Episoder
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Farhan Thawar is the head of engineering at Shopify, where he oversees more than 1,000 engineers and a platform that powers over 10% of all U.S. e-commerce. Before Shopify, he was VP of engineering at Pivotal Labs and Xtreme Labs, and co-founder of Helpful.com. In our conversation, Farhan shares:
• Why choosing the harder path leads to better outcomes
• How to create intensity within your org (without burnout)
• Why every company should be embracing pair programming
• How he hires without interviewing
• How he built the world’s largest internship program
• His mission to create a “crafter’s paradise” for engineers
• Much more
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Brought to you by:
• DX—A platform for measuring and improving developer productivity
• Persona—A global leader in digital identity verification
• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security
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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-shopify-builds-a-high-intensity-culture-farhan-thawer
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Where to find Farhan Thawar:
• X: https://x.com/fnthawar
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fnthawar
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Farhan’s background
(05:38) Choosing the hard path
(09:37) Getting comfortable with looking dumb
(13:20) Lessons from working with visionaries
(19:19) Creating intensity in organizations
(22:06) The power of pair programming
(29:18) Shopify’s culture of intensity
(37:18) Meeting Armageddon: revolutionizing company meetings
(39:46) Reducing distractions
(41:10) Deleting 1M+ lines of code
(49:05) Three buckets of building
(57:45) Remote work and trust battery
(01:00:29) Finding stability in uncomfortable times
(01:03:14) Hiring philosophy
(01:11:41) Internship programs and co-op systems
(01:15:32) Lessons from managing 120 direct reports
(01:20:40) Failure corner
(01:27:46) Lightning round and closing thoughts
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Referenced:
• The Steve Jobs quote about connecting dots: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/463176-you-can-t-connect-the-dots-looking-forward-you-can-only
• Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/
• GitHub: https://github.com/
• Farhan’s “questions to ask” framework: https://x.com/fnthawar/status/1514193402828574721
• Palantir: https://www.palantir.com/
• Joe Liemandt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liemandt
• Chamath Palihapitya: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamath_Palihapitiya
• Xtreme Labs: https://www.xtremelabs.io
• Parkinson’s law: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-parkinsons-law-6674423
• Pair programming: https://dev.to/documatic/pair-programming-best-practices-and-tools-154j
• Cody Fauser on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/codyfauser
• How Shopify builds product: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-shopify-builds-product
• Chaos Monkey: We look at Shopify’s new ‘culture of focus’: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/careers/shopify-chaos-monkey-meetings-culture-deann-evans
• Empowering devs with AI: How Shopify made GitHub Copilot core to its culture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVKBwcm5dbw&t=2318s
• Tobi Lütke of Shopify: Powering a Team with a ‘Trust Battery’: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/business/tobi-lutke-of-shopify-powering-a-team-with-a-trust-battery.html
• Brian Chesky’s new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach
• Stop Being Deceived by Interviews When You’re Hiring: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2012/02/07/stop-being-deceived-by-interviews-when-youre-hiring/
• Shopify’s made the Life Story a major part of their interview: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39294140
• Internships at Shopify: https://internships.shopify.com
• Nick Adams on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-adams-32b28139
• React Native: https://reactnative.dev
• Swift: https://www.swift.org
• Acquired podcast: The Mark Zuckerberg interview: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/the-mark-zuckerberg-interview
• The Power of Performance Reviews: Use This System to Become a Better Manager: https://review.firstround.com/the-power-of-performance-reviews-use-this-system-to-become-a-better-manager
• Airbnb’s Vlad Loktev on embracing chaos, inquiry over advocacy, poking the bear, and “impact, impact, impact” (Partner at Index Ventures, Airbnb GM/VP Product): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/impact-impact-impact-vlad-loktev
• The Secret to a Great Planning Process—Lessons from Airbnb and Eventbrite: https://review.firstround.com/the-secret-to-a-great-planning-process-lessons-from-airbnb-and-eventbrite
• How to do great work: https://www.paulgraham.com/greatwork.html
• Challengers on Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Challengers-Luca-Guadagnino/dp/B0CX5MZ9M4
• Halt and Catch Fire on Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Halt-Catch-Fire-Season-1/dp/B0CKXZNT96
• Meta Ray-Bans: https://www.meta.com/smart-glasses/shop-all
• Making Meta | Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth (CTO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/making-meta-andrew-boz-bosworth-cto
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Recommended books:
• The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds: https://www.amazon.com/Undoing-Project-Friendship-Changed-Minds/dp/0393254593
• Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World: https://www.amazon.com/Range-Generalists-Triumph-Specialized-World/dp/0735214484
• Manna: Two Visions of Humanity’s Future: https://www.amazon.com/Manna-Two-Visions-Humanitys-Future-ebook/dp/B007HQH67U
• Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street: https://www.amazon.com/Business-Adventures-Twelve-Classic-Street/dp/1504000021
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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe -
Jackson Shuttleworth is a Group PM at Duolingo, where he leads the retention team and the powerful streak feature. The streak feature, which gamifies consecutive days of learning, has been Duolingo’s most important and innovative growth lever and a key driver of their growth to a $14 billion business with almost 600 million users. In our conversation, we dive deep into the history and lessons of this feature:
• The evolution of the streak feature
• Biggest insights from over 600 streak-related experiments
• Biggest specific wins and misses along the way
• Key principles for building effective streak mechanics
• How to operate a high-velocity product team
• Tips for building engaging notification systems
• Much more
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Brought to you by:
• Pendo—The only all-in-one product experience platform for any type of application
• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security
• Coda—The all-in-one collaborative workspace
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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-product-duolingo-streaks
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Where to find Jackson Shuttleworth:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackson-shuttleworth/
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Jackson’s background and an overview of Duolingo’s streak feature
(06:00) The impact of streaks on Duolingo’s success
(09:58) The origin and evolution of streaks
(14:50) Key experiments and insights
(24:38) User psychology and engagement strategies
(28:36) Duolingo’s product review structure
(33:07) Designing for clarity and adaptability
(46:59) Developing the Streak Freeze feature
(50:47) Balancing monetization and retention
(54:08) Notification strategies
(58:15) The Perfect Streak feature
(01:00:40) Enhancing the user experience
(01:04:47) Team operations and experimentation
(01:18:57) Who can benefit from streaks
(01:21:00) Lightning round
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Referenced:
• Duolingo streaks: https://duolingo.fandom.com/wiki/Streak
• How to make learning as addictive as social media: https://www.ted.com/talks/luis_von_ahn_how_to_make_learning_as_addictive_as_social_media?subtitle=en
• Luis von Ahn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-von-ahn-duolingo/
• FarmVille: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FarmVille
• Royal Match: https://www.dreamgames.com/games/royal-match
• How Duolingo reignited user growth: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-duolingo-reignited-user-growth
• You’re on fire! Or, how we brought the streak milestone to life: https://blog.duolingo.com/streak-milestone-design-animation/
• Duolingo Doubles Down on Design and Animation with Acquisition of Hobbes: https://investors.duolingo.com/news-releases/news-release-details/duolingo-doubles-down-design-and-animation-acquisition-hobbes
• Hobbes: https://www.hobbes.work/
• Jira: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira
• Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/
• Bing Gordon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/binggordon/
