Carole Robin spent over 20 years teaching the Stanford Graduate School of Business course Interpersonal Dynamics, affectionately known as “Touchy Feely.” After leaving Stanford, she founded a nonprofit called Leaders in Tech, which applies the Touchy Feely principles to help Silicon Valley executives build their leadership and interpersonal skills. Carole co-authored the popular book Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends, and Colleagues, which shares key insights from her decades of teaching these courses. In our conversation, we discuss:• The benefits of building robust relationships, in life and work• The 15% rule, and how it will help you build better relationships• The power of vulnerability• Examples of how to practice vulnerability• Why mental models you build early in life hold you back later• The “three realities” and “the net”• The art of inquiry• Practical tips for avoiding defensiveness when getting feedback• The impact of long Covid on Carole’s life—Brought to you by:• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments• CommandBar—AI-powered user assistance for modern products and impatient users• The a16z Podcast—Featuring conversations with the founders and technologists shaping our future—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/build-robust-relationships-carole-robin—Where to find Carole Robin:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carole-robin/• Email: [email protected]—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) Carole’s background(05:17) The importance of building robust relationships(10:20) The “Touchy Feely” course at Stanford(13:29) An example of the in-class experience(17:19) Leaders in Tech: developing interpersonal competence(21:36) Progressive disclosure and the 15% rule(24:28) Appropriate disclosure(26:52) The power of vulnerability(34:57) Admitting mistakes and sharing feelings(37:08) Understanding mental models(42:57) The “three realities” framework(53:52) The power of feedback and personal change(58:47) The art of inquiry(01:03:27) How to get better at giving feedback(01:07:47) Exercises and continued learning(01:10:49) “Advice hinders relationships”(01:16:49) Failure corner: AFOG(01:20:30) Takeaways(01:21:51) Lessons from long Covid—Referenced:• How to Build Better Relationships: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/how-build-better-relationships• Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends, and Colleagues: https://www.amazon.com/Connect-Building-Exceptional-Relationships-Colleagues-ebook/dp/B0894279WZ• Leaders in Tech: https://leadersintech.org/• Leaders in Tech Fellows: https://leadersintech.org/learnaboutfellows• Steve Jobs: https://www.forbes.com/profile/steve-jobs/• Sheryl Sandberg on X: https://twitter.com/sherylsandberg• Ursula Burns: https://www.forbes.com/profile/ursula-burns/• Application for Leaders in Tech: https://leadersintech.org/programs-and-applications• Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding Theory: https://www.simplypsychology.org/zone-of-proximal-development.html• The Best Leaders Aren’t Afraid to Be Vulnerable: https://hbr.org/2022/07/the-best-leaders-arent-afraid-of-being-vulnerable• The Surprising Benefits of Admitting Mistakes: 5 Ways to Build Intellectual Humility: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2021/12/29/the-surprising-benefits-of-admitting-mistakes-5-ways-to-build-intellectual-humility/• How to Build Conflict Skills—The Pinch/Crunch Model: https://www.forbes.com/sites/hannahart/2023/12/15/how-to-build-conflict-skills-the-pinchcrunch-model/• Slides mentioned (The Three Realities Framework | The 15% Rule | Feedback Guidelines): https://www.notion.so/pen-name/Carole-Robin-on-Lenny-s-Podcast-dc7159208e4242428f4b11ebc92285eb• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success: https://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Psychology-Carol-S-Dweck/dp/0345472322• Management Time: Who’s Got the Monkey?: https://hbr.org/1999/11/management-time-whos-got-the-monkey• Long COVID: major findings, mechanisms and recommendations: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-022-00846-2• Leadership, acceptance, and self-management: my journey with long COVID: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leadership-acceptance-self-management-my-journey-long-carole-robin/—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

Mihika Kapoor is a design-engineer-PM hybrid at Figma, where she was an early PM on FigJam and is now spearheading development on a new product at the company that’s coming out this June. She’s known as the go-to person at Figma for leading new 0-to-1 products, and, as you’ll hear in our conversation, beloved by everyone she works with. Her background includes founding Design Nation, a national nonprofit focused on democratizing design education for undergraduates; spearheading product launches at Meta; and community building within the NYC AI startup scene. In our conversation, we discuss:• How to effectively take ideas from 0 to 1 at larger companies• How to craft a compelling vision• The importance of vulnerability and feedback• The role of intuition and product sense in making decisions• How to practically communicate your vision• How to balance collaboration and strong opinions• Advice for building a strong team culture• Pivoting with grace and enthusiasm• The current AI revolution and its impact on PM—Brought to you by:• Paragon—Ship every SaaS integration your customers want• Lenny’s Talent Team—Hire the best product people. Find the best product gigs• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/vision-conviction-hype-mihika-kapoor—Where to find Mihika Kapoor:• X: https://twitter.com/mihikapoor• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mihikakapoor/—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) Mihika’s background(04:29) Core attributes of great product managers(07:34) Crafting a compelling vision(12:12) The vision behind FigJam (18:25) Delivering a vision without design or engineering skills(21:52) Creating momentum(26:36) The importance of strong conviction(27:45) Direct communication(32:48) Building hype(42:20) Immersing yourself in user insights(47:16) Operationalizing user insights  (50:33) Caring deeply about what you build(54:01) Finding passion in your work(57:00) Building a strong culture(01:07:07) Pivoting with grace and enthusiasm(01:11:48) Design Nation(01:13:15) Mihika’s weaknesses(01:16:07) Building new products at larger companies(01:20:50) Coming up with a great idea(01:22:49) The key to going from 0 to 1(01:26:47) Spreading the idea across the company(01:29:15) Closing thoughts(01:32:11) Lightning round—Referenced:• Figma: https://www.figma.com/• Sho Kuwamoto on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shokuwamoto/• The Medici Effect: What Elephants and Epidemics Can Teach Us About Innovation: https://www.amazon.com/Medici-Effect-Preface-Discussion-Guide/dp/1633692949• FigJam: https://www.figma.com/figjam/• Cognition: https://www.cognition-labs.com/• Devin: https://www.cognition-labs.com/introducing-devin• David Hoang on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhoang2/• Replit: https://replit.com/• The Making of Maker Week at Figma: https://www.figma.com/blog/the-making-of-maker-week/• Yuhki Yamashita on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuhki/• Jeff Bezos’ Simple Decision-Making Framework Will Give You Clarity, Conviction, and Courage: https://medium.com/illumination/jeff-bezos-simple-decision-making-framework-will-give-you-clarity-conviction-and-courage-adf8d0183625• Alice Ching on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceching/• Karl Jiang on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karl-jiang-4a07424/• Kris Rasmussen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristopherrasmussen/• Config: https://config.figma.com/• Dev Mode: https://www.figma.com/dev-mode/• Asana: https://asana.com/• Julie Zhuo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-zhuo/• StrengthsFinder test: https://www.gyfted.me/personality-quiz/strengthsfinder-test-free• Dylan Field on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanfield/• Vishal Shah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishalnshah/• Design Disruptors: https://www.invisionapp.com/films/design-disruptors• Daniel Burka on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dburka/• Jamie Myrold on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiemyrold/• Design Nation: https://dn.businesstoday.org/• Stuart Weitzman on X: https://twitter.com/StuartWeitzman• Joe Gebbia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jgebbia/• Building a long and meaningful career | Nikhyl Singhal (Meta, Google): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/building-a-long-and-meaningful-career-nikhyl-singhal-meta-google/• Jambot: https://www.figma.com/community/widget/1274481464484630971/jambot• Hestia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hestia• Harry Potter series: https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Paperback-Box-Books/dp/0545162076• Pachinko: https://www.amazon.com/Pachinko-National-Book-Award-Finalist/dp/1455563927/• Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration: https://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Inc-Expanded-Overcoming-Inspiration/dp/0593594649• The Overstory: https://www.amazon.com/Overstory-Novel-Richard-Powers/dp/039335668X• Severance on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/severance/umc.cmc.1srk2goyh2q2zdxcx605w8vtx• Dune on Max: https://www.max.com/movies/dune/e7dc7b3a-a494-4ef1-8107-f4308aa6bbf7• Dune: Part 2: https://www.dunemovie.com/• Arc browser: https://arc.net/• Pika: https://pika.art/home• The power of recognition: Why you should celebrate your employees | Josh Miller: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/videos/the-power-of-recognition-why-you-should-celebrate-your-employees-josh-miller/—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

Dalton Caldwell is Managing Director and Group Partner at Y Combinator. Prior to YC, he was the co-founder and CEO of imeem (acquired by MySpace in 2009) and the co-founder and CEO of App.net. During his time at YC, he’s advised more than 35 YC unicorns, including DoorDash, Amplitude, Webflow, and Retool, and has worked across 21 different YC batches. He’s also racked up more than 6,500 office hours with founders. In our conversation, we discuss:• Why founders need to adopt the mindset “Just don’t die”• The most common reason startups fail• When to pivot, and characteristics of a good pivot• The concept of “tar pit ideas” and examples of bad startup ideas• Why investors say no to startups• The importance of market size in investment decisions• The pitfalls of founders over-delegating• Effective ways to talk to customers• 20 ideas Dalton is looking to fund—Brought to you by:• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security• Coda—The all-in-one collaborative workspace—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-1000-yc-startups—Where to find Dalton Caldwell:• X: https://twitter.com/daltonc• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daltoncaldwell/—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) Dalton’s background(04:41) The value of simple advice(07:04) Dalton’s advice: “Just don’t die”(08:39) Knowing when to stop(11:45) Deciding to pivot(14:26) Characteristics of a good pivot(17:53) Knowing when to pivot(19:03) Zip’s journey and finding a market(21:22) Why Dalton says to “Move towards the mountains and the desert”(23:45) Tar pit ideas(26:49) Understanding why investors say no(29:14) The importance of market size(32:16) Avoiding over-delegation and hiring senior people too early(36:43) Why startups fail(40:30) Effectively talking to customers(45:17) Examples of startups hustling to talk to customers(48:01) Patterns of successful startups(52:05) YC’s Request for Startups(55:37) Early days of Silicon Valley(01:05:33) Contrarian corner: growth hacking for early startups(01:09:28) Failure corner(01:11:15) Closing thoughts(01:12:22) Lightning round—Referenced:• Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/• Tiger Woods’s website: https://tigerwoods.com/• Co-Founder Mistakes That Kill Companies & How to Avoid Them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlfjs_eEEzs• Daniel Alberson’s LinkedIn post about Y Combinator: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alberson_i-left-my-dream-job-as-a-product-manager-activity-7089677882431533056-jJ9H• Companies in Y Combinator W17 Batch: https://www.ycdb.co/batch/w17• Brex: https://www.brex.com/• Retool: https://retool.com/• Segment: https://segment.com/• Mixpanel: https://mixpanel.com/• Whatnot: https://www.whatnot.com/• Andreessen Horowitz: https://a16z.com/• Airbnb’s CEO says a $40 cereal box changed the course of the multibillion-dollar company: https://fortune.com/2023/04/19/airbnb-ceo-cereal-box-investors-changed-everything-billion-dollar-company/• Rujul Zaparde on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rujulz/• Zip: https://ziphq.com/• Lu Cheng on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lu-cheng-973b7830/• Avoid these tempting startup tar pit ideas: https://www.ycombinator.com/library/Ij-avoid-these-tempting-startup-tarpit-ideas• Airbnb acquires Localmind to create crowdsourced advice about neighborhoods: https://skift.com/2012/12/13/airbnb-acquires-localmind-to-create-crowdsourced-advice-about-neighborhoods/• Foursquare: https://foursquare.com/• Razorpay: https://razorpay.com/• Total Addressable Market: https://www.productplan.com/glossary/total-addressable-market/• Lenny Bogdonoff on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rememberlenny/• Milk Video: https://milkvideo.com/• Lessons from working with 600+ YC startups | Gustaf Alströmer (Y Combinator, Airbnb): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/lessons-from-working-with-600-yc-startups-gustaf-alstromer-y-combinator-airbnb/• How the most successful B2B startups came up with their original idea: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-the-most-successful-b2b-startups• Collison installation: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18400504• Stripe: https://stripe.com/• Patrick Collison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcollison/• John Collison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbcollison/• Tony Xu on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xutony/• Grant LaFontaine on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantlafontaine/• Ryan Petersen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rpetersen/• Lessons on building product sense, navigating AI, optimizing the first mile, and making it through the messy middle | Scott Belsky (Adobe, Behance): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/lessons-on-building-product-sense-navigating-ai-optimizing-the-first-mile-and-making-it-through-t/• YC’s latest Request for Startups: https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/ycs-latest-request-for-startups• ERPs: https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#new-enterprise-resource-planning-software• Commercial open source companies: https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#commercial-open-source-companies• New space companies: https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#new-space-companies• A way to end cancer: https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#a-way-to-end-cancer• Spatial computing: https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#spatial-computing• New defense technology: https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#new-defense-technology• Bringing manufacturing back to America: https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#bring-manufacturing-back-to-america• Better enterprise glue: https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#better-enterprise-glue• Small fine-tuned models, as an alternative to giant generic ones: https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs#small-finetuned-models-as-an-alternative-to-giant-generic-ones• Reid Hoffman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reidhoffman/• Sam Altman on X: https://twitter.com/sama• Sean Parker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parkersean/• Owen Van Natta on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/owen-van-natta-444a7/• Marc Andreessen on X: https://twitter.com/pmarca• Picplz 1, Instagram 0 as VC firm Andreessen Horowitz chooses photo app rival: https://www.reuters.com/article/idUS2587232395/• Gustaf Alstromer—How to Get Users and Grow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9ikpoF2GH0• Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In: https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Yes-Negotiating-Agreement-Without/dp/0143118757• Founding Sales: The Early Stage Go-to-Market Handbook: https://www.amazon.com/Founding-Sales-Go-Market-Handbook-ebook/dp/B08PMK17Z1• Founder-led sales | Pete Kazanjy (Founding Sales, Atrium): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/founder-led-sales-pete-kazanjy-founding-sales-atrium/• The Sopranos on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-sopranos• The Wire on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-wire• Columbo on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Columbo-Season-1/dp/B008SA89HA• Oura ring: https://ouraring.com/• Apple watch: https://www.apple.com/watch/• SiPhox: https://siphoxhealth.com/• Dalton & Michael on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ-uHSnFig5Nd98Sc9I-kkc0ZWe8peRMC• How Future Billionaires Get Sh*t Done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ephzgxgOjR0• The Student’s Guide to Becoming a Successful Startup Founder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5KCB2p6SB8—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

