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

21 september 2023 · 1 uur 13 min
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Itamar Gilad is a product coach, author, and speaker with over two decades of experience in senior product roles at Google, Microsoft, and various startups. He is also the author of Evidence-Guided: Creating High-Impact Products in the Face of Uncertainty and publishes a popular product management newsletter. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• What it means to be “evidence-guided”

• How to think about your KPIs as metric trees

• How to prioritize ideas using the “confidence meter”

• The GIST model for roadmapping

• Common mistakes with ICE

• Advice for using evidence to challenge gut-driven founders

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/becoming-evidence-guided-itamar-gilad

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Where to find Itamar Gilad:

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

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

• Website: https://itamargilad.com/

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Where to find Lenny:

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

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

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

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Itamar’s background

(04:35) How his time working on Gmail shaped his philosophy of “opinion-based” development

(08:35) Lessons from developing Gmail’s tabbed inbox

(13:40) A brief overview of Itamar’s book, Evidence-Guided

(14:30) Balancing founder creativity with an evidence-based approach

(17:32) Advice on how to push back against founders

(19:36) Signs you aren’t as evidence-guided as you may think

(21:13) Itamar’s GIST model for becoming more evidence-guided

(23:51) How to set overarching goals using his “value exchange loop”

(28:45) North star metrics vs. KPIs

(33:47) Using “ICE” to assess the value of ideas

(37:39) Itamar’s confidence meter

(44:28) Speed of delivery vs. speed of d…
How to become a category pirate | Christopher Lochhead (author of Play Bigger, Niche Down, Category Pirates, more)

17 september 2023 · 1 uur 49 min
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Christopher Lochhead is a 14-time #1 bestselling author, top podcaster, and former 3x public tech company CMO and has been an advisor to over 50 VC-backed tech startups. He is best known as a “godfather” of category design, and Adobe named his book Play Bigger one of “the five greatest marketing books of all time.” In this episode, we discuss:• What exactly category design is

• The “Frame It, Name It, Claim It” framework

• How to go about designing your category

• Why “languaging” is so powerful

• Rating yourself on the category design scorecard

• Why Chris considers “product-market fit” a dangerous concept

• Chris’s spicy take on positioning

• The “better trap” and why it’s crucial to avoid it

• The magic triangle of product, company, and category

• How to embrace negative feedback

• Why the greatest time in the history of innovation is now

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-become-a-category-pirate-christopher

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Where to find Christopher Lochhead:

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

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

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

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Where to find Lenny:

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

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

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

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Chris’s background

(05:08) Why Chris shares his negative criticism on his website

(11:58) A simple explanation of category design

(18:00) How Purell mastered category design

(23:07) What Gong got right (and wrong)

(29:01) The “better trap” and why it’s crucial to avoid it

(38:51) Reflective thinking vs. reflexive thinking

(44:45) How Lomi created a revolutionary solution for food waste

(48:50) The “Frame It…
Picking sharp problems, increasing virality, and unique product frameworks | Oji Udezue (Typeform, Twitter, Calendly, Atlassian)

14 september 2023 · 1 uur 16 min
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Oji Udezue is Chief Product Officer at Typeform and has held leadership roles at Twitter (Head of Product for Creation and Conversation), Calendly (CPO), and Atlassian (Head of Product for communication tools). He is well-known for bringing a product-led-growth (PLG) mindset to the companies he joins. Additionally, Oji mentors startups, is a Managing Partner at the Kernel Fund, and writes online about product management. In this episode, we discuss:

• Oji’s “Where to Fish to Land a Unicorn” and “Zone of Benefit” frameworks

• Why you need to find the “sharpest” problem

• How to operationalize continuous customer discovery

• Tips on optimizing onboarding flows

• Freemium vs. gated offerings in PLG

• Tactical strategies for making your product more viral

• The concept of “forest time” and how it can provide clarity in your work

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Find full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/picking-sharp-problems-increasing

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Where to find Oji Udezue:

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

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

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

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Where to find Lenny:

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

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

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

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Oji’s background

(03:38) Oji’s “Where to Fish to Land a Unicorn” framework

(05:26) Workflow quadrants

(09:30) How product people can push frequency

(12:28) Oji’s “Zone of Benefit” framework

(14:49) How to find your ICPs

(15:33) ICPs at Twitter

(20:20) Oji’s philosophy on frameworks

(22:31) Oji’s upcoming book

(24:34) An explanation of “sharp problems”

(28:31) Signs your problem is “sharp enough”

(31:17) Discovery vs. continuous conversations

(35:08) Customer listening

(38:31) Onboarding fundamentals

(43:49) Activated user milestones…
When enough is enough | Andy Johns (ex-FB, Twitter, Quora)

10 september 2023 · 1 uur 27 min
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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

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

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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/

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Where to find Lenny:

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

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

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

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

7 september 2023 · 1 uur 31 min
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Claire Butler was Figma’s first GTM hire and their 10th employee. She led Figma’s early GTM strategy from stealth through monetization. She also helped the team through the journey to find product-market fit and built the team that drove Figma’s unique bottom-up growth motion. Eight years later, as Senior Director of Marketing, she continues to lead Figma’s bottom-up growth motion, along with community, events, social, advocacy, and Figma for education. In this episode, we discuss:

• An in-depth look at Figma’s bottom-up GTM motion

• Why you need to start with individual contributors (ICs) loving your product

• How to spread adoption within the organization

• How “designer advocates” have played a critical role in Figma’s growth

• The freemium strategy that drove massive growth for Figma

• How to leverage product champions

• When to leave stealth

• Early-stage metrics, and why they are often unreliable

• Advice for people looking to join a startup

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/an-inside-look-at-figmas-unique-bottom

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Where to find Claire Butler:

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

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

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Where to find Lenny:

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

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

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

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Claire’s background

(03:47) The huge branding decision that Claire made on day one at Figma

(07:45) The most stressful memory of early days at Figma

(09:55) Advice for people looking to join a startup

(12:55) What a bottom-up go-to-market motion is

(17:12) Figma’s unique approach to bottom-up GTM

(18:52) Figma’s launch out of stealth

(23:01) Signals v…
Inside Etsy’s product, growth, and marketplace evolution | Tim Holley (VP of Product)

3 september 2023 · 1 uur 12 min
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Tim Holley is VP of Product at Etsy where he leads the Etsy buyer experience. With a tenure spanning more than a decade, Tim has seen the company through many transitions (both in culture, in leadership, and in growth), and his team’s product changes have had a significant impact on buyer retention, conversion, and global expansion. In this episode, we discuss:

• Lessons from navigating corporate culture shifts

• How Etsy capitalized on the explosive growth of e-commerce during the pandemic

• Marketplace learnings: when to focus on supply vs. demand, optimizing conversion, and more

• How Etsy solves the “graduation problem”

• Tips for hiring product managers

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-etsys-product-growth-and-marketplace

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Where to find Tim Holley:

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

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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) Tim’s background