• Peloton: https://www.onepeloton.com/
• Bluey on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/series/bluey/1xy9TAOQ0M3r
• Emily in Paris on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81037371
• Multi-position ladders at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/b/Building-Materials-Ladders-Multi-Position-Ladders/N-5yc1vZasew
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Recommended books:
• A Guide to Midwestern Conversation: https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Midwestern-Conversation-Taylor-Phillips/dp/1984861336
• Fate Is the Hunter: A Pilot’s Memoir: https://www.amazon.com/Fate-Hunter-Ernest-K-Gann/dp/0671636030
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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe -
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Seth Godin is a legend. He’s a marketer, teacher, entrepreneur, and author of more than 20 books, including Purple Cow, Permission Marketing, and Linchpin. He also writes one of the most popular and longest-running blogs in the world (approaching publishing 10,000 in a row!) and continues to shape how we think about marketing, brand, product, and creating lasting change in the world. In our conversation, we discuss:
• How to build remarkable products that spread
• The four critical strategic choices that determine your future
• How to develop good taste and high standards
• The role of tension in great strategy
• How Seth used Claude to write his newest book
• Much more
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Brought to you by:
• DX—A platform for measuring and improving developer productivity
• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security
• Paragon—Ship every SaaS integration your customers want
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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/seth-godins-tactics-for-building-remarkable-products
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Where to find Seth Godin:
• Blog: http://seths.blog/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethgodin
• Website: https://www.sethgodin.com
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Seth’s background
(05:17) Understanding good taste and upholding high standards
(08:09) Become the best at whatever you do
(09:48) Seth’s journey as a product manager
(14:09) What people often get wrong when building products
(16:00) Building a brand in the age of AI
(19:04) Using AI to enhance writing
(22:40) Four critical elements for an effective strategy
(27:38) The role of tension in strategy
(29:15) The concept of the purple cow
(33:11) "Safe is risky"
(34:56) The power of systems
(37:07) Better waves make better surfers
(38:10) Rebranding vs. re-logoing
(43:07) Empathetic leadership
(44:14) Conclusion and farewell
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Referenced:
• Seth Godin on the Tim Ferriss Show: https://tim.blog/2024/03/20/seth-godin-3/
• Persuasive communication and managing up | Wes Kao (Maven, Seth Godin, Section4): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/persuasive-communication-wes-kao
• Spinnaker: https://spinnaker.io
• Ray Bradbury: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Bradbury
• Arthur C. Clarke: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke
• Isaac Asimov: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov
• Roger Zelazny: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Zelazny
• Herbie Hancock: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbie_Hancock
• Fahrenheit 451 (game): https://www.filfre.net/2013/09/fahrenheit-451-the-game/
• RTFM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTFM#
• Intercom: https://www.intercom.com
• Claude: https://claude.ai
• ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com
• Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com
• Steam: https://store.steampowered.com
• P.F. Flyers: https://pfflyers.com
• Steve Blank’s website: https://steveblank.com
• Marissa Mayer on X: https://x.com/marissamayer
• Jaguar unveils new logo ahead of electric relaunch: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgr0pw00n7qo
• IHOP Becomes IHOb, the International House of ... Burgers: https://www.npr.org/2018/06/11/618844977/ihop-becomes-ihob-the-international-house-of-burgers
• Oreo’s Super Bowl Power-Outage Tweet Was 18 Months in the Making: https://www.businessinsider.com/oreos-super-bowl-power-outage-tweet-was-18-months-in-the-making-2013-3
• Tesla’s New ‘Ludicrous Mode’ Makes the Model S a Supercar: https://www.wired.com/2015/07/teslas-new-ludicrous-mode-makes-model-s-supercar
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Recommended books:
• This Is Strategy: Make Better Plans (Create a Strategy to Elevate Your Career, Community & Life): https://www.amazon.com/This-Strategy-Better-Elevate-Community/dp/B0D47T8S7N• Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable: https://www.amazon.com/Purple-Cow-New-Transform-Remarkable/dp/1591843170
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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe -
Jonathan Lowenhar is the co-founder of Enjoy The Work, an executive coaching firm that helps founders become great CEOs. Over the past decade, Enjoy The Work has supported over 165 founders on their journey to becoming better leaders. In our conversation, we discuss:
• The difference between being a founder and being a CEO
• Common failure modes for startup CEOs and how to avoid them
• The four key elements of an effective go-to-market strategy
• A framework for evaluating potential acquisitions: the magic box paradigm
• How to find and hire the best people
• How to build a repeatable GTM machine
• Why founders need to trust their intuition
• Much more
—
Brought to you by:
• Pendo—The only all-in-one product experience platform for any type of application
• OneSchema—Import CSV data 10x faster
• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security
—
Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-a-great-founder-becomes-a-great-ceo-jonathan-lowenhar
—
Where to find Jonathan Lowenhar:
• X: https://x.com/jlowenhar
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlowenhar/
• Enjoy the Work: https://etw.live/lenny
—
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
—
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Jonathan’s background
(02:56) Understanding the rhythm of well-run companies
(09:20) The founder mode vs. manager mode debate
(12:05) Common company failure modes
(13:36) Common CEO failure modes
(25:25) The magic box paradigm for selling your startup
(43:07) Advice for founders on building relationships
(49:28) Hiring and building an amazing team
(57:11) Types of executives: architect, optimizer, scaler
(59:45) Working backward in hiring
(01:02:54) Four key components of a go-to-market strategy
(01:15:01) Trusting founder intuition
(01:19:12) Founder vs. CEO: different roles, different skills
(01:20:52) Closing thoughts and lightning round
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Referenced:
• Founder mode memes: https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/04/those-founder-mode-memes-keep-coming/
• Founder mode: https://paulgraham.com/foundermode.html
• “Founder Mode” Is a Dangerous Red Herring: https://enjoythework.com/founder-mode-is-a-dangerous-red-herring/
• Magic Box Paradigm: A Framework for Startup Acquisitions: https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Box-Paradigm-Framework-Acquisitions/dp/0692778047
• Facebook Buys Instagram for $1 Billion: https://archive.nytimes.com/dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/04/09/facebook-buys-instagram-for-1-billion/
• Chris Voss on X: https://x.com/fbinegotiator
• Who: https://www.amazon.com/Who-Geoff-Smart/dp/0345504194
• Brian Chesky on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianchesky/
• Joe Gebbia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jgebbia/
• Nathan Blecharczyk on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blecharczyk/
• 4 questions Shreyas Doshi wishes he’d asked himself sooner | Former PM leader at Stripe, Twitter, Google: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/shreyas-doshi-live
• Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth: https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Startup-Achieve-Explosive-Customer/dp/1591848369
• Adam Grant on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adammgrant/
• This will make you a better decision maker | Annie Duke (author of “Thinking in Bets” and “Quit,” former pro poker player): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/making-better-decisions-annie-duke
• How to identify your ideal customer profile (ICP): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-identify-your-ideal-customer
• How to get your marketing team to drive more impact: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-get-your-marketing-team-to
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756
• The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself: https://www.amazon.com/Untethered-Soul-Journey-Beyond-Yourself/dp/1572245379
• Will & Harper on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81760197
• Slow Horses on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/slow-horses/umc.cmc.2szz3fdt71tl1ulnbp8utgq5o