David DeSanto is the chief product officer of GitLab, which is the largest remote-only company in the world. They share many of their team meetings on YouTube, and they’ve grown from being an open-source code management product competing with GitHub to a multi-product platform that covers security, compliance, continuous integration, project management, and deployment tools, many of which are infused with AI magic. In our conversation, we discuss:• How GitLab operationalizes transparency• The philosophy behind recording and sharing team meetings on YouTube• Their extensive public employee handbook• GitLab’s core value of having “short toes”• Challenges and advice for doing remote work well• Strategies for ensuring effective communication in a remote work environment• GitLab’s breadth-over-depth strategy• The company’s unique approach to AI• The value of using humor in high-stakes conversations—Brought to you by:• Orb—The flexible billing engine for modern pricing• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments• Paragon—Ship every SaaS integration your customers want—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-gitlab-way—Where to find David DeSanto:• X: https://twitter.com/david_desanto• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ddesanto/• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@david.the.beard—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) David’s background(04:20) Maintaining an epic beard(05:29) Why GitLab publicly shares team meetings(09:49) The GitLab Handbook(11:30) GitLab’s issue tracker(14:29) How to successfully build a culture of transparency(18:11) Benefits of operating with transparency(19:55) The value of building in public(21:53) How GitLab implements their core value of kindness(25:16) What it means to have “short toes”(27:41) Other core values(32:16) Common reasons for not fitting in at GitLab(34:42) Advice for remote teams(42:04) Advice for getting into product(43:52) Advice for PMs who are struggling in a remote world(48:25) Specific tools that help with remote work(53:13) Time zones and remote work(57:18) Breadth-over-depth strategy(01:04:14) AI at GitLab(01:13:11) GitLab’s products and solutions(01:14:54) Lightning round—Referenced:• GitLab: https://about.gitlab.com/• UX Showcase—David DeSanto introduction to UX team and AMA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEdsmnVKNj4• The GitLab Handbook: https://handbook.gitlab.com/• Sid Sijbrandij on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sijbrandij/• Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/• GitLab issues: https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/issues/• Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/• GitLab values: https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/values• GitLab organizational structure: https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/company/structure• GitLab direction: https://about.gitlab.com/direction/• Dogfooding: A simple practice to help you build better products: https://medium.com/agileinsider/dogfooding-a-simple-practice-to-help-you-build-better-products-b5954af4d5f7• The ultimate guide to adding a PLG motion | Hila Qu (Reforge, GitLab): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-adding-a-plg• Zigging vs. zagging: How HubSpot built a $30B company | Dharmesh Shah (co-founder/CTO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-30-years-of-building• HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/• Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers: https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-3rd-Disruptive-Mainstream/dp/0062292986• Geoffrey Moore on finding your beachhead, crossing the chasm, and dominating a market: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/geoffrey-moore-on-finding-your-beachhead-crossing-the-chasm-and-dominating-a-market/• Open-core model: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-core_model• GitLab Duo: https://about.gitlab.com/gitlab-duo/• GitLab Docs: https://docs.gitlab.com/• Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/• GitLab Acquires UnReview to Expand Its DevOps Platform with Machine Learning Capabilities: https://about.gitlab.com/press/releases/2021-06-02-gitlab-acquires-unreview-machine-learning-capabilities/• Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less: https://www.amazon.com/Essentialism-Disciplined-Pursuit-Greg-McKeown/dp/0804137382• The Mission Critical Core/Context Model for Product Managers: https://secretpmhandbook.com/the-mission-critical-corecontext-model-for-product-managers/• The Devil’s Hour on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/the-devils-hour/umc.cmc.3zw4tyzd4lvor5mwhujms63x3• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81458416• Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/TAYLOR-SWIFT-ERAS-EXTENDED-VERSION/dp/B0CP99SN2B• The STAR method: https://capd.mit.edu/resources/the-star-method-for-behavioral-interviews/• Artifact News: https://artifact.news/• Superhuman: https://superhuman.com/• Arc browser: https://arc.net/• An inside look at how The Browser Company builds product: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/competing-with-giants-an-inside-look—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

Todd Jackson is a Partner at First Round Capital. Before moving into venture capital, he played a crucial role as VP of Product and Design at Dropbox, guiding the company until its IPO in 2018. Prior to Dropbox, Todd led product management for Twitter’s Content and Discovery teams after selling his startup, Cover, to Twitter in 2014. Before Cover, Todd oversaw product development for Facebook’s Newsfeed, Photos, and Groups. He kickstarted his career at Google as an associate product manager and eventually led product for Gmail, witnessing its growth from beta to 200 million users. In our conversation, we discuss:• Why product-market fit (PMF) matters• First Round Capital’s four-part PMF framework• Level one: Nascent product-market fit• Level two: Developing product-market fit• Level three: Strong product-market fit• Level four: Extreme product-market fit• Examples of companies at each level• How to know if you’re stuck at a level, and how to get unstuck• What to change if you’re stuck: persona, problem, promise, and product• The goals and challenges at each stage—Brought to you by:• WorkOS—The modern API for auth and user identity• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments• CommandBar—AI-powered user assistance for modern products and impatient users—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/a-framework-for-finding-product-market—Where to find Todd Jackson:• X: https://twitter.com/tjack• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddj0/—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) Todd’s background(06:07) First Round Capital’s PMF framework(09:07) Why product-market fit is so important(11:02) Who can benefit from this framework(12:55) The product-market fit method(16:54) Broad overview of the framework(21:35) Level one: nascent product-market fit(33:16) The four P’s(39:13) Level two: developing product-market fit(49:13) Signs you’re stuck at level two, and what to do(55:12) Level three: strong product-market fit(01:00:17) Signs you’re stuck at level three, and what to do(01:02:22) Level four: extreme product-market fit(01:06:55) Rough timelines for each level(01:11:18) A quick recap of the framework(01:12:15) Diving deeper on the four P’s: what to do if you’re stuck(01:13:56) Dollar-driven discovery(01:25:11) Apply for the product-market-fit method program—Referenced:• First Round: https://firstround.com/• Twitter Acquires Cover: https://www.vox.com/2014/4/7/11625332/twitter-acquires-cover-an-android-mobile-startup• Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/• Rahul Vohra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulvohra/• How Superhuman Built an Engine to Find Product Market Fit: https://review.firstround.com/how-superhuman-built-an-engine-to-find-product-market-fit/• How to validate your startup idea: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/validating-your-startup-idea• How the most successful B2B startups came up with their original idea: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-the-most-successful-b2b-startups• How to know if you’ve got product-market fit: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-know-if-youve-got-productmarket• A guide for finding product-market fit in B2B: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/finding-product-market-fit• Product-market fit method: http://pmf.firstround.com/• Stripe: https://stripe.com/• Plaid: https://plaid.com/• Paths to PMF: https://review.firstround.com/series/product-market-fit/• WeWork: https://www.wework.com/• Casper: https://casper.com/• Vanta: https://www.vanta.com/• Christina Cacioppo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ccacioppo/• Ramp: https://ramp.com/• Velocity over everything: How Ramp became the fastest-growing SaaS startup of all time | Geoff Charles (VP of Product): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/velocity-over-everything-how-ramp-became-the-fastest-growing-saas-startup-of-all-time-geoff-charl/• Jack Altman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackealtman/• Lattice: https://lattice.com/• Zachary Perret on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zperret/• Positioning: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/positioning• Retool: https://retool.com/• David Hsu on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dvdhsu/• Persona: https://withpersona.com/• Rick Song on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-song-25198b24/• Lloyd Tabb on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lloydtabb/• Looker: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looker_(company)• Jason Boehmig on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jboehmig/• Ironclad: https://ironcladapp.com/• Lessons in leadership | Scaling an org and tactical management advice | Jack Altman (Lattice): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZzXqf61mrQ• Filip Kaliszan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaliszan/• Verkada: https://www.verkada.com/• Ali Ghodsi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alighodsi/• Databricks: https://www.databricks.com/• Stripe Radar: https://stripe.com/radar• Stripe Atlas: https://stripe.com/atlas• Square Stand: https://squareup.com/shop/hardware/us/en/products/ipad-pos-stand-integrated-card-reader• Cash App: https://cash.app/• Square Checking: https://squareup.com/us/en/campaign/banking/checking• Square Loan: https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5654-get-started-with-square-capital• Casey Winters on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseywinters/• How to sell your ideas and rise within your company | Casey Winters, Eventbrite: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-sell-your-ideas-and-rise-within-your-company-casey-winters-eventbrite/• Josh Kopelman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkopelman/• The art and science of pricing | Madhavan Ramanujam (Monetizing Innovation, Simon-Kucher): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/videos/the-art-and-science-of-pricing-madhavan-ramanujam-monetizing-innovation-simon-kucher/• Simon Kucher: https://www.simon-kucher.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

