Shows
Lenny's ReadsFive principles for successfully managing managersIf you’re a premium subscriberAdd the private feed to your podcast app at add.lennysreads.comSaumil Mehta shares his hard-earned framework for becoming a high-impact “manager of managers” — and why skip level leaders, not more middle managers, are the key to scaling product teams.In this episode, you’ll learn* When a manager struggles, look one level up* Why the jump from line manager to skip lead is so tough* The “API endpoint” trick for leading through layers* How to get fee...2025-05-2016 min
Lenny's ReadsState of the product job market in 2025This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.comThe product job market is flipping. In this post, I break down the latest 2025 data – what’s growing, what’s fading, and where the real opportunities are right now.—In this episode, you’ll learn:• How layoffs are finally slowing after four tough years• Which roles are bouncing back fastest• What Big Tech is pouring billions into, and how it could unlock new hiring• The new baseline for remote-friendly jobs• Where...2025-05-1305 min
Lenny's ReadsThe ultimate guide to negotiating your compThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.comJacob Warwick gives a masterclass on how to negotiate like a top-tier product leader, using a five-part framework that’s helped thousands secure compensation packages 2-4x above the posted range.—In this episode, you’ll learn:• Why negotiation is about value, not tactics• A five-step playbook for comp negotiation• How to uncover intel others miss, like hidden power and future pain points• Questions and scripts that shift you from applicant...2025-05-0617 min
Lenny's ReadsHow much product managers get paid in US, Europe, and CanadaI dive into the latest compensation data for product managers across the US, UK, Europe, and Canada, unpacking trends, surprising gaps, and strategies for maximizing your earnings as a PM.In this episode, you’ll learn:• Why senior ICs often out-earn managers, and how to pick the right path• How moving to a Tier 1 city can supercharge your salary• Cash versus equity: how to think about your comp tradeoffs• The career levels where PM salaries really take off• Why CPOs are cashing in like never before• How far...2025-04-2909 min
Lenny's ReadsWelcome to Lenny's ReadsIf you’re a premium subscriberAdd the private feed to your podcast app at add.lennysreads.comMany of you have told me that you’d prefer to listen to this newsletter instead of read it. I’m excited to share that now you can.Introducing Lenny’s Reads: an audio podcast edition of Lenny’s Newsletter. Every newsletter post will now be transformed into an audio podcast, read to you by the soothing voice of Lennybot. Our goal is to ship an audio version of each post...2025-04-2800 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerScripts for difficult conversations: Giving hard feedback, navigating defensiveness, the three questions you should end every meeting with, more | Alisa Cohn (executive coach)Alisa Cohn is an executive coach who has worked with C-suite executives at startups like Venmo, Etsy, Wirecutter, and DraftKings, and Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, Google, Pfizer, Dell, and IBM. Inc. Magazine named Alisa one of the top 100 leadership speakers, and she was named one of the Top 50 coaches in the world by Thinkers50 and the #1 startup coach for the past four years by Global Gurus. She is also the author of From Start-Up to Grown-Up, which won the 2022 Independent Press Award and the American Book Fest 2023 Best Book Award for Entrepreneurship, and is the creator and host of...2025-01-051h 23
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow to see like a designer: The hidden power of typography and logos | Jessica Hische (Lettering Artist, Author)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...2024-10-201h 21
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerWhy most public speaking advice is wrong—and how to finally overcome your speaking anxiety | Tristan de Montebello (CEO & co-founder of Ultraspeaking)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 memor...2024-10-131h 56
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerImprove strategy, influence, and decision-making by understanding your brain | Evan LaPointe (founder of CORE Sciences)Evan LaPointe is the founder of CORE Sciences, which teaches companies and individuals how our brains work and how that translates to improved collaboration, better products, faster decision-making, and more growth. Previously, Evan was the co-founder of Satellite, the fourth-largest analytics product on the internet today (it mostly runs behind the scenes, and pretty much everyone listening will have used it today without knowing it), which was acquired by Adobe, where he later ran product strategy, innovation, and long-range thinking for Adobe’s digital experiences business. In our conversation, we discuss:• The three different systems of the brain...2024-08-112h 14
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow embracing emotions will accelerate your career | Joe Hudson (executive coach, Art of Accomplishment)Joe Hudson is one of the most sought-after executive coaches in Silicon Valley. He is the founder of Art of Accomplishment, a transformational coaching program that has helped tens of thousands of people, including many tech executives and founders from companies like Apple, OpenAI, and Google. His unique method of transformation comes from over 25 years of exploring neurological, psychological, and spiritual traditions, tested against real-world challenges. In our conversation, Joe shares:• Why the critical voice in your head is always wrong, and how to change your relationship with that voice• Why authenticity trumps self-improvement•...2024-08-081h 18
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerThe ultimate guide to PR | Emilie Gerber (founder of Six Eastern)Emilie Gerber is the founder and CEO of Six Eastern, a top PR agency that’s worked with over 100 tech companies, from stealth startups to publicly traded companies. Before starting her own firm, she worked at Uber, where she led PR for the business development team and B2B programs. Prior to that, she worked at Box on product communications, with a focus on product launches and partnership announcements. In our conversation, we discuss:• Why, and when, getting press is worth your time• Common misconceptions about the impact press can have• The second-order effects...2024-03-211h 33
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerManaging nerves, anxiety, and burnout | Jonny Miller (Nervous System Mastery)Jonny Miller is the founder of Nervous System Mastery, a course that has helped hundreds of founders and tech leaders cultivate calm, reduce nervousness, enhance resilience, and elevate their sense of aliveness. Having personally benefited from Jonny’s teachings, I’m especially excited to have him on the show. In this episode, we discuss:• How shifting your focus from the mind to the body can help ease nervousness• The power of breath in changing states• The importance of “interoception”• Specific breathing exercises to both calm and excite your nervous system• The A.P.E...2024-01-281h 14
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerFailureIn this special compilation episode, we delve into failure—an overlooked source of wisdom. From freezing onstage in front of thousands of people, to coworkers staging an intervention, to huge product investments that went to zero, we’ve pulled our favorite stories of failure from 100+ podcast episodes. I hope these stories serve as a gentle nudge to view failure not as a setback but as a crucial detour toward growth.—Brought to you by Sendbird—The (all-in-one) communications API platform for mobile apps | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments—Find the full transcript a...2023-12-131h 01