• Aura frames: https://auraframes.com/
• Augie studio: https://augie.studio/
• Harrah’s Entertainment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrah%27s_Entertainment
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe -
Michael Margolis has been a UX research partner at Google Ventures (GV) for nearly 15 years. He has developed a unique approach to helping startups identify their “bullseye customer”—the specific subset of their target market who initially is most likely to adopt their product. Michael has conducted over 300 hands-on research sprints with GV portfolio companies across various industries and helped develop the “design sprint” process made famous by the book Sprint. In our conversation, we discuss:
• The step-by-step process of running a bullseye customer sprint
• The most common mistakes founders make when picking their first customers
• Practical tips for conducting effective customer interviews
• How to create simple but effective prototypes for user research
• The power of “watch parties” in aligning teams around customer insights
• How to apply these methods beyond typical tech startups
—
Brought to you by:
• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments
• Paragon—Ship every SaaS integration your customers want
• Enterpret—Transform customer feedback into product growth
—
Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/finding-your-bullseye-customer-michael-margolis
—
Where to find Michael Margolis:
• X: https://x.com/mmargolis
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmargolis/
• Website: https://www.learnmorefaster.com/
• Medium: https://medium.com/@mmargolis
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
—
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Michael’s background
(09:11) Bullseye customers vs. ideal customer profiles (ICPs)
(12:32) An overview of the bullseye customer sprint
(20:56) When to use the bullseye customer sprint
(22:19) Step one: Agree on goals and key questions
(23:48) Step two: Define your bullseye customer
(25:52) The importance of a narrow target audience
(29:00) An example of step two in action
(38:24) Narrowing attributes and exclusion criteria
(43:28) Step three: Recruiting and compensating participants
(56:11) Step four: Creating effective prototypes
(01:01:10) Step five: Drafting your interview guide
(01:08:49) Step six: The watch party method
(01:19:40) Common pitfalls and final thoughts
(01:24:43) Closing thoughts and where to find Michael
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Referenced:
• Learn More Faster: How to Find Your Bullseye Customer and Their Perfect Product: https://www.learnmorefaster.com
• Alcoa: https://www.alcoa.com
• Dupont: https://www.dupont.com
• Ericsson: https://www.ericsson.com
• Google Ventures: https://www.gv.com/
• Kate Aronowitz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katearonowitz/
• Vanessa Cho on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/veecho/
• How to kickstart and scale a consumer business—Step 2: Identify your super-specific who: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/consumer-business-super-specific-who
• When enough is enough | Andy Johns (ex-FB, Twitter, Quora): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/when-enough-is-enough-andy-johns
• Zipline for health care: https://www.flyzipline.com/solutions/healthcare
• Jobs to Be Done framework: https://www.christenseninstitute.org/theory/jobs-to-be-done
• User Interviews: https://www.userinterviews.com/
• Respondent: https://www.respondent.io/
• Flatiron Health: https://flatiron.com/
• How to identify your ideal customer profile (ICP): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-identify-your-ideal-customer
• Gong: https://www.gong.io
• Linear: https://linear.app
• Gusto: https://gusto.com/
• Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling: https://bookshop.org/p/books/humble-inquiry-second-edition-the-gentle-art-of-asking-instead-of-telling-edgar-h-schein/14739375
• Figma: https://www.figma.com
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe -
Jen Abel is the co-founder of JJELLYFISH, where she and her team have worked with over 300 early-stage founders to learn how to sell, do early customer discovery, and set up a repeatable sales motion on the way to their first $1M ARR. In our conversation, Jen shares:
• Why founder-led sales is so crucial early on
• The sales process, step by step
• How to craft effective outreach messages
• Where to find leads
• What three channels work best for outreach
• What to say on your first call
• How to maintain momentum
• Strategies for navigating procurement and closing deals
• Common pitfalls in the sales process and how to avoid them
—
Brought to you by:
• Brave Search—A smarter way to search
• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security
• Paragon—Ship every SaaS integration your customers want
—
Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/master-founder-led-sales-jen-abel
—
Where to find Jen Abel:
• X: https://x.com/jjen_abel
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/earlystagesale
—
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
—
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Jen’s background
(02:20) The importance of founder-led sales
(08:24) The steps of a sales cycle
(12:01) Tactics for effective cold outreach
(16:47) Conversion rate vs. win rate
(20:20) The time it takes to find product-market fit
(23:06) Identifying and engaging prospects
(30:58) Nailing the first phone call
(34:14) Buying vs. selling
(38:08) Testing the questions to ask
(41:57) Avoiding common sales questions and securing the second call
(43:08) Co-authoring with customers
(45:06) Time-boxing service contracts
(49:20) Why you should avoid demos on the first call
(51:05) Dealing with procurement
(54:22) The power of enterprise sales
(58:14) Getting a signature
(01:00:15) Choosing a focus and overcoming sales challenges
(01:02:19) General timelines
(01:04:27) Final thoughts and advice
(01:13:32) Working with Jen
—
Referenced:
• Wiz: https://www.wiz.io/
• JJELLYFISH: https://www.jjellyfish.com/
• Clay: https://www.clay.com/
• A guide for finding product-market fit in B2B: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/finding-product-market-fit
• Airtable: https://www.airtable.com/
• Figma: https://www.figma.com/
• GitHub: https://github.com/
• Vanta: https://www.vanta.com/
• Christine Cacioppo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ccacioppo/
• Glengarry Glen Ross: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104348/
• A step-by-step guide to crafting a sales pitch that wins | April Dunford (author of Obviously Awesome and Sales Pitch): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/a-step-by-step-guide-to-crafting
• Sales Pitch: How to Craft a Story to Stand Out and Win: https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Pitch-Craft-Story-Stand-ebook/dp/B0CHY6BNDN
• Sprig: https://sprig.com/
• Zip: https://zip.co/
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe -
Amjad Masad is the co-founder and CEO of Replit, a browser-based coding environment that allows anyone to write and deploy code. Replit has 34 million users globally and is one of the fastest-growing developer communities in the world. Prior to Replit, Amjad worked at Facebook, where he led the JavaScript infrastructure team and contributed to popular open-source developer tools. Additionally, he played a key role as a founding engineer at the online coding school Codecademy. In our conversation, Amjad shares:
• A live demo of Replit in action
• How Replit’s AI agent can build full-stack web applications from a simple text prompt
• The implications of AI-powered development for product managers, designers, and engineers
• How this might reshape companies and careers
• Why being “generative” will become an increasingly valuable skill
• “Amjad’s law” and how learning to debug AI-generated code is becoming ever more valuable
• Much more
—
Brought to you by:
• WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs
• Persona—A global leader in digital identity verification
• LinkedIn Ads—Reach professionals and drive results for your business
—
Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-product-replit-amjad-masad
—
Where to find Amjad Masad:
• X: https://x.com/amasad
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amjadmasad/
• Website: https://amasad.me/
—
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
—
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction to Amjad Masad and Replit
(02:41) The vision and challenges of Replit
(06:50) Replit’s growth and user stories
(10:49) Demo of Replit’s capabilities
(16:51) Building and iterating with Replit
(25:04) Real-world applications and use cases
(30:13) The technology stack
(33:48) The evolution of Replit and its capabilities
(39:36) The future of AI in software development
(44:04) Skills for the future: generative thinking and coding
(47:26) Amjad’s law
(50:36) Replit’s new developments and future plans
—
Referenced:
• Replit: https://replit.com/
• Cursor: https://www.cursor.com
• Aman Mathur on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aman-mathur/
• Node: https://nodejs.org/en
• Claude: https://claude.ai/
• Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/