Claire Vo is the chief product officer at LaunchDarkly and the founder of ChatPRD, likely the most popular PM-specific AI product out there. Before LaunchDarkly, she was a longtime chief product officer at Color and Optimizely. Claire has founded and managed two other companies, Pretty HQ and Experiment Engine, the latter of which Optimizely acquired in 2017. In our conversation, we discuss:• Knowing what you want in your career and being clear about it• Finding your zone of genius and how to operate within it• How to maintain a fast pace in larger companies• How to make it easy for your boss to help you achieve your goals• Advice for navigating the tech industry as a woman• The role of a CPTO and the benefits it brings to organizations• Why she built ChatPRD• Tips for building your own AI tools• The impact of AI on product management and what skills will continue to be important—Brought to you by:• Orb—The flexible billing engine for modern pricing• Dovetail—Bring your customer into every decision• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/bending-the-universe-in-your-favor—Where to find Claire Vo:• X: https://twitter.com/clairevo• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairevo/• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chiefproductofficer—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) Claire’s background(04:50) How to achieve career progression(10:11) Avoiding promotion obsession(13:50) How Claire stepped into leadership roles(17:24) Operating in your zone of genius(23:03) How to maintain a fast pace(27:46) Setting a high bar for quality and talent(29:54) Normalizing feedback(33:09) Being a woman in tech(47:09) The role of a CPTO(54:19) Building ChatPRD(59:39) Tips for building a GPT(01:02:27) The impact of AI on product management(01:08:08) How AI is changing the product management role(01:14:36) Efficiency gains with ChatPRD(01:16:39) Contrarian corner: sales-led product organizations(01:20:11) Lightning round—Referenced:• LaunchDarkly: https://launchdarkly.com/• Define your zone of genius: Laura Garnett at TEDxMillRiver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ7_r2oWlrw• Energy Audit: https://beta.mocharymethod.com/blog-post/energy-audit• How to fire people with grace, work through fear, and nurture innovation | Matt Mochary: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/videos/how-to-fire-people-with-grace-work-through-fear-and-nurture-innovation-matt-mochary/• Radical Candor: From theory to practice with author Kim Scott: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/radical-candor-from-theory-to-practice-with-author-kim-scott/• Optimizely: https://www.optimizely.com/• GitLab: https://about.gitlab.com/• ChatPRD: https://www.chatprd.ai/• You should be playing with GPTs at work: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/you-should-be-playing-with-gpts-at• SpaceX’s Starship: https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/• GitHub Copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot• Product management theater | Marty Cagan (Silicon Valley Product Group): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/product-management-theater-marty-cagan-silicon-valley-product-group/• High Growth Handbook: Scaling Startups from 10 to 10,000 People: https://www.amazon.com/High-Growth-Handbook-Elad-Gil/dp/1732265100• Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building: https://www.amazon.com/Scaling-People-Tactics-Management-Building/dp/1953953212• Stripe Press: https://press.stripe.com/• Circe: https://www.amazon.com/Circe-Madeline-Miller/dp/0316556327• Poor Things: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14230458/• Mythic Quest on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/mythic-quest/umc.cmc.1nfdfd5zlk05fo1bwwetzldy3• Silicon Valley on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/silicon-valley• Chrysler Pacifica: https://www.chrysler.com/pacifica.html• Waymo: https://waymo.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

Dharmesh Shah is the co-founder and CTO of HubSpot (currently valued at $30 billion) and one of the most fascinating founders I’ve ever met. Dharmesh is the keeper of HubSpot’s Culture Code, built ChatSpot (an AI chatbot built on top of HubSpot CRM) and a game called WordPlay (which grew to 16 million users), and also founded and writes for OnStartups, a top-ranking startup blog and community with more than 1M members. He’s also invested in 100+ startups including OpenAI, AngelList, Coinbase, and Dropbox. In our conversation, we discuss:• The biggest lessons he has learned from building HubSpot• The importance of leaning into your strengths• Dharmesh’s data-oriented approach to public speaking• How he developed HubSpot’s culture code• The decision-making process at HubSpot• His contrarian approach to building products• Why founders and product teams are all fighting the second law of thermodynamics• How “flash tags” can save your teams time• How to decide what ideas are worth investing in—Brought to you by:• Explo—Embed customer-facing analytics in your product• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security• LinkedIn Ads—Reach professionals and drive results for your business—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-30-years-of-building—Where to find Dharmesh Shah:• X: https://twitter.com/dharmesh• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dharmesh/• Website: https://dharmesh.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) Dharmesh’s background(04:20) Fun facts about Dharmesh(06:31) His data-oriented approach to public speaking(11:45) Advice for adding humor to your presentations(15:28) Why he has no direct reports(18:46) You can shape the universe to your liking(20:02) Lessons from building HubSpot(23:43) Contrarian ways of running a company(37:26) Fighting the second law of thermodynamics (40:29) The importance of simplicity in running a business(45:22) Succeeding in the SMB market(50:29) Zigging when others are zagging(54:17) When it makes sense to go “wide and deep”(57:33) Using flashtags to communicate opinions(01:02:44) HubSpot’s decision-making process (01:09:41) Deciding what ideas to invest in(01:15:26) Defining and maintaining company culture(01:30:46) The potential of AI(01:37:03) Practical advice for learning AI(01:40:07) Where to find Dharmesh—Referenced:• WordPlay: https://wordplay.com/article/unlimited• ChatSpot: https://chatspot.ai/• Indian-origin entrepreneur buys ‘chat.com’ for over $10 million, then sells, donates $250,000 to Khan Academy: https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/news/story/indian-origin-entrepreneur-buys-chatcom-for-over-10-million-then-sells-donates-250000-to-khan-academy-382907-2023-05-26• Kipp Bodnar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kippbodnar/• The surprising metric presenters should analyze: https://lars-sudmann.com/the-surprising-metric-presenters-should-analyze/• SoloWare: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dharmesh_for-3-decades-now-in-addition-to-my-day-activity-7166500611247583232-kZgb/• Brian Halligan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianhalligan/• First Principles: Elon Musk on the Power of Thinking for Yourself: https://jamesclear.com/first-principles• Peter Thiel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterthiel/• The second law of thermodynamics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_law_of_thermodynamics• What is an SMB?: https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/SMB-small-and-medium-sized-business-or-small-and-midsized-business• Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/• Relentless curiosity, radical accountability, and HubSpot’s winning growth formula | Christopher Miller (VP of Product, Growth and AI): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/relentless-curiosity-radical-accountability-and-hubspots-winning-growth-formula-christopher-mil/• FlashTags: A Simple Hack for Conveying Context Without Confusion: https://www.onstartups.com/flashtags-a-simple-hack-for-conveying-context-without-confusion• What it means to “disagree and commit”: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16949021• A Simple Decision Framework: Debate, Decide and Unite: https://connectingdots.com/p/debate-decide-unite• Dharmesh Shah’s Frameworks for Creating a $1 Billion Net Worth: https://hakune.co/dharmesh-shah-networth/• Zip: https://ziphq.com/• The HubSpot Culture Code: Creating a Company We Love: https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34234/the-hubspot-culture-code-creating-a-company-we-love.aspx• How defining values and culture helped Airbnb achieve worldwide success: https://lattice.com/library/how-defining-values-and-culture-helped-airbnb-achie• What is SQL?: https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/sql/• GrowthBot: https://community.hubspot.com/t5/Releases-and-Updates/Meet-GrowthBot-from-HubSpot-Labs/ba-p/417985—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

Matt Abrahams is a renowned communication expert, with decades of teaching, coaching, and consulting experience. At Stanford University, he teaches a business school class on strategic communication. Beyond academia, he’s a sought-after keynote speaker and consultant, guiding presenters from IPO road shows to prestigious platforms like TED, the World Economic Forum, and the United Nations. His acclaimed podcast, Think Fast, Talk Smart, garners millions of listeners, and his book, Think Faster, Talk Smarter, equips speakers with practical skills for impromptu success. With a previous bestseller, Speaking Up Without Freaking Out, Matt has empowered countless individuals to speak confidently and authentically. In our conversation, we discuss:• The concept of “daring to be dull”• The power of visualization to desensitize oneself to speaking situations• Managing negative self-talk• The WHAT structure for delivering toasts (why we are here, how you are connected, anecdote, thanks)• The ADD structure for Q&As (answer, detailed example, describe relevance)• Breathing techniques to reduce anxiety, such as the double exhale• Concrete speaking structures like What? So What? Now What? and the Four I’s (information, impact, invitation, implications)• Much more—Brought to you by:• Sprig—Build a product people love• Dovetail—Bring your customer into every decision• Coda—Meet the evolution of docs—Find the transcript and references at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-speak-more-confidently-and—Where to find Matt Abrahams:• X: https://twitter.com/tftsthepod• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maabrahams/• Website: https://mattabrahams.com/• Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ll0MwobDt1JW9gYaOONEo—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Matt’s background(04:50) Techniques for managing anxiety in public speaking(10:57) Dare to be dull(13:40) Reframing anxiety as excitement(16:08) Using mantras to boost confidence(18:45) Managing negative self-talk(20:03) Normalizing speaking anxiety(23:12) Using conversation as a communication technique(24:52) Using the double-exhale breathing technique(28:29) Getting present-oriented(29:46) Using tongue twisters(33:34) Broad advice for speaking on the spot(38:35) The PREP structure(38:59) The What? So What? Now What? structure(42:10) Toastmasters and improv(45:31) Getting better at small talk(51:05) The importance of sharing back(52:33) Giving feedback(56:31) Improving toasts and tributes(01:02:57) Mastering Q&A sessions(01:07:25) Apologizing effectively(01:09:29) Closing thoughts—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Kunal Shah is one of the most well-known and admired product leaders in India. He is the CEO and founder of CRED, an Indian-based fintech startup valued at over $6 billion. Prior to CRED, he founded three other startups, including Freecharge, which he sold for over $400 million to Snapdeal. He has also been an advisor to India’s most influential organizations. In our conversation, we discuss:• The prevalence of successful Indian immigrants in top CEO roles across the tech industry• Why companies in India can grow DAUs but not ARPU—and what that means for building products for India• What most sets India’s market apart• Challenges and opportunities in the Indian market• The Delta 4 framework for building new products• Lessons from building CRED so far• The power of curiosity and second-order thinking• Lessons from failure—Brought to you by:• WorkOS—The modern API for auth and user identity• Orb—The flexible billing engine for modern pricing• Dovetail—Bring your customer into every decision—Find the transcript and references at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/kunal-shah-on-winning-in-india-second—Where to find Kunal Shah:• X: https://twitter.com/kunalb11• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kunalshah1/• Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@CRED_club—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Kunal’s background(04:22) The Delta 4 framework(11:00) The success of Indian CEOs in the U.S.(19:55) Challenges and opportunities in India(23:04) DAUs vs. ARPU in Indian markets(25:50) The perception of time in India(27:55) The curse of focus in Asian markets(30:33) Challenges and opportunities in India (continued)(33:23) Lessons learned from building CRED(36:40) Profit pools can provide valuable insights into the values of a country(37:55) Founders’ role in company growth(39:55) Profitability and Indian business culture(43:24) Advice for staying positive amid criticism(44:41) The promising market in India(47:35) The power of curiosity(52:59) Who Kunal looks up to(55:31) Kunal’s favorite sources of content(58:42) Asking great questions(01:02:54) Contrarian corner: Wealth is nothing but storage of energy(01:05:26) Failure corner(01:08:57) Closing thoughts: Share your learnings(01:09:38) Lightning round—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