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerMy favorite interview questions from 100+ guestsThis is a special episode of the podcast where I’ve curated my favorite interview questions that guests have shared, among over 100 podcast guests. Whether you’re a hiring manager, currently interviewing, or simply intrigued by the creative and perceptive questions that top product leaders rely on to find top talent, these questions offer unique insights into the strategies and philosophies that shape successful interviews.—Brought to you by Sendbird—The (all-in-one) communications API platform for mobile apps | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/my-favorite...2023-11-2920 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerThe ultimate guide to Martech | Austin Hay (Reforge, Ramp, Runway)Brought to you by OneSchema—Import CSV data 10x faster | Mixpanel—Event analytics that everyone can trust, use, and afford | Brave Search API—An independent, global search index you can use to power your search or AI app—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 f...2023-08-131h 24
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerVelocity over everything: How Ramp became the fastest-growing SaaS startup of all time | Geoff Charles (VP of Product)Brought to you by Ezra—The leading full-body cancer screening company | Coda—Meet the evolution of docs | Attio—The powerful, flexible CRM for fast-growing startups—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 se...2023-08-061h 16
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerLinkedIn’s product evolution and the art of building complex systems | Hari Srinivasan (LinkedIn)Brought to you by Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life | Brave Search API—An independent, global search index you can use to power your search or AI app | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments—Hari Srinivasan is VP of Product at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, where he oversees LinkedIn Recruiter, LinkedIn Jobs, and LinkedIn Learning. He’s also a frequent guest lecturer at Stanford University. Previously, he served as the CEO and founder of We Created It, which was acquired by LinkedIn in 2014. Hari has a passion for building products, with experience...2023-07-161h 04
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerLessons from scaling Ramp | Sri Batchu (Ramp, Instacart, Opendoor)Brought to you by Attio—The powerful, flexible CRM for fast-growing startups | Coda—Meet the evolution of docs | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments—Sri Batchu currently leads growth at Ramp, the fastest-growing SaaS business (and fintech business) in history. Previously, he led growth strategy and operations at Instacart and was one of the first 50 employees at Opendoor, where he built, scaled, and managed a variety of business teams, including analytics, sales, and pricing. During his time there, the company grew from $100M to $5B+ in revenue and to 1,500+ people. In this episode, we discuss:• The surprising...2023-06-251h 17
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerMoving fast and navigating uncertainty | Jeremy Henrickson (Rippling, Coinbase)Brought to you by Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life | Mixpanel—Product analytics that everyone can trust, use, and afford | Lenny’s Job Board—Hire the best product people. Find the best product gigs—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 Ap...2023-06-041h 08
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerStorytelling with Nancy Duarte: How to craft compelling presentations and tell a story that sticksBrought to you by Microsoft Clarity—See how people actually use your product | Lenny’s Job Board—Hire the best product people. Find the best product gigs | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments—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 lead...2023-06-011h 17
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerThe power of strategic narrative | Andy RaskinBrought to you by Coda—Meet the evolution of docs | Lenny’s Job Board—Hire the best product people. Find the best product gigs | Eco—Your most rewarding app—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• Ex...2023-05-281h 02
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerLessons on building product sense, navigating AI, optimizing the first mile, and making it through the messy middle | Scott Belsky (Adobe, Behance)Brought to you by Braintrust—For when you needed talent, yesterday | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments | Rows—The spreadsheet where data comes to life—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 au...2023-05-181h 02
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerBuilding a culture of excellence | David Singleton (CTO of Stripe)Brought to you by Mixpanel—Product analytics that everyone can trust, use, and afford | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments | Braintrust—For when you needed talent, yesterday—David Singleton is Chief Technology Officer at Stripe, where he oversees engineering and design teams. Since joining Stripe, David has helped grow the technology org across the U.S. and developed new engineering hubs in Singapore and Dublin as well as Stripe’s fifth hub, remote engineering, across the globe. Before Stripe, he spent 11 years at Google, where he was VP of Engineering, leading product development and coordinating more than 15 di...2023-05-041h 29
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerThe ultimate guide to product-led sales | Elena VernaBrought to you by Linear—The new standard for modern software development | Braintrust—For when you needed talent, yesterday | Rows—The spreadsheet where data comes to life—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 p...2023-04-231h 16
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow to build a cult-like brand | Laura Modi (Bobbie)Brought to you by Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security | LMNT—Zero-sugar hydration | AssemblyAI—Production-ready AI models to transcribe and understand speech—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•...2023-04-131h 01
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerDriving alignment and urgency within teams, work-life balance, and the changing PM landscape | Nikita Miller (The Knot, Trello)Brought to you by Wealthfront—Make smarter stock investments | Lenny’s Job Board—Hire the best product people. Find the best product gigs | Ahrefs—Improve your website’s SEO for free—Nikita Miller is a product leader, angel investor, and advisor. She has built and led product teams at companies ranging from early-stage startups to multinationals, and she is currently SVP of Product Management at The Knot Worldwide. Nikita is passionate about scaling product teams to support high-growth businesses and was a product leader at Trello and Atlassian for five years. In today’s podcast, we cover:2023-04-0659 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerThe ultimate guide to adding a PLG motion | Hila Qu (Reforge, GitLab)Brought to you by Amplitude—Build better products | Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life | Ahrefs—Improve your website’s SEO for free—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...2023-04-021h 33
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerThinking beyond frameworks | Casey Winters (Pinterest, Eventbrite, Airbnb, Tinder, Canva, Reddit, Grubhub)Brought to you by Amplitude—Build better products | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments | Ahrefs—Improve your website's SEO for free—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 becomin...2023-03-301h 17
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerTaxi mafias, cash vaults, and 100% MoM growth: The story behind Southeast Asia’s biggest startup | Kevin Aluwi (Gojek)Brought to you by Coda—Meet the evolution of docs | Rows—The spreadsheet where data comes to life | Lenny’s Job Board—Hire the best product people. Find the best product gigs.—Kevin Aluwi is the co-founder and former CEO of Gojek. With over 2.7 million drivers and over 3 billion orders completed, Gojek is the biggest startup in Indonesia and all of Southeast Asia. In today’s podcast, Kevin shares the story of how Gojek overcame endless obstacles—including being underfunded, being unable to send drivers payment, and the local motorcycle mafia coming after their drivers. We cover the i...2023-03-261h 02
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerCompeting with giants: An inside look at how The Browser Company builds product | Josh Miller (CEO)Brought to you by Writer—Generative AI for the enterprise | Dovetail—Bring your customer into every decision | Linear—The new standard for modern software development—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...2023-03-191h 28