(04:23) Tim’s time away at SoulCycle and what led him back to Etsy

(06:34) Lessons from the 2017 culture shift at Etsy

(12:15) Etsy’s guiding principles

(13:32) How Etsy adapted to increased demand during the early days of mask mandates

(16:38) What Tim learned about managing stress with his team during the pandemic

(18:46) Lessons from building a thriving marketplace

(21:47) Prioritization at Etsy

(24:37) Supply constraint vs. demand constraint

(28:43) Conversion wins

(33:27) Experimentation at Etsy

(37:58) Acquisition and top-of-funnel tactics

(39:44) The seller referral program

(40:33) Etsy’s habit loop framework

(44:11) How they set themselves apart from other marketplaces

(51:23) Retaining sellers

(53:23) The de…
An inside look at Deel’s unprecedented growth | Meltem Kuran Berkowitz (Head of Growth)

27 augustus 2023 · 1 uur 12 min
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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

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

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Where to find Meltem Kuran Berkowitz:

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

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

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Where to find Lenny:

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

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

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

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

24 augustus 2023 · 1 uur 10 min
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Bob Moesta is the co-creator of the Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework, a close collaborator of Clay Christensen, and CEO and founder of The Re-Wired Group. He has helped launch more than 3,500 new products, services, and businesses and built and sold several startups himself. He is also a fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute and a guest lecturer at the Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan School of Entrepreneurship, and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. In this episode, we discuss:

• What Snickers and Milky Way can teach us about JTBD

• The various flavors of the JTBD framework

• Best practices for implementing the framework

• Advice on conducting interviews for B2B vs. B2C customers

• Common mistakes people make when implementing JTBD

• When not to use it

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-jtbd-bob-moesta

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Where to find Bob Moesta:

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

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

• Website: http://www.therewiredgroup.com/

• Podcast: https://pca.st/gg6goo1n

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Where to find Lenny:

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

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

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

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Bob’s background

(04:04) A simple explanation of the Jobs To Be Done framework

(07:29) Struggling moments and demand

(09:51) Understanding the context behind pain points

(11:14) Reducing friction in the sales process

(14:46) How Autobooks improved their buying process and 4x’ed conversion

(16:52) The six phases of the buying process

(18:30) The JTBD interview process

(21:55) How Bob’s TBI affected his reading/writing and how he is able to write books

(22:02) Why peopl…
Monetizing passions, scaling marketplaces, and stories from a creator economy vet | Camille Hearst (Spotify, Patreon, Apple, YouTube)

20 augustus 2023 · 1 uur 4 min
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Camille Hearst is Head of Fan Monetization at Spotify, where she finds new ways for fans to connect and for artists to monetize. Previously she was Head of Product for Creators at Patreon, Product Marketing Manager at YouTube, the second Product Manager at iTunes, and VP of Product at Hailo. She also co-founded a company called Kit, which was acquired by Patreon in 2018. In today’s podcast, we discuss:

• Advice on building a successful career as a creator

• Her take on the future of the creator economy

• The best and worst parts of building products for music artists

• What Apple product teams do differently

• The story of meeting Steve Jobs

• Advice for founders going through acquisitions

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/monetizing-passions-scaling-marketplaces

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Where to find Camille Hearst:

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

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

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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) Camille’s background

(04:24) Camille’s role as Head of Fan Monetization at Spotify

(07:40) The best and worst parts of working with artists

(14:15) Trends in the content creation world

(19:29) Advice on building a successful career as a creator

(21:32) The importance of content curators

(22:30) Camille’s startup, Kit

(24:49) Advice on selling your startup

(28:28) The supply side of marketplaces

(34:37) How Camille became the second PM at iTunes

(35:43) The story of meeting Steve Jobs

(43:01) Apple’s style of product management

(45:54) Opportunities on the platform side of content creation

(48:34) Camille’s early years growing up in a creative tech famil…
The ultimate guide to Martech | Austin Hay (Reforge, Ramp, Runway)

13 augustus 2023 · 1 uur 25 min
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Austin Hay is currently Head of Marketing Technology at Ramp and was previously the VP of Business Operations at Runway, the VP of Growth at mParticle, and the fourth employee at the unicorn Branch Metrics. In 2022 he sold his online course, the Marketing Technology Academy, to Reforge, where he now teaches Martech and has a program launching in the fall. He’s consulted on Martech and growth for companies including Notion, Airbnb, Robinhood, Postmates, Walmart, JPMorgan Chase, and many others. In today’s podcast, we discuss:

• What exactly marketing technology is

• What a Martech person can do for your business

• When to hire a Martech person and what to look for

• Austin’s favorite tools

• Advice for doing attribution

• Frameworks on tooling, systems, and building vs. buying

• How to apply the concept of “thinking gray” to make better decisions in work and life

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-martech-austin

—

Where to find Austin Hay:

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

• Threads: @austinahay

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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) Austin’s background

(03:58) What marketing technology is

(06:17) The difference between typical growth roles and Martech

(10:23) Signs you need a Martech person on your team

(14:03) Hiring and placing a Martech person in B2B, B2C, and B2B2C businesses

(21:15) A day in the life of a Martech professional

(25:05) Marketing technology vs. marketing operations

(31:14) Tooling recommendations

(41:49) The never-ending struggle of how to do attribution well

(50:47…
Relentless curiosity, radical accountability, and HubSpot’s winning growth formula | Christopher Miller (VP of Product, Growth and AI)

10 augustus 2023 · 1 uur 31 min
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Christopher Miller serves as the VP of Product for Growth and AI at HubSpot. Having spent the past seven years at HubSpot, Chris has been at the center of one of the biggest B2B growth stories in history—leading HubSpot’s early growth strategy, their shift to PLG, and now their investment in AI. Beyond his role at HubSpot, he lends his expertise to founders advising them on PLG and their growth strategy broadly. In today’s podcast, we discuss:

• The principles of winning teams, careers, and companies

• What customer obsession looks like in practice

• How sneaking into a party led to a career opportunity

• Advice for breaking into product management

• How to find mentors

• The top four skills for growth roles

• Lessons from building HubSpot’s famous PLG motion

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/relentless-curiosity-radical-accountability-and-hubspots-winning-growth-formula-christopher-mil/#transcript

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Where to find Chris Miller:

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

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/millsyjoeyoung/

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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) Chris’s background

(04:15) Chris’s role at HubSpot leading Growth and AI teams

(09:17) The story of how Chris crashed a party and pitched his idea around pricing and packaging

(12:25) Relentless curiosity and other important traits to have as a PM

(16:52) How Chris broke into product management and advice for others wanting to do the same

(22:12) Helpful tips for learning the craft of product management

(26:30) Why you should talk to customers, former customers, and potentia…
Velocity over everything: How Ramp became the fastest-growing SaaS startup of all time | Geoff Charles (VP of Product)