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 of press• Which areas each publication (TechCrunch, Axios, The Verge, etc.) cares most about• How to craft your pitch• How to find and reach reporters• How pitching press is different from pitching customers• The effectiveness of direct communication through social media versus traditional press—Brought to you by:• Sprig—Build a product people love• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-pr-emilie-gerber—Where to find Emilie Gerber:• Substack: http://onbackgroundintel.substack.com• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilie-gerber-59612230/• Website: https://sixeastern.com/• Email: [email protected]—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) Emilie’s background(04:56) The value of press and second-order effects(13:00) When press is not worth your time(17:01) Different publications and their suitability(25:36) Avoiding negative stories(27:23) Finding aligned podcasts and awards(31:12) Advice for reaching out to reporters(37:23) Controversial pitches(41:16) Avoiding category creation(43:26) Examples of pitches that have worked well(53:32) Pitching to Lenny(55:46) Effective pitching strategies(57:45) Improving pitch announcements(01:03:01) Press releases(01:07:06) Crafting a compelling story(01:09:43) Traditional press vs. newsletters, podcasts, and social media(01:15:50) Building a social media presence(01:17:51) How to get a Morning Brew feature(01:19:32) Advice on choosing a PR agency(01:22:25) Timing and budget for PR(01:25:39) Lightning round—Referenced:• Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai/• Who is Lenny Rachitsky? And what does he know that you don’t about making millions writing online?: https://www.fastcompany.com/90940453/lenny-rachitsky-newsletter-podcast-job-board-substack• 42-year-old brings in an average of $41,000 a month from his podcast and works on it just 5 hours a week: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/11/lenny-rachitsky-podcast-brings-in-more-than-500k-a-year-heres-how.html• How This Newsletter Writer Got More Than 300,000 Subscribers, and Now Makes “Significantly More” Than He Did at His Day Job: https://www.entrepreneur.com/starting-a-business/how-this-newsletter-writer-got-more-than-300000/447172• Business Insider: https://www.businessinsider.com/• Contraline: https://www.contraline.com/• Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/• TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/• Axios: https://www.axios.com/• Fortune: https://fortune.com/• Term Sheet: https://fortune.com/tag/term-sheet/• The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/• Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/• New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/• Found podcast: https://techcrunch.com/tag/found/• Equity podcast: https://techcrunch.com/tag/equity-podcast/• VentureBeat: https://venturebeat.com/• Fast Company: https://www.fastcompany.com/• Clockwise: https://www.getclockwise.com• Shopify deleted 322,000 hours of meetings. Should the rest of us be jealous?: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/15/1156804295/shopify-delete-meetings-zoom-virtual-productivity• Shopify canceled all recurring meetings. Should you too?: https://www.getclockwise.com/blog/shopify-cancels-meetings• Shopify’s new meeting cost calculator is well intentioned—but it’s not addressing the issue: https://www.fastcompany.com/90930137/shopifys-new-meeting-cost-calculator-is-well-intentioned-but-its-not-addressing-the-issue• Matt Martin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/voxmatt/• Ramp: https://ramp.com/welcome• Corporate card start-up Ramp targets Bill.com with free payments software: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/26/corporate-cards-ramp-targets-billcom-with-free-payments-software.html• Bill: https://www.bill.com/• Velocity over everything: How Ramp became the fastest-growing SaaS startup of all time | Geoff Charles (VP of Product): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/velocity-over-everything-how-ramp-became-the-fastest-growing-saas-startup-of-all-time-geoff-charl/• Column Tax: https://www.columntax.com/• Propel: https://www.joinpropel.com/• Gamma: https://gamma.app/• Gamma brings in $7M to bring the slide deck into the 21st century: https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/28/gamma-brings-in-7m-to-bring-the-slide-deck-into-the-21st-century/• NewBank: https://www.newbankusa.com/• Backed by a16z, Relay races to market with Zapier in its crosshairs: https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/11/relay-a16z-zapier-google/• Zapier: https://zapier.com/• Rajiv Ayyangar’s thread on X about tag lines: https://twitter.com/rajivayyangar/status/1758179077629100482• Entropy: https://entropytechnologydesign.com/• Money 20/20: https://www.money2020.com/• Jim Bankoff on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimbankoff/• Ramping Up: https://www.notboring.co/p/ramping-up• Aaron Levie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boxaaron/• Aaron Levie on X: https://twitter.com/levie• Duolingo on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@duolingo• Morning Brew: https://www.morningbrew.com/• Tech Brew: https://www.emergingtechbrew.com/• HR Brew: https://www.hr-brew.com/• Mark Zuckerberg on Morning Brew Daily: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQqsvRHjas4&t=1309s• How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence: https://www.amazon.com/Change-Your-Mind-Consciousness-Transcendence/dp/1594204225• The Walking Dead on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/70177057• Yellowjackets on Paramount+: https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/yellowjackets/• The Last of Us on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-last-of-us• Apple Vision Pro: https://www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro• TNB Tech Minute: Startup Perplexity Challenges Google With AI Search: https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/tech-news-briefing/tnb-tech-minute-startup-perplexity-challenges-google-with-ai-search/984362d5-a8f0-48b4-8b55-ad7e570a74d2—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

Noam Lovinsky has had a distinguished career in product, leaving an indelible mark at Facebook, YouTube, Thumbtack, and currently as the chief product officer at Grammarly. At Facebook, Noam helped establish the New Product Experimentation team; at Thumbtack, he was chief product officer; and at YouTube, he was one of the early product leaders overseeing the consumer experience. In our conversation, we discuss:• Challenges and lessons from reviving growth at YouTube and Thumbtack• Lessons from building Facebook’s New Product Experimentation team• Insights into Grammarly’s success• Knowing when it’s time to kill your project• Why diversifying your growth channels is critical• The power of visioning and storytelling in shaping product strategy• How to create space for innovation at large companies• The resilience and motivation of Grammarly’s team in Ukraine—Brought to you by:• Whimsical—The iterative product workspace• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.• LinkedIn Ads—Reach professionals and drive results for your business—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-happiness-and-pain-of-product—Where to find Noam Lovinsky:• X: https://twitter.com/noaml• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noaml/—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) Noam’s background(04:18) Noam’s lack of online presence(08:06) Lessons from YouTube: advocating for what’s best for yourself and the team(14:31) Prioritizing what’s best for the business(19:37) Knowing when it’s time to kill a project(21:47) Lessons from Thumbtack: diversifying growth channels and overcoming challenges(26:24) How Thumbtack turned growth around(31:44) Building Airbnb’s instant booking feature(35:28) Lessons from Thumbtack: team collaboration and product strategy(38:38) Lessons from Facebook: building the New Product Experimentation team(40:43) The importance of starting small and building community density(46:07) Advice for building a startup within a startup(48:52) Having an incentive system(49:34) Lessons from Grammarly: adapting to changing user needs and building for the masses(54:20) The scrappiness and profitability of Grammarly(56:56) The resilience and motivation of the Grammarly team in Ukraine(59:08) General career advice(01:01:02) When to pull back(01:02:58) Closing thoughts(01:03:56) Lightning round—Referenced:• Substack: https://substack.com/• Hunter Walk on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hunterwalk/• The rituals of great teams | Shishir Mehrotra of Coda, YouTube, Microsoft: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-rituals-of-great-teams-shishir-mehrotra-coda-youtube-microsoft/• Salar Kamangar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/salar-kamangar-5a059712/• Grammarly: https://www.grammarly.com/• Thumbtack: https://www.thumbtack.com/• FRED on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/FRED• 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• Google+: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google%2B• Marco Zappacosta on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcozappacosta/• Bryan Schreier on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanschreier/• Whitney Steele on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitneydsteele/• David Shein on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidshein/• The magic of thinking big, by Lenny Rachitsky: https://www.mindtheproduct.com/the-magic-of-thinking-big-by-lenny-rachitsky/• What Seven Years at Airbnb Taught Me About Building a Business: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/what-seven-years-at-airbnb-taught• New apps, new experiences: NPE Team, from Facebook: https://tech.facebook.com/engineering/2019/7/npe-team-from-facebook/• The Origin Story of the BRC Trash Fence: https://journal.burningman.org/2016/05/black-rock-city/leaving-no-trace/the-origin-story-of-the-brc-trash-fence/• Nike opens high-tech research and innovation lab: https://www.just-style.com/news/nike-opens-high-tech-research-and-innovation-lab/• ChatGPT: https://chat.openai.com/• Microsoft Copilot: https://copilot.microsoft.com/• How to grow a subscription business | Yuriy Timen (Grammarly, Canva, Airtable): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-grow-a-subscription-business-yuriy-timen-grammarly-canva-airtable/• “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek”: https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/the-cave-you-fear-to-enter-holds-the-treasure-you-seek-d624e28c3848• Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making: https://www.amazon.com/Build-Unorthodox-Guide-Making-Things/dp/0063046067• For All Mankind on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/for-all-mankind/umc.cmc.6wsi780sz5tdbqcf11k76mkp7• Fargo TV series on Hulu: https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/fargo• Arc browser: https://arc.net/• Competing with giants: An inside look at how The Browser Company builds product | Josh Miller (CEO): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/competing-with-giants-an-inside-look-at-how-the-browser-company-builds-product-josh-miller-ceo/—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Marty Cagan is a luminary in the world of product. He’s the author of two of the most foundational books for product teams and product leaders (Inspired and Empowered), he’s the founder of Silicon Valley Product Group (one of the longest-running product advisory groups), and he’s almost certainly worked with more product leaders and teams than any human alive. Now he’s releasing his newest book, Transformed, which is sure to become a staple of tech-powered companies worldwide. Marty’s previous appearance on our show remains one of the most popular episodes to date. In this conversation, we discuss:• The rise of “product management theater”• Changes in the PM role post-ZIRP and the shift from growth to build functions• The disconnect between good product companies and online product advice• How over-hiring has created challenges in the product industry• The most important skills for PMs to build• How to know if you’re on a “feature team”• The potential disruption of product management by AI• Marty’s new book, Transformed: Moving to the Product Operating Model• Four new competencies required for successful product organizations—Brought to you by:• Sprig—Build a product people love• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/product-management-theater-marty—Where to find Marty Cagan:• X: https://twitter.com/cagan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cagan/• Silicon Valley Product Group: https://www.svpg.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) Marty’s background(04:46) His take on the state of product management(12:08) Product management theater(18:33) Feature teams vs. empowered product teams(24:48) Skills of a real product manager(29:27) The product management reckoning is here(32:05) Taking control of your product management career(34:59) The challenge of finding reliable product management advice(40:18) The disconnect between good product companies and the product management community(44:23) Top-down vs. bottom-up cultures(47:06) The shift in product management post-ZIRP era(49:44) The changing landscape of product management(52:05) The disruption of PM skills by AI(55:56) The purpose and content of Marty’s new book, Transformed(01:02:05) The product operating model(01:08:27) New competencies required for successful product teams(01:11:25) Marty’s thoughts on product ops(01:15:13) Advice for founders who don’t want product managers(01:18:06) Lightning round—Referenced:• Transformed: Moving to the Product Operating Model: https://www.amazon.com/Transformed-Becoming-Product-Driven-Company-Silicon/dp/1119697336• Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love: https://www.amazon.com/INSPIRED-Create-Tech-Products-Customers/dp/1119387507• Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products: https://www.amazon.com/EMPOWERED-Ordinary-Extraordinary-Products-Silicon/dp/111969129X• The nature of product | Marty Cagan, Silicon Valley Product Group: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-nature-of-product-marty-cagan-silicon-valley-product-group/• Product Leadership Theater: https://www.svpg.com/product-leadership-theater/• Product Management Theater: https://www.svpg.com/product-management-theater/• Linear: https://linear.app/• How Linear builds product: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-linear-builds-product• Brian Chesky’s new playbook: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/brian-cheskys-new-playbook/• Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be coders, Jensen Huang warns: https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/27/jensen_huang_coders/• Epic Waste: https://www.svpg.com/epic-waste/• What is scrum and how to get started: https://www.atlassian.com/agile/scrum• CSPO: https://www.scrumalliance.org/get-certified/product-owner-track/certified-scrum-product-owner• PSPO: https://www.scrum.org/courses/professional-scrum-product-owner-training• Jira: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira• Continuous Discovery Habits: Discover Products That Create Customer Value and Business Value: https://www.amazon.com/Continuous-Discovery-Habits-Discover-Products/dp/1736633309• Shreyas Doshi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreyasdoshi/• Ben Erez’s LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7168978777966891008/• Oracle: https://www.oracle.com/• The essence of product management | Christian Idiodi (SVPG): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-essence-of-product-management-christian-idiodi-svpg/• Making Meta | Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth (CTO): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/making-meta-andrew-boz-bosworth-cto/• Building a long and meaningful career | Nikhyl Singhal (Meta, Google): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/building-a-long-and-meaningful-career-nikhyl-singhal-meta-google/• Partners at SVPG: https://www.svpg.com/team/• Trainline: https://www.thetrainline.com/• Almosafer: https://global.almosafer.com/• Expedia: https://www.expedia.com/• Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/• Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/• The ultimate guide to product operations | Melissa Perri and Denise Tilles: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-product-operations-melissa-perri-and-denise-tilles/• Understanding the role of product ops | Christine Itwaru (Pendo): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/understanding-the-role-of-product-ops-christine-itwaru-pendo/• Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making: https://www.amazon.com/Build-Unorthodox-Guide-Making-Things/dp/0063046067• What’s Our Problem?: A Self-Help Book for Societies: https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Our-Problem-Self-Help-Societies/dp/B0BVGH6T1Q• Rivian: https://rivian.com/• AI-1 airbag vest: https://www.klim.com/Ai-1-Airbag-Vest-3046-000• Leslie Lamport’s quote: https://quotefancy.com/quote/3702194/Leslie-Lamport-If-you-re-thinking-without-writing-you-only-think-you-re-thinking• Joan Didion’s quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/264509-i-don-t-know-what-i-think-until-i-write-it—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

