02) Rebuilding TBH and overcoming challenges

(59:46) Addressing criticism

(01:04:24) The human trafficking hoax

(01:09:51) Selling to Discord and lessons learned

(01:11:36) Lasting lessons from Gas

(01:13:14) Building durable consumer apps

(01:22:35) The VC route

(01:23:27) Contact permissions in iOS 18

(01:26:53) The success of Dupe

(01:31:53) Advice for startup founders

(01:34:14) Work with Nikita

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Succeeding as an introvert, building zero-to-one, and why you should PM your career like you PM your product | Deb Liu (CEO of Ancestry, ex-Facebook, PayPal, eBay)

22 augusti 2024 | 71 min

Deb Liu is the CEO of Ancestry and former longtime VP of Product at Facebook. At Facebook, Deb led the creation of Facebook Marketplace, developed the first mobile ad product for apps, built the company’s games business, and launched Facebook Pay. She’s also held leadership roles at PayPal and eBay, serves on the board of Intuit, and is the author of Take Back Your Power. In our conversation, we discuss:

• Why you should PM your career like you PM your product

• Strategies for incubating new products within large companies

• Creating a successful 30-60-90-day plan when starting a new job

• The pitfalls of perfectionism

• The challenges introverts face in the workplace and how to overcome them

• The value of resilience and turning failures into stepping stones

• How to leverage coaching in your career development

—

Brought to you by:

• Pendo—The only all-in-one product experience platform for any type of application

• WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs

• Webflow—The web experience platform

—

Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/succeeding-as-an-introvert-deb-liu

—

Where to find Deb Liu:

• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@debliu

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahliu

• Substack: https://debliu.substack.com/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Introduction to Deb Liu

(02:18) Deb’s career journey and key advice

(09:45) Navigating new roles and challenges

(11:27) Overcoming adversity and failure

(15:07) Building billion-dollar businesses at Facebook

(19:33) Strategies for zero-to-one innovation

(23:40) PM your career like a product

(33:53) Challenges and strategies for introverts in business

(39:19) Reframing self-promotion

(42:25) The power of accountability

(46:15) Growth: a game of inches

(50:52) The 30-60-90-day plan

(56:52) Contrarian corner: career and marriage

(58:57) Final nuggets of wisdom

(01:03:09) How to find a coach

(01:04:47) Lightning round

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Unorthodox PM wisdom: Automating user insights, unselling job candidates, logging every decision, more | Kevin Yien (Stripe, Square, Mutiny)

18 augusti 2024 | 89 min

Kevin Yien leads product for merchant experiences at Stripe. Before that, he meandered his way from being a technical designer to a product manager, built the restaurants business and ecosystem team at Square, and most recently was head of product and design at Mutiny. He also makes ice cream and teaches for fun. In our conversation, we discuss:

• Why aspiring PMs should start in engineering, design, or sales

• The importance of writing skills, and how to become a better writer

• How to automate user research

• Kevin’s “unsell email” technique for hiring

• The value of keeping a decision log

• Insights on AI and its impact on future generations

• Lessons from failure

—

Brought to you by:

• BuildBetter—AI for product teams

• OneSchema—Import CSV data 10x faster

• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments

—

Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/unorthodox-pm-wisdom-kevin-yien

—

Where to find Kevin Yien:

• X: https://x.com/kevinyien

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinyien/

• Website: https://kevinyien.com/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Kevin’s background

(02:00) The story behind Kevin’s profile picture

(08:41) The role of a product manager

(10:48) Getting started in product management

(12:47) The importance of writing skills

(15:06) Becoming a better writer

(19:10) The PM’s role with engineering and design

(28:41) Drawing the perimeter for your team

(31:37) Feedback tips

(35:13) Decision logs and product sense

(45:36) Unorthodox hiring strategies

(47:01) The unsell email strategy

(54:01) Automating user research

(01:02:27) AI in everyday life

(01:06:05) Lessons from failure

(01:14:34) Lightning round

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Improve strategy, influence, and decision-making by understanding your brain | Evan LaPointe (founder of CORE Sciences)

11 augusti 2024 | 135 min

Evan LaPointe is the founder of CORE Sciences, which teaches companies and individuals how our brains work and how that translates to improved collaboration, better products, faster decision-making, and more growth. Previously, Evan was the co-founder of Satellite, the fourth-largest analytics product on the internet today (it mostly runs behind the scenes, and pretty much everyone listening will have used it today without knowing it), which was acquired by Adobe, where he later ran product strategy, innovation, and long-range thinking for Adobe’s digital experiences business. In our conversation, we discuss:

• The three different systems of the brain

• How knowing this can help you become more influential

• How understanding different brain states will help you increase productivity and creativity

• How to improve your vision and strategy skills

• How to design a work environment that fosters innovation

• How to build better relationships at work

• Much more

—

Use discount code “LENNY” for $5 off the CORE Sciences personality profile: https://www.core-sciences.com/new-core-identity

—

Brought to you by:

• Webflow—The web experience platform

• Explo—Embed customer-facing analytics in your product

• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments

—

Find the transcript and references at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/understanding-your-brain-evan-lapointe

—

Where to find Evan LaPointe:

• X: https://x.com/evanlapointe

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanlapointe/

• Website: https://www.core-sciences.com/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Evan’s background

(02:37) Understanding the brain’s complex systems

(07:17) The three core brain systems: safety, reward, and purpose

(11:03) Applying brain science to team dynamics

(14:27) The role of personality in team performance

(17:27) Creating effective work environments

(23:16) The science of meetings and decision-making

(29:35) Enhancing strategy and vision

(54:46) Understanding personality traits in strategy and vision

(58:58) Tactical tips for increasing openness

(01:05:46) Building influence and effective relationships

(01:21:17) The importance of trust and appeal in relationships

(01:36:47) Creating a positive organizational habitat

(01:50:35) Enhancing focus and productivity

(02:00:58) Practical tips for deep work and gamma time

(02:07:11) Lightning round

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

How embracing emotions will accelerate your career | Joe Hudson (executive coach, Art of Accomplishment)

8 augusti 2024 | 79 min

Joe Hudson is one of the most sought-after executive coaches in Silicon Valley. He is the founder of Art of Accomplishment, a transformational coaching program that has helped tens of thousands of people, including many tech executives and founders from companies like Apple, OpenAI, and Google. His unique method of transformation comes from over 25 years of exploring neurological, psychological, and spiritual traditions, tested against real-world challenges. In our conversation, Joe shares:

• Why the critical voice in your head is always wrong, and how to change your relationship with that voice

• Why authenticity trumps self-improvement

• The importance of embracing all of your emotions

• How to create more enjoyable and effective meetings

• The power of gratitude in transforming your life

• Practical experiments for personal growth

• Much more

—

Apply for Joe’s Connection Course:

Thousands of students have taken Joe’s most popular experience, the Connection Course. Unlike most online courses, there is no reading, lectures, or written homework. It is a three-week experiential deep dive where you will apply your learnings to real-life problems—how to make your team more productive, communicate more effectively, and resolve conflicts with ease. Apply here and use the code LENNY for $300 off your enrollment: view.life/lenny.

—

Brought to you by:

• BuildBetter—AI for product teams

• WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs

• Coda—The all-in-one collaborative workspace

—

Find the transcript and references at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/embracing-your-emotions-joe-hudson

—

Where to find Joe Hudson:

• X: https://x.com/FU_joehudson

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-hudson/

• Website: https://www.artofaccomplishment.com/

• Podcast: https://www.artofaccomplishment.com/podcast

• Linktree: https://linktr.ee/theartofaccomplishment

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Joe’s background

(02:31) The critical voice in your head

(06:39) Changing your relationship with the critical voice

(13:19) Understanding and embracing emotions

(19:52) The importance of emotional fluidity

(24:40) Questioning assumptions and self-perception

(30:25) The consequences of avoiding emotions

(36:57) Experimenting with self-improvement

(39:42) Understanding efficiency and enjoyment

(43:17) The power of enjoyment in daily tasks

(45:03) Innate enjoyment vs. learned enjoyment

(46:31) Authenticity vs. self-improvement

(50:01) Embracing emotional experiences

(55:49) How understanding your emotions helps you make better decisions

(01:02:53) Creating effective teams and meetings

(01:10:40) Gratitude practice for personal growth

(01:15:36) Conclusion and final thoughts

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Lessons from scaling Uber and Opendoor | Brian Tolkin (Head of Product at Opendoor, ex-Uber)

4 augusti 2024 | 75 min

Brian Tolkin is the Head of Product at Opendoor. Previously, he was one of the early employees at Uber, where he was instrumental in launching and growing UberPool, UberHop, and UberExpress and started one of the first product operations teams in tech. In our conversation, we dive into:

• How to enable product and ops to work well together

• How to run great product reviews

• How to make good decisions with limited data

• How he uses the jobs-to-be-done framework at Opendoor

• How to stay calm under pressure as a leader

• Wild stories from his time at Uber

• Challenges faced at Opendoor during the pandemic

• Much more

—

Brought to you by:

• Pendo—The only all-in-one product experience platform for any type of application

• Explo—Embed customer-facing analytics in your product

• Attio—The powerful, flexible CRM for fast-growing startups

—

Find the transcript and references at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/scaling-uber-and-opendoor-brian-tolkin

—

Where to find Brian Tolkin:

• X: https://x.com/briantolkin

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briantolkin/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Brian’s background

(02:14) Career beginnings at Uber

(02:49) Transitioning from product operations to product management

(06:47) Product and operations synergy

(10:00) Surge pricing at Uber

(12:18) Scaling challenges, and stories

(15:47) Opendoor and Covid adaptations

(25:38) Product reviews and Jobs to Be Done

(40:30) The challenges of A/B testing

(42:23) Increasing conviction in solutions

(44:33) Leveraging intuition in product decisions

(47:07) Partnering with Zillow

(52:55) Staying calm under pressure

(56:25) Finding the “kernel of truth” in product management

(01:00:21) Failure corner: Early days of Uber Pool

(01:06:11) Lightning round and final thoughts

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

The ultimate guide to performance marketing | Timothy Davis (Shopify)

28 juli 2024 | 102 min

Timothy Davis has led performance marketing for all of Shopify for the past 2.5 years, and as a consultant has helped companies like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Redfin, and Eventbrite kickstart and scale their performance marketing teams. In every one of those cases, he got them so performant at paid growth that they significantly scale spend and investment in these channels. In our conversation, we cover:

• When and how to start investing in performance marketing

• Common mistakes companies make with paid ads

• How to build and structure a performance marketing team

• How to get your creatives performing better

• Strategies for optimizing workflows and team efficiency

• How AI will change performance marketing

• Much more

—

Brought to you by:

• BuildBetter—AI for product teams

• OneSchema—Import CSV data 10x faster

• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments

—

Find the transcript and references at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/performance-marketing-timothy-davis

—

Where to find Timothy Davis:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothypatrickdavis/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Timothy’s background

(02:31) Understanding performance marketing

(06:31) The importance of paid search

(08:39) Identifying growth potential

(09:54) Case studies: Hairstory and Ipsy

(12:22) Experimenting with new platforms

(18:57) Choosing the right platforms

(20:23) LinkedIn for B2B marketing

(27:56) When to start investing in paid growth

(33:33) Common mistakes in performance marketing

(37:41) Working with agencies and consultants

(40:36) Hiring for performance marketing

(47:33) Metrics that matter

(54:43) Competitor analysis and CPC insights

(56:15) Custom reports and data visualization

(56:38) Understanding impression and click share

(59:10) True competition metrics

(01:02:14) Attribution and incrementality

(01:08:52) Building a performance marketing team

(01:10:53) Creative and ad copy collaboration

(01:15:48) Managing workload and hiring strategy

(01:20:52) Training and onboarding new hires

(01:24:41) Impact of ATT on performance marketing

(01:25:56) The power of creative in ads

(01:29:47) Using AI in performance marketing

(01:37:16) Lightning round

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

5 essential questions to craft a winning strategy | Roger Martin (author, advisor, speaker)

25 juli 2024 | 82 min

What most people miss about marketing | Rory Sutherland (Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, author)

21 juli 2024 | 85 min

Building a world-class data org | Jessica Lachs (VP of Analytics and Data Science at DoorDash)

14 juli 2024 | 80 min

Building product at Stripe: craft, metrics, and customer obsession | Jeff Weinstein (Product lead)

11 juli 2024 | 155 min

Pattern Breakers: How to find a breakthrough startup idea | Mike Maples, Jr. (Founding Partner at Floodgate, ex-Product at Silicon Graphics)

7 juli 2024 | 109 min

Dylan Field live at Config: Intuition, simplicity, and the future of design

30 juni 2024 | 48 min

The social radar: Y Combinator’s secret weapon | Jessica Livingston (co-founder of Y Combinator, author, podcast host)

27 juni 2024 | 85 min

Making an impact through authenticity and curiosity | Ami Vora (CPO at Faire, ex-WhatsApp, FB, IG)

23 juni 2024 | 84 min

Hard-won lessons building 0 to 1 inside Atlassian | Tanguy Crusson (Head of Jira Product Discovery)

16 juni 2024 | 114 min

The paths to power: How to grow your influence and advance your career | Jeffrey Pfeffer (author of 7 Rules of Power, professor at Stanford GSB)

13 juni 2024 | 83 min

Lessons from a two-time unicorn builder, 50-time startup advisor, and 20-time company board member | Uri Levine (co-founder of Waze)

9 juni 2024 | 83 min

Inside Canva: Coaches not managers, giving away your Legos, and running profitably | Cameron Adams (co-founder and CPO)

2 juni 2024 | 63 min

The surprising truth about what closes deals: Insights from 2.5m sales conversations | Matt Dixon (author of The Challenger Sale and The JOLT Effect)

30 maj 2024 | 57 min

Unorthodox frameworks for growing your product, career, and impact | Bangaly Kaba (YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Instacart)

26 maj 2024 | 102 min

Why not asking for what you want is holding you back | Kenneth Berger (exec coach, first PM at Slack)