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerThe ultimate guide to OKRs | Christina Wodtke (Stanford)Brought to you by Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life | Dovetail—Bring your customer into every decision | Writer—Generative AI for the enterprise—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 perso...2023-03-161h 13
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerCareer frameworks, A/B testing mistakes, counterintuitive onboarding tips, selling to developers | Laura Schaffer (VP of Growth at Amplitude)Brought to you by Public—Invest in stocks, treasuries, crypto, and more | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments | Writer—Generative AI for the enterprise—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 qual...2023-03-091h 21
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerLessons from scaling Stripe | Claire Hughes Johnson (former COO of Stripe)Brought to you by Linear—The new standard for modern software development | Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security. | Dovetail—Bring your customer into every decision.—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 an...2023-03-051h 21
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerBehind the scenes of Calendly’s rapid growth | Annie Pearl (CPO)Brought to you by Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life: https://miro.com/lenny | Coda—Meet the evolution of docs: https://coda.io/lenny | Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security: https://vanta.com/lenny—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...2023-02-261h 01
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerAn inside look at how CNN builds product | Upasna GautamBrought to you by Amplitude—Build better products: https://amplitude.com/ | OneSchema—Import CSV data 10x faster: https://oneschema.co/lenny | Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security: https://vanta.com/lenny—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 cha...2023-02-2358 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career10 lessons on bootstrapping a $200m business | Patrick Campbell (ProfitWell)Brought to you by Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security: https://vanta.com/lenny | Amplitude—Build better products: https://amplitude.com/ | Dovetail—Bring your customer into every decision: https://dovetailapp.com/lenny—Patrick Campbell is the founder and CEO of ProfitWell, which he bootstrapped and sold for over $200 million. In this special episode, we explore 10 big ideas from Patrick, including tips for hiring employees who align with your company values, creating winning pricing and retention strategies, determining the right time to raise money, and more. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to scale your SaaS busin...2023-02-191h 13
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerUnderstanding the role of product ops | Christine Itwaru (Pendo)Brought to you by Amplitude—Build better products: https://amplitude.com/ | Lenny’s Job Board—Hire the best product people. Find the best product gigs: https://www.lennysjobs.com/talent | Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security: https://vanta.com/lenny—Christine Itwaru is a longtime product operations leader at Pendo and more recently has taken on the larger role of Principal Strategist there. Before leading product ops, Christine spent 12 years in product management. In this episode, we delve into the rapidly growing field of product ops and discover how Christine is part of shaping the role industry-w...2023-02-161h 06
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerMastering onboarding | Lauryn Isford (Head of Growth at Airtable)Brought to you by Public—Invest in stocks, treasuries, crypto, and more: https://public.com/lenny | Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life: https://miro.com/lenny | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments: https://www.geteppo.com/—Lauryn Isford is a product growth leader and practitioner, who most recently led Growth at Airtable, and is about to start something new 🤫. In today’s episode, we get into the many tactics Lauryn has learned about optimizing onboarding flows. Lauryn describes how overhauling Airtable’s onboarding led to a 20% increase in activation rate, the company’s u...2023-02-121h 04
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerLeading with empathy | Keith Yandell (DoorDash, Uber)Brought to you by OneSchema—Import CSV data 10x faster: https://oneschema.co/lenny | Amplitude—Build better products: https://amplitude.com/ | Coda—Meet the evolution of docs: https://coda.io/lenny—Keith Yandell started at DoorDash as Chief Legal Officer and during his tenure has also led the HR, Customer Support, Marketing, and now Corporate Development teams. In today’s episode, we talk about leadership, and how to lead with empathy. We dig into DoorDash’s unique culture and touch on the WeDash program, which requires every employee to complete four deliveries a year in order to bett...2023-02-0955 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerAI and product management | Marily Nika (Meta, Google)Brought to you by Amplitude—Build better products: https://amplitude.com/ | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments: https://www.geteppo.com/ | Pando—Always-on employee progression: https://www.pando.com/lenny—Marily is a computer scientist and an AI Product Leader currently working for Meta’s reality labs, and previously at Google for 8 years. In 2014 she completed a PhD in Machine Learning. She is also an Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School and she has taught numerous courses, actively teaching AI Product Management on Maven and at Harvard. Marily joins us in today's episode to shed light on the role...2023-02-0548 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow to foster innovation and big thinking | Eeke de Milliano (Retool, Stripe)Brought to you by Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life: https://miro.com/lenny | Notion—One workspace. Every team: https://www.notion.com/lennyspod | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments: https://www.geteppo.com/—Eeke de Milliano is the Head of Product at Retool and a former product lead at Stripe. In this episode, we discuss how any team can become an innovation machine. We talk about how a culture of writing led to a team of rigorous thinkers at Stripe. We cover tactics to breed innovative teams that you can repl...2023-02-021h 02
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerLessons from Airtable’s unconventional growth strategy | Zoelle EgnerBrought to you by OneSchema—import CSV data 10x faster: https://oneschema.co/lenny; Pando—always-on employee progression: https://www.pando.com/lenny; and Lenny’s Job Board—hire the best product people, find the best product gigs: https://www.lennysjobs.com/talent.—Zoelle Egner is best known for her time at Airtable (currently valued at $11 billion), where she was the 11th employee and built and led the initial marketing and customer success teams. Currently she’s the Head of Marketing and Growth at Block Party, a company that designs consumer tools for online safety and anti-har...2023-01-291h 13
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerAn inside look at Mixpanel’s product journey | Vijay Iyengar (Head of Product)Brought to you by Pando—Always on employee progression (https://www.pando.com/lenny), Notion—One workspace. Every team (https://www.notion.com/lennyspod), and Lemon.io—A marketplace of vetted software developers (https://lemon.io/lenny).Vijay Iyengar is Head of Product at Mixpanel, and similar to myself, came from an engineering background before transitioning to product. In today’s episode, he explains how Mixpanel has evolved its growth strategy from a fast-paced, feature-focused approach to a more deliberate approach that prioritizes design and user experience. He also shares how Mixpanel irons out customer problems...2023-01-2646 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerBuilding your product strategy stack | Ravi Mehta (Tinder, Facebook, Tripadvisor, Outpace)Ravi was previously CPO at Tinder, Product Director at Facebook, and VP of Product at Tripadvisor. Currently, he’s co-founder and CEO of Outpace, a coaching platform designed to help people reach their professional goals. In today’s podcast, we dive deep into Ravi’s product strategy stack framework and how it was used to develop a powerful strategy at Tinder. We also cover his other popular frameworks—the frontier of understanding and exponential feedback—and how both of them can help you grow in your career. We discuss the differences between building product at a startup versus a large tech...2023-01-191h 21