Ray (Jiayi) Cao is the global head of product strategy and operations for monetization product at TikTok. Prior to TikTok, Ray spent six years at Google helping scale Google Shopping globally. In our conversation, we discuss:• TikTok’s internal culture and core values• How TikTok’s product team operates• How working at TikTok is different from working at Google• How TikTok rolls out to new markets• TikTok’s core principle of “context, not control”• How their sales and product teams work together• Lessons (and mistakes) from building TikTok’s early go-to-market team• The importance of hiring for quality rather than quantity• Insights on being successful on TikTok as a creator, a business, and an advertiser—Brought to you by:• WorkOS—The modern API for auth & user identity• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments• OneSchema—Import CSV data 10x faster—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-tiktok-culture-strategy-monetization—Where to find Ray Cao:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jiayiraycao/—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) Ray’s background(04:55) Cultural differences between Google and TikTok(08:24) Fine-tuning the algorithm for different markets(12:15) Examples of fine-tuning the algorithm(15:11) Core principles and values of TikTok(19:34) Hiring at TikTok(21:38) Embracing the “always day one” mentality(25:09) Collaboration between teams(28:38) Amazon’s cultural influence(31:14) Setting up the product organization for speed and innovation(35:38) Building the go-to-market team(40:18) What makes people successful at TikTok(43:02) Thoughts on putting in long hours(44:40) OKRs and planning at TikTok(49:12) Tips for how to be successful on TikTok(53:49) Tips for advertising on TikTok(01:04:03) Getting started with TikTok Ads(01:08:42) Common mistakes to avoid with TikTok advertising(01:09:44) Ray’s favorite TikTok account(01:10:54) Where to find Ray—Referenced:• TikTok: https://tiktok.com/• Google Shopping: https://shopping.google.com/• Eugene Wei’s blog: https://www.eugenewei.com/• TikTok and the Sorting Hat: https://www.eugenewei.com/blog/2020/8/3/tiktok-and-the-sorting-hat• How Netflix builds a culture of excellence | Elizabeth Stone (CTO): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-netflix-builds-a-culture-of-excellence-elizabeth-stone-cto/• Inside OpenAI | Logan Kilpatrick (head of developer relations): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/inside-openai-logan-kilpatrick-head-of-developer-relations/• Brian Chesky’s new playbook: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/brian-cheskys-new-playbook/• Lead with Context not Control: https://www.svpg.com/lead-with-context-not-control/• Shuba on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tiktokbrownchick• Duolingo on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@duolingo• Duolingo leagues: https://duolingo.fandom.com/wiki/League• CapCut: https://www.capcut.com/• Amanda Talijan (silent baby item reviews) on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amanda_talijan/video/7321700482018233642—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

Andrew Bosworth—or Boz, as most people know him—is the chief technology officer at Meta and head of Reality Labs, the company’s augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) organization, which he created in 2017. Boz joined Facebook in 2006 as their approximately 10th engineer, and in his 18-year tenure he built the original News Feed, Messenger, and Groups, as well as many early anti-abuse and infrastructure systems. At various times he has been the engineering director overseeing Events, Places, Photos, Videos, Timeline, Privacy, and more. Before Reality Labs, he ran the Ads and Business Platform product group, where he led engineering, product, research, analytics, and design, taking annual revenue from $4 billion to $40 billion in five years. Andrew currently leads Meta’s efforts in AR, VR, AI, and consumer hardware across Quest, Ray-Ban Meta glasses, and more. In our conversation, we discuss:• Stories from the early days of Facebook• Lessons from Meta’s downturn and recent turnaround• Meta’s culture of transparency• Boz’s thoughts on the Apple Vision Pro• Why communication is the job• Why you should regularly seek help from your manager• Lessons in setting incentives and avoiding their misuse• Why you should optimize for a variety in experience in your career• The importance of trusting your own expertise and not being swayed by external opinions• Stories of failures and personal growth—Brought to you by:• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments• Explo—Embed customer-facing analytics in your product—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/making-meta-andrew-boz-bosworth-cto—Where to find Andrew Bosworth:• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boz/• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boztank/• X: https://twitter.com/boztank• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-bosworth-8247a01/• Website: https://boz.com/• Photography website: https://wardenshortbow.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) Boz’s background(04:48) Fun facts about him(07:20) Early days at Facebook(11:11) Advice for founders(13:22) Leveraging leaders(19:27) Tips for communicating with managers(22:10) Transparency at Meta(27:01) The importance of clear guidelines(29:11) Involvement in the details(33:15) Building the News Feed(37:28) Passion and career growth(40:25) Exploring new opportunities(42:02) The value of variety in experience(45:01) Giving and receiving feedback(47:38) Boz’s tattoos(51:30) Communication is the job(01:00:47) Comparing VR headsets: Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro(01:10:41) Meta’s downturn and turnaround(01:16:10) Navigating org changes(01:20:43) Lessons from failure(01:26:33) Closing thoughts(01:29:57) Lightning round—Referenced:• Reality Labs: https://about.meta.com/realitylabs/• Quest: https://www.meta.com/quest/• Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses: https://www.ray-ban.com/usa/ray-ban-meta-smart-glasses• Taekwondo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taekwondo• 4-H: https://4-h.org/• David Copperfield’s website: https://www.davidcopperfield.com/html/• MC Hammer on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mchammer/• George W. Bush: https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/george-w-bush/• Fry’s Electronics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fry%27s_Electronics• Association for Computing Machinery: https://www.acm.org• Get It Done: https://boz.com/articles/get-it-done• Patrick Stewart on X: https://twitter.com/sirpatstew• The FB Exec Practice That Changed the Way I Lead (about HPMs): https://livingos.substack.com/p/fb-exec-hpm• Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zuck• Chris Cox on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-cox-2896b841/• Javier Olivan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javierolivan/• Brian Chesky’s new playbook: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/brian-cheskys-new-playbook/• Eye of Sauron: https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Eye_of_Sauron• Ruchi Sanghvi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsanghvi/• Eric Schmidt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-e-schmidt/• Sheryl Sandberg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheryl-sandberg-5126652/• Best Advice Sheryl Sandberg Received: If Offered a Seat on Rocket Ship, Get On: https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/newsmakers/best-advice-sheryl-sandberg-received-don-t-idiot-161459450.html• Veritas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veritas• Communication is The Job: https://boz.com/articles/communication-is-the-job• Repetition does not spoil the prayer: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/repetition-does-spoil-prayer-constantine-constantinides-m-d-ph-d--1f/• Janet Lansbury’s website: https://www.janetlansbury.com/• Dr. Becky on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drbeckyatgoodinside• Boz to the Future Episode 18: The Future According to Matthew Ball: https://www.meta.com/blog/quest/boz-to-the-future-episode-18-matthew-ball-metaverse-epyllion/• Apple Vision Pro: https://www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro• Quest 3 headset: https://www.meta.com/quest/quest-3/• Virtual desktop: https://www.meta.com/experiences/2017050365004772/• Meta Horizon Workrooms: https://www.meta.com/experiences/2514011888645651/ • After trying the Vision Pro, Mark Zuckerberg says Quest 3 ‘is the better product, period’: https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/13/24072413/mark-zuckerberg-apple-vision-pro-review-quest-3• Lou Holtz on X: https://twitter.com/CoachLouHoltz88• Gell-Mann amnesia effect: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Gell-Mann_Amnesia_effect• “Wet streets cause rain”: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19026568• Michael Crichton on X: https://twitter.com/CrichtonBooks• AI research at Meta: https://ai.meta.com/research/• Llama 2: https://llama.meta.com/• Warren Buffett quote: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/warren_buffett_383933• Mark Slee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mcslee/• Dave Fetterman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davefetterman/• Emacs and Vim: https://dev.to/george_udonte/emacs-and-vim-an-overview-for-beginners-2e65• Ami Vora on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amvora/• The Dream Machine: https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Machine-M-Mitchell-Waldrop/dp/1732265119• Alan Turing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing• Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Inside-Guide-Becoming-Parent/dp/B09Y4WG7RJ• Dr. Becky’s website: https://www.goodinside.com/• The Mandalorian on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/series/the-mandalorian/3jLIGMDYINqD• Scott Trowbridge on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-trowbridge-b70866/• Dave Filoni on X:  https://twitter.com/dave_filoni• Jon Favreau on X: https://twitter.com/jon_favreau• Mercedes-Benz AMG EQS Sedan: https://www.mbusa.com/en/vehicles/model/eqs/sedan/amgeqsv4• Tracey Emin “Trust Yourself”: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/tracey-emin-trust-yourself• Tracey Emin on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/traceyeminstudio• Rick Rubin: Protocols to Access Creative Energy and Process | Huberman Lab Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpgqXCkRO-w• Ansel Adams: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_Adams—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