• Wasm: https://webassembly.org/
• Figma: https://www.figma.com/
• Codecademy: https://www.codecademy.com/
• Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/news
• Paul Graham’s website: https://www.paulgraham.com/
• Jevons paradox: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox
• Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/
• Open AI: https://openai.com/
• Amjad’s tweet about “society of models”: https://x.com/amasad/status/1568941103709290496
• About HCI: https://www.designdisciplin.com/p/hci-profession
• Taylor Swift’s website: https://www.taylorswift.com/
• Andrew Wilkinson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/awilkinson/
• Haya Odeh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haya-odeh-b0725928/
• Amjad’s law: https://x.com/snowmaker/status/1847377464705896544
• Ray Kurzweil’s website: https://www.thekurzweillibrary.com/
• God of the gaps: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_the_gaps
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe -
Raaz Herzberg is the chief marketing officer and VP of product strategy at Wiz. Wiz hit $100 million ARR within 18 months (the fastest growth in startup history) and, five years in, is generating over $500 million ARR. It also serves over 45% of the Fortune 100. Raaz was one of the first five employees at Wiz, joining as the first product manager, and helped the team pivot to what may be the most intense PMF in history. Before Wiz, Raaz led security products at Microsoft, including Azure Sentinel. In our conversation, we discuss:
• How Wiz pivoted from their initial idea and found deep product-market fit
• What Raaz learned about listening to customers
• Why she moved from product to marketing, despite no prior experience
• How she thinks differently as a marketer with a product background
• Lessons learned from scaling a hypergrowth startup like Wiz
• Much more
—
Brought to you by:
• WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs
• Rippling—Automate HR, IT, and finance so you can scale faster
• Cloudinary—The foundational technology for all images and video on the internet
—
Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-wiz-raaz-herzberg
—
Where to find Raaz Herzberg:
• X: https://x.com/raazherzberg
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raazh
—
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
—
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Raaz’s background
(02:54) Early challenges and Wiz’s essential pivot
(06:41) Finding product-market fit
(11:31) Lessons from early customer interactions
(14:54) The power in speaking up when you don’t understand something
(17:46) How Wiz pivoted from their initial idea
(23:52) Marketing and leadership insights
(34:12) The challenges of being a marketing leader
(28:05) Following the “heat” in your organization
(30:22) How Raaz found success as CMO
(34:01) Common CMO mistakes
(36:23) Creating noise and standing out
(40:28) Embracing failure and taking risks
(44:53) The importance of clear communication
(48:32) The “dummy” explanation
(51:00) Building trust and company culture
(53:45) Contrarian corner
(56:34) Lightning round
—
Referenced:
• Wiz: https://www.wiz.io/
• An inside look at Deel’s unprecedented growth | Meltem Kuran Berkowitz (Head of Growth): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/an-inside-look-at-deels-unprecedented
• Velocity over everything: How Ramp became the fastest-growing SaaS startup of all time | Geoff Charles (VP of Product): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/velocity-over-everything-how-ramp
• Assaf Rappaport on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/assafrappaport/
• How LinkedIn became interesting: The inside story | Tomer Cohen (CPO at LinkedIn): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-linkedin-became-interesting-tomer-cohen
• Shardul Shah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shardul-shah-3589062/
• Doug Leone on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-leone-a2714/
• Jeff Horing on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhoring2009/
• RSA Conference: https://www.rsaconference.com/
• Microsoft acquires Adallom to advance identity and security in the cloud: https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2015/09/08/microsoft-acquires-adallom-to-advance-identity-and-security-in-the-cloud/
• Imposter syndrome: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/imposter-syndrome
• Careers at Wiz: https://www.wiz.io/careers
• Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business: https://www.amazon.com/Setting-Table-Transforming-Hospitality-Business/dp/0060742763
• No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention: https://www.amazon.com/No-Rules-Netflix-Culture-Reinvention/dp/1984877860/
• Gong: https://www.gong.io/
• The Wire on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-wire
• Raaz’s pen holder recommendation: https://www.paper-republic.com/products/le-loop-penholder
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe -
Aman Khan is Director of Product at Arize AI, an observability company for AI engineers at companies like Uber, Instacart, and Discord. Previously he was an AI Product Manager at Spotify on the ML Platform team, enabling hundreds of engineers to build and ship products across the company. He has also led and worked on products at Cruise, Zipline, and Apple. In our conversation, we discuss:
• What is an “AI product manager”?
• How to break into AI PM
• What separates top 5% AI PMs
• How to thrive as an individual-contributor PM
• Common pitfalls to avoid when building AI products
• The importance of energy and curiosity in product roles
• Much more
—
Brought to you by:
• Pendo—The only all-in-one product experience platform for any type of application
• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security
• Paragon—Ship every SaaS integration your customers want
—
Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/becoming-an-ai-pm-aman-khan
—
Where to find Aman Khan:
• X: https://x.com/_amankhan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanberkeley/
• Website: https://amanalikhan.com/
—
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
—
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Aman’s background
(06:16) Understanding AI product management roles
(13:29) Getting started as an AI product manager
(18:14) Building a portfolio and standing out
(22:31) Why product management is not dead
(28:56) How to thrive as an AI product manager
(35:42) Finding good ideas that are AI-oriented
(39:27) Be careful not to automate away every customer experience
(42:53) What separates top 5% AI PMs
(46:55) Key habits for long-term IC success
(52:48) The importance of energy in meetings
(57:00) Wandering vs. waiting
(01:01:41) Amplifying signal through AI tools
(01:03:18) Just have fun
(01:05:36) Lightning round
—
Referenced:
• AI Resources and Tools for PMs (Updated Oct 2024): https://open.substack.com/pub/amankhan1/p/ai-resources-and-tools-for-pms-updated
• Unlocking the AI PM Dream: Your Roadmap to Success: https://amankhan1.substack.com/p/unlocking-the-ai-pm-dream-your-roadmap
• Arize: https://arize.com/
• Ryzen: https://www.amd.com/en/products/processors/business-systems/ryzen-ai.html
• NotebookLM: https://notebooklm.google/
• Figma: https://www.figma.com/
• Cursor: https://www.cursor.com/
• Replit: https://replit.com/
• Excalidraw: https://excalidraw.com/
• Vercel: https://vercel.com/
• v0: https://v0.dev/
• How Airbnb Proved That Storytelling Is the Most Important Skill in Design: https://www.inc.com/yazin-akkawi/the-surprising-technique-airbnb-uses-to-better-sell-an-experience.html
• Brian Chesky’s new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach
• Midjourney: https://www.midjourney.com/
• Dall-E: https://openai.com/index/dall-e-3/
• Introducing the Realtime API: https://openai.com/index/introducing-the-realtime-api/
• Intro to Large Language Models | Andrej Karpathy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjkBMFhNj_g
• Watch Me Build an App in 60 Minutes With o1 and Cursor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zmhe6_T-xU
• Greg Isenberg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gisenberg/
• Vision, conviction, and hype: How to build 0 to 1 inside a company | Mihika Kapoor (Product at Figma): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/vision-conviction-hype-mihika-kapoor
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/
• Instacart: https://www.instacart.com/
• How to grow a subscription business | Yuriy Timen (Grammarly, Canva, Airtable): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/transform-your-subscription-growth
• When Identifying the Problem Isn’t Enough: Lessons from Boxed Cake Mix by Ann M. Aly, TechFlow Director of Human Centered Design: https://www.techflow.com/when-identifying-the-problem-isnt-enough-lessons-from-boxed-cake-mix/
• Waymo: https://waymo.com/
• The Ikea effect: https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/ikea-effect
• Blue Apron: https://www.blueapron.com/
• Unorthodox PM wisdom: Automating user insights, unselling job candidates, logging every decision, more | Kevin Yien (Stripe, Square, Mutiny): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/unorthodox-pm-wisdom-kevin-yien