6 augustus 2023 · 1 uur 17 min
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Geoff Charles is VP of Product at Ramp—the fastest-growing SaaS startup of all time, Fast Company’s #1 Most Innovative Company in North America, and a company I believe we should all study for how they operate, execute, and hire. At Ramp, Geoff has led the product team from the early days, including the development and release of 60+ products and features in the past year alone. He has been building financial services for over a decade, and his interview in Lenny’s Newsletter quickly became one of the most widely read newsletter issues of all time. In today’s podcast, we will discuss:

• How velocity is at the heart of Ramp’s culture and success

• How writing can unlock clarity, creativity, and rapid problem-solving

• How to empower your product team through context sharing

• How to practically approach problems from first principles

• How Ramp approaches hiring in a unique way

• Suggestions for breaking into the world of product management

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/velocity-over-everything-how-ramp-became-the-fastest-growing-saas-startup-of-all-time-geoff-charl/#transcript

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Where to find Geoff Charles:

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

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffrey-charles/

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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) Geoff’s background

(04:49) An overview of Ramp

(06:20) The importance of velocity at Ramp

(08:50) Single-threaded goals and how to keep teams away from distractions

(13:20) Setting lofty goals

(15:17) How Ramp empowers teams

(17:37) How Geoff’s management style has evolved at Ramp

(19:55) The product design process at Ramp

(21:19) Ramp’s sy…
How to measure and improve developer productivity | Nicole Forsgren (Microsoft Research, GitHub, Google)

30 juli 2023 · 1 uur 16 min
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Dr. Nicole Forsgren is a developer productivity and DevOps expert who works with engineering organizations to make work better. Best known as co-author of the Shingo Publication Award-winning book Accelerate and the DevOps Handbook, 2nd edition and author of the State of DevOps Reports, she has helped some of the biggest companies in the world transform their culture, processes, tech, and architecture. Nicole is currently a Partner at Microsoft Research, leading developer productivity research and strategy, and a technical founder/CEO with a successful exit to Google. In a previous life, she was a software engineer, sysadmin, hardware performance engineer, and professor. She has published several peer-reviewed journal papers, has been awarded public and private research grants (funders include NASA and the NSF), and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Computerworld, and InformationWeek. In today’s podcast, we discuss:

• Two frameworks for measuring developer productivity: DORA and SPACE

• Benchmarks for what good and great look like

• Common mistakes to avoid when measuring developer productivity

• Resources and tools for improving your metrics

• Signs your developer experience needs attention

• How to improve your developer experience

• Nicole’s Four-Box framework for thinking about data and relationships

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-measure-and-improve-developer

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Where to find Nicole Forsgren:

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

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

• Website: https://nicolefv.com/

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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) Nicole’s background

(07:55) Unpacking the terms “developer produ…
The ultimate guide to A/B testing | Ronny Kohavi (Airbnb, Microsoft, Amazon)

27 juli 2023 · 1 uur 23 min
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—

Ronny Kohavi, PhD, is a consultant, teacher, and leading expert on the art and science of A/B testing. Previously, Ronny was Vice President and Technical Fellow at Airbnb, Technical Fellow and corporate VP at Microsoft (where he led the Experimentation Platform team), and Director of Data Mining and Personalization at Amazon. He was also honored with a lifetime achievement award by the Experimentation Culture Awards in September 2020 and teaches a popular course on experimentation on Maven. In today’s podcast, we discuss:

• How to foster a culture of experimentation

• How to avoid common pitfalls and misconceptions when running experiments

• His most surprising experiment results

• The critical role of trust in running successful experiments

• When not to A/B test something

• Best practices for helping your tests run faster

• The future of experimentation

—

Enroll in Ronny’s Maven class: Accelerating Innovation with A/B Testing at https://bit.ly/ABClassLenny. Promo code “LENNYAB” will give $500 off the class for the first 10 people to use it.

—

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-ab-testing

—

Where to find Ronny Kohavi:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ronnyk

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

• Website: http://ai.stanford.edu/~ronnyk/

—

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) Ronny’s background

(04:29) How one A/B test helped Bing increase revenue by 12%

(09:00) What data says about opening new tabs

(10:34) Small effort, huge gains vs. incremental improvements

(13:16) Typical fail rates

(15:28) UI resources

(16:53) Institu…
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 · 1 uur 26 min
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—

Noah Weiss is Chief Product Officer at Slack, where he leads all aspects of the product organization, including the self-service SMB business, the team that launched huddles and clips, and the search and machine-learning teams. Prior to Slack, Noah served as SVP of Product at Foursquare. He started his career at Google, leading the structured data search team and working on display ads. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• The top 10 traits of great PMs

• How “complaint storms” helped Slack teams foster empathy

• How Slack’s product team is approaching AI

• “Comprehension desirability” and other key factors leading to Slack’s success

• Why you should be customer-aware but not customer-obsessed

• Important areas of growth for both new PMs and senior PMs

Curious to learn more about Slack? You can try Slack Pro and get 50% off using this link.

—

Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-10-traits-of-great-pms-how-ai

—

Where to find Noah Weiss:

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

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

—

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) Noah’s background

(04:22) Noah’s advice on new parenthood

(07:23) Lessons learned from leading product at Foursquare

(11:33) Advice for working with strongly opinionated founders

(14:14) Thinking of involvement on a U-shaped curve

(16:53) Principles at Slack

(19:32) Implementing ML, AI, and LLMs in meaningful ways

(25:11) How Slack structures AI teams

(26:59) Complaint storms and how they help foster empathy

(30:01) Slack’s approach to prioritization

(32:26) How delight is baked into the DNA of Slack

(34:41) Ho…
LinkedIn’s product evolution and the art of building complex systems | Hari Srinivasan (LinkedIn)

16 juli 2023 · 1 uur 5 min
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—

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

13 juli 2023 · 1 uur 1 min
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—

Julia Schottenstein is a product lead at dbt Labs, a data transformation company, and an active angel investor in data and infrastructure startups. She first got excited about dbt in 2019 when she was a VC at NEA and decided to make the leap from investor to operator by joining dbt Labs. She also co-hosts the dbt Labs Analytics Engineering Podcast, a show about data trends that impact analytics engineers’ work. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• Advice for founders hoping to improve their M&A outcome

• How to strategically think about competition

• How to determine your paid features and have willingness-to-pay conversations

• Why Julia lives by “worse is better” and “tech debt is a champagne problem”

• Lessons from dbt Labs

• What PMs can learn from investors

—

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/m-and-a-competition-pricing-and-investing

—

Where to find Julia Schottenstein:

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

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-schottenstein-25424318/

• Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4BKMMeVXk4jJnAQSqGSJvE

—

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) Julia’s background

(04:15) How Julia went from VC to working in product at dbt Labs

(08:24) Four things Julia uses to evaluate a company’s potential

(11:10) How to identify whether or not you have product-market fit

(12:05) Distribution strategies

(13:11) M&A strategies

(15:54) Lessons from the Transform acquisition

(18:01) Competitive values at dbt

(20:25) Keys to dbt’s success

(26:35) An offsite exercise Julia used to help her team internalize upcoming changes

(29:32)…
How to ask the right questions, project confidence, and win over skeptics | Paige Costello (Asana, Intercom, Intuit)