19 maj 2024 | 74 min

Be fundamentally different, not incrementally better | Jag Duggal (Nubank, Facebook, Google, Quantcast)

16 maj 2024 | 95 min

A framework for PM skill development | Vikrama Dhiman (Gojek)

12 maj 2024 | 72 min

Business strategy with Hamilton Helmer (author of 7 Powers)

5 maj 2024 | 68 min

This will make you a better decision maker | Annie Duke (author of “Thinking in Bets” and “Quit”, former pro poker player)

2 maj 2024 | 81 min

Twitter’s former Head of Product opens up: being fired, meeting Elon, changing stagnant culture, building consumer product, more | Kayvon Beykpour

28 april 2024 | 95 min

How to build deeper, more robust relationships | Carole Robin (Stanford GSB professor, “Touchy Feely”)

25 april 2024 | 87 min

Vision, conviction, and hype: How to build 0 to 1 inside a company | Mihika Kapoor (Product at Figma)

21 april 2024 | 101 min

Lessons from 1,000+ YC startups: Resilience, tar pit ideas, pivoting, more | Dalton Caldwell (Y Combinator, Managing Director)

18 april 2024 | 81 min

The GitLab way: Kindness, transparency, and short toes | David DeSanto (CPO)

14 april 2024 | 82 min

A framework for finding product-market fit | Todd Jackson (First Round Capital)

11 april 2024 | 87 min

Bending the universe in your favor | Claire Vo (LaunchDarkly, Color, Optimizely, ChatPRD)

7 april 2024 | 88 min

Zigging vs. zagging: How HubSpot built a $30B company | Dharmesh Shah (co-founder/CTO)

4 april 2024 | 102 min

How to speak more confidently and persuasively | Matt Abrahams (professor, podcast host, author, speaker)

31 mars 2024 | 72 min

Matt Abrahams is a renowned communication expert, with decades of teaching, coaching, and consulting experience. At Stanford University, he teaches a business school class on strategic communication. Beyond academia, he’s a sought-after keynote speaker and consultant, guiding presenters from IPO road shows to prestigious platforms like TED, the World Economic Forum, and the United Nations. His acclaimed podcast, Think Fast, Talk Smart, garners millions of listeners, and his book, Think Faster, Talk Smarter, equips speakers with practical skills for impromptu success. With a previous bestseller, Speaking Up Without Freaking Out, Matt has empowered countless individuals to speak confidently and authentically. In our conversation, we discuss:

• The concept of “daring to be dull”

• The power of visualization to desensitize oneself to speaking situations

• Managing negative self-talk

• The WHAT structure for delivering toasts (why we are here, how you are connected, anecdote, thanks)

• The ADD structure for Q&As (answer, detailed example, describe relevance)

• Breathing techniques to reduce anxiety, such as the double exhale

• Concrete speaking structures like What? So What? Now What? and the Four I’s (information, impact, invitation, implications)

• Much more

—

Brought to you by:

• Sprig—Build a product people love

• Dovetail—Bring your customer into every decision

• Coda—Meet the evolution of docs

—

Find the transcript and references at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-speak-more-confidently-and

—

Where to find Matt Abrahams:

• X: https://twitter.com/tftsthepod

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maabrahams/

• Website: https://mattabrahams.com/

• Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ll0MwobDt1JW9gYaOONEo

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Matt’s background

(04:50) Techniques for managing anxiety in public speaking

(10:57) Dare to be dull

(13:40) Reframing anxiety as excitement

(16:08) Using mantras to boost confidence

(18:45) Managing negative self-talk

(20:03) Normalizing speaking anxiety

(23:12) Using conversation as a communication technique

(24:52) Using the double-exhale breathing technique

(28:29) Getting present-oriented

(29:46) Using tongue twisters

(33:34) Broad advice for speaking on the spot

(38:35) The PREP structure

(38:59) The What? So What? Now What? structure

(42:10) Toastmasters and improv

(45:31) Getting better at small talk

(51:05) The importance of sharing back

(52:33) Giving feedback

(56:31) Improving toasts and tributes

(01:02:57) Mastering Q&A sessions

(01:07:25) Apologizing effectively

(01:09:29) Closing thoughts

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Kunal Shah on winning in India, second-order thinking, the philosophy of startups, and more

24 mars 2024 | 79 min

Kunal Shah is one of the most well-known and admired product leaders in India. He is the CEO and founder of CRED, an Indian-based fintech startup valued at over $6 billion. Prior to CRED, he founded three other startups, including Freecharge, which he sold for over $400 million to Snapdeal. He has also been an advisor to India’s most influential organizations. In our conversation, we discuss:

• The prevalence of successful Indian immigrants in top CEO roles across the tech industry

• Why companies in India can grow DAUs but not ARPU—and what that means for building products for India

• What most sets India’s market apart

• Challenges and opportunities in the Indian market

• The Delta 4 framework for building new products

• Lessons from building CRED so far

• The power of curiosity and second-order thinking

• Lessons from failure

—

Brought to you by:

• WorkOS—The modern API for auth and user identity

• Orb—The flexible billing engine for modern pricing

• Dovetail—Bring your customer into every decision

—

Find the transcript and references at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/kunal-shah-on-winning-in-india-second

—

Where to find Kunal Shah:

• X: https://twitter.com/kunalb11

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kunalshah1/

• Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@CRED_club

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Kunal’s background

(04:22) The Delta 4 framework

(11:00) The success of Indian CEOs in the U.S.

(19:55) Challenges and opportunities in India

(23:04) DAUs vs. ARPU in Indian markets

(25:50) The perception of time in India

(27:55) The curse of focus in Asian markets

(30:33) Challenges and opportunities in India (continued)

(33:23) Lessons learned from building CRED

(36:40) Profit pools can provide valuable insights into the values of a country

(37:55) Founders’ role in company growth

(39:55) Profitability and Indian business culture

(43:24) Advice for staying positive amid criticism

(44:41) The promising market in India

(47:35) The power of curiosity

(52:59) Who Kunal looks up to

(55:31) Kunal’s favorite sources of content

(58:42) Asking great questions

(01:02:54) Contrarian corner: Wealth is nothing but storage of energy

(01:05:26) Failure corner

(01:08:57) Closing thoughts: Share your learnings

(01:09:38) Lightning round

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

The ultimate guide to PR | Emilie Gerber (founder of Six Eastern)

21 mars 2024 | 94 min

The happiness and pain of product management | Noam Lovinsky (Grammarly, Facebook, YouTube, Thumbtack)

17 mars 2024 | 70 min

Product management theater | Marty Cagan (Silicon Valley Product Group)

10 mars 2024 | 85 min

Inside TikTok: Culture, strategy, monetization, and more | Ray Cao (Global Head of Monetization Product Strategy and Operations)

7 mars 2024 | 72 min

Making Meta | Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth (CTO)

3 mars 2024 | 102 min

How to discover your superpowers, own your story, and unlock personal growth | Donna Lichaw (author of The Leader’s Journey)

25 februari 2024 | 87 min

How Netflix builds a culture of excellence | Elizabeth Stone (CTO)

22 februari 2024 | 74 min

Building a world-class sales org | Jason Lemkin (SaaStr)

18 februari 2024 | 122 min

Making time for what matters | Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky (authors of Sprint and Make Time, co-founders of Character Capital)

11 februari 2024 | 96 min

Inside OpenAI | Logan Kilpatrick (head of developer relations)

8 februari 2024 | 68 min

Lessons from Atlassian: Launching new products, getting buy-in, and staying ahead of the competition | Megan Cook (head of product, Jira)

4 februari 2024 | 81 min

Managing nerves, anxiety, and burnout | Jonny Miller (Nervous System Mastery)

28 januari 2024 | 74 min

Geoffrey Moore on finding your beachhead, crossing the chasm, and dominating a market

25 januari 2024 | 85 min

Good Strategy, Bad Strategy | Richard Rumelt

21 januari 2024 | 109 min

The art and wisdom of changing teams | Heidi Helfand (author of Dynamic Reteaming)

18 januari 2024 | 70 min

Taking control of your career | Ethan Evans (Amazon)

14 januari 2024 | 81 min

How to be more innovative | Sam Schillace (Microsoft deputy CTO, creator of Google Docs)

11 januari 2024 | 88 min

The engineering mindset | Will Larson (Carta, Stripe, Uber, Calm, Digg)

7 januari 2024 | 77 min

The UX research reckoning is here | Judd Antin (Airbnb, Meta)

4 januari 2024 | 75 min

Strategies for becoming less distracted and improving focus | Nir Eyal (author of Indistractable and Hooked)

29 december 2023 | 85 min

The hierarchy of engagement | Sarah Tavel (Benchmark, Greylock, Pinterest)

27 december 2023 | 111 min

The essence of product management | Christian Idiodi (SVPG)

21 december 2023 | 93 min

Jason Fried challenges your thinking on fundraising, goals, growth, and more

17 december 2023 | 110 min

How to tell better stories | Matthew Dicks (Storyworthy)

15 december 2023 | 103 min

Failure

13 december 2023 | 61 min

Radical Candor: From theory to practice with author Kim Scott

10 december 2023 | 87 min

The full-stack PM | Anuj Rathi (Swiggy, Jupiter Money, Flipkart)

7 december 2023 | 72 min

Crafting a compelling product vision | Ebi Atawodi (YouTube, Netflix, Uber)

3 december 2023 | 100 min

The future of AI in software development | Inbal Shani (CPO of GitHub)

1 december 2023 | 50 min

My favorite interview questions from 100+ guests

29 november 2023 | 21 min

Billion dollar failures, and billion dollar success | Tom Conrad (Quibi, Pandora, Pets.com, Snap, Zero)

26 november 2023 | 100 min

Redefining success, money, and belonging | Paul Millerd (The Pathless Path)

19 november 2023 | 65 min

The ultimate guide to product operations | Melissa Perri and Denise Tilles

16 november 2023 | 80 min

Brian Chesky’s new playbook

12 november 2023 | 73 min

Marketplace lessons from Uber, Airbnb, Bumble, and more | Ramesh Johari (Stanford professor, startup advisor)

9 november 2023 | 84 min

Mastering product strategy and growing as a PM | Maggie Crowley (Toast, Drift, Tripadvisor)

5 november 2023 | 83 min

Unpacking Amazon’s unique ways of working | Bill Carr (author of Working Backwards)

2 november 2023 | 93 min

Reflections on a movement | Eric Ries (creator of the Lean Startup methodology)

29 oktober 2023 | 134 min

What AI means for your product strategy | Paul Adams (CPO of Intercom)

26 oktober 2023 | 83 min

A step-by-step guide to crafting a sales pitch that wins | April Dunford (author of Obviously Awesome and Sales Pitch)

22 oktober 2023 | 91 min

Scaling Duolingo, embracing failure, and insight into Latin America’s tech scene | Gina Gotthilf (Latitud, Duolingo)

19 oktober 2023 | 97 min

Building beautiful products with Stripe’s Head of Design | Katie Dill (Stripe, Airbnb, Lyft)

15 oktober 2023 | 94 min

How to get press for your product | Jason Feifer (editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine)

12 oktober 2023 | 102 min

Inside Linear: Building with taste, craft, and focus | Karri Saarinen (co-founder, designer, CEO)

8 oktober 2023 | 100 min

Karri Saarinen is the co-founder and CEO of Linear, an issue-tracking tool that has quickly become the fastest-growing and most beloved in the world. Before Linear, Karri was the principal designer and co-creator of design systems at Airbnb and the founding designer at Coinbase. In today’s episode, he shares:

• How to prioritize craft in product development

• The Linear method for modern software development

• How Linear operates with only one PM

• Why every product needs good design in 2023

• Strategies for staying focused amid distractions

• Linear’s unique hiring strategies

• Sneak peek of a soon-to-be-released Linear feature

—

Brought to you by Mercury—the powerful and intuitive way for ambitious companies to bank | Composer—the AI-powered trading platform | Pendo—The all-in-one platform for product-led companies building breakthrough digital experiences

—

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-linear-building-with-taste

—

Where to find Karri Saarinen:

• X: https://twitter.com/karrisaarinen

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karrisaarinen/

• Website: https://karrisaarinen.com/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Karri’s background

(04:25) Overview of Linear

(06:43) Linear’s design process and its focus on quality

(12:25) Building a craft-oriented company

(16:41) Product management at Linear

(18:37) Strategies for launching a startup without a dedicated PM

(21:16) How Linear assists PMs in their roles

(23:46) Linear’s potential expansion in PM roles

(24:58) The importance of design

(29:08) Utilizing design and brand as distinct competitive advantages

(30:48) The importance of authenticity in branding and messaging

(33:08) How design reviews are conducted at Linear

(38:34) The Linear method for modern software development

(40:07) Why productivity software should be opinionated

(41:23) Why Linear created “cycles” and how it works

(43:27) Why Linear doesn’t have metric-based goals

(45:07) How a business can thrive without metrics, PMs, and A/B testing

(48:04) A customer-focused approach to building product

(50:02) Adapting strategies for diverse products and domains

(53:05) Three techniques Karri uses to maintain focus

(56:47) Linear’s hiring practices

(1:02:10) Paid work trials

(1:04:31) How to determine a candidate’s “product sense”

(1:08:21) Linear’s growth journey and milestones

(1:14:18) How pricing strategies were initially introduced at Linear

(1:16:18) Linear’s journey to finding product-market fit

(1:21:44) The importance of online presence and authenticity in business

(1:24:59) Insight into the corporate culture at Linear

(1:28:29) Lessons learned during Karri’s transition from IC to CEO

(1:30:21) Sneak peek into the upcoming “asks” feature at Linear

(1:32:04) Lightning round

—

Referenced:

• Linear: https://linear.app/

• Vercel: https://vercel.com/

• Nan Yu on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thenanyu/

• The Linear method: https://linear.app/method

• How Ramp builds product: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-ramp-builds-product

• Lessons from scaling Ramp | Sri Batchu (Ramp, Instacart, Opendoor): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/lessons-from-scaling-ramp-sri-batchu-ramp-instacart-opendoor/

• Eric Yuan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericsyuan/

• The Timeless Way of Building: https://www.amazon.com/Timeless-Way-Building-Christopher-Alexander/dp/0195024028

• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry/dp/0060839872/

• John Wick: Chapter 4: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10366206/

• Silo on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/silo/umc.cmc.3yksgc857px0k0rqe5zd4jice

• Philips Hue lights: https://www.philips-hue.com/en-us

• Finnish salmon soup recipe: https://jernejkitchen.com/recipes/finnish-salmon-soup-lohikeitto

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Brian Balfour: 10 lessons on career, growth, and life

5 oktober 2023 | 102 min

What sets great teams apart | Lane Shackleton (CPO of Coda)

1 oktober 2023 | 90 min

Building Anchor, selling to Spotify, and lessons learned | Maya Prohovnik (Spotify’s Head of Podcast Product)

28 september 2023 | 68 min

How to drive word of mouth | Nilan Peiris (CPO of Wise)

24 september 2023 | 77 min

Becoming evidence-guided | Itamar Gilad (Gmail, YouTube, Microsoft)

21 september 2023 | 73 min

How to become a category pirate | Christopher Lochhead (author of Play Bigger, Niche Down, Category Pirates, more)

17 september 2023 | 109 min

Picking sharp problems, increasing virality, and unique product frameworks | Oji Udezue (Typeform, Twitter, Calendly, Atlassian)

14 september 2023 | 76 min

When enough is enough | Andy Johns (ex-FB, Twitter, Quora)

10 september 2023 | 87 min

Brought to you by Mercury—the powerful and intuitive way for ambitious companies to bank | Coda—Meet the evolution of docs | Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life

—

Andy Johns is a former tech exec and VC who had a successful run at several startups—including Facebook, Twitter, Wealthfront, and Quora—but left it all behind a few years ago to take a new direction in life. Now a mental health advocate, he aids military veterans with PTSD, guides burnt-out high achievers to new paths, and shares his healing journey from childhood trauma and mental illness through his newsletter, Clues Dot Life. In this episode, we discuss:

• Why Andy left his seven-figure VC career behind

• The four-step process of deep personal transformation

• When suffering is necessary vs. unnecessary

• Tips for finding a good therapist

• How a writing practice can help you heal

• When you’re in need of radical transformation

—

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/when-enough-is-enough-andy-johns

—

Where to find Andy Johns:

• Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/cluesdotlife

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjohns/

• Website: https://www.clues.life/

• Newsletter: https://andyjohns.substack.com/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Andy’s background

(04:45) His personal burnout story

(12:55) The high incidence of mental health struggles in tech

(14:41) Why Andy walked away from a seven-figure VC job

(20:29) His work in mental health advocacy

(23:32) The four-step process of deep personal transformation

(31:40) The ego’s involvement

(33:23) Necessary vs. unnecessary suffering

(37:01) First steps in understanding your suffering

(38:59) Advice on finding a therapist

(42:11) How a writing practice can help you heal

(43:47) Two methods for writing to gain self-understanding

(47:47) Signs you’re dealing with more than just typical job stress

(52:22) How to move into a place of self-compassion

(57:16) The unpredictable timeline of healing

(59:59) How to develop compassion for others

(1:02:19) Why not everyone needs a radical transformation

(1:04:10) The story of Pema Chodron’s transformation

(1:06:06) What holds people back from making changes

(1:13:29) Finding your own unique path to healing

(1:17:32) Andy’s closing message to anyone feeling pulled toward a new chapter

(1:18:59) How Andy is doing now

—

Referenced:

• How to know when to stop: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-know-when-to-stop

• Heroic Hearts Project: https://heroicheartsproject.org/

• Panic attacks and panic disorder: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/4451-panic-attack-panic-disorder

• The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma: https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma/dp/0143127748

• Vipassana meditation: https://www.dhamma.org/en/index

• The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Now-Guide-Spiritual-Enlightenment/dp/1577314808

• Moby Dick: https://www.amazon.com/Moby-Dick-Herman-Melville/dp/1503280780

• When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times: https://www.amazon.com/When-Things-Fall-Apart-Difficult/dp/1611803438

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

An inside look at Figma’s unique GTM motion | Claire Butler (first GTM hire)

7 september 2023 | 91 min

Inside Etsy’s product, growth, and marketplace evolution | Tim Holley (VP of Product)

3 september 2023 | 72 min

An inside look at Deel’s unprecedented growth | Meltem Kuran Berkowitz (Head of Growth)

27 augusti 2023 | 72 min

Brought to you by Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life | LMNT—Zero-sugar hydration | AssemblyAI—Production-ready AI models to transcribe and understand speech

—

Meltem Kuran Berkowitz is Head of Growth at Deel, which went from $0 to $300m in ARR in 3 years (fastest company in history to do so). Meltem joined Deel early to lead growth, and currently leads all of the growth and marketing teams including paid ads, content, product marketing, community, brand, and more. In this episode, we discuss:• How Deel found success leveraging low-cost growth channels• Why early awareness campaigns are a waste of time in B2B• How to create effective SEO content• Deel’s “traffic light” framework• When it makes sense to invest in paid ads• The art of structuring growth teams• Building a startup culture

—

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/an-inside-look-at-deels-unprecedented

—

Where to find Meltem Kuran Berkowitz:

• Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/meltemkuran

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meltem-kuran-berkowitz-4721114b

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Meltem’s background

(04:21) What Deel does

(06:32) How Meltem leverages low-cost growth channels

(13:18) How to answer questions in a value-add way

(14:52) Leveraging closed communities

(15:48) Breaking down Deel’s impressive growth

(16:33) SEO best practices

(18:32) Deel’s “traffic light system” framework for publishing content

(20:03) The step-by-step process of publishing an SEO article

(21:55) How Deel structures their content team

(23:18) Why you can’t cut corners when doing SEO

(25:15) Businesses that should not invest in SEO

(26:40) The growth channels Deel prioritized early on

(32:12) Why Meltem is not a fan of early awareness campaigns for B2B businesses

(33:54) What Notion did right with their ad campaigns

(36:16) How Deel can help your company

(38:15) Deel’s blog post that caught the attention of the IRS

(40:06) Paid ads tips

(42:12) Why acquisition channels are useless without a great product

(44:19) How the pandemic helped drive growth at Deel

(47:11) Structuring early growth teams

(51:23) Building a startup culture

(1:01:10) The story behind Meltem’s unique workspace

(1:05:22) Closing thoughts on growth

(1:06:05) Lightning round

—

Referenced:

• Deel: https://www.deel.com/

• Clearscope: https://www.clearscope.io/

• Notion: https://www.notion.so/

• Geoff Charles on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/velocity-over-everything-how-ramp-became-the-fastest-growing-saas-startup-of-all-time-geoff-charl/

• Amp It Up: Leading for Hypergrowth by Raising Expectations, Increasing Urgency, and Elevating Intensity: https://www.amazon.com/Amp-Unlocking-Hypergrowth-Expectations-Intensity/dp/1119836115

• Snowflake: https://www.snowflake.com

• How Will You Measure Your Life?: https://www.amazon.com/How-Will-Measure-Your-Life/dp/0062102419

• Oppenheimer: https://www.oppenheimermovie.com/

• The Summer I Turned Pretty on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NF4J7XW

• Library stamps on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/library-stamp/s?k=library+stamp

• Bloody Caesar recipe: https://www.liquor.com/recipes/bloody-caesar/

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

The ultimate guide to JTBD | Bob Moesta (co-creator of the framework)

24 augusti 2023 | 70 min

Monetizing passions, scaling marketplaces, and stories from a creator economy vet | Camille Hearst (Spotify, Patreon, Apple, YouTube)

20 augusti 2023 | 64 min

The ultimate guide to Martech | Austin Hay (Reforge, Ramp, Runway)

13 augusti 2023 | 85 min

Relentless curiosity, radical accountability, and HubSpot’s winning growth formula | Christopher Miller (VP of Product, Growth and AI)

10 augusti 2023 | 91 min

Velocity over everything: How Ramp became the fastest-growing SaaS startup of all time | Geoff Charles (VP of Product)

6 augusti 2023 | 77 min

How to measure and improve developer productivity | Nicole Forsgren (Microsoft Research, GitHub, Google)

30 juli 2023 | 76 min

The ultimate guide to A/B testing | Ronny Kohavi (Airbnb, Microsoft, Amazon)

27 juli 2023 | 83 min

The 10 traits of great PMs, how AI will impact your product, and Slack’s product development process | Noah Weiss (Slack, Foursquare, Google)

23 juli 2023 | 86 min

LinkedIn’s product evolution and the art of building complex systems | Hari Srinivasan (LinkedIn)

16 juli 2023 | 65 min

Brought to you by Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life | Brave Search API—An independent, global search index you can use to power your search or AI app | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments

—

Hari Srinivasan is VP of Product at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, where he oversees LinkedIn Recruiter, LinkedIn Jobs, and LinkedIn Learning. He’s also a frequent guest lecturer at Stanford University. Previously, he served as the CEO and founder of We Created It, which was acquired by LinkedIn in 2014. Hari has a passion for building products, with experience ranging from creating the first U.S. hybrid SUV to developing a No. 1 app and writing a beloved children’s book. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• LinkedIn’s unique business model and org structure

• How to optimize your LinkedIn experience and improve your chances of getting a PM role

• How to adapt to a skills-first talent market

• The story of Hari’s failed first product review, and how he pivoted for success

• Strategies for building and maintaining complex systems

• How to get into product management

—

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/linkedins-product-evolution-and-the

—

Where to find Hari Srinivasan:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hsrinivasan1/

• Website: https://www.mindofhari.com/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Hari’s background

(05:04) How Twitter brought Lenny and Hari together

(06:32) LinkedIn’s positive evolution, and what they did right

(10:14) Specific changes that made LinkedIn’s feed more interesting

(11:12) Understanding the algorithm and what kinds of content perform best

(12:21) The talent solution product

(15:46) The shift to skills-first hiring, and how LinkedIn changed their approach

(20:24) The open-to-work signal, and the newly released open-to-internal-work signal

(22:13) The PM talent landscape, and tips for landing a PM role

(24:55) How to optimize your LinkedIn profile to get noticed by recruiters

(28:38) Hari’s first product review at LinkedIn

(30:38) LinkedIn’s North Star, and how to operationalize the North Star at any company

(33:24) LinkedIn’s members-first value

(35:32) Building and maintaining complex systems

(38:09) The RAPID framework and the Five-Day Alignment framework

(39:51) What LinkedIn looks for in new hires

(40:51) The latest innovations at LinkedIn

(43:16) LinkedIn Learning

(45:00) Hari’s product management course

(48:19) Advice for people hoping to get into product management

(50:40) How to level up your PM skills

(51:57) Hari’s creative side projects

(55:02) Lightning round

—

Referenced:

• Tweet from TheCuriousPM: https://twitter.com/zatin_jatin/status/1658616200560254978?s=20

• The Curious PM on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zatin_jatin

• Decision-making at LinkedIn: https://engineering.linkedin.com/blog/2018/03/scaling-decision-making-across-teams-within-linkedin-engineering

• LinkedIn Learning: https://www.linkedin.com/learning

• Thinking in Systems: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Systems-Donella-H-Meadows/dp/1603580557

• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow: https://www.amazon.com/Tomorrow-novel-Gabrielle-Zevin/dp/0593321200

• An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us: https://www.amazon.com/Immense-World-Animal-Senses-Reveal/dp/0593133234

• Star Wars on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/brand/star-wars

• Case 63 on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4c9ZKaFtEKweSYOlYvxfvp

• E.T. on Tubi: https://tubitv.com/movies/607451/e-t-the-extra-terrestrial

• BriteBrush: https://www.amazon.com/BriteBrush-Interactive-Smart-Toothbrush-featuring/dp/B07VLL8QH4

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

M&A, competition, pricing, and investing | Julia Schottenstein (dbt Labs)

13 juli 2023 | 61 min

How to ask the right questions, project confidence, and win over skeptics | Paige Costello (Asana, Intercom, Intuit)

9 juli 2023 | 63 min

Brought to you by Brave—The independent, global search index you can use to power your search or AI app | Attio—The powerful, flexible CRM for fast-growing startups | Round—The private network built by tech leaders for tech leaders

—

Paige Costello is a beloved product leader with a reputation as a remarkable coach and mentor. She is currently the Head of Core Product at Asana, where she leads the group responsible for Asana’s web, desktop, and mobile apps. Prior to that role, she served as the Director of Product at Intercom and, before that, as a Group PM at Intuit, where she kickstarted her product career through their renowned APM program. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• The unique product development process at Asana and how it’s evolved

• The double-diamond framework

• Conscious leadership training, and why every Asana employee learns it

• How to demonstrate confidence and earn trust from skeptics

• Why curiosity and openness may be the most important PM competencies

• How to give feedback using impact statements

—

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-ask-the-right-questions-project

—

Where to find Paige Costello:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/paigenow

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paigecostello/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Paige’s background

(04:38) What Paige is responsible for at Asana

(06:04) The evolution of Asana’s product development process

(09:10) Planning frequency

(11:26) Examples of areas and metric tracking at Asana

(12:46) The double-diamond process and how it’s applied at Asana

(16:53) Asana’s office-centric hybrid work culture and the future of WFH

(21:45) How to garner trust and win over skeptics

(24:45) Why you should befriend researchers

(26:17) How to exude confidence

(29:03) The 3Es framework

(33:43) Advice for early-career PMs

(38:43) Paige’s latest pillars strategy

(40:05) AI at Asana

(41:50) Lessons from Paige’s time at Intuit

(45:53) Challenges new PMs face

(48:55) Challenges Paige has faced in her career

(52:39) Paige’s skill-focused career philosophy

(55:43) Lightning round

—

Referenced:

• Use This Equation to Determine, Diagnose, and Repair Trust: https://review.firstround.com/use-this-equation-to-determine-diagnose-and-repair-trust

• About conscious leadership at Asana: https://wavelength.asana.com/workstyle-simple-shift/

• The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success: https://www.amazon.com/15-Commitments-Conscious-Leadership-Sustainable/dp/0990976904