• LeBron James: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeBron_James
• The Secrets Behind Lyft’s Dynamic Culture: https://www.forbes.com/sites/marissaperetz/2018/05/16/the-secrets-behind-lyfts-dynamic-culture/
• Aparna Dhinakaran on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aparnadhinakaran/
• Why most public speaking advice is wrong—and how to finally overcome your speaking anxiety | Tristan de Montebello (CEO & co-founder of Ultraspeaking): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/master-public-speaking-tristan-de-montebello
• Ultraspeaking: https://ultraspeaking.com/lenny/
• A Short History of Nearly Everything: https://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Nearly-Everything/dp/076790818X
• Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life: https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Your-Life-Well-Lived-Joyful/dp/1101875321
• Tour de France: Unchained on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81153133
• Formula 1: Drive to Survive on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80204890
• Websim: https://websim.ai/
• Appeel Books: https://appeel.brandeditems.com/
• Steve Jobs quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/374630-your-time-is-limited-so-don-t-waste-it-living-someone#
• Becoming a conscious leader: Leading without fear, finding your life’s objective function, and getting better at vision and strategy | John Mark Nickels (Uber, Waymo, DoorDash): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/becoming-a-conscious-leader-john-mark-nickels
• Aman Khan (cricket player): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aman_Hakim_Khan
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe -
Melissa Perri is the founder of Product Institute, author of Escaping the Build Trap, and host of the Product Thinking Podcast. She has worked with startups, Fortune 50 companies, and everything in between to help them build better products and level up their product teams. In our conversation, we discuss:
• The history of the product owner role
• The differences between product owners and product managers
• How to transition from product owner to product manager
• The evolution of and problems with the SAFe framework
• How large non-tech companies can improve their product practices
• Much more
—
Brought to you by:
• Pendo—The only all-in-one product experience platform for any type of application
• OneSchema—Import CSV data 10x faster
• Coda—The all-in-one collaborative workspace
—
Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/product-owners-melissa-perri
—
Where to find Melissa Perri:
• X: https://twitter.com/lissijean
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissajeanperri/
• Website: https://melissaperri.com/
• Product Institute: https://productinstitute.com/
• Podcast: https://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking
—
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
—
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Melissa’s background
(02:12) The rise of the product owner role
(06:37) Understanding Agile and Scrum
(08:27) Challenges in Agile transformations
(10:41) The history of the product owner role
(13:58) The Scrum Guide
(15:43) Product owner responsibilities
(21:01) Adopting Scrum in organizations
(26:21) The origins and implementation of SAFe
(35:20) Why Melissa doesn’t recommend SAFe
(40:33) Advice for implementing a digital transformation
(49:12) An example of SAFe adoption
(51:27) The value of experienced product leaders
(56:53) Career paths for product owners
(01:04:14) Transitioning from product owner to product manager
(01:06:41) Be careful relying on certifications
(01:11:43) Evaluating existing product owners
(01:16:55) Final thoughts on Agile and product management
—
Referenced:
• Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value: https://www.amazon.com/Escaping-Build-Trap-Effective-Management/dp/149197379X
• Lean UX: https://leanuxnyc.co/
• Scrum: https://www.scrum.org/
• What is Extreme Programming? https://www.agilealliance.org/glossary/xp/
• Capital One: https://www.capitalone.com/
• The Agile Manifesto: https://www.atlassian.com/agile/manifesto
• Ken Schwaber on X: https://x.com/kschwaber
• Jeff Sutherland on X: https://x.com/jeffsutherland
• Kanban: https://www.atlassian.com/agile/kanban
• What is a kanban board?: https://www.atlassian.com/agile/kanban/boards
• Ron Jeffries’s website: https://www.ronjeffries.com/
• Jeff Patton on X: https://x.com/jeffpatton
• The Scrum Guide: https://www.scrum.org/resources/scrum-guide
• OpenSky: https://www.openskycc.com/
• SAFe: https://scaledagileframework.com/
• Dean Leffingwell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanleffingwell/
• Capital One scraps 1,100 tech positions: https://www.reuters.com/technology/capital-one-scraps-1100-tech-positions-source-2023-01-19/
• Product management theater | Marty Cagan (Silicon Valley Product Group): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/product-management-theater-marty
• Marty Cagan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cagan/
• Jeff Gothelf on X: https://x.com/jboogie
• Shruti Patel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shruti-patel-32bb573a/
• Product Thinking Podcast: Mastering Product Focus: Balancing Legacy and Innovation with Shruti Patel: https://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking-blog/2024/9/25/episode-190-mastering-product-focus-balancing-legacy-and-innovation-with-shruti-patel
• Melissa Douros on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissadouros/
• Mind the Product: https://www.mindtheproduct.com/
• Athenahealth: https://www.athenahealth.com/
• McKinsey: https://www.mckinsey.com/
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe -
Archie Abrams is the VP of Product and Head of Growth at Shopify, where he leads a 600+ person growth org across product, design, engineering, data, ops, and growth marketing. Shopify powers over 10% of e-commerce in the United States, with $235 billion in GMV in 2023 (roughly the size of Finland’s economy). He previously led Consumer product and growth at Lyft and was at Udemy for 8 years as SVP of Product having joined the company when it was 10 people. In our conversation, we discuss:
• Why Shopify optimizes for churn
• Why the core product team doesn’t use metrics-based goals
• Why they keep multi-year experiment holdouts
• How they structure their growth team
• The benefits of not having a CMO
• Lessons learned about integrating sales into a product-led growth model
• The power of discounting as a growth lever
• Much more
—
Brought to you by:
• Explo—Embed customer-facing analytics in your product
• Dovetail—The customer insights hub for product teams
—
Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/shopifys-growth-archie-abrams
—
Where to find Archie Abrams:
• X: https://x.com/archieabrams
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/archie-abrams-b6aa8b6/
—
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
—
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Archie’s background
(02:30) Shopify’s impressive growth
(06:17) Shopify’s unique approach to churn and retention
(08:43) Monetization model and success metrics
(11:08) Long-term experimentation and metrics
(23:00) Examples of big wins that Archie’s team has shipped
(26:42) Monetary friction
(27:14) Metrics
(29:47) Shopify’s growth team structure
(33:03) Goal setting and forecasting
(37:10) Examples of long-term results within Shopify
(41:36) Shipping neutral experiments
(42:05) Building a hundred-year company
(48:04) Why Shopify doesn’t use KPIs
(51:30) Shopify’s “Get s**t done” framework
(54:30) Cross-team collaboration
(58:48) The importance of an opinionated founder
(01:01:12) Growth and sales integration
(01:06:42) Shopify’s marketing structure
(01:08:49) Insights on discounting from Udemy
(01:11:09) Lightning round
—
Referenced:
• Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/
• Tobias Lütke on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobiaslutke
• Gross Merchandise Value: Calculation and Best Practices: https://www.shopify.com/retail/gross-merchandise-value
• Brian Chesky’s new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach
• Glen Coates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glcoates
• Harley Finkelstein on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harleyf
• Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/
• Scientific Advertising: https://www.amazon.com/Scientific-Advertising-Original-Claude-Hopkins/dp/1640954252
• Four-Minute Mile: https://www.amazon.com/Four-Minute-Mile-Roger-Bannister/dp/1493038753/
• The Sopranos on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-sopranos
• Suno: https://suno.com/
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe -
Alistair Croll is the co-author of the best-selling book Lean Analytics and a longtime product manager, entrepreneur, and startup advisor. He was also instrumental in my starting a company, funding it, and helping us exit to Airbnb as part of his Year One Labs incubator. He’s chaired notable events such as O’Reilly’s Strata and UBM’s Cloud Connect and founded FWD50. In our conversation, we focus on lessons from an upcoming book by Alistair and his co-author, Emily Ross, Just Evil Enough, which is set for release in late 2024. We cover:
• The importance of subversive marketing strategies in most startups’ growth
• 11 specific subversive tactics that successful companies have used
• Examples of companies like Netflix, Airbnb, and Tesla that used clever tactics early on
• A framework for scanning your market for opportunities
• The importance of finding your “zero-day marketing exploit”
• How to apply these tactics ethically without actually being evil
• Much more
—
Brought to you by:
• WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs
• Hex—Helping teams ask and answer data questions by working together
• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security
—
Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/just-evil-enough-alistair-croll
—
Where to find Alistair Croll:
• X: https://x.com/acroll
• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@alistairish
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alistaircroll/
• Website: https://justevilenough.com/
• Substack: https://acroll.substack.com/
• Just Evil Enough on X: https://x.com/evilenough
• Just Evil Enough on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/just-evil-enough/
—
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
—
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Alistair’s background
(02:00) The story behind Alistair and Emily’s book Just Evil Enough
(06:17) Examples of subversive tactics
(07:43) The importance of unfair advantage
(10:36) The origin of the title “Just Evil Enough”
(14:24) System awareness and novelty
(19:16) How to use this thinking successfully
(22:37) Normalizing disagreeable thinking
(25:49) Recon canvas and market scanning
(32:43) 11 tactics for subversive marketing
(57:01) Implementing subversive strategies
(01:05:01) Ethical considerations in marketing
(01:08:19) Lightning round
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe -
Shreyas Doshi is a former product leader at Stripe, Twitter, Google, and Yahoo. He’s now a full-time advisor and coach to founders and executives. Shreyas is known for his incredibly insightful writing on products, which has garnered him a passionate following in the PM and startup community. Last week, we sat down together at the very first Lenny and Friends Summit in San Francisco for a special live episode. We covered:
• Why product leaders often feel overwhelmed with work, and how to combat it
• The importance of developing good taste, and how to do it
• How to reduce frustration in your product leadership role
• The critical skill of truly listening as a leader
• Common pitfalls in annual planning and decision-making
• Lots of laughs
—
To learn more from Shreyas, check out these courses:
• Improving Your Product Sense: https://bit.ly/product-sense
• Managing Your PM Career: https://bit.ly/pm-career-course
—
Brought to you by:
• WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs
• Paragon—Ship every SaaS integration your customers want
• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security
—
Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/shreyas-doshi-live
—
Where to find Shreyas Doshi:
• X: https://x.com/shreyas
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreyasdoshi/
• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@shreyas.threads
• Linktree: https://linktr.ee/shreyasdoshi
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ShreyasDoshiVideos
—
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
—
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction
(05:35) Question one: Why am I so busy?
(10:08) Annual planning as an example
(16:48) Tactical tips for staying less busy
(25:20) Question two: Do I actually have good taste?
(38:09) Question three: Why does my job feel so frustrating?
(43:29) Question four: Am I really listening?
(44:35) Closing remarks
—
Referenced:
• Shreyas Doshi on pre-mortems, the LNO framework, the three levels of product work, why most execution problems are strategy problems, and ROI vs. opportunity cost thinking: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/episode-3-shreyas-doshi
• LNO framework: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1492345184171945984
• Time management techniques that actually work: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/time-management-techniques-that-actually
• Part 2: Time management techniques that actually work: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/part-2-time-management-techniques
• Eisenhower quote: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/dwight_d_eisenhower_164720
• Stripe Connect: https://stripe.com/connect
• Jeff Bezos explains one-way door decisions and two-way door decisions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxsdOQa_QkM
• Spotify Is America’s Most Loved Workplace: https://www.newsweek.com/2021/10/29/spotify-americas-most-loved-workplace-1639982.html
• Shreyas on “thinking is cheap”: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/shreyasdoshi_thinking-is-very-cheap-doing-is-very-expensive-activity-7225237421813116929-Qzi3/
• Good Product Strategy, Bad Product Strategy from Shreyas: https://x.com/shreyas/status/1244810075908128768
• Shreyas on annual planning and metrics:
https://x.com/shreyas/status/1302423854095036421
https://x.com/shreyas/status/1304628719374544896
• Jensen Huang on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenhsunhuang/
• Patrick Mahomes’s website: https://www.adidas.com/us/patrick_mahomes
• Virat Kohli: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virat_Kohli
• Reversible and Irreversible Decisions: https://fs.blog/reversible-irreversible-decisions/
• Fail fast: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fail_fast
• 3 levels of product work: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1370248637842812936
• Shakespeare quote: https://nosweatshakespeare.com/quotes/famous/to-thine-own-self-be-true/
• Rick Rubin: Legendary Music Producer | Lex Fridman Podcast #275: https://Dwww.youtube.com/watch?v=H_szemxPcTI
• Blake Burge on Rick Ruben: https://x.com/blakeaburge/status/1794470295828341222
• Rick Rubin on X: https://x.com/RickRubin
• Dee Hock on X: https://x.com/deewhock
• Dee Hock quote on listening: https://x.com/shreyas/status/1351279398423465984
• Peter Drucker: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Drucker
• Peter Drucker quotes on listening: https://www.azquotes.com/author/4147-Peter_Drucker/tag/listening
• Lenny’s first podcast recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP_QghPLG-8
• A Recipe to Become a Great Listener: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUQJkiDy2Ko
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe -
Naomi Gleit is head of product at Meta, joined as employee #29, and is the longest-serving executive at Meta other than Mark Zuckerberg. She’s been at the center of some of the company’s most foundational products, including Facebook’s early growth team. In our conversation, we discuss:
• How she originally landed at Facebook
• The evolution of Facebook’s growth team and key metrics
• Lessons from working with Mark Zuckerberg
• Insights from Facebook’s activation metric and retention strategies
• Leadership lessons and “Naomiisms” for effective product management
• Tactics for creating extreme clarity in team communication
• Advice for running effective meetings
• More
—
Brought to you by:
• Pendo—The only all-in-one product experience platform for any type of application
• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security
• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments
—
Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/metas-head-of-product-naomi-gleit
—
Where to find Naomi Gleit:
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naomigleit
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naomi-gleit/
• Website: https://naomi.com/
—
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
—
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction to Naomi Gleit
(01:53) Naomi’s journey at Meta
(06:18) Landing a job at Facebook
(10:40) Becoming a product manager
(13:40) Working as Head of Product at Meta
(14:55) Insights on working with Mark Zuckerberg
(20:04) Small Groups and “disagreeable givers”
(24:28) The legendary growth team
(33:45) Activation metrics and onboarding
(43:44) Naomi’s leadership and PM philosophy
(53:00) Canonical documents
(55:55) Simplifying complex projects
(01:00:33) Teen accounts: a case study
(01:06:37) Running effective meetings
(01:12:10) The importance of exercise
(01:16:36) The role of a product manager
(01:25:49) Lightning round
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe -
Jessica Hische is a lettering artist and New York Times bestselling author based in Oakland, California. She specializes in typographical work for logos, film, books, and other commercial applications. Her clients include Wes Anderson, The United States Postal Service, Target, Hallmark, and Penguin Books, and her work has been featured in design and illustration annuals both in the U.S. and internationally. She’s been named a Print Magazine New Visual Artist (20 under 30), one of Forbes 30 under 30 in Art and Design, an ADC Young Gun, a “Person to Watch” by GD USA, and an Adweek “Creative 100.” In our conversation, we discuss:
• My new logo and brand!