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerWhat differentiates the highest-performing product teams | John Cutler (Amplitude, The Beautiful Mess)John Cutler writes the popular and beloved product newsletter The Beautiful Mess. For many years, he was a Product Evangelist at Amplitude, which led him to meeting and working with a large number of product teams around the world. Through this role, he gained unique insight into how the best product teams operate. In today’s episode, John reflects on leaving his role at Amplitude, and explains the attributes that the top 1% of product teams share. We also go deep into some of his favorite frameworks and discuss the best way to apply these frameworks to your work. We al...2023-01-151h 40
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow to price your product | Naomi Ionita (Menlo Ventures)Naomi Ionita is a Partner at the venture capital firm, Menlo Ventures. She started her career in engineering in 2002, shifted to product in 2006, and built product growth and monetization teams starting over a decade ago as one of the first PLG leaders in B2B. She was an early mentor at Reforge and her expertise is in building full-stack growth teams and cultures, launching new products, and helping existing products monetize and retain their users. Consider today’s episode a master class on monetization and pricing. We talk about common mistakes made by founders, specific experiments for how to de...2023-01-1253 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerAn inside look at how Figma builds product | Yuhki Yamashita (CPO of Figma)Yuhki Yamashita is Chief Product Officer at Figma. Prior to Figma, he was Head of Design of Uber’s New Mobility efforts, and before that a product manager at Google and Microsoft. Adding to his impressive resume, Yuhki also taught introductory computer science at Harvard. In today's episode, we talk about operationalizing quality, the case against OKRs, and how Figma isn't just known for product-led growth, but also for building a community of empowered users. Yuhki also shares why he thinks storytelling is key to being a great product manager, owning the "why," and the potential impact of Adobe's ac...2023-01-081h 08
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerLeveraging mentors to uplevel your career | Jules Walter (YouTube, Slack)Jules Walter is a product leader at YouTube and co-founder of both the Black Product Managers Network and Codepath.org. Previously, he led monetization and mobile growth teams at Slack. He’s also a very well-known leader in the broader product community. In today’s episode, we discuss the skills that matter most to PMs, and how to build those skills. We also spend quite a bit of time talking about the importance of finding mentors to help you learn new skills, how to nail your next job interview, barriers to entry for underrepresented people, and some of the most...2023-01-051h 10
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerCountdown of the top 10 episodes of the yearIf you ever wanted to distill 3,310 hours of knowledge into 60 minutes, then this episode is for you. For the last 6 months, Lenny’s Podcast has been downloaded more than 2 million times and is now a top 10 technology podcast across both Apple and Spotify. And in this special episode, I’m breaking down the top 10 most downloaded episodes, plus sharing my favorite lessons from each. It's unlike anything I've done before, and I hope you love it. Happy holidays, happy new year, and from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for listening, sharing, and for supporting the podc...2022-12-291h 01
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerLaunching and growing a podcast | Chris Hutchins (All the Hacks, Wealthfront, Google)Chris Hutchins recently left his position as Head of New Product Strategy at Wealthfront to focus full-time on his podcast, All the Hacks. If you’re thinking about starting your own podcast or are simply interested in the process, be sure to check out today’s episode. We dive deep on all things podcasting: the pros and cons, how to climb the charts, and how much time you should expect to spend on each episode from start to finish. We talk in-depth about the process, from pre-production to publication, and share all of the products we use for recording, edit...2022-12-181h 17
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerFounder-led sales | Pete Kazanjy (Founding Sales, Atrium)Pete Kazanjy is the author of Founding Sales: The Early Stage Go-to-Market Handbook and the founder of Modern Sales Pros, an invite-only peer learning community focused on sales operations and sales leadership. He’s also the co-founder of Atrium, a B2B SaaS company that provides data-driven sales solutions. Pete got his start in product at VMware and then dove deep into the art and science of sales. In today’s episode, we talk about the importance of founder-led sales and how to methodically scale a sales department. He explains the difference between old-school sales and modern sales, which focu...2022-12-151h 01
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow Notion leveraged community to build a $10B business | Camille Ricketts (Notion, First Round Capital)Camille Ricketts began her career in journalism, at the Wall Street Journal, in 2006. In 2010 she joined Tesla, where she worked in communications alongside Elon Musk. She transitioned into marketing and became the Head of Content and Marketing at First Round Capital and then went on to become the very first marketing hire at Notion. In today’s episode, we dig into community-led growth—what it is, and when and how to pursue it. We get super-specific on how Notion championed their most loyal users and built a passionate community, and the incredible outcome it had for the company’s growth...2022-12-111h 07
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerThe art and science of pricing | Madhavan Ramanujam (Monetizing Innovation, Simon-Kucher)Madhavan Ramanujam is a senior partner at Simon-Kucher, where he works with tier-one tech companies like Uber, Asana, and LinkedIn to help them develop their pricing and monetization strategies. He’s also the author of the most widely read book on pricing strategy, Monetizing Innovation. In today’s podcast, we talk about all the elements that go into your pricing strategy. Madhavan gives real-life examples of having conversations about “willingness to pay,” how segmentation should impact your pricing, and when to start thinking about pricing. He also shares tips on how behavioral pricing impacts your thinking, how to restructure your pri...2022-12-081h 38
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow to hit revenue targets in a recession | Sahil Mansuri (Bravado)Sahil Mansuri is the CEO of Bravado, the world’s largest online sales community. Sahil is passionate about sales, and his experience dates all the way back to 2008, working for Obama’s presidential campaign. During his time at Glassdoor, Sahil was able to close some incredible accounts, including Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. In today’s podcast, we talk about why sales is a crucial part of any business and how to continue selling successfully through a recession. We get super-specific on building a conservative plan for the near future and cover everything from where to place your best salesp...2022-12-041h 26
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerThe ultimate guide to SEO | Ethan Smith (Graphite)Ethan Smith is the CEO of Graphite, a boutique growth agency that’s helped companies like MasterClass, Thumbtack, Robinhood, Medium, and Honey develop and execute their SEO strategies. SEO is one of the least-understood levers for growth, while also one with the biggest payoff. This episode is a true master class on all things SEO. Ethan shares a wealth of information, including when you should begin investing in SEO, how to build an SEO team, and the three main buckets of SEO. He explains the difference between topics and keywords, gives the exact heuristics and tools to help you be...2022-12-011h 30