• Intuit: https://www.intuit.com/

• Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love: https://www.amazon.com/INSPIRED-Create-Tech-Products-Customers/dp/1119387507

• The Blind Assassin: https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Assassin-Novel-Margaret-Atwood/dp/0385720955

• The Alchemist: https://www.amazon.com/Alchemist-Paulo-Coelho/dp/0062315005

• The Diplomat on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81288983

• Fire of Love on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/fire-of-love/1hC7erRfsl3B

• Poe: https://poe.com/

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Building minimum lovable products, stories from WeWork and Airbnb, and thriving as a PM | Jiaona Zhang (Webflow, WeWork, Airbnb, Dropbox)

2 juli 2023 | 68 min

Brought to you by Brave Search API—An independent, global search index you can use to power your search or AI app | Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life | Superhuman—The fastest email experience ever made

—

Jiaona Zhang (JZ) is a product leader with a strong background in consumer products and extensive hiring and management experience. She is currently SVP of Product at Webflow as well as a lecturer at Stanford, where she teaches a graduate-level course on product management. Before Webflow, JZ was Head of Product for the Homes Platform at Airbnb and has also led product teams at Airbnb, WeWork, and Dropbox. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• Building a “minimum lovable product” rather than a minimum viable product

• How to create better roadmaps through storytelling

• Top lessons from Dropbox, Airbnb, WeWork, and Webflow

• The importance of setting ambitious OKRs

• JZ’s first 90 days playbook: how to succeed in a new role

• Advice for early-career PMs

—

Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-minimum-lovable-products

—

Where to find Jiaona Zhang:

• Reforge: https://www.reforge.com/managing-your-pm-career

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jiaona/

• Website: https://www.jiaonazhang.com/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) JZ’s background

(04:22) Common mistakes new PMs make

(06:44) Why Airbnb Plus didn’t work out, and takeaways from that experience

(10:51) Executing big dreams step-by-step

(13:45) The right way to push back against founders

(16:54) Minimum lovable product vs. minimum viable product

(20:53) What makes a product lovable

(22:20) Advice on roadmapping and prioritization

(28:04) Tips for new PMs to accelerate their career

(29:16) JZ’s top skills and how they have evolved over her career

(31:37) Designing crisp OKRs

(36:09) Lessons from WeWork

(43:01) Winning the first 90 days at a new company

(48:34) Why trust is crucial

(51:48) High-level lessons from Dropbox, Airbnb, WeWork, and Webflow

(56:38) The one piece of advice that transformed JZ’s career

(58:39) Lightning round

—

Referenced:

• Mike Lewis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikelewis/

• “What working at Figma taught me about customer obsession,” VP of Product Sho Kuwamoto: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/what-working-at-figma-taught-me-about

• WeWork: https://www.wework.com/

• WeCrashed on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/wecrashed/umc.cmc.6qw605uv2rwbzutk2p2fsgvq9

• Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days: https://www.amazon.com/Sprint-Solve-Problems-Test-Ideas/dp/150112174X

• The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Manager-What-Everyone-Looks/dp/0735219567

• Tress of the Emerald Sea: A Cosmere Novel: https://www.amazon.com/Tress-Emerald-Sea-Brandon-Sanderson/dp/1250899656/

• Arcane on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81435684

• Snoo: https://www.happiestbaby.com/

• Midjourney: https://www.midjourney.com/

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Lessons from scaling Ramp | Sri Batchu (Ramp, Instacart, Opendoor)

25 juni 2023 | 77 min

Brought to you by Attio—The powerful, flexible CRM for fast-growing startups | Coda—Meet the evolution of docs | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments

—

Sri Batchu currently leads growth at Ramp, the fastest-growing SaaS business (and fintech business) in history. Previously, he led growth strategy and operations at Instacart and was one of the first 50 employees at Opendoor, where he built, scaled, and managed a variety of business teams, including analytics, sales, and pricing. During his time there, the company grew from $100M to $5B+ in revenue and to 1,500+ people. In this episode, we discuss:• The surprising tactics behind Ramp’s unprecedented early growth• A breakdown of Ramp’s current growth org and growth channels• Why you need to be “failing conclusively”• Ramp’s unique approach to metrics and measurement• Examples of Ramp’s “secret sauce”: a data- and technology-driven approach to everything• Why Sri prioritizes employee autonomy and flexibility over hours worked• Why team structure is a red herring for growth teams, and what Sri focuses on instead• How to set good North Star metrics, and why you should have more than one• Why Sri prefers payback periods over CAC for measuring investment ROI

—

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-scaling-ramp-sri-batchu

—

Where to find Sri Batchu:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sri_batchu

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sribatchu/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Sri’s background

(04:07) Stats surrounding Ramp’s hypergrowth

(06:20) How Ramp set the stage for their remarkable growth

(09:19) New customers vs. customer expansion

(10:20) How Ramp has prioritized data-driven decisions

(12:12) Ramp’s growth engineering team, and how it supports the sales team

(13:41) The structure of the growth team at Ramp

(14:36) The “skunk works” team

(15:49) How Ramp maintains working at such high velocity

(19:11) How Ramp boosts morale and keeps employees engaged and excited

(21:45) How to promote hard work

(25:10) Optimizing efficiency in your growth engine

(27:28) Leveraging PR and fundraising

(29:20) Traditional media vs. newsletters and podcasts

(30:49) Building a repeatable and scalable growth process

(32:28) Examples of good North Star metrics

(37:09) Lower-level metrics

(40:30) When it makes sense to use the North Star framework

(42:03) Why Ramp doesn’t allow signups through personal emails, and how to reach out if you’re in that position

(43:11) Efficiency metrics and volume metrics

(46:49) Payback period vs. CAC for measuring ROI

(48:55) Defining payback period and contribution margin

(49:51) How to sequence growth tactics for B2B

(52:18) Experimentation and the importance of failing conclusively

(58:06) Ramp’s tool stack

(1:00:32) How to hire great people

(1:03:21) The importance of compensating employees properly

(1:06:28) The MECE framework

(1:09:21) Lightning round

—

Referenced:

• How Ramp builds product, in Lenny’s Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-ramp-builds-product

• Eight Sleep: https://www.eightsleep.com/

• Keith Rabois on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith/

• Packy McCormick’s article on Ramp: https://www.notboring.co/p/ramps-double-unicorn-rounds-behind

• Gibson Biddle’s framework: https://gibsonbiddle.medium.com/9-the-gem-model-65c89face5de

• DoorDash’s business model: https://businessmodelanalyst.com/doordash-business-model/

• Airtable: https://www.airtable.com/

• Mutiny: https://www.mutinyhq.com/

• Gokul Rajaram on Twitter: https://twitter.com/gokulr

• Claire Hughes Johnson on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/lessons-from-scaling-stripe/

• MECE principle: https://productfolio.com/mece-principal/

• Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as If Your Life Depended on It: https://www.amazon.com/Never-Split-Difference-Negotiating-Depended/dp/0062407805

• Stories of Your Life and Others: https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Your-Life-Others-Chiang/dp/1101972122/r

• Everything Everywhere All at Once on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/movie/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-fa320000-8cf3-46fc-8c45-df5ec67b71f2

• Fellow kettles: https://fellowproducts.com/

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Building high-performing teams | Melissa Tan (Webflow, Dropbox, Canva)

18 juni 2023 | 75 min

Brought to you by AssemblyAI—Production-ready AI models to transcribe and understand speech | Mixpanel—Product analytics that everyone can trust, use, and afford | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments

—

Melissa Tan is an advisor, investor, and growth expert. She’s worked with fast-growing startups like Dropbox, Canva, Grammarly, and Miro, and for the past 2.5 years has been the Head of Growth at Webflow. There, she led the company's self-service business across Product, Marketing, and Growth, in addition to leading the charge on pricing and packaging. Prior to Webflow, she was Head of Growth for Dropbox’s B2B product, where she played a pivotal role in propelling their growth. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• Attributes of high-performing teams

• Tips for developing talent and seeking a mentor

• How to create a strong culture of ownership

• Frameworks for hiring PM and growth talent

• Common pitfalls companies face when implementing growth strategies

• Lessons from scaling Dropbox

• The DACI framework for increasing team velocity

• How to actually embrace first-principles thinking

—

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-high-performing-teams-melissa

—

Where to find Melissa Tan:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/melissamtan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissamtan/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Melissa’s background

(04:12) What’s next for Melissa

(06:45) Lessons learned from Dropbox

(11:49) When to add sales to product-led products and vice versa

(14:28) Managing people with a people-focused and results-oriented approach

(17:14) An example of people-focused leadership

(20:26) The importance of talent development and why Melissa invests in it

(22:26) Tips for finding a mentor

(24:58) Specific questions to ask when you are interviewing for a role

(27:49) Companies Melissa has worked with

(28:33) Attributes of high-performing teams

(31:38) Creating a sense of ownership among team members

(34:36) Building a team-first culture

(36:54) Avoiding burnout by knowing your limits

(39:24) Developing talent and unlocking potential within your organization

(42:45) Melissa’s hiring practices and what she looks for in a product manager

(44:40) The exact interview sequence Melissa utilizes

(49:58) Common pitfalls when creating growth teams

(53:43) “Flying formation” and the DACI framework

(56:48) Who should own revenue

(58:19) When to invest in growth

(1:01:06) What to look for in your first growth hire

(1:04:35) When it’s appropriate to hire an advisor

(1:06:19) First-principles thinking

(1:09:50) Lightning round

—

Referenced:

• Jiaona Zhang on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jiaona/

• Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead: https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Women-Work-Will-Lead/dp/0385349947

• Tim Ferriss: How to Find a Great Mentor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVo1aZCyfO4

• Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity: https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Candor-Revised-Kick-Ass-Humanity/dp/1250235375/

• How to Monetize a Freemium Business: https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/how-to-monetize-a-freemium-business

• DACI framework: https://www.productplan.com/glossary/daci/

• Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't: https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Eat-Last-Together-Others/dp/1591848016/r

• The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself: https://www.amazon.com/Untethered-Soul-Journey-Beyond-Yourself/dp/1572245379/

• The Four Agreements: https://www.amazon.com/Four-Agreements-Practical-Personal-Freedom/dp/1878424319

• Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/winning-time-the-rise-of-the-lakers-dynasty

• ChatGPT: https://chat.openai.com/

• Webflow: https://webflow.com/

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Leveraging growth advisors, hiring well, mastering SEO, and honing your craft | Luc Levesque (Shopify, Meta, TripAdvisor)

15 juni 2023 | 80 min

Building a long and meaningful career | Nikhyl Singhal (Meta, Google)

11 juni 2023 | 86 min

Brought to you by Superhuman—The fastest email experience ever made | Microsoft Clarity—See how people actually use your product | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments

—

Nikhyl Singhal is VP of Product at Meta, overseeing teams building messaging, groups, stories, and the main Facebook feed. Before that, he served as the Chief Product Officer at Credit Karma and held various leadership roles at Google, leading teams on Google Photos and Google Hangouts. Nikhyl was also co-founder of three startups, including SayNow and Cast Iron Systems, which were acquired by Google and IBM, respectively. Alongside his successful career, he is passionate about coaching and mentoring, sharing his knowledge through the Skip podcast, newsletter and CPO community. In this episode, we discuss:

• Finding your North Star and building a long and meaningful career

• Why your superpower may actually be holding you back

• Wisdom for aspiring product managers in the early stages of their career

• Reasons you aren’t getting promoted, and advice on what to change

• How to avoid short-term thinking early in your career and how to become a better manager long-term

• Signs you work at an “ex-growth” company and that it’s time to leave

• Signs the IC path is a reasonable pursuit

• The importance of finding a community

—

Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-a-long-and-meaningful-career

—

Where to find Nikhyl Singhal:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/nikhyl

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhyl/

• Newsletter: https://theskip.substack.com/

• Podcast: https://www.skip.community/

• Skip CPO Community: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skip-community-for-cpos/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Nikhyl’s background

(04:37) Nikhyl’s mentoring approach during critical periods of change

(07:07) The power of long-term career planning

(10:36) The value of gaining varied experiences rather than merely collecting logos on your resume

(12:52) The unique benefits of working at a “MAGMA” company

(14:50) Ex-growth companies and the impact of 0% interest rates

(20:19) Signs your company may be struggling to find the right product-market fit

(21:32) When you should stay at an ex-growth company

(22:34) Early career advice for product managers

(25:25) Mid-career strategies for promotion

(29:47) Summarizing the 4 reasons you may not be getting promoted

(30:15) The value of authentic feedback

(33:29) Tactical tips for getting better feedback

(34:46) Addressing management challenges in tech

(39:50) Opportunities for those who prefer the IC path

(45:25) How to become a better manager through community building

(47:40) Nikhyl’s community, The Skip

(51:27) Lenny’s Slack community

(52:54) Late-career advice and identifying skills that need reshaping

(57:07) Why it’s so important to listen to contradictory feedback

(59:45) Nikhyl’s “superpower” and “shadow”

(1:02:20) Mental health challenges and the third act of your career

(1:08:44) Examples of North Star metrics in the third act of your career

(1:12:20) Lightning round

—

Referenced:

• Annie Pearl on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/behind-the-scenes-of-calendlys-rapid-growth-annie-pearl-cpo/

• The Skip podcast episode about ex-growth companies: https://www.skip.community/should-i-join-or-leave-an-x-hypergrowth-company/

• Jules Walter on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/leveraging-mentors-to-uplevel-your-career-jules-walter-youtube-slack/

• Skip Community for CPOs on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skip-community-for-cpos/

• Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers: https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-3rd-Disruptive-Mainstream/dp/0062292986/

• Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box: https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Self-Deception-Getting-Out-Box/dp/B07H3G1KCN

• Rise on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/rise/6Yv1uRnw2uAJ

• Arc browser: https://arc.net/

• Josh Miller (CEO of The Browser Company) on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/competing-with-giants-an-inside-look-at-how-the-browser-company-builds-product-josh-miller-ceo/

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Moving fast and navigating uncertainty | Jeremy Henrickson (Rippling, Coinbase)