• Jessica’s process for refreshing my logo/brand
• Why most startups shouldn’t worry about their logo/brand
• The psychology behind different typography choices
• Balancing creativity with business needs in logo design
• Jessica’s unique approach to pricing logo work
• How AI is (and isn’t) impacting the design world
• Jessica’s other creative pursuits, including children’s books and art supply stores
—
Brought to you by:
• The Enterprise Ready Conference — For B2B leaders building enterprise SaaS
• OneSchema — Import CSV data 10x faster
• Merge — A single API to add hundreds of integrations into your app
—
Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/seeing-like-a-designer-jessica-hische
—
Where to find Jessica Hische:
• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@jessicahische
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicahische
• Website: https://jessicahische.is
—
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
—
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Jessica’s background
(01:32) The logo refresh process
(09:45) When to refresh your logo
(11:45) High-level overview
(18:04) Approaching Lenny’s brand refresh
(24:25) How to see like a designer
(37:53) Lenny’s new logo: where we landed
(44:07) Brand’s role in company success
(50:04) Jessica’s flexible pricing strategies and collaborative design process
(57:14) Balancing multiple creative projects
(01:01:48) Using AI in creative work
(01:05:50) Upcoming projects and final thoughts
(01:08:24) Lightning round
—
Referenced:
• Jeni’s: https://jenis.com
• James Edmondson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamestedmondson/
• Figma Config: https://config.figma.com/
• Helvetica: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helvetica
• MyFonts: https://www.myfonts.com/
• Geometric sans serif fonts: https://www.myfonts.com/pages/tags/geometric%20sans%20serif-fonts
• The Rise of Fractional Executives: https://www.reforge.com/blog/leveraging-fractional-executives
• JH&F: https://jessicahische.shop/pages/my-oakland-store
• Drawling: https://drawling.shop/
• Jessica Hische’s books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jessica-Hische/author/B082XDN54V
• Dreamforce: https://www.salesforce.com/dreamforce
• Bezier handles: https://www.tella.tv/definition/bezier-handles
• My First Book of Fancy Letters: https://www.amazon.com/My-First-Book-Fancy-Letters/dp/0593385012/r
• The Creative Act: A Way of Being: https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Act-Way-Being/dp/0593652886/
• Inside Paragraphs: Typographic Fundamentals: https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Paragraphs-Fundamentals-Cyrus-Highsmith/dp/1616899417
• Just Kids: https://www.amazon.com/Just-Kids-Patti-Smith/dp/0060936223
• Robert Mapplethorpe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mapplethorpe
• The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer: https://www.amazon.com/Emperor-All-Maladies-Biography-Cancer/dp/1439170916/r
• Severance on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Severance-Toby-Stephens/dp/B001ARYGCU
• Penco brown bag stand: https://penco.jp/en/products/db079/
• XOXO: https://xoxofest.com/
• Mariame Kaba quotes: https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/8156101.Mariame_Kaba
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe -
Anneka Gupta is the Chief Product Officer at Rubrik, a leading B2B cybersecurity company. She previously spent 11 years at LiveRamp, where she was the President and Head of Product and Platforms leading product development and go-to-market operations and strategy. Anneka also sits on the board of directors for Tinuiti and teaches product management at Stanford University. In our conversation, we discuss:
• Navigating “founder mode” dynamics in organizations
• Navigating difficult personalities and aligning teams
• The PM skill of summarization
• Giving and receiving hard feedback effectively
• The value of a positive mindset
• Tips for breaking into product management
• Much more
—
Brought to you by:
• The Enterprise Ready Conference — For B2B leaders building enterprise SaaS
• Command AI — AI-powered user assistance for modern products and impatient users
• Eppo — Run reliable, impactful experiments
—
Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/becoming-more-strategic-anneka-gupta
—
Where to find Anneka Gupta:
• X: https://x.com/annekagupta
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annekagupta
—
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
—
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction to Anneka Gupta
(01:43) Key mindsets for success
(05:30) Managing energy for optimal performance
(09:05) Founder mode
(18:26) Becoming more strategic
(27:54) The importance of decision-making
(37:18) Navigating difficult personalities
(41:38) Techniques for giving and receiving feedback
(51:01) Transitioning into product management
(54:56) Advice for aspiring product managers
(59:39) Leveraging AI tools in product management
(01:01:27) The power of a positive mindset
(01:04:30) Lightning round
—
Referenced:
• Founder Mode: https://paulgraham.com/foundermode.html
• Building a long and meaningful career | Nikhyl Singhal (Meta, Google): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-a-long-and-meaningful-career
• The Skip community: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skip-community/
• Rubrik: https://www.rubrik.com/
• 5 essential questions to craft a winning strategy | Roger Martin (author, advisor, speaker): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-strategy-roger-martin
• Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works: https://www.amazon.com/Playing-Win-Strategy-Really-Works/dp/142218739X
• Thinking like a gardener not a builder, organizing teams like slime mold, the adjacent possible, and other unconventional product advice | Alex Komoroske: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/unconventional-product-advice-alex-komoroske
• Acquired podcast interviews Zuckerberg in San Francisco: https://transistor.fm/acquired-live/
• Hema Mohan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hemamohan/
• Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity: https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Candor-Kick-Ass-Without-Humanity/dp/1250103509
• Radical Candor: From theory to practice with author Kim Scott: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/radical-candor-from-theory-to-practice
• LiveRamp: https://liveramp.com/
• Product Management class at Stanford: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/experience/learning/experiential-learning/action-learning-program/product-management
• Figma: https://www.figma.com/
• Dovetail: https://try.dovetail.com/
• The Remarkable Advantage of Abundant Thinking: https://review.firstround.com/the-remarkable-advantage-of-abundant-thinking/
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers: https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Thing-About-Things-Building/dp/0062273205
• Brandon Sanderson’s books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Brandon-Sanderson/author/B001IGFHW6
• Fallout on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CN4HV16N
• Thunderbolt 4 ( 3-meter cable): https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MW5H3AM/A/thunderbolt-4-usb%E2%80%91c-pro-cable-3-m
• Isaac Asimov: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov
• The complete Foundation series: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Asimovs-Foundation-Foundations-Prelude/dp/B01EFDEMS8
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe -
Tristan de Montebello is the co-creator of Ultraspeaking, the most effective method I’ve come across for rapidly improving communication and presentation skills. In 2017, Tristan became the fastest person ever to reach the finals of the World Championship of Public Speaking, achieving this feat in just seven months with no prior experience. In our conversation, we discuss:
• Why public speaking is a meta skill that can transform your life
• Practical games and exercises to improve your speaking skills
• The “Accordion Method” for preparing talks without memorization
• The “Bow and Arrow Technique” for crafting memorable presentations
• Tristan’s journey to the World Championship of Public Speaking finals
• Lenny doing some of the exercises live on-screen
Tristan is offering a limited-time discount to Ultraspeaking. Both codes are valid until November 14, 2024:
→ $500 off an Unlimited Membership with code UNLIMITEDLENNY500