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow to be the best coach to product people | Petra Wille (Strong Product People)Petra Wille is an independent product leadership coach who’s been helping product teams expand their skill sets since 2013. She’s also the author of Strong Product People, which she published in 2021. Alongside her freelance work, Petra curates and co-organizes Mind The Product Engage Hamburg. She started her career as a software developer and in 2008 went to work at Xing, a German social media site, where she learned from two incredible product leaders: Marty Cagan and Jason Goldberg. In today’s podcast, we talk about Petra’s book, and how to help your team grow as a product leader. Petra al...2022-11-271h 12
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerWhat it takes to become a top 1% PM | Ian McAllister (Uber, Amazon, Airbnb)Ian McAllister is the Senior Director of Product for Vehicles at Uber. Before moving to Uber, Ian spent over a decade directing teams at Amazon, where he created and led Amazon Smile. He was also Director of Product Management at Airbnb, where I was lucky enough to have worked alongside him. In today’s episode, we discuss Ian’s famous document about the essential attributes of the top 1% of product managers. Ian outlines the most important skills to focus on for entry-level PMs and how to broaden your experience and diversify skills as you move up the ladder. He also...2022-11-201h 04
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerLeaving big tech to build the #1 technology newsletter | Gergely Orosz (The Pragmatic Engineer)Gergely Orosz writes the #1 technology newsletter at Substack, called The Pragmatic Engineer. He started his career as a software developer in the U.K., spent three years at Skype, and followed that role with four years as an engineering manager at Uber before deciding to leave big tech and work for himself. Gergely began pursuing his newsletter full-time in September 2021 and in just one year has amassed 200,000 subscribers. He now makes more money than he did at his salaried tech job, and with freedom and flexibility. In today’s podcast, Gergely shares why he left his well-paying job at Ub...2022-11-171h 14
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerAn inside look at how the New York Times builds product | Alex Hardiman (CPO at The New York Times)Alex Hardiman is Chief Product Officer at the New York Times, where she oversees the company’s news, cooking, games, audio and advertising products. Previously, Alex was Chief Business & Product Officer at The Atlantic, and before that she was Head of News Products at Facebook. We discuss how engineers and product people work with writers to create impactful stories, how teams build the incredible visualizations and experiences for NYTimes.com, how product teams are structured within the New York Times, and the good and bad about working at a company like the New York Times versus a FAANG tech co...2022-11-131h 07
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow to fire people with grace, work through fear, and nurture innovation | Matt Mochary (CEO coach)Matt Mochary, CEO of Mochary Method, is a full-time executive coach who has worked with some of the biggest names in tech and finance, including investor Naval Ravikant and the CEOs of Notion, OpenAI, Coinbase, Reddit, and many others. In today’s podcast, we talk about the skill of firing people, why it’s so important, and Matt’s framework for approaching layoffs. We go deep on recognizing emotions like anger and fear, and what to pay attention to when you feel angry or fearful. He also shares how to build new products within a larger company, important tips on how...2022-11-101h 11
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow Snyk built a product-led growth juggernaut | Ben Williams (VP of Product at Snyk)Ben Williams is VP of Product at Snyk, an industry-leading security platform for developers, last valued at $8.5b. He’s also a product and growth advisor with over 20 years of experience building and scaling high-performing product and growth teams. Through product-led growth, product-led sales, and community, Snyk rapidly scaled and won over the lucrative developer audience. In today’s episode, Ben shares the successful growth levers that helped Snyk get started, all of the details of how Snyk has structured their growth, product, and marketing teams and set them up for success in terms of cross-collaboration—and also how their...2022-11-061h 31
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerLessons from one of the world’s top executive recruiters | Lauren Ipsen (Daversa Partners, General Catalyst)Lauren Ipsen is one of the most well-known and respected executive recruiters in the industry, having placed over 90 senior product leaders at companies including Twitter, Reddit, Opendoor, Postmates, Nextdoor, and many others. She is currently the Director of Executive Talent at General Catalyst, and prior to that was a senior leader at Daversa Partners. In today’s podcast, Lauren shares advice for founders on hiring senior product leaders, tips for product leaders on finding better opportunities, and the most common mistakes recruiters make. She talks about how to play the long game of networking to find the best talent an...2022-11-031h 08
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerBuilding Substack | Sachin Monga (Substack, Facebook)Sachin Monga is the Head of Product at Substack, a platform that I personally use every day, and love. Before Substack, Sachin co-founded an app called Cocoon, which he ended up selling to Substack. Before that, he spent over seven years at Facebook as a PM working on video and camera products, building out the developer platform, and leading the ads growth team. In today’s episode, we dive deep on all things Substack. Sachin shares what it’s like transitioning from a large product team at Facebook to a small growth team. He discusses how to work with a ha...2022-10-301h 01
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerCategory creation and brand building | Barbra Gago (Pando, Miro, Greenhouse, Culture Amp)Barbra Gago is the founder and CEO of Pando, where she’s democratizing career progression. Previously she worked as the Chief Marketing Officer and Global Head of Marketing at Miro, where she helped create an entirely new software category for the space, and also served as VP of Marketing at Greenhouse, where she led go-to-market strategy. In today’s episode, we cover three main topics: category creation, branding and rebranding, and building opinionated software. Barbra discusses how she was able to rebrand Miro and launch a whole new category—and why her attempt to do that at Greenhouse failed. We cove...2022-10-2755 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow to build trust and grow as a product leader | Fareed Mosavat (Reforge, Slack, Instacart, Zynga, Pixar)Fareed Mosavat is Chief Development Officer at Reforge, where he leads production, content, and new-product experiences. Previously, he led growth and product teams at Slack and Instacart, was a GM at Zynga, and also served as VP of Product at RunKeeper. Before all of that, Fareed’s fascinating career began in engineering for Pixar, where he learned the art of storytelling and collaboration. In today’s episode, we talk about how his time at Pixar influenced the way he thinks about product, why it’s so difficult to become a better PM, and how to avoid the “manager death spiral.”...2022-10-231h 05
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHumanizing product development | Adriel Frederick (Reddit, Lyft, Facebook)Adriel Frederick is VP of Product Management at Reddit X, where he helps incubate and scale new products. He is a former Product Lead at Facebook, as well as a former PM and Director of Product at Lyft. In today’s episode, we focus on what it takes to become a better product leader. Adriel shares anecdotes from his time at Lyft and Facebook, insights about how to lead through tough times, why there isn’t an algorithmic solution to everything, why R&D teams need to be a part of the core mission, the tangible benefits of working on d...2022-10-201h 07