4 juni 2023 | 69 min

Storytelling with Nancy Duarte: How to craft compelling presentations and tell a story that sticks

1 juni 2023 | 77 min

The power of strategic narrative | Andy Raskin

28 maj 2023 | 63 min

Lessons from scaling Spotify: The science of product, taking risky bets, and how AI is already impacting the future of music | Gustav Söderström (Co-President, CPO, and CTO at Spotify)

21 maj 2023 | 85 min

Lessons on building product sense, navigating AI, optimizing the first mile, and making it through the messy middle | Scott Belsky (Adobe, Behance)

18 maj 2023 | 63 min

Frameworks for product differentiation, team building, and thinking from first principles | Ayo Omojola (Carbon Health, Cash App)

14 maj 2023 | 52 min

Mastering paid growth | Jonathan Becker (Thrive Digital)

7 maj 2023 | 95 min

Building a culture of excellence | David Singleton (CTO of Stripe)

4 maj 2023 | 90 min

Brought to you by Mixpanel—Product analytics that everyone can trust, use, and afford | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments | Braintrust—For when you needed talent, yesterday

—

David Singleton is Chief Technology Officer at Stripe, where he oversees engineering and design teams. Since joining Stripe, David has helped grow the technology org across the U.S. and developed new engineering hubs in Singapore and Dublin as well as Stripe’s fifth hub, remote engineering, across the globe. Before Stripe, he spent 11 years at Google, where he was VP of Engineering, leading product development and coordinating more than 15 different hardware partnerships. In today’s episode, we cover:

• Hiring secrets that set Stripe employees apart

• How to build a product-minded engineering team

• How to operationalize meticulousness

• Strategies for maintaining developer productivity at scale

• The process of “friction logging” used to make better products

• How AI is changing the way engineers work

• Insights for planning and prioritizing at scale

—

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-a-culture-of-excellence

—

Where to find David Singleton:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/dps

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpsingleton/

• Website: https://blog.singleton.io/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) David’s background

(04:22) How Stripe’s unique hiring process has helped them build an incredible team

(12:27) An example of a relentlessly curious and passionate employee

(14:11) Structured hiring loops at Stripe

(16:39) How Stripe built a product-minded engineering culture

(21:56) Stripe’s operating principles

(25:39) How Stripe uses “friction logging” to build a meticulous product culture

(32:22) How to operationalize friction logging

(35:02) How to set PMs up for success

(36:53) Stripe’s collaborative approach to product evaluation

(41:17) Advice for presenting to CTOs

(42:58) How to get better at building products

(45:28) Stripe’s “engineerications” and the importance of getting into the weeds as a leader

(52:03) Auto-testing and other strategies to improve shipping speeds

(59:29) Improving developer productivity

(1:00:54) How AI has impacted the way Stripe builds product

(1:07:03) Why David is excited about Copilot

(1:09:24) Lessons from managing people

(1:14:30) Planning and prioritization based on first-principles thinking

(1:18:23) Lenny’s feedback from using Stripe

(1:19:14) What’s next for Stripe

(1:22:10) Lightning round

—

Referenced:

• Stripe: https://stripe.com/

• Jeff Weinstein: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffwweinstein/

• How we use friction logs to improve products at Stripe: https://dev.to/stripe/how-we-use-friction-logs-to-improve-products-at-stripe-i6p

• GitHub Copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot

• High Output Management by Andrew Grove: https://www.amazon.com/High-Output-Management-Andrew-Grove/dp/0679762884

• Build by Tony Fadell: https://www.amazon.com/Build/dp/1787634116/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0

• Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building by Claire Hughes Johnson: https://www.amazon.com/Scaling-People-Tactics-Management-Building/dp/1953953212/

• Andrej Karpathy on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AndrejKarpathy

• Midjourney: https://www.midjourney.com/home/

• Emily Sands: https://www.linkedin.com/in/egsands/

• Michelle Bu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellebu/

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

How to achieve hypergrowth in your business and career | Carilu Dietrich (Atlassian, Miro, Segment, 1Password)

30 april 2023 | 67 min

The ultimate guide to product-led sales | Elena Verna

23 april 2023 | 76 min

An inside look at how Miro builds product: Lessons on outmaneuvering competitors, team structure, product quality, and moving fast | Varun Parmar (CPO of Miro)

20 april 2023 | 85 min

How to make better decisions and build a joyful career | Ada Chen Rekhi (Notejoy, LinkedIn, SurveyMonkey)

16 april 2023 | 78 min

How to build a cult-like brand | Laura Modi (Bobbie)

13 april 2023 | 61 min

Product lessons from Waymo | Shweta Shrivastava (Waymo, Amazon, Cisco)

9 april 2023 | 42 min

Brought to you by Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security | Public—Invest in stocks, treasuries, crypto, and more | LMNT—Zero-sugar hydration

—

Shweta Shrivastava is a Senior Product Leader at Waymo, an autonomous driving technology company backed by Alphabet. Prior to joining Waymo, she was the CPO of Nauto, where she also worked on AI-assisted driver tools. Shweta has worked in product for over 15 years in senior roles at several companies, including Amazon and Cisco. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• How Waymo builds trust with riders

• Product management at Waymo vs software-only products

• The state of self-driving technology

• The importance of being a disruptor and why large companies need to disrupt more

• Underrated product management skills

—

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/product-lessons-from-waymo-shweta-shrivastava-waymo-amazon-cisco/#transcript

—

Where to find Shweta Shriva

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shshrivastava/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Shweta’s background

(03:47) What Shweta and her team are responsible for at Waymo

(05:30) About the autonomous driving vehicle hardware, software, and simulation tools

(08:14) Differences in working at Waymo vs. a more traditional software company

(11:02) How Waymo builds trust with riders and the difference between driver assist and fully autonomous

(13:57) An example of how Waymo builds trust with riders

(15:55) The commercial, operational, and system behavior metrics Waymo uses

(20:38) What are L5 autonomous vehicles and why Shweta thinks L4 vehicles are good enough

(22:53) How to keep investors enthusiastic when it’s a long-term investment

(25:24) Building successful teams and successful products

(26:39) Determining what you’re not building, especially before product-market-fit

(27:49) Why large companies need to disrupt their own models

(29:33) The most underrated product management skills

(33:07) Tips for getting promoted

(35:19) Where is Waymo and how to try it out

(36:46) Lightning round

—

Referenced:

• Waymo: https://waymo.com/

• Nauto: https://www.nauto.com/

• Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Working-Backwards-Insights-Stories-Secrets/dp/1250267595

• Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers: https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-3rd-Disruptive-Mainstream/dp/0062292986

• The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail: https://www.amazon.com/Innovators-Dilemma-Technologies-Management-Innovation/dp/1633691780

• Top Gun: Maverick on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Top-Gun-Maverick-Tom-Cruise/dp/B0B18G8R9B

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Driving alignment and urgency within teams, work-life balance, and the changing PM landscape | Nikita Miller (The Knot, Trello)

6 april 2023 | 59 min

Brought to you by Wealthfront—Make smarter stock investments | Lenny’s Job Board—Hire the best product people. Find the best product gigs | Ahrefs—Improve your website’s SEO for free

—

Nikita Miller is a product leader, angel investor, and advisor. She has built and led product teams at companies ranging from early-stage startups to multinationals, and she is currently SVP of Product Management at The Knot Worldwide. Nikita is passionate about scaling product teams to support high-growth businesses and was a product leader at Trello and Atlassian for five years. In today’s podcast, we cover:

• Lessons from building and growing Trello

• Nikita’s roles and responsibilities framework

• How the PM landscape is changing

• Lessons about managing remote teams

• Tactics for driving urgency within teams

• Why working cross-culturally was such a formative experience

—

Find the transcript and references at: ⁠https://www.lennyspodcast.com/driving-alignment-and-urgency-within-teams-work-life-balance-and-the-changing-pm-landscape-nikita-miller-the-knot-trello/#transcript

—

Where to find Nikita Miller:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/nikitadyer

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikitadyer/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Nikita’s background

(03:56) How Nikita helped Trello develop enterprise features

(09:41) Trello vs. Jira

(10:28) Similarities and differences between building for users at The Knot vs. Trello

(15:02) Pro tips for Trello users

(15:41) Nikita’s roles and responsibilities framework

(21:10) Why scrum masters are disappearing and what shifts are happening on teams

(21:56) Why every team should have a data scientist embedded in it

(23:27) The proper cadence for the rules and responsibilities framework, and problems around execution

(25:27) Outcomes and output

(28:34) The importance of urgency, and how to cultivate a sense of urgency

(29:52) How to determine if your team is moving quickly enough

(31:03) Prioritization between big bets and optimizations

(31:29) Questions Nikita asks to understand her team’s speed

(33:30) Changes in the field of product management

(36:42) Advice for people who want to get into product

(38:40) Why being a PM is hard, and thoughts on work-life balance

(43:03) How to manage remote teams and how to do successful, short, in-person meetups

(47:59) The importance of having overlapping work hours and onboarding in person

(49:09) The advantages of working in different cultures

(52:58) The question Nikita finds most useful

(55:07) Lightning round

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

—

Disclosure: I am a Wealthfront client and I have received non-cash compensation for the testimonial in this episode.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

The ultimate guide to adding a PLG motion | Hila Qu (Reforge, GitLab)

2 april 2023 | 93 min

Thinking beyond frameworks | Casey Winters (Pinterest, Eventbrite, Airbnb, Tinder, Canva, Reddit, Grubhub)

30 mars 2023 | 78 min

Taxi mafias, cash vaults, and 100% MoM growth: The story behind Southeast Asia’s biggest startup | Kevin Aluwi (Gojek)

26 mars 2023 | 63 min

Brought to you by Coda—Meet the evolution of docs | Rows—The spreadsheet where data comes to life | Lenny’s Job Board—Hire the best product people. Find the best product gigs.

—

Kevin Aluwi is the co-founder and former CEO of Gojek. With over 2.7 million drivers and over 3 billion orders completed, Gojek is the biggest startup in Indonesia and all of Southeast Asia. In today’s podcast, Kevin shares the story of how Gojek overcame endless obstacles—including being underfunded, being unable to send drivers payment, and the local motorcycle mafia coming after their drivers. We cover the importance of brand, the value of doing the hard things, how to be super-scrappy, and helpful tips on building a tech company outside of Silicon Valley.

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/taxi-mafias-cash-vaults-and-100-mom

Where to find Kevin Aluwi:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaluwi

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaluwi/

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

Referenced:

• Gojek: https://www.gojek.com/en-id/

• WeChat: https://www.wechat.com/

• Sequoia: https://www.sequoiacap.com/

• eFishery: https://efishery.com/en/

• What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture: https://www.amazon.com/What-You-Do-Who-Are/dp/0062871331

• How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know: https://www.amazon.com/How-Brands-Grow-What-Marketers/dp/0195573560/

• The Menu on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/movies/the-menu

• Cyberpunk Edgerunners on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81054853

• Arc: https://arc.net/

• Steam Deck: https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeck

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Kevin’s background

(05:00) How Gojek got started and the current scale

(08:35) Some of the services that Gojek currently offers or has offered

(09:37) Kevin’s thoughts on super-apps

(15:36) The importance of brand

(23:08) How to create branding with consistency across copy and design

(26:53) Challenges Gojek had in the early days that required scrappiness

(33:03) Why Kevin doesn’t believe in moats as a durable solution, and the value of doing hard things

(37:30) How Gojek hired private security to keep their drivers safe

(39:38) The value of founders doing and understanding multiple roles within the company

(44:12) How Kevin’s failed finance career led him to take a bet on building tech in Indonesia

(47:30) Tips on building a tech company outside of Silicon Valley

(52:09) What the market is like in Indonesia

(55:42) What’s next for Kevin

(57:41) Lightning round

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Navigating comms and PR | Lulu Cheng Meservey (Substack, Activision Blizzard)

23 mars 2023 | 63 min

Brought to you by AssemblyAI—Powerful AI models to transcribe and understand speech | Public—Invest in stocks, treasuries, crypto, and more | Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.

—

Lulu Cheng Meservey was formerly head of comms at Substack (where I host my newsletter and podcast) and is currently the Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Chief Communications Officer at Activision Blizzard. She also writes one of my favorite newsletters, “Flack,” where she shares tactical advice for company comms, PR, and messaging. In today’s episode, we dive deep into the world of PR and comms. We discuss why taking risks is crucial, how to gain attention as an underdog, and why it’s important to have a super-specific audience. Lulu outlines several frameworks I’d never heard of before, including a concentric circles framework for identifying your audience, the cultural erogenous zones, and even a physics-based framework for comms.