9 juli 2023 · 1 uur 3 min
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—

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

2 juli 2023 · 1 uur 8 min
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—

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

25 juni 2023 · 1 uur 17 min
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—

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

18 juni 2023 · 1 uur 15 min
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—

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

15 juni 2023 · 1 uur 20 min
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—

Luc Levesque is Chief Growth Officer at Shopify and has advised companies like Canva, Twitter, Pinterest, and Patreon on growth and product strategy. Previously he served as an executive at TripAdvisor, where he built and led the growth team that helped it become the world’s largest travel site. Luc was then recruited by Mark Zuckerberg to Facebook, where he was an executive and held senior product and engineering leadership roles. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• Why you need to become world-class at hiring

• Tips for finding a great growth advisor and assessing their impact

• Why truly great companies focus on impact

• Common mistakes to avoid when building a growth team

• The importance of passion and continuous self-improvement

• Signs your company should explore SEO as a growth channel, and strategies to do so

• Why Mark Zuckerberg personally recruited Luc and what it taught him about the recruiting process

—

Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/leveraging-growth-advisors-hiring

—

Where to find Luc Levesque:

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

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

• Website: https://luclevesque.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) Luc’s background

(03:31) Luc’s first MT review at Facebook

(07:09) Impact vs. industriousness

(09:20) Facebook’s relentless, personalized approach to recruiting talent

(13:12) Luc’s hiring playbook

(16:56) When to focus on growth and the importance of product-market fit

(18:04) What to look for in a growth advisor

(23:15) The large impact Luc made from a small conversation

(26:52) Advice…
Building a long and meaningful career | Nikhyl Singhal (Meta, Google)

11 juni 2023 · 1 uur 26 min
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—

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

4 juni 2023 · 1 uur 9 min
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—

Jeremy Henrickson is Rippling’s SVP of Product, responsible for scaling their product and design team across three continents. Previously, as Chief Product Officer at Coinbase, he oversaw 10x growth of the product and engineering organization and transformed a scrappy startup into a global cryptocurrency platform with tens of millions of users. He began his career at Apple in the 1990s and holds a BS and MS in computer science from Stanford. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• Strategies for sustaining focus and momentum at scale

• The case against MVPs

• The problem with frameworks

• “Compound startups” and how this influences Rippling’s product development process

• Advice for founders wanting to move faster

• Why you don’t understand your product unless you’re “in the weeds”

• Hiring practices at Rippling and how young PMs can build fruitful careers

—

Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/moving-fast-and-navigating-uncertainty

—

Where to find Jeremy Henrickson:

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

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

—

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) Jeremy’s background

(03:24) What it was like leading product teams at Coinbase during the crypto boom

(05:25) How Jeremy kept teams focused and the biggest challenges he faced at Coinbase

(07:35) Advice for going through intense periods at work

(08:52) Maintaining velocity at scale

(12:07) An example of small teams with clear missions

(14:29) A model for building products

(18:03) Jeremy’s thoughts on MVPs (minimum viable …
Storytelling with Nancy Duarte: How to craft compelling presentations and tell a story that sticks

1 juni 2023 · 1 uur 17 min
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—

Nancy Duarte is the CEO of Duarte Inc. and has helped create over 250,000 presentations for influential business leaders across the globe, including Apple, TED, the World Bank, and Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. She’s also written six best-selling books, and her TED talk has garnered over 3 million views. She regularly contributes to HBR, MIT-Sloan, and Forbes, and her books are essential reading in leading business schools worldwide. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• Why empathy is at the heart of everything Nancy does

• Why you’re presenting more often than you think

• Tactics for creating interesting presentations and telling better stories

• The concept of a “torchbearer leader” and why it’s important

• Strategies for overcoming stage fright and nerves

• Tips for communicating and presenting remotely

• How Nancy landed Apple as a client and what she learned

—

Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/storytelling-with-nancy-duarte-how

—

Where to find Nancy Duarte:

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

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

• Website: https://www.duarte.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) Nancy’s background

(03:25) The insane number of presentations Nancy has helped create

(04:52) The most memorable presentation of Nancy’s career, and what it taught her

(07:04) The lasting impact of working with Al Gore

(09:00) How Nancy landed Apple as a client

(11:44) How working with Apple informed future presentations

(16:22) 3 things to remember when creating a deck

(17:33) The importance of empathy

(20:29) Empathy in action…
The power of strategic narrative | Andy Raskin

28 mei 2023 · 1 uur 3 min
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—

Andy Raskin helps CEOs align their leadership teams around a strategic narrative—a single story that powers success in sales, marketing, product, fundraising, and recruiting. His clients include Gong, Dropbox, Uber, Salesforce, Square, and IBM. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• What a strategic narrative is, and how to craft one

• How having a strategic narrative can bring alignment to your entire company

• Examples of strategic narratives in action

• Who needs a strategic narrative and who doesn’t

• Why Andy thinks about movements instead of categories

—

Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-power-of-strategic-narrative

—

Where to find Andy Raskin:

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

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

• Podcast: https://andyraskin.com/podcast/

—

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) Andy’s background

(08:03) What is a strategic narrative?

(10:34) How Salesforce would have pitched the old way

(12:02) Examples of a strategic narrative in action

(15:23) How one piece of writing skyrocketed Andy’s career

(16:40) The power of writing online

(17:53) Two paths to writing online

(19:27) Naming the old game

(20:59) Naming the stakes

(23:29) Naming the objective

(25:17) Naming the obstacles

(26:35) Overcoming the obstacles

(26:57) How the strategic narrative parallels the hero’s journey

(28:25) Telling one story well vs. being a good storyteller

(29:18) The 5-step framework summarized

(31:33) An example of the 5-step framework in action

(36:12) The impact of shifting to the strategic narrative approach

(39:08) Companies that are nailing their strategic narrat…
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 mei 2023 · 1 uur 24 min
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—

Gustav Söderström is the Co-President and Chief Product and Technology Officer at Spotify. He is responsible for Spotify’s global product and technology strategy, overseeing the product, design, data, and engineering teams. Prior to Spotify, he founded 13th Lab, a startup that was later acquired by Facebook’s Oculus. He also served as the Director of Product and Business Development for Yahoo Mobile and founded Kenet Works, a company focused on community software for mobile phones, which was acquired by Yahoo in 2006. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• How Spotify structures product teams to promote freedom of thought

• Lessons on thinking long-term and navigating negative feedback

• Why Gustav started a podcast and what he’s learned

• How AI has impacted the work PMs, engineers, and designers do within Spotify

• AI-generated music and its impact on artists

• What’s next for Spotify and Spotify Podcasting

—

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

—

Where to find Gustav Söderström:

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

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

—

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) Gustav’s background

(04:08) The various roles Gustav has occupied at Spotify

(06:54) Why Gustav launched a podcast and what he learned

(12:37) How PMs and product teams should think about AI

(21:23) AI-generated music

(26:19) Will AI continue to be a magic trick for products?