Donna Lichaw is an internationally sought-after executive coach, keynote speaker, and best-selling author. She helps visionary founders, CEOs, and executive teams level up their leadership and scale their impact while staying true to their mission, purpose, and themselves. Donna works with leaders at companies like Google, Disney, Twitter, Microsoft, Mailchimp, and Adobe, as well as a plethora of mission-driven startups and nonprofits. In our conversation, we discuss:• How our personal narratives influence our success and failure• Why identifying your superpowers (and kryptonite) is so important, and how to do it• The value of doubling down on your strengths rather than trying to fix weaknesses• How to acknowledge and reframe feelings of impostor syndrome• The Double Diamond framework for personal growth and goal-setting• The power of visualization and how it can fuel motivation and creativity—Brought to you by:• OneSchema—Import CSV data 10x faster• Sendbird—The (all-in-one) communications API platform for mobile apps• Sprig—Build a product people love—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-discover-your-superpowers—Where to find Donna Lichaw:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dlichaw/• Website: https://www.donnalichaw.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) Donna’s background(04:25) Donna’s origin story and transition to coaching(08:38) The power of storytelling in leadership(11:36) Becoming the hero of your own story(14:49) Changing your story(21:19) Understanding and shifting others’ stories(25:41) Imposter syndrome(31:28) Exploring different types of kryptonite(36:41) Identifying and leveraging strengths(43:53) Identifying superpowers(56:39) Running experiments(01:01:52) Using product frameworks for personal growth(01:12:41) Identifying subconscious goals(01:15:27) Envisioning impact(01:16:44) Lightning round—Referenced:• The Leader’s Journey: Transforming Your Leadership to Achieve the Extraordinary: https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Journey-Transforming-Leadership-Extraordinary/dp/1959029134• Effective Leadership Is Transformational, by Ken Blanchard: https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2019/06/13/effective-leadership-is-transformational/• Ken Blanchard’s website: https://www.blanchard.com/• How to write a kickass README: https://dev.to/scottydocs/how-to-write-a-kickass-readme-5af9• This Week #5: Overcoming impostor syndrome, introducing growth to an org, and how to partner with your Data Scientist: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/this-week-overcoming-impostor-syndrome• Community Wisdom: Dealing with impostor syndrome as a PM: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/community-wisdom-dealing-with-impostor• Stuart Smalley: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Smalley• Kryptonite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kryptonite• How Dyslexic Thinking Gives Entrepreneurs a Competitive Edge: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisoncoleman/2023/05/16/how-dyslexic-thinking-gives-entrepreneurs-a-competitive-edge/• Characterizing Creative Thinking and Creative Achievements in Relation to Symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9283685/• Robert Iger: https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/leaders/robert-a-iger/• CliftonStrengths test: https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/252137/home.aspx• VIA Character Strengths: https://www.viacharacter.org/• How to fire people with grace, work through fear, and nurture innovation | Matt Mochary (CEO coach): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-fire-people-with-grace-work-through-fear-and-nurture-innovation-matt-mochary-ceo-coach/•10 Steve Jobs Quotes That’ll Stick With You Long After You Read Them: https://www.themuse.com/advice/10-steve-jobs-quotes-thatll-stick-with-you-long-after-you-read-them• Gestalt coaching: https://gestaltcenterforcoaching.com/• Gestalt therapy: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapy-types/gestalt-therapy• Head, Heart and Hands: http://creatingminds.org/tools/head_heart_hands.htm• Managing nerves, anxiety, and burnout | Jonny Miller (Nervous System Mastery): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/managing-nerves-anxiety-and-burnout-jonny-miller-nervous-system-mastery/• The User’s Journey: Storymapping Products That People Love: https://www.amazon.com/Users-Journey-Storymapping-Products-People/dp/1933820314• For All Mankind on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/for-all-mankind/umc.cmc.6wsi780sz5tdbqcf11k76mkp7• Ted Lasso on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/ted-lasso/umc.cmc.vtoh0mn0xn7t3c643xqonfzy• The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Possibility-Transforming-Professional-Personal/dp/0142001104• IMPRESA Monkey Noodle Stretchy String Fidget/Sensory Toys: https://www.amazon.com/IMPRESA-Glitter-Stretchy-Phthalate-Latex-Free/dp/B0868X6NRQ• Dolly Parton quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/21268-find-out-who-you-are-and-do-it-on-purpose• Donna’s favorite fidgets: https://pen-name.notion.site/Donna-Lichaw-s-Favorite-Fidgets-f84f241d31704a498d71d3502af1821b?pvs=4—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

Elizabeth Stone is the chief technology officer of Netflix. She previously served as vice president of product data science and engineering, and as vice president of data and insights, at Netflix. Before Netflix, Elizabeth was vice president of science at Lyft, chief operating officer at Nuna, a trader at Merrill Lynch, and an economist at Analysis Group. In our conversation, we discuss:• Elizabeth’s advice for career advancement• Netflix’s unique high-performance culture• How, and why, Netflix maintains a high bar for excellence• Intentional leadership practices• How to foster an “open door” culture within your team• The Keeper Test and how it contributes to maintaining a high bar for excellence• The power of transparent communication• Much more—Brought to you by:• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.• Sendbird—The (all-in-one) communications API platform for mobile apps• Explo—Embed customer-facing analytics in your product—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-netflix-builds-a-culture-of-excellence—Where to find Elizabeth Stone:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-stone-608a754/—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) Elizabeth’s background(04:36) Life as CTO vs. VP of Data(05:57) The role of economists in tech companies(08:32) Using economics to understand incentives(10:07) Success and career growth(20:15) Setting expectations(25:02) Advice for how to avoid burnout(27:44) Netflix culture: high talent density(30:31) Netflix culture: candor and directness(31:45) The Keeper Test(39:01) Maintaining a high bar for excellence(43:54) Netflix culture: freedom and responsibility(46:18) Unconventional processes at Netflix(47:55) Examples of candor(51:44) Data and insights team structure(01:00:12) Staying close to teams(01:02:31) Advice on being present(01:07:40) Lightning round—Referenced:• What to Know About the Netflix Cup, Today’s First-Ever Live Sports Event: https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/netflix-cup-live-event-date-news• Ann Miura Ko interview | The Tim Ferriss Show (Podcast): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2GO0Ks_VGg• Netflix culture: https://jobs.netflix.com/culture• No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention: https://www.amazon.com/No-Rules-Netflix-Culture-Reinvention/dp/1984877860• Reed Hastings on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reedhastings/• Netflix’s “Keeper Test” and Why You Need It | Lorne Rubis: https://www.highlights.lornerubis.com/2015/08/the-netflix-keeper-test-and-the-courage-to-take-it/• The Hunger Games: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games• Nan Yu on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thenanyu/• Work Life Philosophy: https://jobs.netflix.com/work-life-philosophy• The Scoop: Netflix’s historic introduction of levels for software engineers: https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/netflix-levels/• Chaos Monkey: https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Chaos-Monkey• Ali Rauh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ali-rauh/• Keith Henwood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-henwood/• Jeff Bezos’ Morning Routine of Puttering Around—How It Works: https://medium.com/illumination/jeff-bezos-morning-routine-of-puttering-around-how-it-works-9d73f359ac8d• What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir: https://www.amazon.com/What-Talk-About-When-Running/dp/0307389839• A Fine Balance: https://www.amazon.com/Fine-Balance-Rohinton-Mistry/dp/140003065X• Triangle of Sadness on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/movie/triangle-of-sadness-f60937bd-45f4-469a-938f-db95026953a1• Beef on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81447461• Fellow pour-over coffee set: https://fellowproducts.com/products/stagg-xf-pour-over-set• Peloton bikes: https://www.onepeloton.com/shop/bike—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

Jason Lemkin created and runs SaaStr, the world’s largest community for B2B/SaaS founders, and is the managing director of SaaStr Fund, a $90 million venture capital firm specializing in early-stage enterprise investments. He is also the mastermind behind two major tech conferences each year—one in the Bay Area, drawing in over 15,000 people, and another in Europe, with a crowd of more than 3,000 SaaS executives, founders, and entrepreneurs. Before SaaStr, Jason wore many hats: CEO and co-founder of EchoSign (later bought by Adobe), vice president at Adobe Systems, co-founder and president of NanoGram Devices Corp., vice president of NeoPhotonics, and a senior director at BabyCenter. In our conversation, we discuss:• How far you should go without a salesperson• Signs it’s time to hire salespeople• Why you need to hire two salespeople• How to compensate your salespeople• How to interview salespeople• When to hire a VP of Sales• How to prevent their flaming out• How to scale your sales org• How to improve the relationship between your sales and product teams• Much more—Brought to you by:• CommandBar—AI-powered user assistance for modern products and impatient users• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.• LinkedIn Ads—Reach professionals and drive results for your business—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-a-world-class-sales-org—Where to find Jason Lemkin:• X: https://twitter.com/jasonlk• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmlemkin/• Website: https://www.saastr.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) Jason’s background(06:18) The importance of sales in B2B businesses(11:23) Signs that you should start hiring salespeople(14:19) Attributes to look for in early sales reps(19:08) Hiring a VP of Sales(26:43) The role of a VP of Sales(30:06) Interviewing salespeople(45:16) Determining sales compensation and quota(53:34) Transitioning from 100% commission to a smaller percentage(56:58) Indicators of a hard-to-sell product(59:39) Scaling the sales organization(01:05:26) Understanding sales roles and titles(01:10:02) Product involvement in sales, and vice versa(01:20:32) Thoughts on product teams taking on P&L responsibilities(01:27:23) One thing founders can do to become better at sales(01:31:02) The ideal trial length for a free trial sales team(01:39:50) Closing thoughts(01:41:43) Lightning round—Referenced:• Marc Benioff on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbenioff/• Snowflake: https://www.snowflake.com/en/• Yamini Rangan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaminirangan/• Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/• HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/• Twilio: https://www.twilio.com/• Cloudflare: https://www.cloudflare.com/• GitHub: https://github.com/• Columbo: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1466074/• What is Davos and why is it important? Your guide to the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting: https://www.euronews.com/next/2024/01/15/what-is-davos-and-why-is-it-important-your-guide-to-the-world-economic-forums-annual-meeti• Adobe: https://www.adobe.com/• Satya Nadella on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/satyanadella/• Glengarry Glen Ross on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Glengarry-Glen-Ross-James-Foley/dp/B002NN5F7A• The Wolf of Wall Street on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Wolf-Wall-Street-Leonardo-DiCaprio/dp/B00IIU9FQY• A step-by-step guide to crafting a sales pitch that wins | April Dunford (author of Obviously Awesome and Sales Pitch): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/a-step-by-step-guide-to-crafting-a-sales-pitch-that-wins-april-dunford-author-of-obviously-awesom/• Pipedrive: https://www.pipedrive.com/• Sam Blond on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-blond-791026b/• Gong: https://www.gong.io/• Zendesk: https://www.zendesk.com/• ZoomInfo: https://www.zoominfo.com/• Apollo: https://www.apollo.io/• Daniel Chait on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhchait/• SAP: https://www.sap.com/• Lessons on building product sense, navigating AI, optimizing the first mile, and making it through the messy middle | Scott Belsky (Adobe, Behance): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/lessons-on-building-product-sense-navigating-ai-optimizing-the-first-mile-and-making-it-through-t/• VistaPrint: https://www.vistaprint.com/• Procore: https://www.procore.com/• Matt Mullenweg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattm/• Wordpress: https://wordpress.com/• SaaStr University: https://app.saastruniversity.com/collections/20252• From Impossible to Inevitable: How SaaS and Other Hyper-Growth Companies Create Predictable Revenue: https://www.amazon.com/Impossible-Inevitable-Hyper-Growth-Companies-Predictable/dp/1119531691• Pavilion: https://www.joinpavilion.com/• Top 10 Learnings about Free Trials with Tomasz Tunguz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfQNJpnxmMw• The Terminal List on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/The-Terminal-List-Season-1/dp/B09HYNH8TK• Top Gun: Maverick on Paramount: https://www.paramountmovies.com/movies/top-gun-maverick• OpusClip app: https://www.opus.pro/• OnePlus Open smartphone: https://www.amazon.com/OnePlus-Dual-SIM-Unlocked-Smartphone-Hasselblad/dp/B0CHN7M531/• SaaStr conferences: https://www.saastr.com/events/• Marketo: https://go.marketo.com/about-marketo-landingpage-emea.html• Zoomtopia: https://zoomtopia.com/• Money20/20: https://us.money2020.com/• Shoptalk: https://shoptalk.com/• Jeff Lawson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffiel/• Eric Kwan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erickwan/—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

Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky are the authors of best-selling books Sprint and Make Time. They have helped more than 300 teams design new products and bring them to market, including those at YouTube, Gusto, One Medical Group, and Slack. Jake and John are co-founders of the venture capital firm Character, where they support startups with capital and sprints. Previously, they were operating partners at Google Ventures and, before that, design leaders at Google, where John worked on Google Ads and YouTube and Jake helped build Gmail and co-founded Google Meet. In our conversation, we discuss:• “Busy bandwagon” and “infinity pools”• Creating one “highlight” each day• Their four-part framework for productivity• How to use the calendar to design your day• How creating friction can help you avoid distractions• Tips on creating a distraction-free phone• Strategies for managing email and distractions• The importance of reflecting on the day and making time for meaningful work• Design sprints—Brought to you by:• Sidebar—Accelerate your career by surrounding yourself with extraordinary peers• Whimsical—The iterative product workspace• WorkOS—The modern API for auth and user identity—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/making-time-for-what-matters-jake—Where to find Jake Knapp:• X: https://twitter.com/jakek• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-knapp/• Website: https://jakeknapp.com/—Where to find John Zeratsky:• X: https://twitter.com/jazer• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnzeratsky/• Website: https://johnzeratsky.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) About Jake and John(04:10) Recording the audiobook for Make Time(06:06) What people often get wrong when trying to become more productive(11:24) The busy bandwagon and infinity pools(15:22) Real talk: Jake and John’s productivity levels(20:10) The four-part framework for getting more done: Highlight, Laser, Energize, Reflect(25:15) Step 1: Highlight(28:08) Designing your day with a calendar(30:52) The Groundhog Day mentality(35:10) Tactical advice for implementing the highlight method(39:30) An example of a failed highlight(48:08) Step 2: Laser(51:12) Creating intentional friction to avoid distractions(57:28) Curating a distraction-free phone(01:07:58) Resetting expectations and slowing your inbox(01:14:51) Systems over willpower(01:18:14) Managing email distractions(01:18:49) Step 3: Energize(01:22:05) Step 4: Reflect(01:26:30) Introduction to Sprint—Referenced:• Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day: https://www.amazon.com/Make-Time-Focus-Matters-Every/dp/0525572422• Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days: https://www.amazon.com/Sprint-audiobook/dp/B019R2DQIY• Make Time blog: https://maketime.blog/• Make Time blog on X: https://twitter.com/maketimeblog• Character: https://www.character.vc/• Google Ventures: https://www.gv.com/• Character Labs: https://www.character.vc/labs• Strategies for becoming less distracted and improving focus | Nir Eyal (author of Indistractable and Hooked): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/strategies-for-becoming-less-distracted-and-improving-focus-nir-eyal-author-of-indistractable-and/• Groundhog Day on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Groundhog-Day-Bill-Murray/dp/B000SP1SH6• Reclaim.ai: https://reclaim.ai/• Feed Blocker for LinkedIn: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/feed-blocker-for-linkedin/eikaafmldiioljlilngpogcepiedpenf• The Lord of the Rings: https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/0544003411• MagSafe charger: https://www.amazon.com/Apple-MHXH3AM-A-MagSafe-Charger/dp/B08L5NP6NG/• Nanit app: https://www.nanit.com/pages/nanit-app• Arianna Huffington’s Phone Bed Charging Station: https://www.amazon.com/Arianna-Huffingtons-Charging-Station-Walnut/dp/B0799ZG1LY• Cell Phone Lock Box with Timer: https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Android-Self-Discipline-Achieve-Addiction/dp/B0CG8V4YG3?th=1• The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich: https://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Workweek-Escape-Live-Anywhere/dp/0307465357• The Economist: https://www.economist.com/• Odysseus: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Odysseus• Mailman: https://www.mailmanhq.com/• Future: https://www.future.co/• Notion: https://www.notion.so/• Miro: https://miro.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

Logan Kilpatrick leads developer relations at OpenAI, supporting developers building with the OpenAI API and ChatGPT. He is also on the board of directors at NumFOCUS, the nonprofit organization that supports open source projects like Jupyter, Pandas, NumPy, and more. Before OpenAI, Logan was a machine-learning engineer at Apple and advised NASA on open source policy. In our conversation, we discuss:• OpenAI’s fast-paced and innovative work environment• The value of high agency and high urgency in your employees• Tips for writing better ChatGPT prompts• How the GPT Store is doing• OpenAI’s planning process and decision-making criteria• Where OpenAI is heading in the next few years• Insight into OpenAI’s B2B offerings• Why Logan “measures in hundreds”—Brought to you by:• Hex—Helping teams ask and answer data questions by working together• Whimsical—The iterative product workspace• Arcade Software—Create effortlessly beautiful demos in minutes—Find the transcript for this episode and all past episodes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-openai-logan-kilpatrick-headToday’s transcript will be live by 8 a.m. PT.—Where to find Logan Kilpatrick:• X: https://twitter.com/OfficialLoganK• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/logankilpatrick/• Website: https://logank.ai/—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) Logan’s background(03:49) The impact of recent events on OpenAI’s team and culture(08:20) Exciting developments in AI interfaces(09:52) Using OpenAI tools to make companies more efficient(13:04) Examples of using AI effectively(18:35) Prompt engineering(22:12) How to write better prompts(26:05) The launch of GPTs and the OpenAI Store(32:10) The importance of high agency and urgency(34:35) OpenAI’s ability to move fast and ship high-quality products(35:56) OpenAI’s planning process and decision-making criteria(40:22) The importance of real-time communication(42:33) OpenAI’s team and growth(44:47) Future developments at OpenAI(47:42) GPT-5 and building toward the future(50:38) OpenAI’s enterprise offering and the value of sharing custom applications(52:30) New updates and features from OpenAI(55:09) How to leverage OpenAI’s technology in products(58:26) Encouragement for building with AI(59:30) Lightning round—Referenced:• OpenAI: https://openai.com/• Sam Altman on X: https://twitter.com/sama• Greg Brockman on X: https://twitter.com/gdb• tldraw: https://www.tldraw.com/• Harvey: https://www.harvey.ai/• Boost Your Productivity with Generative AI: https://hbr.org/2023/06/boost-your-productivity-with-generative-ai• Research: quantifying GitHub Copilot’s impact on developer productivity and happiness: https://github.blog/2022-09-07-research-quantifying-github-copilots-impact-on-developer-productivity-and-happiness/• Lesson learnt from the DPD AI Chatbot swearing blunder: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/lesson-learnt-from-dpd-ai-chatbot-swearing-blunder-kitty-sz57e/• Dennis Yang on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennisyang/• Tim Ferriss’s blog: https://tim.blog/• Tyler Cowen on X: https://twitter.com/tylercowen• Tom Cruise on X: https://twitter.com/TomCruise• Canva: https://www.canva.com/• Zapier: https://zapier.com/• Siqi Chen on X: https://twitter.com/blader• Runway: https://runway.com/• Universal Primer: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-GbLbctpPz-universal-primer• “I didn’t expect ChatGPT to get so good” | Unconfuse Me with Bill Gates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Ymdc6EdKw• Microsoft Azure: https://azure.microsoft.com/• Lennybot: https://www.lennybot.com/• Visual Electric: https://visualelectric.com/• DALL-E: https://openai.com/research/dall-e• The One World Schoolhouse: https://www.amazon.com/One-World-Schoolhouse-Education-Reimagined/dp/1455508373/ref=sr_1_1• Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams: https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Sleep-Unlocking-Dreams/dp/1501144324• Gran Turismo: https://www.netflix.com/title/81672085• Gran Turismo video game: https://www.playstation.com/en-us/gran-turismo/• Manta sleep mask: https://mantasleep.com/products/manta-sleep-mask• WAOAW sleep mask: https://www.amazon.com/WAOAW-Sleep-Sleeping-Blocking-Blindfold/dp/B09712FSLY—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

Megan Cook is the head of product for Atlassian’s Jira software, which is used by 75% of Fortune 500 companies, has over 125,000 customers globally, over 15 different products, and is by far the most popular project management tool in the world. Megan has been at Atlassian for just under 11 years, and before this role, she was an analyst, a developer, and an Agile coach. In our conversation, we discuss:• How to get buy-in for your ideas• The value of starting small• How, and why, creating space for play is so essential• How Jira stays ahead of endless competition• Atlassian’s approach to launching new product lines• Tactical tips for making remote work, work• A personal failure and the lessons learned from it—Brought to you by:• Teal—Your personal career growth platform• Sprig—Build a product people love• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.—Find the transcript for this episode and all past episodes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-atlassian-launchingToday’s transcript will be live by 8 a.m. PT.—Where to find Megan Cook:• X: https://twitter.com/meganwcook• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cookmegan—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) Megan’s background(03:50) Creating space for play and psychological safety on teams(07:36) Peer feedback groups(10:30) Sharing stories of failure(13:33) The “10 dollar” game for priorities(15:24) Advice on making remote work, work(24:16) Getting buy-in for your ideas(28:33) The importance of staying open-minded(34:05) A quick summary of how to get buy-in(36:45) Fighting the good fight(38:15) Identifying customer pain points(43:04) Starting small and showing success(46:08) Launching new product lines(53:35) Atlassian’s gated process for new product ideas(58:00) How Jira stays ahead of competitors(01:04:28) Learning from failure(01:08:30) Fight club(01:10:08) Lightning round—Referenced:• Jira: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira• Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/• Bitbucket: https://bitbucket.org/product• Ben Crowe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-crowe-67299714/• Ash Barty on X: https://twitter.com/ashbarty• Atlassian’s blog, Work Life: https://www.atlassian.com/blog• Lessons learned: 1,000 days of distributed at Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/blog/distributed-work/distributed-work-report• New research: How to make time for the work that matters: https://www.atlassian.com/blog/distributed-work/calendar-redesign-experiment• Atlas: https://www.atlassian.com/software/atlas• Confluence: https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence• Lenny’s swag store: https://lennyswag.com/• What is CSAT and how do you measure it?: https://www.qualtrics.com/experience-management/customer/what-is-csat• The UX research reckoning is here | Judd Antin (Airbnb, Meta): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-ux-research-reckoning-is-here-judd-antin-airbnb-meta/• Charlie Sutton on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charliesutton/• Nokia 6100: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_6100• Compass: https://www.atlassian.com/software/compass• Jira Product Discovery: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/product-discovery• Canva: https://www.canva.com/• Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love: https://www.amazon.com/INSPIRED-Create-Tech-Products-Customers/dp/1119387507• Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building: https://www.amazon.com/Scaling-People-Tactics-Management-Building/dp/1953953212• Foundation on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/foundation/umc.cmc.5983fipzqbicvrve6jdfep4x3• Foundation book series: https://www.amazon.com/Foundation-3-Book-Boxed-Set-Empire/dp/0593499573• Traeger smoker: https://www.traeger.com/shop/wood-pellet-grills—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