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/navigating-comms-and-pr-lulu-cheng

Where to find Lulu Cheng Meservey:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lulumeservey

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lulu-cheng-meservey/

• Newsletter: https://www.getflack.com/

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

Referenced:

• “Binders full of women”: Mitt Romney’s four words that alienated women voters: https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2012/oct/17/binders-full-of-women-romneys-four-words

• Bill Bishop’s newsletter on Substack: https://www.sinocism.com/

• Hamish McKenzie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hamishmckenzie

• The Network State: How to Start a New Country: https://www.amazon.com/Network-State-How-Start-Country-ebook/dp/B09VPKZR3G

• How to increase virality: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/increasing-virality

• Ryan Petersen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/typesfast

• Brian Armstrong on Twitter: https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong

• Palmer Luckey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PalmerLuckey

• Pirate Wires: https://www.piratewires.com/

• NYX: https://www.nyxcosmetics.com/

• Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae: https://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel-Battle-Thermopylae/dp/055338368X

• The Last of Us on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-last-of-us

• Notion: https://www.notion.so/

• Lex: https://lex.page/

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Lulu’s background

(04:36) What helps an idea spread

(06:17) Mitt Romney’s “binders full of women”

(07:19) Advice for coming up with contagious phrasing

(08:36) Lulu’s esoteric reference that left her Twitter followers confused

(11:08) The importance of taking risks, and Lulu’s thread on standing for free speech

(12:53) An example of another sticky phrase

(14:40) The cultural erogenous zones framework

(16:08) How Kamala Harris made people care about education

(17:29) How to get attention as the underdog

(20:25) How Substack used the concentric circles framework to spread information

(21:32) Understanding the layers in those concentric circles

(25:44) How to get started figuring out your concentric circles

(27:03) An example of aligning messaging with people’s values

(28:19) Lulu’s mathematical formula framework for comms for a purpose

(28:54) A physics-based framework for comms

(35:56) How Balaji Srinivasan used the concentric circles approach with his book The Network State

(39:46) The importance of a super-specific audience

(41:12) Reasons your comms are failing

(42:40) Why you should focus on one direct communication channel at first

(46:58) Why not every founder needs to be on Twitter

(48:02) Who LinkedIn works better for

(49:23) Examples of messaging with a human voice and hopping on trends quickly

(51:11) Reasons for direct comms

(53:52) How to get started setting up a direct channel

(56:09) Why consistent, good content is better than trying to go viral

(59:28) Lightning round

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Competing with giants: An inside look at how The Browser Company builds product | Josh Miller (CEO)

19 mars 2023 | 89 min

The ultimate guide to OKRs | Christina Wodtke (Stanford)

16 mars 2023 | 73 min

Hot takes and techno-optimism from tech’s top power couple | Sriram and Aarthi

12 mars 2023 | 83 min

Career frameworks, A/B testing mistakes, counterintuitive onboarding tips, selling to developers | Laura Schaffer (VP of Growth at Amplitude)

9 mars 2023 | 81 min

Lessons from scaling Stripe | Claire Hughes Johnson (former COO of Stripe)

5 mars 2023 | 81 min

Lessons from working with 600+ YC startups | Gustaf Alströmer (Y Combinator, Airbnb)

2 mars 2023 | 86 min

Behind the scenes of Calendly’s rapid growth | Annie Pearl (CPO)

26 februari 2023 | 62 min

An inside look at how CNN builds product | Upasna Gautam

23 februari 2023 | 58 min

10 lessons on bootstrapping a $200m business | Patrick Campbell (ProfitWell)

19 februari 2023 | 74 min

Understanding the role of product ops | Christine Itwaru (Pendo)

16 februari 2023 | 67 min

Mastering onboarding | Lauryn Isford (Head of Growth at Airtable)

12 februari 2023 | 64 min

Leading with empathy | Keith Yandell (DoorDash, Uber)

9 februari 2023 | 56 min

AI and product management | Marily Nika (Meta, Google)

5 februari 2023 | 48 min

How to foster innovation and big thinking | Eeke de Milliano (Retool, Stripe)

2 februari 2023 | 63 min

Lessons from Airtable’s unconventional growth strategy | Zoelle Egner

29 januari 2023 | 74 min

An inside look at Mixpanel’s product journey | Vijay Iyengar (Head of Product)

26 januari 2023 | 46 min

Building your product strategy stack | Ravi Mehta (Tinder, Facebook, Tripadvisor, Outpace)

19 januari 2023 | 81 min

What differentiates the highest-performing product teams | John Cutler (Amplitude, The Beautiful Mess)

15 januari 2023 | 101 min

How to price your product | Naomi Ionita (Menlo Ventures)

12 januari 2023 | 53 min

An inside look at how Figma builds product | Yuhki Yamashita (CPO of Figma)

8 januari 2023 | 69 min

Leveraging mentors to uplevel your career | Jules Walter (YouTube, Slack)

5 januari 2023 | 70 min

Countdown of the top 10 episodes of the year

29 december 2022 | 61 min

Launching and growing a podcast | Chris Hutchins (All the Hacks, Wealthfront, Google)

18 december 2022 | 78 min

Founder-led sales | Pete Kazanjy (Founding Sales, Atrium)

15 december 2022 | 62 min

How Notion leveraged community to build a $10B business | Camille Ricketts (Notion, First Round Capital)

11 december 2022 | 68 min

The art and science of pricing | Madhavan Ramanujam (Monetizing Innovation, Simon-Kucher)

8 december 2022 | 99 min

How to hit revenue targets in a recession | Sahil Mansuri (Bravado)

4 december 2022 | 87 min

The ultimate guide to SEO | Ethan Smith (Graphite)

1 december 2022 | 91 min

How to be the best coach to product people | Petra Wille (Strong Product People)

27 november 2022 | 72 min

What it takes to become a top 1% PM | Ian McAllister (Uber, Amazon, Airbnb)

20 november 2022 | 65 min

Leaving big tech to build the #1 technology newsletter | Gergely Orosz (The Pragmatic Engineer)

17 november 2022 | 75 min

An inside look at how the New York Times builds product | Alex Hardiman (CPO at The New York Times)

13 november 2022 | 67 min

How to fire people with grace, work through fear, and nurture innovation | Matt Mochary (CEO coach)

10 november 2022 | 71 min

How Snyk built a product-led growth juggernaut | Ben Williams (VP of Product at Snyk)

6 november 2022 | 92 min

Lessons from one of the world’s top executive recruiters | Lauren Ipsen (Daversa Partners, General Catalyst)

3 november 2022 | 69 min

Building Substack | Sachin Monga (Substack, Facebook)

30 oktober 2022 | 61 min

Category creation and brand building | Barbra Gago (Pando, Miro, Greenhouse, Culture Amp)

27 oktober 2022 | 56 min

How to build trust and grow as a product leader | Fareed Mosavat (Reforge, Slack, Instacart, Zynga, Pixar)

23 oktober 2022 | 65 min

Fareed Mosavat is Chief Development Officer at Reforge, where he leads production, content, and new-product experiences. Previously, he led growth and product teams at Slack and Instacart, was a GM at Zynga, and also served as VP of Product at RunKeeper. Before all of that, Fareed’s fascinating career began in engineering for Pixar, where he learned the art of storytelling and collaboration. In today’s episode, we talk about how his time at Pixar influenced the way he thinks about product, why it’s so difficult to become a better PM, and how to avoid the “manager death spiral.” Fareed shares important insights on how to earn the trust of your manager and coworkers, the four types of product work—and why you need to understand all four. He also provides solid examples of how to generalize your learnings and explains why this will expand your options, make you a better PM, and boost your chances of moving into a leadership role.

—

Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-establish-credibility-and

—

Where to find Fareed Mosavat:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/far33d

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fareed/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:

• Coda: http://coda.io/lenny

• Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/

• Vanta: https://vanta.com/lenny

—

Referenced:

• Naval Ravikant’s Twitter thread about specific knowledge: https://twitter.com/naval/status/1002104865919664128

• Merci Grace on Lenny’s podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/merci-grace-ex-head-of-growth-at-slack-on-plg-interviewing-storytelling-building-a-diverse-team-hiring-salespeople-building-a-growth-team-and-much-more/

• “Crossing the Canyon: Product Manager to Product Leader,” by Fareed Mosavat and Casey Winters: https://www.reforge.com/blog/crossing-the-canyon-product-manager-to-product-leader

• Casey Winters on Lenny’s podcast: https://www.podpage.com/lennys-podcast/how-to-sell-your-ideas-and-rise-within-your-company-casey-winters-eventbrite/

• Reforge: https://www.reforge.com/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:38) Fareed’s background

(03:55) Lessons from Pixar

(09:07) What Fareed does at Reforge

(11:57) The scale of Reforge at this time

(13:51) Why it’s so difficult to become a better PM

(18:03) A PM pie chart—execution, generalizing your solutions, communication, and scaling

(23:00) How creating trust helped Fareed’s career grow

(26:24) How to gain trust by leveraging your curiosity and communication skills

(33:50) How to move from PM to Product Lead

(36:43) The manager death spiral and how to avoid it

(40:43) The four types of product work

(44:13) Moving from IC to product manager

(47:15) How to ask for the proper resources

(50:00) The trend of senior PMs diversifying into advising, teaching, and angel investing

(57:20) The downsides of being your own boss

(01:00:45) Advice for breaking into advising

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Humanizing product development | Adriel Frederick (Reddit, Lyft, Facebook)

20 oktober 2022 | 67 min

Building better product roadmaps | Janna Bastow (Mind the Product, ProdPad)

16 oktober 2022 | 54 min

How to build a high-performing growth team | Adam Fishman (Patreon, Lyft, Imperfect Foods)

13 oktober 2022 | 66 min

Developing a growth model + marketplace growth strategy | Dan Hockenmaier (Faire, Thumbtack, Reforge)

9 oktober 2022 | 64 min

Dan Hockenmaier is an expert on marketplace strategy and growth. He was previously the Director of Growth at Thumbtack as well as a partner at Reforge, where he co-created the monetization track. Currently, he is the Head of Strategy and Analytics at Faire. In today’s episode, Dan shares the building blocks of a growth model, important considerations when building your growth model, and how to get started. We also chat about retention best practices, the complexity of building a marketplace, the future of marketplaces, and when it makes sense to add a SaaS business to a marketplace, and vice versa.

—

Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/developing-a-growth-model-marketplace

—

Where to find Dan Hockenmaier:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/danhockenmaier

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-hock/

• Website: https://www.danhock.com/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:

• Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/

• Flatfile: https://www.flatfile.com/lenny

• Eppo: https://www.geteppo.com/

—

Referenced:

• Reforge: https://www.reforge.com/

• Casey Winters on Lenny’s Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-sell-your-ideas-and-rise-within-your-company

• Faire: https://www.faire.com/

• Dan’s blog post on the future of marketplaces: https://www.danhock.com/posts/the-future-of-marketplaces

• Careers at Faire: https://www.faire.com/careers

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:43) Dan’s background

(04:01) What is a growth model?

(07:20) The building blocks of a growth model for your own business

(10:22) The value in building your own model

(11:12) The importance of retention over growth

(14:49) Getting started building your model

(19:18) The growth model at Thumbtack

(20:36) The importance of the early user experience for retention

(25:02) Why is a marketplace a good business?

(28:23) Health metrics for marketplaces

(33:47) Supply and demand, and why you shouldn’t neglect demand

(36:23) The role of ROI equations and how to use them

(39:16) Why you should tread lightly when working with marketplaces

(42:43) Expanding marketplaces

(46:50) How marketplaces can add a SaaS offering, and why adding a marketplace to a SaaS business is trickier

(49:47) When is there an opportunity to unbundle?

(54:43) B2B marketplaces

(56:36) What is fragmentation?

(58:46) The future of marketplaces

—

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Using behavioral science to improve your product | Kristen Berman (Irrational Labs)

2 oktober 2022 | 56 min

Customer-led growth | Georgiana Laudi (Forget The Funnel)

29 september 2022 | 67 min

Growth tactics, retention strategies, and becoming a better writer | Julian Shapiro (Demand Curve, Hyper, Webflow, TechCrunch)

25 september 2022 | 59 min

Building a meaningful career | Jason Shah (Airbnb, Amazon, Microsoft, Alchemy)

18 september 2022 | 70 min

Jason Shah has led product teams at Amazon, Airbnb, Microsoft, and Yammer and currently leads the product team at Alchemy (one of the most important web3 infrastructure companies). In addition, he’s an advisor, investor, and two-time founder. In today’s episode, Jason discusses what it’s like to be a PM in web3, why his role at Amazon made such a big impact on his life and career, what makes a great leader, and how to hire well. He also shares his unique perspective on building a meaningful career and life.

—

Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-a-meaningful-career-jason

—Where to find Jason Shah:• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jasonyogeshshah• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonyogeshshah/• Website: https://www.jasonshah.me/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:• Whimsical: https://whimsical.com/lenny• Coda: http://coda.io/lenny• Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/—Referenced:• Creative Selection: Inside Apple’s Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs: https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Selection-Inside-Apples-Process/dp/1250194466• Casey Winters on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-sell-your-ideas-and-rise-within#details• Jason Shah in Lenny’s newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/a-product-managers-guide-to-web3• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers: https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Thing-About-Things-Building/dp/0062273205• Polygon: https://polygon.technology/• Solana: https://solana.com/• MoonPay: https://www.moonpay.com/• The Vietnam War series by Ken Burns: https://www.pbs.org/show/vietnam-war/• Alchemy: https://www.alchemy.com/—In this episode, we cover:(04:31) Jason’s background(08:19) The current state of web3(12:44) The evolution of product management in web3(15:27) The value of a great product manager(18:11) Why Amazon was a great learning experience (20:25) A look into Amazon’s process on working backward(23:55) How to communicate clearly(28:17) Working backward from excitement(32:46) What makes a great leader(38:26) How to influence a CEO or founder’s direction (46:19) The career ladder vs. career map framework(52:27) When to follow a new opportunity vs. when to stick it out(58:50) How to hire the right people(1:03:47) What skill is most important for product managers(1:06:49) Lightning round!—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquires about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

When and how to invest in new acquisition channels | Adam Grenier (Uber, MasterClass)

15 september 2022 | 70 min

How to build a powerful marketing machine | Emily Kramer (Asana, Carta, MKT1)

11 september 2022 | 71 min

The role of AI in product development | Ryan J. Salva (VP of Product at GitHub, Copilot)

4 september 2022 | 65 min

How to grow a subscription business | Yuriy Timen (Grammarly, Canva, Airtable)

1 september 2022 | 68 min

Persuasive communication and managing up | Wes Kao (Maven, Seth Godin, Section4)

28 augusti 2022 | 53 min

The nature of product | Marty Cagan, Silicon Valley Product Group

21 augusti 2022 | 60 min

What are common diseases of product teams, and how do you avoid them? Why should you focus less on problem discovery and more on solution discovery? How do you maintain your product mojo? After working as a product leader for over 20 years, Marty Cagan started Silicon Valley Product Group to help product teams operate at a higher level. In this conversation, Marty shares what Steve Jobs can teach you about building product, how to structure your teams for innovation, how to improve your product culture, which trends in PM to ignore, and much more. After this, you’ll never think about building teams the same way. Join us.