(28:27) How Spotify organizes product teams

(34:33) How Spotify operationalized autonomy

(35:45) Why Spotify uses a centralized model for structuring their organization

(43:34) The big be…
Lessons on building product sense, navigating AI, optimizing the first mile, and making it through the messy middle | Scott Belsky (Adobe, Behance)

18 mei 2023 · 1 uur 3 min
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—

Scott Belsky is an entrepreneur, author, investor, and currently Adobe’s Chief Strategy Officer and EVP of Design and Emerging Products. He founded Behance, an online platform for creative professionals to showcase and discover work, and served as CEO until its acquisition by Adobe. Scott is an early advisor and investor in several businesses at the intersection of technology and design, including Pinterest, Uber, Warby Parker, Airtable, and Flexport. He is also the author of two nationally bestselling books and founded 99U, a publication and conference focused on productivity in the creative world. In today’s episode, we discuss:

* How to strengthen your product sense

* Why you should only do half the things you want

* What it takes to build a successful consumer product

* Why you are probably underinvesting in onboarding

* The future of AI and how to prepare for it

* Advice for founders and PMs who are feeling stuck

* Why resourcefulness will take you further than resources

* Adobe’s current priorities and their exciting path ahead

—

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-on-building-product-sense

—

Where to find Scott Belsky:

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

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

• Blog: https://www.implications.com/

• Website: www.scottbelsky.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) Scott’s background

(04:50) Why Scott shifted roles at Adobe

(08:29) Advice for PMs looking to build product sense

(10:43) The first mile

(13:18) How to develop more empathy

(16:33) How to build consumer products that work

(20:42) Scott’s philosophy that you …
Frameworks for product differentiation, team building, and thinking from first principles | Ayo Omojola (Carbon Health, Cash App)

14 mei 2023 · 52 min
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—

Ayo Omojola is Chief Product Officer at Carbon Health, one of the fastest-growing and most innovative health tech companies in the world. Previously, he was a PM leader at Cash App, where he co-created the Cash Card and scaled it to a nine-figure revenue line for Square. He’s also an angel investor in companies like Mercury, Modern Treasury, Faire, and many others. In this episode, we discuss:

• How Cash App broke through the noise and became a consumer app success story

• Why small teams are better than big ones

• Hard-won lessons on team building and hiring

• Why it’s “criminal” not to connect people in your network to things that they need

• Why you sometimes shouldn’t listen to experts

• The importance of first-principles thinking

• Advice for health tech founders

—

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/frameworks-for-product-differentiation-team-building-and-thinking-from-first-principles-ayo-omojola-carbon-health-cash-app/#transcript

—

Where to find Ayo Omojola:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ay_o

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

• Blog: https://kunle.app/

—

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) Ayo’s background

(04:13) The story of how Ayo used Quora for discoverability

(06:44) The scale of Cash App

(07:37) What Cash App did well

(10:12) Lessons from building consumer apps

(13:08) Why it’s so important to be different

(14:08) What Ayo learned from how Square/Block operates

(16:36) How to succeed at building a startup within a startup

(19:06) How Ayo transitioned from fintech to health tech

(22:51) Why Ayo loves hiring founders

(28:32) Team-building strategies

(32:12) The importance of going de…
Mastering paid growth | Jonathan Becker (Thrive Digital)

7 mei 2023 · 1 uur 35 min
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—

Jonathan Becker is the founder and president of Thrive Digital, where he and his team have deployed more than $3.5 billion in paid acquisition budgets for companies like Uber, Asana, Square, Tempur-Pedic, and MasterClass. He spent the first part of his career mastering SEO and is a world expert in DTC, lead generation, demand generation, and user acquisition. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• Signs that your company is a good fit for paid growth

• Strategies for optimizing ad creatives

• The merits of different marketing channels: paid vs. organic search, TikTok and short-form

• Insights on attribution and how to approach it effectively

• How market conditions and AI impact paid growth

• The crazy story of how Jonathan won Uber as a client

—

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/mastering-paid-growth-jonathan-becker

—

Where to find Jonathan Becker:

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

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanbecker123/

• Website: https://thrivedigital.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) Jonathan’s background

(07:25) The crazy story of how Jonathan won Uber as a client

(11:56) Interchangeable terms for “paid growth”

(12:31) Why you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket

(16:48) What kind of companies should pursue paid growth

(23:07) Is it possible to reach scale exclusively through paid growth?

(27:07) The evolution of performance marketing

(29:39) Advice for founders choosing between SEO and paid

(32:18) Strategies for optimizing ad creatives

(44:43) Paid vs. organic search, TikTok and short-fo…
Building a culture of excellence | David Singleton (CTO of Stripe)

4 mei 2023 · 1 uur 30 min
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—

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

30 april 2023 · 1 uur 7 min
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—

Carilu Dietrich is a former CMO, most notably the Head of Marketing who took Atlassian public. These days she’s an advisor to CEOs and CMOs of hypergrowth B2B companies and has worked with companies like Miro, Segment, Bill.com, 1Password, Productboard, Sprout Social, Weights & Biases, and more. In today’s episode, we discuss:

* Patterns across the most successful hypergrowth companies

* How to advance in your career, and how to someday become an executive

* How to decide which company to work at

* Advice for navigating the job market during tough times

* How to find and execute new growth opportunities

* Why most CMOs and CPOs get fired, and what we can learn from this

—

Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-achieve-hypergrowth-in-your

—

Where to find Carilu Dietrich:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hypergrowth-advisor/

• Newsletter: www.carilu.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/clu007

—

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) Carilu’s background

(04:28) Habits and behaviors that will help you reach an executive role

(07:15) Why there is no substitute for working hard

(08:15) 5 things you need to do to get to the C-suite

(10:39) Choosing the right company for accelerated career growth

(12:42) Criteria for assessing a phenomenal company

(14:41) Asking better questions and making decisions with energy

(16:05) Advice for finding a job during a recession

(19:25) The importance of quality products and sustained brand advertising

(24:06) Lessons from successful hypergrowth companies

(28:14) Is word of mouth a necessary growth lever?