→ $200 off a Rapid Tier pass for a single cohort with code RAPIDLENNY200
—
Brought to you by:
• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments
• Command AI—AI-powered user assistance for modern products and impatient users
• Brave Search—A smarter way to search
—
Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/master-public-speaking-tristan-de-montebello
—
Where to find Tristan de Montebello:
• X: https://x.com/Montebello
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tristandemontebello/
• Website: https://ultraspeaking.com
• Free email course: https://ultraspeaking.com/lenny/
—
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
—
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction to Tristan de Montebello and Ultraspeaking
(01:42) Personal experiences with public speaking
(05:35) Misconceptions and meta skills in public speaking
(08:56) Enjoyment as a barometer for effective speaking
(15:30) Tactical tips for public speaking
(29:15) The importance of practice and games
(34:50) Game 1: The Conductor (Accessing different emotional states)
(45:54) Mindset shift: playing the game
(51:07) Game 2: Triple Step (Staying focused amid distractions)
(01:07:51) Quieting the noise
(01:09:46) Game 3: Conviction Prompts (Building executive presence)
(01:17:27) The Accordion Method explained
(01:37:57) The Bow and Arrow technique
(01:43:43) Final thoughts and encouragement
(01:44:55) Lightning round
—
Referenced:
• Michael Gendler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelgendler
• Alienor playing Conductor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmholFWwHro
• Triple Step: https://ultraspeaking.com/triple-step-game/
• Rapid Fire Analogies: https://ultraspeaking.com/rapid-fire-game/
• Joe Rogan Experience #1309 — Naval Ravikant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qHkcs3kG44
• The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level: https://www.amazon.com/Big-Leap-Conquer-Hidden-Level/dp/0061735361
• Tall poppy syndrome: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_poppy_syndrome
• Peaky Blinders on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80002479
• The Nice Guys on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Nice-Guys-Russell-Crowe/dp/B01FV1GLR8
• Ember temperature control smart mug: https://www.amazon.com/Ember-Temperature-Control-1-5-hr-Battery/dp/B07NQRM6ML
• How I got to the World Championships of Public Speaking in 7 months: https://medium.com/the-mission/3000-people-staring-c2cbd14c6d6c
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe -
Raiza Martin is a senior product manager for AI at Google Labs, where she leads the team behind NotebookLM, an AI-powered research tool that includes a delightful podcast-on-demand feature called “Audio Overviews.” NotebookLM started as a 20% project and has grown into a product that’s spreading across social media and has a Discord server with over 60,000 users. Raiza previously worked on AI Test Kitchen and has a background in startups, payments, and ads. In our conversation, we discuss:
• The origin story of NotebookLM
• The future road map for NotebookLM
• How Google Labs operates differently from the rest of Google
• The development of the “Audio Overviews” feature
• Key metrics and growth of NotebookLM
• Stories about collaborating with author Steven Johnson
• Navigating potential misuse of AI technology
—
Brought to you by:
• Explo — Embed customer-facing analytics in your product
• Sprig — Build products for people, not data points
• Sidebar — Accelerate your career by surrounding yourself with extraordinary peers
—
Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/googles-notebooklm-raiza-martin
—
Where to find Raiza Martin:
• X: https://x.com/raiza_abubakar
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whatsaraiza/
—
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
—
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction to NotebookLM
(05:43) The genesis of NotebookLM
(08:08) Innovative features and use cases
(18:52) Building a startup culture within Google
(24:28) Expanding user demographics
(27:30) The product roadmap
(32:18) Other use cases
(36:11) Collaborating with Steven Johnson
(42:49) Ensuring ethical AI
(46:06) Future directions and user engagement
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe -
JM Nickels is a Senior Director of Product Management at Uber. Previously, he was Head of Product for Commercialization at Waymo and led product teams at DoorDash. JM is also a coach and advisor focused on conscious leadership. In our conversation, we discuss:
• How to sharpen your vision and strategy skills
• What “conscious leadership” means and how to practice it
• Practical techniques for managing stress
• The power of soft skills and emotional intelligence in product leadership
• Lessons from working at Uber, Waymo, and DoorDash
• Keys to living a successful and fulfilling life
• Much more
—
Brought to you by:
• Pendo—The only all-in-one product experience platform for any type of application
• The Enterprise Ready Conference — For B2B leaders building enterprise SaaS
• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security
—
Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/becoming-a-conscious-leader-john-mark-nickels
—
Where to find John Mark Nickels:
• X: https://x.com/nickelsjm
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmnickels/
• Website: https://www.rhythmofbeing.com/
—
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
—
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction to JM
(02:02) Conscious leadership explained
(03:41) The power of soft skills
(07:34) Navigating Uber’s evolution
(12:41) Embracing emotions and inner work
(21:46) Crafting strategy and vision
(41:16) Balancing vision and execution
(46:13) Lessons from DoorDash, Uber, and Waymo
(52:32) The future of autonomous ride-hailing
(55:18) Contrarian corner: Embracing emotions in the workplace
(59:47) Keys to a fulfilling life
(01:04:45) Taking responsibility and agency
(01:07:29) Lightning round and final thoughts
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe -
Alex Komoroske is a strategic leader who merges the practice, theory, and mindset necessary to tackle complex problems. He spent 13 years at Google, where he worked on Search and DoubleClick and led Chrome’s Open Web Platform. He also spearheaded Augmented Reality in Google Maps and developed toolkits to align companywide strategy from the ground up. After serving as Head of Corporate Strategy at Stripe, he is now co-founding a startup aimed at reimagining the web for the AI era. Alex created the popular “Slime Molds” deck, which offers fresh insights into organizational dynamics. He is also the author of the widely read “Bits and Bobs,” a collection of thought-provoking reflections.In our conversation, we delve into:
• “Organizational kayfabe”
• “Gardening” vs. “building”
• How AI will soon change how we build product
• How and why to embrace the adjacent possible
• The power of reflection and how to build it into your workflow
• How to create emergent properties in organizations
• How to run effective “strategy salons” or “nerd clubs”
• Much more
—
Brought to you by:
• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments
• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security
• Coda—The all-in-one collaborative workspace
—
Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/unconventional-product-advice-alex-komoroske
—
Where to find Alex Komoroske:
• X: https://x.com/komorama
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-komoroske-6597336/
• Website: https://www.komoroske.com/
—
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
—
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction to Alex
(01:53) Alex’s Bits and Bobs document
(06:20) The Compendium and note-taking process
(10:10) The impact of AI and LLMs on product development
(14:24) Skills to lean into as a product manager
(19:02) How AI makes us better as individuals
(23:04) Organizational kayfabe
(31:48) Gardening vs. building
(34:46) Emergence-oriented thinking
(41:55) Slime molds and organizational structure
(45:15) Identifying resonant ideas
(47:05) The power of metaphors
(48:02) Strategy salons and nerd clubs
(52:30) Building and sustaining communities
(55:59) Productivity hacks and self-control
(01:01:04) Life philosophy and personal insights
(01:07:52) The adjacent possible
(01:15:56) Lightning round
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].
—
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe - Se mer