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerBuilding better product roadmaps | Janna Bastow (Mind the Product, ProdPad)Janna Bastow is a former product manager, and currently the CEO and co-founder of ProdPad. She also co-founded Mind the Product, a community for PMs, which has grown to 300,000 members across the world. In today’s podcast, Janna discusses the limitations of timeline-based Gantt charts and her “Now/Next/Later” framework. She also shares stories about hosting conferences and gives some great tips on how to improve your presentation skills and cope with performance anxiety.—Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/building-better-product-roadmaps-janna-bastow-mind-the-product-prodpad/#transcript—Where to find Janna Bastow:• Twi...2022-10-1653 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow to build a high-performing growth team | Adam Fishman (Patreon, Lyft, Imperfect Foods)Adam Fishman has decades of experience building and scaling some incredible businesses, like Lyft, Patreon, and Imperfect Foods. He is currently an Executive in Residence at Reforge and an advisor to numerous companies on growth, product, strategy, and company building. In today’s episode, Adam shares his growth PM competency model to help founders identify specific skills when hiring growth leaders, how to structure feedback, and how to identify gaps in your growth team. He also discusses the role of onboarding in retention and how to evaluate a company as a prospective employee.—Find the full...2022-10-131h 05
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerDeveloping a growth model + marketplace growth strategy | Dan Hockenmaier (Faire, Thumbtack, Reforge)Dan Hockenmaier is an expert on marketplace strategy and growth. He was previously the Director of Growth at Thumbtack as well as a partner at Reforge, where he co-created the monetization track. Currently, he is the Head of Strategy and Analytics at Faire. In today’s episode, Dan shares the building blocks of a growth model, important considerations when building your growth model, and how to get started. We also chat about retention best practices, the complexity of building a marketplace, the future of marketplaces, and when it makes sense to add a SaaS business to a marketplace, and vi...2022-10-091h 04
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerUsing behavioral science to improve your product | Kristen Berman (Irrational Labs)Kristen Berman is the CEO and co-founder of Irrational Labs, where she helps companies like Google, Airbnb, PayPal, Microsoft, and LinkedIn improve their products and services through behavioral design research. She is also the co-founder of Common Cents Lab, a Duke University initiative dedicated to improving the financial well-being of low- to middle-class Americans. In today’s episode, Kristen shares the 3B Framework of Behavioral Design and uses real-life examples to illustrate what influences behavior change and the common biases that get in the way of building successful products. She also explains how to keep users engaged and how yo...2022-10-0256 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerCustomer-led growth | Georgiana Laudi (Forget The Funnel)Georgiana Laudi is the co-founder and CEO of a consulting agency called Forget The Funnel, where she helps SaaS companies scale and improve conversion rates through customer-led growth. She’s also a marketing and growth advisor to companies like MarketerHire, SparkToro, and Sprout Social. Previously, she was the VP of Marketing at Unbounce and has worked in growth marketing for over 20 years. In today’s episode, Gia speaks about how to identify your ideal customer, how to map their user flows in order to find the biggest growth opportunities, and examples of product changes she’s recommended that have led to...2022-09-291h 06
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerGrowth tactics, retention strategies, and becoming a better writer | Julian Shapiro (Demand Curve, Hyper, Webflow, TechCrunch)Julian Shapiro is widely known as the founder of Demand Curve, where he’s helped thousands of companies figure out their growth strategy. He also wrote the growth marketing column at TechCrunch, was CMO at Webflow, and even created an animation engine called Velocity that’s now used in apps like Uber and WhatsApp. In today’s episode, Julian dives deep on product-led acquisition (PLA) and why he believes it’s the best way to grow your company. He shares specific marketing strategies for growth and retention and speaks about his framework for creating novel, engaging content, and how to choos...2022-09-2559 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerBuilding a meaningful career | Jason Shah (Airbnb, Amazon, Microsoft, Alchemy)Jason Shah has led product teams at Amazon, Airbnb, Microsoft, and Yammer and currently leads the product team at Alchemy (one of the most important web3 infrastructure companies). In addition, he’s an advisor, investor, and two-time founder. In today’s episode, Jason discusses what it’s like to be a PM in web3, why his role at Amazon made such a big impact on his life and career, what makes a great leader, and how to hire well. He also shares his unique perspective on building a meaningful career and life.—Find the full transcri...2022-09-181h 10
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerWhen and how to invest in new acquisition channels | Adam Grenier (Uber, MasterClass)Adam Grenier is the former Head of Growth Marketing and Innovation at Uber, where he helped build Uber’s growth infrastructure from the ground up. He is also the former VP of Product and Marketing at LambdaSchool, and former VP of Marketing at Masterclass. These days, Adam is a growth and marketing advisor to many companies, as well as a teacher through Reforge. In today’s episode, Adam shares how to determine whether a new channel is worth exploring, the rise of the growth CMO, and how improv classes can improve team bonding and create a more positive ‘yes’ culture...2022-09-151h 09
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow to build a powerful marketing machine | Emily Kramer (Asana, Carta, MKT1)Emily Kramer led and built the marketing teams at Asana, Carta, Ticketfly, and Astro (acquired by Slack). These days, she’s the co-founder of MKT1, where she helps founders and marketers build and scale their marketing functions. Emily is also a well-respected angel investor and writes my favorite marketing newsletter (MKT1). In today’s episode, she shares her insights on when to hire marketers, how to determine which type of marketing hire is best for your team, how to best work with marketing, and what red flags to look for. Emily shares actionable templates and some incredible frameworks that are...2022-09-111h 10
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerThe role of AI in product development | Ryan J. Salva (VP of Product at GitHub, Copilot)Ryan J. Salva is the VP of Product at GitHub, where he led the incubation and launch of Copilot. Copilot uses OpenAI’s ML engine to suggest code and entire functions in real time, right from your editor, and is changing the way we build software. Ryan is an experienced developer and product manager, with over a decade of experience working for Microsoft before moving to lead the GitHub product team. In today’s episode, he shares how Copilot got its start, how it moved from prototype to live product, and how he structures R&D teams within larger comp...2022-09-041h 04
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow to grow a subscription business | Yuriy Timen (Grammarly, Canva, Airtable)Yuriy Timen was Global Head of Marketing and Growth at Grammarly, and is now a full-time growth advisor, having worked with more than a dozen companies, including Canva, Airtable, Whimsical, Otter.ai, Oyster, Flo Health, and Clay. In today’s episode, Yuriy discusses the ever-changing world of growth, emerging growth tactics, and how to find your growth engine. You’ll learn the most effective strategies for driving user acquisition, how to balance and diversify organic and paid channels, when it’s time to change plans, how to vet new growth channel opportunities, and much more.—Find the full tra...2022-09-011h 08