(31:31) How to accelerate word-of-mouth marketing

(35:28) Atla…
The ultimate guide to product-led sales | Elena Verna

23 april 2023 · 1 uur 16 min
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—

Elena Verna is a leading growth expert with over 15 years of experience in tech. She was SVP of Growth at SurveyMonkey and interim CMO at Miro, where she built high-performing teams that drove significant growth. She recently served as interim Head of Growth at Amplitude and currently advises and is a board member for early-stage startups. In today’s podcast, we discuss:

• What product-led sales is

• How product-led sales differs from product-led growth

• Unpacking common acronyms: PQAs, PQs, PQLs, and MQLs

• When and how to consider investing in PLS

• Metrics for identifying qualified accounts

• The team, data, and tooling required for implementing PLS

• Common pitfalls to avoid when adding PLS

—

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-product-led-sales-elena-verna/#transcript

—

Where to find Elena Verna:

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

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

• Newsletter: https://elenaverna.substack.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) Elena’s background and what she’s doing now

(07:13) Product-led sales (PLS) vs. product-led growth (PLG)

(12:47) How sales solutions can be applied to enterprise-level problems

(15:06) Defining enterprise-level problems

(17:51) How product-led companies start with PLS

(20:30) When to add sales

(22:36) Two ways to get to PLS

(24:27) Why every sales-led-growth company needs to add PLG

(26:50) Two ways you can own revenue

(28:37) PQAs, PQs, PQLs, and MQLs

(37:17) How to get started adding PLS

(42:01) Metrics to identify PQAs

(47:00) Why sales should be carefully applied

(49:07) Sys…
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 · 1 uur 25 min
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—

Varun Parmar is the Chief Product Officer of Miro and has over two decades of experience in the tech industry. Prior to joining Miro, Varun held executive positions as Chief Product Officer at Box and Syncplicity (acquired by Dell EMC) and spent six years in product management at Adobe. He also co-founded Doculus, which was later acquired by Box. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• The importance of empathy and how to foster it

• The “AMPED” structure for cross-functional product teams

• How to move fast and stay ahead of the competition

• Powerful product and design rituals

• How Miro acquired their first 1,000 users

• How Miro successfully added a sales motion

—

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/an-inside-look-at-how-miro-builds

—

Where to find Varun Parmar:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/vparmar230

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

—

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) Varun’s background

(04:08) How Miro operates as a cross-cultural product team

(07:22) How applying empathy helped Miro build Miro Talktrack

(11:51) What makes Miro stand out

(17:08) Miro’s AMPED structure

(22:57) The benefit of having product marketing as a part of the cross-functional team

(25:24) How competition affects growth and product strategy

(31:43) Why speed is so important and how to improve it

(34:21) How Miro ensures that their products meet quality standards

(37:19) How to remove blockers

(47:22) Miro’s product development process

(53:34) How OKRs work at Miro

(55:55) The product stack at Miro

(1:01:20) Big bets vs. maintenance and bug fixes at Miro…
How to make better decisions and build a joyful career | Ada Chen Rekhi (Notejoy, LinkedIn, SurveyMonkey)

16 april 2023 · 1 uur 18 min
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—

Ada Chen Rekhi is an executive coach and co-founder of Notejoy. She helps founders scale themselves alongside their teams. She has over a decade of experience leading teams through periods of rapid transition, from the chaos of founding early-stage startups to leadership roles in growing SurveyMonkey and LinkedIn. In today’s podcast, we discuss:

• How utilizing a “curiosity loop” can aid you in decision-making

• A values exercise that can help determine if your life choices align with your personal values

• Ada’s “explore and exploit” framework for making the most of your job opportunities

• The advantages of seeking an executive coach and useful tips on finding one

• Tips for women navigating working in Silicon Valley

• Why it’s so important to provide constructive feedback

—

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-make-better-decisions-and

—

Where to find Ada Chen Rekhi:

• Website: https://www.adachen.com/

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

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

—

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) Ada’s background

(03:17) What a curiosity loop is and when to use one

(11:39) Using curiosity loops in your personal life

(14:13) How curiosity loops are like customer advisory councils

(16:30) A values exercise

(25:30) Ada’s “explore and exploit” framework

(31:28) When it’s time to leave your job

(35:37) Logo collecting and why you should optimize for your values instead

(39:30) What triggered Ada to reevaluate her career path

(42:10) Why most people don’t actually need a coach

(44:59) When coaching is valuable

(47:20) How to find the right coach

(51:38) Advice for women in Silicon Valley

(1:00:08) Eating your vegetables—why you need to po…
How to build a cult-like brand | Laura Modi (Bobbie)

13 april 2023 · 1 uur 1 min
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—

Laura Modi is the CEO and co-founder of Bobbie, the first woman-owned, organic infant formula in the U.S. Previously, Laura spent over five years at Airbnb, where she served as Director of Hospitality. Before that, she spent over four years at Google in finance and operations. In today’s podcast, we discuss:

• Biggest lessons from five years at Airbnb

• Lessons about building great culture

• The power of naivete

• From growth to “slowth”: Why Bobbie prioritized existing customers over growth during the height of the formula shortage

• The importance of momentum above all else

• Finding work-life balance with the right infrastructure, support, and frameworks

• The importance of brand, and how to build a brand

• What it takes to win in DTC

—

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/from-growth-to-slowth-the-making

—

Where to find Laura Modi:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurahughes6/

• Email: Laura@hibobbie.com

—

Where to find Lenny:

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

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

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

—

Note: Lenny is a small angel investor in Bobbie.

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Laura’s background

(04:20) What Laura worked on at Airbnb

(06:22) The director of hospitality role

(07:08) How supporting hosts led to growth at Airbnb

(08:28) Lessons from Airbnb around culture and storytelling that impact how Laura runs Bobbie

(09:44) How Laura builds a strong culture at Bobbie

(11:45) The risk she took in starting her own company

(13:41) Advice on taking risks

(15:10) What is Bobbie

(17:15) The scale of Bobbie

(17:55) The infant formula shortage crisis

(19:49) How the growth team pivoted to being the “slowth” team

(23:23) Lessons from the crisis

(25:16) …
Product lessons from Waymo | Shweta Shrivastava (Waymo, Amazon, Cisco)

9 april 2023 · 42 min
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—

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

6 april 2023 · 59 min
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—

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

(28:3…
The ultimate guide to adding a PLG motion | Hila Qu (Reforge, GitLab)

2 april 2023 · 1 uur 33 min
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—

Hila Qu is an Executive in Residence at Reforge as well as a renowned growth advisor, angel investor, and published author (her book about growth was named one of the top 10 business books of 2018 in China). Previously, she served as the Director of Growth at GitLab, where she implemented and scaled their PLG motion, and VP of Growth at Acorns, scaling them from 1 million to 5 million users. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• The importance of having both a product-led and a sales-led motion for companies of all sizes

• A step-by-step process for implementing PLG

• Common pitfalls of layering on PLG

• How to audit your existing funnel

• Conversion, activation, and retention tactics

• Structuring your growth organization from day one, and as it scales

—

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-adding-a-plg

—

Where to find Hila Qu:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/HilaQu

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

—

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) Hila’s background

(03:26) The outcome of writing guest posts for Lenny’s Newsletter

(05:12) Why companies should have PLG and sales

(07:58) What PLG is and why it’s so popular

(09:41) Zoom, an example of a PLG company

(11:24) Common pitfalls in adding a PLG motion

(16:06) The spectrum of when PLG makes sense

(20:04) What you need to be successful in a product-led growth strategy

(24:52) The first step to adding a PLG motion

(30:11) What GitLab does and how the sales funnel and PLG funnel work there

(34:07) Mapping out the funnel

(35:29) Finding leverage and other next steps

(38:24) What an aha moment is and cond…
Thinking beyond frameworks | Casey Winters (Pinterest, Eventbrite, Airbnb, Tinder, Canva, Reddit, Grubhub)

30 maart 2023 · 1 uur 18 min
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—

Casey Winters is a longtime and legendary advisor and operator. He’s worked with companies like Airbnb, Faire, Canva, Whatnot, Thumbtack, Tinder, and Reddit and until recently was the Chief Product Officer at Eventbrite, where he managed the PM, design, research, and growth marketing teams. Before Eventbrite, he led growth and product teams at Pinterest and Grubhub. In today’s episode, we discuss what Casey calls the “zero interest rate phenomenon” product manager and how to avoid becoming one. He provides valuable insights on thinking outside popular frameworks, shipping products efficiently, and avoiding overreliance on user research. We explore the three types of network effects, how to leverage them, and how to break someone else’s network effect. Finally, Casey shares his contrarian approach to interviewing product managers and his thoughts on the future of PM roles with AI.