—

Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-nature-of-product-marty-cagan-silicon-valley-product-group/#transcript

—

Where to find Marty Cagan:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/cagan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cagan/

• SVPG: https://www.svpg.com/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:

• Whimsical: https://whimsical.com/lenny

• Flatfile: https://www.flatfile.com/lenny

• Modern Treasury: https://www.moderntreasury.com/

—

Referenced:

• The Nature of Product: https://www.svpg.com/the-nature-of-product/

• Devolving From Good To Bad: https://www.svpg.com/devolving-from-good-to-bad/

• Shreyas Doshi: https://twitter.com/shreyas

• The Lost Interview: https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Lost-Interview/dp/B01IJD1BES

• Continuous Discovery Habits: Discover Products that Create Customer Value and Business Value by Theresa Torres: https://www.amazon.com/Continuous-Discovery-Habits-Discover-Products/dp/1736633309

• Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days by Jake Knapp: https://www.amazon.com/Sprint-Solve-Problems-Test-Ideas/dp/1442397683

• Patrick Collison on User Research: https://twitter.com/patrickc/status/1443215022029619200

—

In this episode, we cover:

[03:46] The biggest misconceptions about what a good product team does and looks like

[07:49] The qualities that separate the best product teams

[16:20] The downfall of innovation in great product teams

[17:43] The gap between the best and the rest

[19:23] The pitfalls product teams can fall into

[27:46] The role of user research in building a great product

[35:26] What individual contributors can do to shift product culture

[41:04] How PMs can set themselves up for success when trying to change product culture

[44:06] How product management is changing

[55:33] The pitfalls Marty warns to watch out for in product management

—

Production and marketing: https://penname.co/

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

The art of building legendary brands | Arielle Jackson (Google, Square, Marketer in Residence at First Round Capital)

18 augusti 2022 | 83 min

The rituals of great teams | Shishir Mehrotra of Coda, YouTube, Microsoft

14 augusti 2022 | 92 min

How to launch and grow your product | Ryan Hoover of Product Hunt and Weekend Fund

7 augusti 2022 | 70 min

Thousands of new products launch each year, but very few make it. Ryan Hoover has seen thousands of products launched over the course of his time running Product Hunt, and through his investing, and in this episode you’ll hear what Ryan has learned about launching products, growing products, and raising capital. Plus, we play a made up game called “What would you rather upvote?” Join us.

—

Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-launch-and-grow-your-product-ryan-hoover-of-product-hunt-and-weekend-fund/#transcript

—

Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:

• RevenueCat: https://www.revenuecat.com/

• Flatfile: https://www.flatfile.com/lenny

• Lenny’s Giveaway Bonanza: https://lennyspodcast.com/bonanza

—

Where to find Ryan Hoover:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/rrhoover

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanrhoover/

• Website: https://www.ryanhoover.me/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

[03:23] On being a tech celebrity

[09:02] Using Twitter DM’s as a content machine

[11:15] The questions most founders ask

[14:48] When should you start a company?

[18:28] Would Ryan raise money for Product Hunt if he could do it again?

[21:48] When should companies launch products?

[24:52] What makes a launch successful versus not?

[26:27] How to get to the top of Product Hunt

[30:01] What skill is most helpful for moving into investing and venture capital?

[31:39] What Ryan would do differently if he could re-build Product Hunt

[38:57] What matters most in life

[43:13] Which ideas Ryan would upvote

[48:05] What founders of consumer companies do to succeed

[55:33] Deciding to serve a niche or broad market

[58:03] The surprising parts of angel investing

[1:02:12] Advice for folks wanting to get into angel investing

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

How to own your career growth and become a powerful product leader | Deb Liu, Ancestry (ex-Facebook, PayPal)

4 augusti 2022 | 71 min

Do you put as much time into your career planning as you do into your product planning? Deb Liu has had an extraordinary career path, from Ebay and PayPal, to Facebook, and now Ancestry. She’s sat in on, mentored, and managed hundreds of product managers. In this episode, she shares poignant advice on how to intentionally find growth opportunities and drive your career forward. Join us.

—

Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-own-your-career-growth-and-become-a-powerful-product-leader-deb-liu-ancestry-ex-facebook-paypal/#transcript

—

Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:

• Flatfile: https://www.flatfile.com/lenny

• Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/

• Makelog: https://www.makelog.com/lenny

—

Where to find Deb Liu:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/debliu_

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahliu/

• Substack: https://debliu.substack.com/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

Referenced:

• Take Back Your Power: 10 New Rules for Women at Work (Deb’s Book): https://www.amazon.com/Take-Back-Your-Power-Rules/dp/031036485X

• How To Change Your Life Through Resolutions: https://debliu.substack.com/p/resolve-to-progress

—

In this episode, we cover:

[04:32] What it was like when eBay acquired PayPal

[07:31] Quirky culture clashes as the companies merged

[09:46] How incentives drive employee behavior

[14:43] How Deb took on a product management role at a young age

[17:51] PayPal’s hiring strategy for early growth

[20:03] How to succeed as an introverted leader

[25:29] What sets successful Product Managers apart from one’s who plateau

[27:09] Specific tactics for unlocking growth in your Product Management career

[32:06] How to find and create mentorship circles

[36:30] The most important skill for early Product Managers to focus on

[43:58] How to grow your confidence in communication

[46:55] Deb’s upcoming book "Take Back Your Power"

[50:35] One tactical tip from Deb’s upcoming book on how to improve your Product Management

[52:09] How to get involved with Women In Product

[57:11] How companies can recruit more diverse Product Managers

[1:00:04] How Deb built Facebook marketplace from scratch

[1:06:03] The blessing and curse of gaining a lot of users quickly

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

How to scrappily hire for, measure, and unlock growth | Crystal Widjaja, Gojek and Kumu

31 juli 2022 | 63 min

You don’t need lots of employees to achieve impressive growth—but you do need a unique approach to hiring and structuring your team, and accurately measuring your growth efforts. Crystal Widjaja has used scrappy tactics to unlock massive success for Gojek (a wildly successful ride-share app in South East Asia) and is currently the Chief Product Officer at Kumu. In this episode, she shares the exact strategies she’s used as a product leader to hack growth, hire the best, and perfect data collection. Join us.

Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:

• Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/

• Flatfile: https://www.flatfile.com/lenny

• Eppo: https://www.geteppo.com/

—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-hire-for-measure-and-unlock—

Where to find Crystal:

• Website: https://www.crissyw.com/

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/crystalwidjaja

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystalwidjaja/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

Referenced:

• Generation Girl: https://www.generationgirl.org/

• Experiment Design Question Example: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tSrEGpvg19OMKrRg45HGvsZBGz8BkeVc/edit#gid=1841057518

—

In this episode, we cover:

[00:00] Crystal’s path to product

[09:40] How Crystal decided to join a risky startup

[11:31] Why haven't super apps emerged in the U.S.?

[13:15] What startups in the U.S. can learn from companies in Asia

[16:35] How to get intentionally scrappier in your organization

[18:28] How to get and utilize scrappy and small data sets

[21:26] How to increase retention

[22:28] What does and doesn't work in growth?

[25:01] The conversion rates Crytsal looks for to determine viability and success

[28:03] How founders should think about approaching growth

[32:44] Figuring out how to grow and the resources you have at your disposal

[34:53] Optimizing the funnel to make growth happen faster

[37:40] Crystal's biggest lessons on unlocking growth

[40:07] Why most analytics efforts fail and how to avoid failure

[44:24] Signs your organization is getting analytics wrong

[46:17] The best resources for figuring out how to do analytics right

[47:05] Crystal's recommendations for metric tracking stacks.

[48:37] How you should set up your growth team originally

[51:38] Integrating growth teams or separating them?

[52:43] Who should be the first growth hire?

[53:55] How to hire a great growth person for your organization

[56:55] How to help women and young girls get into STEM (a non-profit that you started)

[1:02:07] Where to reach Crystal

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

How to create a winning product strategy | Melissa Perri

28 juli 2022 | 54 min

How to unlock your product leadership skills | Ken Norton, Ex-Google

24 juli 2022 | 74 min

Advancing as a product leader requires new skills and a new mindset. Ken Norton is an executive coach who works with some of the top people in product to help them get unstuck and find creativity again in their approach to problems and their careers. After 14 years as a Product Manager at Google, Ken brings deep experience in leadership and shares with us the lessons he most often offers his clients to unlock growth. Join us.

Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:

• Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/

• Lenny’s Job Board: https://www.lennysjobs.com/talent

• Unit: https://unit.co/lenny

—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-unlock-your-product-leadership—

Where to find Ken Norton:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/kennethn

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennethnorton/

• Product Leadership Coaching: https://www.bringthedonuts.com/coaching/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

Books and Resources Recommended By Ken:

• Dare To Lead by Brene Brown • 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership • Mastering Leadership by Bob Anderson • Immunity to Change by Robert Kegan • Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome • Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen

—

In this episode, learn:

[00:00] What to expect in this episode with Ken Norton[03:10] Why Ken will never get tired of donuts[05:05] Ken’s career path and what he does with executive coaching now[08:00] What Ken learned from his own executive coach[12:02] Driving a car and the metaphor of learning a new skill[16:20] How Ken’s helping leaders shift their mindset[19:41] Creative vs reactive leadership mindset[22:15] How your underlying beliefs impact your leadership style[33:50] Mindset and authenticity and their role within leadership[39:00] What you can do if you can’t spend a lot on coaching[42:05] Resources Ken recommends (linked in notes)[44:22] Biggest blindspots people have[48:10] Why doing the hard thing, may be the best thing[49:20] What to do with imposter syndrome[58:40] Ways to find a coach[1:01:03] 10x vs 10%[1:05:35] Ken’s one piece of advice for hiring a product manager[1:13:00] How to find Ken

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

How to sell your ideas and rise within your company | Casey Winters, Eventbrite

21 juli 2022 | 55 min

The people who rise fastest in product know how to sell their ideas to customers, and also to their coworkers. Casey Winters, the Chief Product Officer at Eventbrite (previously at Grubhub, Pinterest, and advisor to dozens of companies) shares what it takes to be successful as you rise in the ranks within product. In this episode we’ll talk about how to land presentations, how to win over executives with strategic communication, the skill sets that are most in demand in product, and new growth trends. Join us.

—

Find the full transcript here: https://www.podpage.com/lennys-podcast/how-to-sell-your-ideas-and-rise-within-your-company-casey-winters-eventbrite/#transcript

—

Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:

• Coda: http://coda.io/lenny

• Mixpanel: https://mixpanel.com/startups

• Whimsical: https://whimsical.com/lenny

—

Where to find Casey Winters:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/onecaseman

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseywinters/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, learn:

[00:00] What to expect in this episode with Casey Winters

[03:23] An overview of Casey’s career

[06:18] A look into the most-fulfilling and challenging roles Casey has energized

[06:50] Communicating upward

[11:18] How to derisk meetings

[13:53] Are you properly preparing for your meetings?

[19:09] Striving for perceived simplicity

[24:22] Justifying non-sexy product improvements

[27:47] Protecting what you’ve built vs continuously scaling

[31:03] The downfall of functional ops roles

[35:21] The CPO role: what it is and how to get there

[40:44] The spectrum of product people

[45:11] How to level up your skills

[47:01] New growth trends, tactics, and strategies

[50:32] Casey’s two stages of growth: kindle strategies and fire strategies

[51:51] Under appreciated growth strategies

[54:02] Where to find Casey

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Nickey Skarstad (Airbnb, Etsy, Shopify, Duolingo) on translating vision into goals, operationalizing product quality, second-order decisions, brainstorming, influence, and much more

18 juli 2022 | 61 min

Manik Gupta (ex-CPO Uber, Google Maps) on how to build consumer apps, why it’s useful to be optimistic about technology, creating inflections in your PM career, the changing CPO role, and more

14 juli 2022 | 65 min

Merci Grace (ex-Head of Growth at Slack) on PLG, interviewing, storytelling, building a diverse team, hiring salespeople, building a growth team, and much more

11 juli 2022 | 59 min

Sanchan Saxena (VP of Product at Coinbase) on the inside story of how Airbnb made it through Covid; what he’s learned from Brian Chesky, Brian Armstrong, and Kevin Systrom; much more

5 juli 2022 | 61 min

Teresa Torres on how to interview customers, automating continuous discovery, the opportunity solution tree framework, making the case for user research, common interviewing mistakes, and much more

30 juni 2022 | 48 min

Teresa Torres is an internationally acclaimed author, speaker, and coach. She teaches a structured and sustainable system for continuous discovery that helps product teams infuse their daily product decisions with customer input. She’s coached hundreds of teams at companies of all sizes, from early-stage startups to global enterprises, in a variety of industries. She has taught over 11,000 product people discovery skills through the Product Talk Academy and hundreds through her coaching practice, and is the author of Continuous Discovery Habits.

—

Thank you to our sponsors for making this episode possible:

• Persona: https://withpersona.com/lenny

• Dovetail: https://dovetailapp.com/lenny

• Stytch: https://stytch.com/

—

In this episode, we cover:

[3:37] How Teresa is in the top 5 people in the world who’s helped the most PMs.

[5:25] What is the “opportunity solution tree framework”?

[8:19] What’s an example of an opportunity solution tree, for Netflix?

[14:17] Why do we usually approach opportunity finding wrong?

[18:10] What should you do if your company is a feature factory?

[21:00] What is continuous discovery, and why is it so important?

[23:13] What do you do if your leaders tell you there’s no time for user research?

[25:55] How can you automate weekly conversations with customers?

[29:04] How do you stay unbiased as a PM about a potential solution?

[31:23] Should a PM have more say over other functions?

[35:33] What are Teresa’s best tips for how to interview customers?

[39:57] What’s the most common mistake people make while interviewing customers?

[40:25] How does discovery change as your company grows?

[43:27] When should you do user research and when should you run an experiment?