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerPersuasive communication and managing up | Wes Kao (Maven, Seth Godin, Section4)Wes Kao has worked with Seth Godin (where she co-founded the altMBA and served as executive director), David Perell on his Write of Passage course, Professor Scott Galloway on Section4, and Morning Brew. Currently, she’s the co-founder of Maven, a cohort-based learning platform where I taught my own course. Wes is passionate about telling stories that stay true to the creator’s intentions while keeping your audience listening. In today’s episode, you will learn how to use state changes to keep your audience engaged, how to communicate more clearly by focusing on the how more than the why, h...2022-08-2853 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerThe nature of product | Marty Cagan, Silicon Valley Product GroupWhat are common diseases of product teams, and how do you avoid them? Why should you focus less on problem discovery and more on solution discovery? How do you maintain your product mojo? After working as a product leader for over 20 years, Marty Cagan started Silicon Valley Product Group to help product teams operate at a higher level. In this conversation, Marty shares what Steve Jobs can teach you about building product, how to structure your teams for innovation, how to improve your product culture, which trends in PM to ignore, and much more. After this, you’ll never th...2022-08-2159 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerThe art of building legendary brands | Arielle Jackson (Google, Square, Marketer in Residence at First Round Capital)What makes a great brand? After working at Google and Square, Arielle Jackson has spent the past eight years consulting startups on how to create powerful messaging that works. In this jam-packed episode, she shares how to pick a winning name for your company, create a brand purpose that excites your team and customers, and position your company and its products for success. You don’t want to miss this one!—Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-art-of-building-legendary-brands—Where to find Arielle Jackson:• Twitter: https://twitter...2022-08-181h 22
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerThe rituals of great teams | Shishir Mehrotra of Coda, YouTube, MicrosoftShishir Mehrotra is the co-founder and CEO of Coda, and formerly head of product and engineering at YouTube. In this episode, he shares his insights on growth strategy, how he evaluates talent, a peek at his upcoming book The Rituals of Great Teams, why reference checks are the most important step in the interview process, and so much more. Join us.—Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-rituals-of-great-teams-shishir-mehrotra-coda-youtube-microsoft/#transcript—Where to find Shishir Mehrotra:• Twitter: https://twitter.com/shishirmehrotra• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shish...2022-08-141h 31
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow to launch and grow your product | Ryan Hoover of Product Hunt and Weekend FundThousands of new products launch each year, but very few make it. Ryan Hoover has seen thousands of products launched over the course of his time running Product Hunt, and through his investing, and in this episode you’ll hear what Ryan has learned about launching products, growing products, and raising capital. Plus, we play a made up game called “What would you rather upvote?” Join us.—Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-launch-and-grow-your-product-ryan-hoover-of-product-hunt-and-weekend-fund/#transcript—Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:• RevenueCat...2022-08-071h 09
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow to own your career growth and become a powerful product leader | Deb Liu, Ancestry (ex-Facebook, PayPal)Do you put as much time into your career planning as you do into your product planning? Deb Liu has had an extraordinary career path, from Ebay and PayPal, to Facebook, and now Ancestry. She’s sat in on, mentored, and managed hundreds of product managers. In this episode, she shares poignant advice on how to intentionally find growth opportunities and drive your career forward. Join us.—Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-own-your-career-growth-and-become-a-powerful-product-leader-deb-liu-ancestry-ex-facebook-paypal/#transcript—Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:• Flatfile...2022-08-041h 11
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow to scrappily hire for, measure, and unlock growth | Crystal Widjaja, Gojek and KumuYou don’t need lots of employees to achieve impressive growth—but you do need a unique approach to hiring and structuring your team, and accurately measuring your growth efforts. Crystal Widjaja has used scrappy tactics to unlock massive success for Gojek (a wildly successful ride-share app in South East Asia) and is currently the Chief Product Officer at Kumu. In this episode, she shares the exact strategies she’s used as a product leader to hack growth, hire the best, and perfect data collection. Join us.Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possib...2022-07-311h 03
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow to create a winning product strategy | Melissa PerriEvery company wants to develop a winning strategy—but what are signs your strategy isn’t working, and how do you change course? Melissa Perri has worked trained PMs and product leaders at nearly all the Fortune 100 companies, and in this conversation shares how to reset a struggling strategy, align your team, and build winning strategy. Join us.—Find the full transcript here: https://www.podpage.com/lennys-podcast/how-to-create-a-winning-product-strategy-melissa-perri/#transcript—Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:• Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/• RevenueCat: https://www.revenuec...2022-07-2853 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow to unlock your product leadership skills | Ken Norton, Ex-GoogleAdvancing as a product leader requires new skills and a new mindset. Ken Norton is an executive coach who works with some of the top people in product to help them get unstuck and find creativity again in their approach to problems and their careers. After 14 years as a Product Manager at Google, Ken brings deep experience in leadership and shares with us the lessons he most often offers his clients to unlock growth. Join us.Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:• Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/• Lenny’s Job Board...2022-07-241h 14
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerHow to sell your ideas and rise within your company | Casey Winters, EventbriteThe people who rise fastest in product know how to sell their ideas to customers, and also to their coworkers. Casey Winters, the Chief Product Officer at Eventbrite (previously at Grubhub, Pinterest, and advisor to dozens of companies) shares what it takes to be successful as you rise in the ranks within product. In this episode we’ll talk about how to land presentations, how to win over executives with strategic communication, the skill sets that are most in demand in product, and new growth trends. Join us.—Find the full transcript here: https://www.podp...2022-07-2155 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerNickey Skarstad (Airbnb, Etsy, Shopify, Duolingo) on translating vision into goals, operationalizing product quality, second-order decisions, brainstorming, influence, and much moreNickey Skarstad is a Director of Product Management at Duolingo, where she is leading a stealth 0 → 1 product. Prior to Duolingo, she was VP of Product at The Wing, Product Lead at Airbnb, where she led much of the Experiences product team, Product Lead at Shopify, and Director of Product Management at Etsy.—Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:• Mixpanel: https://mixpanel.com/startups• Dovetail: https://dovetailapp.com/lenny• Unit: https://unit.co/lenny—In this episode:[3:32] An overview of Nickey’s...2022-07-181h 00
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerManik Gupta (ex-CPO Uber, Google Maps) on how to build consumer apps, why it’s useful to be optimistic about technology, creating inflections in your PM career, the changing CPO role, and moreManik Gupta has led two of the most successful consumer products in history—Google Maps, where he was Director of product for the Maps team, and Uber, where he was CPO. After leaving Uber, he spent some time working on a product to help people avoid getting COVID called CVKey, and most recently he took on a role at Microsoft as Corporate Vice President leading many of their consumer efforts.—Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:• Mixpanel: https://mixpanel.com/startups• Coda: http://coda.io/lenny• U...2022-07-141h 04