—

Find the full transcript at: Zhttps://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/thinking-beyond-frameworks-casey

—

Where to find Casey Winters:

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

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

• Blog: https://caseyaccidental.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) Casey’s background

(03:36) What Casey is up to

(05:24) Why the CPO position is frequently short-lived

(07:26) What Casey learned in his role as CPO of Eventbrite

(10:15) The “zero interest rate phenomenon” product manager

(12:17) Advice for thinking outside common frameworks

(18:35) When to bring in research

(21:16) What Whatnot does

(21:59) Casey’s approach to interviewing PMs

(23:29) Red flags in interview responses

(24:27) The future of product management with AI

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

26 maart 2023 · 1 uur 3 min
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—

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

23 maart 2023 · 1 uur 3 min
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—

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

…
Competing with giants: An inside look at how The Browser Company builds product | Josh Miller (CEO)

19 maart 2023 · 1 uur 29 min
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—

Josh Miller is the CEO and co-founder of The Browser Company, where he helped build Arc, my go-to web browser. In today’s episode, we get an inside look at the unique structure and values of The Browser Company and how their company culture has helped them land some of the best talent in tech. Josh shares ways that his company embraces experimentation, including their “optimizing for feelings” approach to building, and explains why extreme transparency is at the forefront of everything they do.

Special invite link to skip the waitlist: https://arc.net/gift/lenny

Where to find Josh Miller:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/joshm

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-miller-b31259106/

Where to find Lenny:

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

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

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

Referenced:

• Early access to Arc: https://arc.net/gift/lenny

• The Browser Company: https://thebrowser.company/

• Arc: https://arc.net/

• Hursh Agrawal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hurshagrawal/

• Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/

• Scott Belsky on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottbelsky/

• Notes on Roadtrips: https://thebrowser.company/values/

• Shahed Khan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/_shahedk

• Paper by FiftyThree: https://www.hellobrio.com/blog/digital-drawing-paper-fiftythree

• Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/

• Peter Vidani on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pter

• The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/

• Ellis Hamburger on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellishamburger/

• Airbnb’s Snow White project: https://uxdesign.cc/how-airbnb-proved-that-storytelling-is-the-most-important-skill-in-design-15d04ac71039

• General Magic: https://www.generalmagicthemovie.com/

• Linear: https://linear.app/

• Ra…
The ultimate guide to OKRs | Christina Wodtke (Stanford)

16 maart 2023 · 1 uur 13 min
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—

Christina Wodtke is an author, Stanford University professor, and speaker who teaches strategies for building high-performing teams. She’s also the author of Radical Focus, which some consider the de facto guide to OKRs. In today’s episode, we dive into OKRs and how they can be used to help your team achieve better results. Christina shares her expertise on crafting OKRs, how she uses them in her personal life, and common mistakes you should avoid when you sit down to write your own. She discusses effective goal setting and outlines a systematic approach to achieving key results. Finally, Christina gives some specific tips on how to improve your storytelling and drawing skills and explains why it’s smart to set ambitious goals.

Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-okrs-christina

Where to find Christina Wodtke:

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

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

• Website: https://eleganthack.com/

Where to find Lenny:

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

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

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

Referenced:

• OKR worksheet template: http://eleganthack.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/OKR_Worksheet.pdf

• Yahoo’s peanut butter memo: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB116379821933826657

• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756/

• Radical Focus: Achieving Your Most Important Goals with Objectives and Key Results: https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Focus-Achieving-Important-Objectives/dp/0996006087

• Pencil Me In: https://www.amazon.com/Pencil-Me-Christina-Wodtke-ebook/dp/B075Z8J35G?

• The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Sellin…
Hot takes and techno-optimism from tech’s top power couple | Sriram and Aarthi

12 maart 2023 · 1 uur 23 min
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—

Aarthi Ramamurthy and Sriram Krishnan are founders, angel investors, and product leaders who host the podcast Aarthi and Sriram’s Good Time Show. They have both held leadership roles at major technology companies including Meta, Twitter, Snap, Microsoft, and Netflix. In today’s episode, we dive into how and why to build your personal brand, how to deal with impostor syndrome, and stories from Aarthi’s time at Clubhouse and Sriram’s time working with Zuck. Aarthi and Sriram share their lessons from past failures, their experience building communities, and their techno-optimism, and Sriram offers his hot take on the Jobs to Be Done framework.

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/hot-takes-and-optimism-from-techs

Where to find Sriram Krishnan and Aarthi Ramamurthy:

• Aarthi’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/aarthir

• Sriram’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sriramk

• Good Time Show Twitter: https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

• Good Time Show website: https://www.aarthiandsriram.com/

Where to find Lenny:

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

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

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

Referenced:

• Naval Ravikant on Twitter: https://twitter.com/naval

• Marc Andreessen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pmarca

• Clubhouse: https://www.clubhouse.com/

• Eugene Wei’s Status as a Service: https://www.eugenewei.com/blog/2019/2/19/status-as-a-service

• Kylie Jenner on Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/kyliejenner

• The Rock on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therock/

• Cristiano Ronaldo on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cristiano

• Charli D’Amelio on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@charlidamelio

• Addison Rae on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@addisonre

• The founder of TikTok’s speech: https://ludlow.notion.site/Alex…
Career frameworks, A/B testing mistakes, counterintuitive onboarding tips, selling to developers | Laura Schaffer (VP of Growth at Amplitude)

9 maart 2023 · 1 uur 21 min
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—

Laura Schaffer is the brand-new VP of Growth at Amplitude. Prior to this role, she spent over 10 years leading product management and growth teams at Twilio, Bandwidth, and Rapid. In today’s episode, we talk about the role of experimentation and data in growth, and Laura shares stories of big wins from her time leading growth teams. She explains how customer insights helped her uplevel her career and how she (surprisingly) thinks about qualitative versus quantitative data. We wrap up our conversation by discussing where the best ideas come from and what you need to know if you’re selling to developers.

Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/career-frameworks-ab-testing-counterintuitive

Where to find Laura Schaffer:

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

Where to find Lenny:

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

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

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

Referenced:

• Elena Verna on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/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/

• Bandwidth: https://www.bandwidth.com/

• Twilio: https://ahoy.twilio.com/

• Jeff Lawson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffiel/

• The Surprising Power of Online Experiments: https://hbr.org/2017/09/the-surprising-power-of-online-experiments

• Reforge: https://www.reforge.com/

• Online Experimentation at Microsoft: https://ai.stanford.edu/~ronnyk/ExPThinkWeek2009Public.pdf

• The Simple Path to Wealth: Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life: https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Path-Wealth-financial-independence/dp/1533667926

• Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits …
Lessons from scaling Stripe | Claire Hughes Johnson (former COO of Stripe)

5 maart 2023 · 1 uur 21 min
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—

Claire Hughes Johnson is the former COO at Stripe, which she helped scale from a small startup to the legendary company it is today. She also spent close to 10 years at Google, where she filled several executive roles, including VP of Global Online Sales and Director of Sales and Ops for Gmail, YouTube, Google Apps, and AdWords. Claire shares invaluable insights from her upcoming book, Scaling People, on how to successfully build and scale organizations. We talk about the importance of building self-awareness, and Claire gives tons of tactical advice on how to say things that are hard to say, as well as how to improve your internal communications, and so much more.

Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-scaling-stripe-tactics

Where to find Claire Hughes Johnson:

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

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-hughes-johnson-7058/

Where to find Lenny:

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

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

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

Referenced:

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

• John Collison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbcollison/

• Patrick Collison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcollison/

• Discord: https://discord.com/

• Toast: https://pos.toasttab.com/

• High Growth Handbook: Scaling Startups from 10 to 10,000 People: https://www.amazon.com/High-Growth-Handbook-Elad-Gil/dp/1732265100

• Myers-Briggs personality types: https://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/

• Enneagram types: https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-descriptions

• Disc assessment: https://www.discpr…
Lessons from working with 600+ YC startups | Gustaf Alströmer (Y Combinator, Airbnb)

2 maart 2023 · 1 uur 26 min
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—

Gustaf Alströmer is a Group Partner at Y Combinator, where he’s worked with over 600 startups in his 6.5 years there. He’s also a fellow Airbnb alumnus and even started the original Airbnb growth team. In today’s podcast, Gustaf discusses common reasons startups fail and how he helps coach founders on avoiding these mistakes. He explains the attributes that the best founders tend to have, and signs that a company has potential. We also cover the growing space of climate tech, for which Gustaf has a huge passion and where he’s already had an incredible impact. He shares some key areas of innovation and investment in climate tech, some notable companies he’s helped fund, and where he sees potential going forward.

Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-working-with-600-yc

Where to find Gustaf Alströmer:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/gustaf

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

Where to find Lenny:

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

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

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

Referenced:

• Airbnb tweet: https://twitter.com/gustaf/status/1580330162725347330

• Startups Are an Act of Desperation: https://blog.eladgil.com/p/startups-are-an-act-of-desperation

• The 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups: http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html

• Do Things That Don’t Scale: http://paulgraham.com/ds.html

• Marc Andreessen: https://a16z.com/author/marc-andreessen/

• How to Talk to Users: https://youtu.be/z1iF1c8w5Lg

• How to Get Your First Customers: https://youtu.be/hyYCn_kAngI

• Pachama: https://pachama.com/

• Request for Startups: Climate Tech: https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/rfs-climatetech

• Climate Draft: https://www.climatedraft.org/

• Seabound: https://www.seabound.co…
Behind the scenes of Calendly’s rapid growth | Annie Pearl (CPO)

26 februari 2023 · 1 uur 2 min
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—

Annie Pearl is the Chief Product Officer at Calendly. Previously, she was Chief Product Officer at Glassdoor, as well as Director of Product Management at Box. She was named one of the most influential women in Bay Area business by the San Francisco Business Times. In today’s episode, Annie shares three paths into product management and advice on how to get your foot in the door. She also gives us an inside look at how Calendly’s product teams are structured, how they transitioned from solely PLG to adding a sales team and unlocking new growth levers, how they do planning, and much more.

Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-scenes-of-calendlys-rapid

Where to find Annie Pearl:

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

• Email: Annie.Pearl@calendly.com

Where to find Lenny:

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

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

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

Referenced:

• How to send a calendar invite with Calendly: https://calendly.com/blog/how-to-send-a-calendar-invite

• Google’s APM program: https://careers.google.com/programs/apm/

• The 15 Best Associate and Rotational Product Manager Programs: https://medium.com/agileinsider/product-management-digest-apm-3c2631683139

• Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works: https://www.amazon.com/Playing-Win-Strategy-Really-Works/dp/142218739X/

• Confluence: https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence

• Aha: https://www.aha.io/

• Airtable: https://www.airtable.com/

• Loom: https://www.loom.com/

• Jira: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira

• Pendo: https://go.pendo.io/

• Tope Awotona on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bawotona/

• The Skip podcast: …
An inside look at how CNN builds product | Upasna Gautam

23 februari 2023 · 58 min
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—

Upasna Gautam is a product manager at CNN Digital, where she works closely with editorial staff and journalists to build their internal content management system. She is also a longtime meditation coach and a board member of the News Product Alliance. In today’s episode, we delve into how product teams are structured and operate at CNN, how CNN uses OKRs and roadmaps, and the unique challenges and opportunities in designing a digital product for journalists. Upasna also shares a story about her team’s product saving the day during the 2020 elections and gives listeners a free mini lesson on meditation.

Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/an-inside-look-at-how-cnn-builds-product-upasna-gautam/#transcript

Where to find Upasna Gautam:

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

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

• Website: https://linktr.ee/upasnagautam

Where to find Lenny:

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

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

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

Referenced:

• Insight Timer: https://insighttimer.com/

• News Product Alliance: https://newsproduct.org/

• Mindfulness in Plain English: https://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-English-Bhante-Henepola-Gunaratana/dp/0861719069

• How to Win Friends & Influence People: https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671027034/

• The New Product Development Game: https://hbr.org/1986/01/the-new-new-product-development-game

• The Mandalorian on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/series/the-mandalorian/3jLIGMDYINqD

• Ted Lasso on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/ted-lasso/umc.cmc.vtoh0mn0xn7t3c643xqonfzy

• Everything Everywhere All at Once on Showtime: https://www.sho.com/titl…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The power of strategic narrative | Andy Raskin

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)

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

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

Mastering paid growth | Jonathan Becker (Thrive Digital)

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

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

The ultimate guide to product-led sales | Elena Verna

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Competing with giants: An inside look at how The Browser Company builds product | Josh Miller (CEO)

The ultimate guide to OKRs | Christina Wodtke (Stanford)

Hot takes and techno-optimism from tech’s top power couple | Sriram and Aarthi

Career frameworks, A/B testing mistakes, counterintuitive onboarding tips, selling to developers | Laura Schaffer (VP of Growth at Amplitude)

Lessons from scaling Stripe | Claire Hughes Johnson (former COO of Stripe)

Lessons from working with 600+ YC startups | Gustaf Alströmer (Y Combinator, Airbnb)

Behind the scenes of Calendly’s rapid growth | Annie Pearl (CPO)

An inside look at how CNN builds product | Upasna Gautam