—

Where to find Teresa:

• Product Talk: https://www.producttalk.org/

• Opportunity solution tree: https://www.producttalk.org/opportunity-solution-tree/

• Continuous Discovery Habits: https://www.amazon.com/Continuous-Discovery-Habits-Discover-Products/dp/1736633309

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresatorres/

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ttorres

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Brandon Chu on building product at Shopify, how writing changed the trajectory of his career, the habits that make you a great PM, pros and cons of being a platform PM, how Shopify got through Covid

27 juni 2022 | 50 min

Elena Verna on how B2B growth is changing, product-led growth, product-led sales, why you should go freemium not trial, what features to make free, and much more

23 juni 2022 | 59 min

Gibson Biddle on his DHM product strategy framework, GEM roadmap prioritization framework, 5 Netflix strategy mini case studies, building a personal board of directors, and much more

20 juni 2022 | 60 min

Jackie Bavaro on getting better at product strategy, what exactly is strategy, PM pitfalls to avoid, advancing your career, getting into management, and much more

16 juni 2022 | 49 min

Gokul Rajaram on designing your product development process, when and how to hire your first PM, a playbook for hiring leaders, getting ahead in you career, how to get started angel investing, more

13 juni 2022 | 62 min

Gokul Rajaram serves on the executive team at DoorDash, where he leads the Caviar product line. Previously he worked at Square, where he was also on the executive team and led a number of key product lines, and as a product director at Facebook, where he helped the company transition its advertising business to become mobile-first. Earlier in his career, Gokul was a product director for Google AdSense, where he helped launch the product and grow it into a substantial portion of Google’s business.

Gokul also serves on the boards of Coinbase, Pinterest, and The Trade Desk and is a prolific angel investor, having invested in companies like Airtable, Khatabook, and 100+ more.

In this episode, you will learn:

1. How to navigate your next career

- What should you focus on in order to improve your optionality?

- What should you consider as you look for your next career adventure?

- Why join winners in a space?

- Why should people entering the workforce join mid-stage companies?

- Why there are many paths to success.

2. How to build a product development process at early-stage companies

- What does the best product development process typically look like at different company stages?

- What are some common pitfalls when building these processes?

3. Hiring PMs

- When should you hire your first PM? What should you look for?

- When should you wait longer to hire a PM?

- What’s the number one secret for hiring a product leader, regardless of industry?

- How much time should you allocate for hiring as a founder?

- How might job titles impact your company’s work culture?

4. How to start angel investing

- How did Gokul start investing in startups? What would he have done differently?

- What does he look for in a startup pitch?

- How much time should you spend as a part-time investor?

- How do you find deals as a new investor?

Where to find Gokul:

- Twitter: https://twitter.com/gokulr

References:

- Gokul’s current favorite app, Coinbase Wallet: https://www.coinbase.com/wallet

- Favorite book, Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works: https://rogerlmartin.com/lets-read/playing-to-win

- TED talk: TEDxConcordia - Lenny Rachitsky - Losing Serendipity

—

Thank you to our sponsors for making this episode possible:

• Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/

• Flatfile: https://flatfile.com/Lenny

• Productboard: https://Productboard.com/

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

April Dunford on product positioning, segmentation, and optimizing your sales process

9 juni 2022 | 61 min

Shreyas Doshi on pre-mortems, the LNO framework, the three levels of product work, why most execution problems are strategy problems, and ROI vs. opportunity cost thinking

7 juni 2022 | 77 min

Shreyas Doshi is a treasure trove of knowledge and tactical insights on product, strategy, psychology, leadership, and life. Over the course of his career, he’s PM’d at Google, Twitter, Yahoo, and Stripe, where he joined as its fourth product manager, later becoming Stripe’s first PM manager and helping define and grow its product management function (from ~5 to more than 50 people). Since leaving Stripe, Shreyas has amassed a huge Twitter following in large part thanks to consistent sharing of high-quality insights on the art of product management.

—

Find the full transcript here: https://www.podpage.com/lennys-podcast/shreyas-doshi-on-pre-mortems-the-lno-framework-the-three-levels-of-product-work-why-most-executio/#transcript

—

In this episode, we’ll explore five big ideas from Shreyas Doshi:

1) How to predict and prevent problems with pre-mortems

* How did pre-mortem meetings impact the culture at Stripe?

* What are the best practices in running a pre-mortem meeting?

2) How to prioritize your time with the LNO framework

* What is the LNO framework? How did it change the way Shreyas went about his day?

* What is the two-step tactic you can apply to overcome procrastination on important tasks?

3) The three levels of product work

* What are the three levels of product work? Which level should you optimize for?

* How might these product work levels cause conflict or influence your company culture?

4) Most execution problems are not really execution problems

* What are the common types of problems hiding behind the execution label?

* What are the two traits you need to identify a fake execution problem?

5) Why ROI thinking is detrimental to product planning

* What is the pitfall of ROI thinking?

* What is opportunity-cost thinking and how can you apply it?

—

References:

* Coda template: https://coda.io/@shreyas/pre-mortems-how-a-stripe-product-manager-predicts-prevents-probl

* Pre-mortems: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1221257568510603264

* LNO framework: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1492345184171945984

* Three levels of product work: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1370248637842812936

* Execution problems: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1427116991274307588

* Opportunity-cost thinking: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1409726218438549514

* High agency: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1276956836856393728

—

Where to find Shreyas:

* Twitter: https://twitter.com/shreyas

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreyasdoshi/

—

Our amazing sponsors:

* Coda: https://coda.io/lenny

* Productboard: https://www.productboard.com/

* Sprig: https://sprig.com/lenny

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Julie Zhuo on accelerating your career, impostor syndrome, writing, building product sense, using intuition vs. data, hiring designers, and moving into management

7 juni 2022 | 72 min

Julie Zhuo is the co-founder of Sundial, a company that helps builders make meaningful use of data to fulfill their mission. With over 400K followers across social media, she is one of the most influential leaders in product design, and product thinking broadly.

Julie started her career at Facebook as a product designer and eventually led teams of 100+ designers as the VP of Design. Her experience leading at Facebook motivated her to publish the Wall Street Journal best seller The Making of a Manager in 2019. On the side, Julie shared her thoughts on technology, design, and leadership in The Looking Glass, the blog that inspired Lenny’s Newsletter.—

Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/episode-2-julie-zhuo

—

In this episode, you will learn about:

1) The making of a VP

* How did Julie find her way to product design?

* How did she navigate through impostor syndrome given the growing responsibilities as Facebook rapidly scaled?

* What are the challenges she faces as she transitions from VP to founder?

2) The impact and habit of writing

* What goals was Julie able to achieve through writing?

* What did she do to build a habit of writing?

* Does she think tweeting is better than blogging?

3) How to develop product sense and make better design decisions

* What are the three tried-and-true steps to develop product sense?

* When do you choose intuition over data?

* What’s the secret to facilitating great product/design review meetings?

3) How to take your first steps into management

* What can you do to unblock your path to become a manager?

* What’s the must-know trick in competing for design talent?

Where to find Julie:

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-zhuo/

* Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/joulee

* Sundial: sundial.so

* Book: The Making of a Manager, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079WNPRL2/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1

* Substack: https://lg.substack.com/

* Medium: https://medium.com/the-year-of-the-looking-glass

Our amazing sponsors:

* Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/

* Productboard: https://www.productboard.com/

* Sprig: https://sprig.com/lenny

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Welcome to my new podcast!

5 juni 2022 | 3 min

Lenny’s Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover concrete, actionable, and tactical advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.

Om podden

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The things engineers are desperate for PMs to understand | Camille Fournier (author of “The Manager’s Path,” ex-CTO at Rent the Runway)

Land your dream job in today’s market: negotiation tactics, job search councils, and more | Phyl Terry (Author, “Never Search Alone”)

How LinkedIn became interesting: The inside story | Tomer Cohen (CPO at LinkedIn)

The original growth hacker reveals his secrets | Sean Ellis (author of “Hacking Growth”)

Airbnb’s Vlad Loktev on embracing chaos, inquiry over advocacy, poking the bear, and “impact, impact, impact” (Partner at Index Ventures, Airbnb GM/VP Product)

How to consistently go viral: Nikita Bier’s playbook for winning at consumer apps (co-founder of TBH, Gas, advisor, investor)

Succeeding as an introvert, building zero-to-one, and why you should PM your career like you PM your product | Deb Liu (CEO of Ancestry, ex-Facebook, PayPal, eBay)

Unorthodox PM wisdom: Automating user insights, unselling job candidates, logging every decision, more | Kevin Yien (Stripe, Square, Mutiny)

Improve strategy, influence, and decision-making by understanding your brain | Evan LaPointe (founder of CORE Sciences)

How embracing emotions will accelerate your career | Joe Hudson (executive coach, Art of Accomplishment)

Lessons from scaling Uber and Opendoor | Brian Tolkin (Head of Product at Opendoor, ex-Uber)

The ultimate guide to performance marketing | Timothy Davis (Shopify)

5 essential questions to craft a winning strategy | Roger Martin (author, advisor, speaker)

What most people miss about marketing | Rory Sutherland (Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, author)

Building a world-class data org | Jessica Lachs (VP of Analytics and Data Science at DoorDash)

Building product at Stripe: craft, metrics, and customer obsession | Jeff Weinstein (Product lead)

Pattern Breakers: How to find a breakthrough startup idea | Mike Maples, Jr. (Founding Partner at Floodgate, ex-Product at Silicon Graphics)

Dylan Field live at Config: Intuition, simplicity, and the future of design

The social radar: Y Combinator’s secret weapon | Jessica Livingston (co-founder of Y Combinator, author, podcast host)

Making an impact through authenticity and curiosity | Ami Vora (CPO at Faire, ex-WhatsApp, FB, IG)

Hard-won lessons building 0 to 1 inside Atlassian | Tanguy Crusson (Head of Jira Product Discovery)

The paths to power: How to grow your influence and advance your career | Jeffrey Pfeffer (author of 7 Rules of Power, professor at Stanford GSB)

Lessons from a two-time unicorn builder, 50-time startup advisor, and 20-time company board member | Uri Levine (co-founder of Waze)

Inside Canva: Coaches not managers, giving away your Legos, and running profitably | Cameron Adams (co-founder and CPO)

The surprising truth about what closes deals: Insights from 2.5m sales conversations | Matt Dixon (author of The Challenger Sale and The JOLT Effect)

Unorthodox frameworks for growing your product, career, and impact | Bangaly Kaba (YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Instacart)

Why not asking for what you want is holding you back | Kenneth Berger (exec coach, first PM at Slack)

Be fundamentally different, not incrementally better | Jag Duggal (Nubank, Facebook, Google, Quantcast)

A framework for PM skill development | Vikrama Dhiman (Gojek)

Business strategy with Hamilton Helmer (author of 7 Powers)

This will make you a better decision maker | Annie Duke (author of “Thinking in Bets” and “Quit”, former pro poker player)

Twitter’s former Head of Product opens up: being fired, meeting Elon, changing stagnant culture, building consumer product, more | Kayvon Beykpour

How to build deeper, more robust relationships | Carole Robin (Stanford GSB professor, “Touchy Feely”)

Vision, conviction, and hype: How to build 0 to 1 inside a company | Mihika Kapoor (Product at Figma)

Lessons from 1,000+ YC startups: Resilience, tar pit ideas, pivoting, more | Dalton Caldwell (Y Combinator, Managing Director)

The GitLab way: Kindness, transparency, and short toes | David DeSanto (CPO)

A framework for finding product-market fit | Todd Jackson (First Round Capital)

Bending the universe in your favor | Claire Vo (LaunchDarkly, Color, Optimizely, ChatPRD)

Zigging vs. zagging: How HubSpot built a $30B company | Dharmesh Shah (co-founder/CTO)

How to speak more confidently and persuasively | Matt Abrahams (professor, podcast host, author, speaker)

Kunal Shah on winning in India, second-order thinking, the philosophy of startups, and more

The ultimate guide to PR | Emilie Gerber (founder of Six Eastern)

The happiness and pain of product management | Noam Lovinsky (Grammarly, Facebook, YouTube, Thumbtack)

Product management theater | Marty Cagan (Silicon Valley Product Group)

Inside TikTok: Culture, strategy, monetization, and more | Ray Cao (Global Head of Monetization Product Strategy and Operations)

Making Meta | Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth (CTO)

How to discover your superpowers, own your story, and unlock personal growth | Donna Lichaw (author of The Leader’s Journey)

How Netflix builds a culture of excellence | Elizabeth Stone (CTO)

Building a world-class sales org | Jason Lemkin (SaaStr)

Making time for what matters | Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky (authors of Sprint and Make Time, co-founders of Character Capital)

Inside OpenAI | Logan Kilpatrick (head of developer relations)

Lessons from Atlassian: Launching new products, getting buy-in, and staying ahead of the competition | Megan Cook (head of product, Jira)

Managing nerves, anxiety, and burnout | Jonny Miller (Nervous System Mastery)

Geoffrey Moore on finding your beachhead, crossing the chasm, and dominating a market

Good Strategy, Bad Strategy | Richard Rumelt

The art and wisdom of changing teams | Heidi Helfand (author of Dynamic Reteaming)

Taking control of your career | Ethan Evans (Amazon)

How to be more innovative | Sam Schillace (Microsoft deputy CTO, creator of Google Docs)

The engineering mindset | Will Larson (Carta, Stripe, Uber, Calm, Digg)

The UX research reckoning is here | Judd Antin (Airbnb, Meta)

Strategies for becoming less distracted and improving focus | Nir Eyal (author of Indistractable and Hooked)

The hierarchy of engagement | Sarah Tavel (Benchmark, Greylock, Pinterest)

The essence of product management | Christian Idiodi (SVPG)

Jason Fried challenges your thinking on fundraising, goals, growth, and more

How to tell better stories | Matthew Dicks (Storyworthy)

Failure

Radical Candor: From theory to practice with author Kim Scott

The full-stack PM | Anuj Rathi (Swiggy, Jupiter Money, Flipkart)

Crafting a compelling product vision | Ebi Atawodi (YouTube, Netflix, Uber)

The future of AI in software development | Inbal Shani (CPO of GitHub)

My favorite interview questions from 100+ guests

Billion dollar failures, and billion dollar success | Tom Conrad (Quibi, Pandora, Pets.com, Snap, Zero)

Redefining success, money, and belonging | Paul Millerd (The Pathless Path)

The ultimate guide to product operations | Melissa Perri and Denise Tilles

Brian Chesky’s new playbook

Marketplace lessons from Uber, Airbnb, Bumble, and more | Ramesh Johari (Stanford professor, startup advisor)