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerMerci Grace (ex-Head of Growth at Slack) on PLG, interviewing, storytelling, building a diverse team, hiring salespeople, building a growth team, and much moreMerci Grace has been a founder, an investor (at Lightspeed Ventures), head of product and growth (at Slack), and is now a founder again (Panobi). She’s also one of the co-founders of Women in Product, and Fast Company named her one of the Most Creative People in 2017.—Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:• Dovetail: https://dovetailapp.com/lenny• Mixpanel: https://mixpanel.com/startups• Whimsical: https://whimsical.com/lenny—In this episode, we cover:[3:41] Merci’s path to Head of Produc...2022-07-1159 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerSanchan Saxena (VP of Product at Coinbase) on the inside story of how Airbnb made it through Covid; what he’s learned from Brian Chesky, Brian Armstrong, and Kevin Systrom; much moreSanchan Saxena is VP of Product at Coinbase. Before Coinbase, Sanchan was Head of Product and GM at Airbnb, founder and Head of Product of Instagram Shopping, Director of Product Management at Yahoo, and Lead PM at Microsoft.—Thank you to our sponsors for making this episode possible:• Dovetail: https://dovetailapp.com/lenny• Persona: https://withpersona.com/lenny• Productboard: https://www.productboard.com/—In this episode, you’ll learn:[3:50] How Sanchan worked his way up to VP of Product at Coinbase[6:15] Sanchan’s be...2022-07-051h 01
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerTeresa Torres on how to interview customers, automating continuous discovery, the opportunity solution tree framework, making the case for user research, common interviewing mistakes, and much moreTeresa Torres is an internationally acclaimed author, speaker, and coach. She teaches a structured and sustainable system for continuous discovery that helps product teams infuse their daily product decisions with customer input. She’s coached hundreds of teams at companies of all sizes, from early-stage startups to global enterprises, in a variety of industries. She has taught over 11,000 product people discovery skills through the Product Talk Academy and hundreds through her coaching practice, and is the author of Continuous Discovery Habits.—Thank you to our sponsors for making this episode possible:• Persona: https://withpe...2022-06-3047 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerBrandon Chu on building product at Shopify, how writing changed the trajectory of his career, the habits that make you a great PM, pros and cons of being a platform PM, how Shopify got through CovidBrandon Chu is VP of Product at Shopify, where he leads the app platform ecosystem, new initiatives group, and M&A investments. Brandon helped scale Shopify’s PM team from five to hundreds, and worked his way up from an IC Senior PM. Prior to Shopify, he was a Director of PM at FreshBooks and, before that, a founder. Brandon might be best known for his writing on the art and science of product management as part of a collection on Medium he calls “The Black Box of Product Management.”—Thank you to our sponsors for maki...2022-06-2749 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerElena 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 moreElena Verna has led growth at some of today’s most successful B2B businesses, including Miro as CMO, Surveymonkey as SVP of Growth, and now at Amplitude as interim Head of Growth. She’s also worked closely with over a dozen companies on growth and product strategy, including companies like MongoDB, Clockwise, and Netlify (where she sits on the board of directors). Elena is undoubtedly one of the smartest people on growth strategy in the world.—Thank you to our sponsors for making this episode possible:• Persona: https://withpersona.com/lenny• Styt...2022-06-2359 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerGibson Biddle on his DHM product strategy framework, GEM roadmap prioritization framework, 5 Netflix strategy mini case studies, building a personal board of directors, and much moreBefore getting into teaching full-time, Gibson Biddle was VP of Product at Netflix and CPO at Chegg (a textbook rental and homework help company). He now spends his days speaking, writing, and hosting workshops on product leadership, strategy, and culture. There are very few people in the world who’ve worked with, and had an impact on, more product managers.—Thank you to our sponsors for making this episode possible:• Flatfile: flatfile.com/lenny• Coda: coda.io/lenny• PostHog: posthog.com/lenny—In this episode, we cover:2022-06-2059 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerJackie Bavaro on getting better at product strategy, what exactly is strategy, PM pitfalls to avoid, advancing your career, getting into management, and much moreJackie Bavaro is the author of the best-selling books Cracking the PM Interview and Cracking the PM Career. She was most recently at Asana, where she joined as its first product manager and later became the head of product. Earlier in her career, Jackie was a PM at Google and Microsoft, where she worked on high-impact products such as Google Search and Microsoft SharePoint.In this episode, we cover:1. How did Jackie become head of product at Asana? Start writing the best-selling PM books on interviews and the career ladder?2. How and why...2022-06-1649 min
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerGokul Rajaram on designing your product development process, when and how to hire your first PM, a playbook for hiring leaders, getting ahead in you career, how to get started angel investing, moreGokul Rajaram serves on the executive team at DoorDash, where he leads the Caviar product line. Previously he worked at Square, where he was also on the executive team and led a number of key product lines, and as a product director at Facebook, where he helped the company transition its advertising business to become mobile-first. Earlier in his career, Gokul was a product director for Google AdSense, where he helped launch the product and grow it into a substantial portion of Google’s business. Gokul also serves on the boards of Coinbase, Pinterest, and The Trade De...2022-06-131h 02
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerShreyas 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 thinkingShreyas Doshi is a treasure trove of knowledge and tactical insights on product, strategy, psychology, leadership, and life. Over the course of his career, he’s PM’d at Google, Twitter, Yahoo, and Stripe, where he joined as its fourth product manager, later becoming Stripe’s first PM manager and helping define and grow its product management function (from ~5 to more than 50 people). Since leaving Stripe, Shreyas has amassed a huge Twitter following in large part thanks to consistent sharing of high-quality insights on the art of product management.—Find the full transcript here: https://www.podp...2022-06-071h 16
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerJulie Zhuo on accelerating your career, impostor syndrome, writing, building product sense, using intuition vs. data, hiring designers, and moving into managementJulie Zhuo is the co-founder of Sundial, a company that helps builders make meaningful use of data to fulfill their mission. With over 400K followers across social media, she is one of the most influential leaders in product design, and product thinking broadly.Julie started her career at Facebook as a product designer and eventually led teams of 100+ designers as the VP of Design. Her experience leading at Facebook motivated her to publish the Wall Street Journal best seller The Making of a Manager in 2019. On the side, Julie shared her thoughts on technology, design, and leadership...2022-06-071h 11
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | CareerWelcome to my new podcast!Welcome to the very first episode of Lenny’s Podcast!Every week, Lenny Rachitsky will interview world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover concrete, actionable, and tactical advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe2022-06-0503 min