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. (awareness, posture, and emotion) framework for recognizing body signals• The “feather, brick, dump truck” phenomenon• The concept of emotional debt and how to release it• The competitive advantage of feeling emotions—Jonny’s five-week boot camp, Nervous System Mastery, will equip you with evidence-backed protocols to cultivate greater calm and agency over your internal state. Learn to rewire maladaptive stress responses and improve your sleep (use code LENNY for $250 discount). Apply here.—Brought to you by:• Teal—Your personal career growth platform• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.• Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/managing-nerves-anxiety-and-burnout—Where to find Jonny Miller:• X: https://twitter.com/jonnym1ller• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonnym1ller/• Website: https://www.jonnymiller.co/• Podcast: podcast.curioushumans.com • Email: [email protected]• Course: https://nsmastery.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) Jonny’s background(07:19) The bottom-up approach to nervousness and anxiety(09:42) The power of breath in changing states(11:47) The concept of state over story(13:56) Personal experiences with nervousness(15:01) Breathing exercises to calm you down(20:40) The “espresso” breath exercise to give you energy(25:44) Interoception and the A.P.E. framework(34:47) The “feather, brick, dump truck” phenomenon(37:40) Recognizing emotional debt and avoiding burnout(40:47) Using somatic-oriented therapy for healing(45:26) Telltale signs of emotional debt(48:13) The competitive advantage of “feeling the feels”(50:20) Advice for people overwhelmed by stimuli(52:36) The NSDR (non-sleep deep rest) practice for emotional release(55:38) Daily practices for emotional well-being(58:23) Thoughts on meditation(01:01:26) The Body Keeps the Score(01:01:58) Contrarian corner(01:04:43) Lightning round—Jonny’s If [This] Then [Breathe] Recipes:• If [overwhelmed], then [hum]• If [anxious], then [breath of calm]• If [lethargic], then [espresso breath]—Referenced:• The Operating Manual for Your Nervous System: https://every.to/p/the-operating-manual-for-your-nervous-system• Afferent vs. Efferent Neurons: https://www.osmosis.org/answers/afferent-vs-efferent-neurons• Insular cortex: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insular_cortex• Jonny’s TED Talk, “The gifts of grief”: https://www.ted.com/talks/jonny_miller_the_gifts_of_grief/details• Humming (Simple Bhramari Pranayama) as a Stress Buster: A Holter-Based Study to Analyze Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Parameters During Bhramari, Physical Activity, Emotional Stress, and Sleep: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10182780/• 14-Minute Guided NSDR (non-sleep deep rest) practice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjXX2c72fYY• Breathing Techniques to Reduce Stress and Anxiety | Dr. Andrew Huberman on the Physiological Sigh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSZKIupBUuc• Interoception: the hidden sense that shapes well-being: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/aug/15/the-hidden-sense-shaping-your-wellbeing-interoception• Exteroception: https://dictionary.apa.org/exteroception• Interoceptive Awareness and ADHD: https://chadd.org/adhd-news/adhd-news-adults/interoceptive-awareness-and-adhd/• Childhood Trauma Affects Stress-Related Interoceptive Accuracy: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6813623/• The Hour Between Dog and Wolf: How Risk Taking Transforms Us, Body and Mind: https://www.amazon.com/Hour-Between-Dog-Wolf-Transforms/dp/0143123408• Somatic Experiencing: https://www.somaticexperiencing.com/• Hakomi Institute: https://hakomiinstitute.com/• Decisions and Desire (about Antonio Damasio’s work): https://hbr.org/2006/01/decisions-and-desire• When enough is enough | Andy Johns (ex-FB, Twitter, Quora): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/when-enough-is-enough-andy-johns-ex-fb-twitter-quora/• What Is Yoga Nidra?: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-is-yoga-nidra• Becoming Fully Yourself, What AI Wants, Family Rituals & Rites of Passage, with Kevin Kelly: https://podcast.curioushumans.com/episodes/becoming-fully-yourself-what-ai-wants-rites-of-passage-with-kevin-kelly• Tim Ferriss: https://tim.blog/• The Power of Sensations: Intermediate’s Vipassana Body Scan: https://insighttimer.com/carola.ananda/guided-meditations/the-power-of-sensations-intermediates-vipassana-body-scan-meditation• Vipassana Meditation: https://www.dhamma.org/en/index• The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma: https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma/dp/0670785938• Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma: https://www.amazon.com/Waking-Tiger-Healing-Peter-Levine/dp/155643233X• Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words: https://www.themarginalian.org/2015/04/29/david-whyte-consolations-words/• The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success: https://www.amazon.com/15-Commitments-Conscious-Leadership-Sustainable/dp/0990976904/• The Conscious Leadership Group: https://conscious.is/• Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex, and Death in a World That’s Lost Its Mind: https://www.amazon.com/Recapture-Rapture-Rethinking-Death-World/dp/0062905465• Kubo and the Two Strings on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Kubo-Two-Strings-Charlize-Theron/dp/B01K5BSWX0• Wolfwalkers on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/wolfwalkers/umc.cmc.amuoq00hqelfi98j0gvg641x• Scavengers Reign on Max: https://www.max.com/shows/scavengers-reign/50c8ce6d-088c-42d9-9147-d1b19b1289d4• Jerry Colonna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerry-colonna-reboot/• Ra Optics “Sunset” blue-light blockers: https://raoptics.com/collections/night-lenses• Nurosym vagal stimulation device: https://my.nurosym.com/vns1564/• Pulsetto vagal stimulation device: https://pulsetto.tech/new-year/?gc_id=20124962116&h_ad_id=686249897188&gad_source=1• Apollo vagus nerve stimulator: https://apolloneuro.com/products/apollo-wearable—Additional research:• Cellular allostatic load is linked to increased energy expenditure and accelerated biological aging: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306453023003001• Somatic experiencing: using interoception and proprioception as core elements of trauma therapy: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00093/full• Relationship between interoception and emotion regulation: New evidence from mixed methods: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032718323723• Out-of-the-blue panic attacks aren’t without warning: body sends signals for hour before: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21783179/—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

Geoffrey Moore is an author, speaker, and advisor, widely known for his seminal book Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers, which many consider the most important book ever written on go-to-market strategy. Moore’s work is focused on the market dynamics surrounding disruptive innovations, and how one overcomes the challenge of transitioning from serving early adopters to the mainstream. In this episode, we discuss:• What “crossing the chasm” means• What steps to take before you try crossing the chasm• The importance of winning a marquee customer• The role of executive sponsors in the sales process• The differences between visionaries and pragmatists, and how to build for each• Geoffrey’s four go-to-market playbooks based on stage: Early Market, Bowling Alley, Tornado, and Main Street• The problem with discounting before crossing the chasm• “Deadly sins” to avoid when crossing the chasm—Brought to you by:• CommandBar—AI-powered user assistance for modern products and impatient users• WorkOS—An API platform for quickly adding enterprise features• Arcade Software—Create effortlessly beautiful demos in minutes—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/geoffrey-moore-on-finding-your-beachhead—Where to find Geoffrey Moore:• X: https://twitter.com/geoffreyamoore• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffreyamoore/• LinkedIn posts: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffreyamoore/recent-activity/articles/—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) Geoffrey’s background(04:03) What people often get wrong about Crossing the Chasm(05:58) Finding your beachhead segment(09:29) The four inflection points of the technology adoption lifestyle(15:45) Geoffrey’s bonfire and bowling alley analogies(18:36) Steps to take before trying to cross the chasm(22:19) Signs you’re ready to cross the chasm(25:19) Advice for startups on where to start(27:31) Thoughts on venture capital(27:53) A general timeline for crossing the chasm(30:52) What exactly is the “chasm”?(32:35) The difference between visionaries and pragmatists(36:05) Finding the compelling reason to buy(43:45) The Early Market playbook(45:46) The Bowling Alley playbook(48:39) Different sales approaches for early market and bowling alley(51:26) Changing the value state of the company(53:28) The Tornado playbook(57:35) Why combining playbooks doesn’t work(59:10) Using generative AI in different market phases(01:03:02) The risks of discounting(01:04:21) Other “deadly sins” of crossing the chasm(01:09:09) Positioning in crossing the chasm(01:10:36) Product-led growth and crossing the chasm(01:13:54) The challenges of software and entrepreneurship(01:16:35) How Geoffrey’s thinking has evolved(01:19:30) The importance of entrepreneurship and impact(01:20:42) His book The Infinite Staircase(01:23:58) Connect with Geoffrey Moore—Referenced:• Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers: https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-3rd-Disruptive-Mainstream/dp/0062292986• Oracle: https://www.oracle.com/• Documentum: https://www.opentext.com/products/documentum• Figma: https://www.figma.com/• Notion: https://www.notion.so/• Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/• Intel: https://www.intel.com/• Jason Fried challenges your thinking on fundraising, goals, growth, and more: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/jason-fried-challenges-your-thinking-on-fundraising-goals-growth-and-more/• The Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/• Coda: https://coda.io/• An inside look at how Figma ships product: https://coda.io/@yuhki/figma-product-roadmap• Dylan Field on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanfield/• Regis McKenna on Crunchbase: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/regis-mckenna-inc• Andrew Grove: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Grove• A step-by-step guide to crafting a sales pitch that wins | April Dunford (author of Obviously Awesome and Sales Pitch): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/a-step-by-step-guide-to-crafting-a-sales-pitch-that-wins-april-dunford-author-of-obviously-awesom/• Sales Pitch: How to Craft a Story to Stand Out and Win: https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Pitch-Craft-Story-Stand/dp/1999023021• B2B Go-to-Market Playbooks and the Technology Adoption Life Cycle: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/b2b-go-to-market-playbooks-technology-adoption-life-cycle-moore/• Juniper: https://www.juniper.net/us/en.html• Sal Khan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khanacademy/• Khan Academy: https://www.khanacademy.org/• How the Star Wars Kessel Run Turns Han Solo Into a Time-Traveler: https://www.wired.com/2013/02/kessel-run-12-parsecs/• Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/• Martin Casado on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martincasado/• The Infinite Staircase: What the Universe Tells Us About Life, Ethics, and Mortality: https://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Staircase-Universe-Ethics-Mortality/dp/1950665984—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

Richard Rumelt is a legend in the world of strategy. He’s the author of Good Strategy/Bad Strategy and The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists, both of which are often recommended by guests on this podcast. From his early days teaching in Iran at a Harvard-sponsored business school to teaching at Harvard Business School itself to over four decades teaching at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, Richard’s impact resonates globally. His strategic insights are sought after by major corporations including Microsoft, Shell, Apple, AT&T, Intel, and Commonwealth Bank and by governmental organizations such as the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. In this episode, we discuss:• The essential components of a good strategy• The importance of coherence in strategy• Common pitfalls that create a bad strategy• How “power” plays into strategy, and common sources of power• The value of knowing history when developing effective strategies• Why a strategy should simply be called an “action agenda”• The need for one decider in an organization—Brought to you by:• CommandBar—AI-powered user assistance for modern products and impatient users• Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/good-strategy-bad-strategy-richard—Where to find Richard Rumelt:• Email: [email protected]• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-rumelt-18520828/• Website: https://thecruxbook.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) Richard’s background(04:29) What is a strategy?(06:23) The essential components of a good strategy (the “kernel”)(15:04) An example of good strategy(16:55) Bad strategy(25:17) The importance of focus and power(28:19) Identifying and utilizing power(34:38) Types of power(41:13) Implementing power(48:15) The importance of historical knowledge(55:23) How to write an action agenda(01:02:47) The crux(01:10:40) Challenges to executing a strategy(01:15:44) The need for a decider(01:20:39) Strategy for startups(01:26:04) Richard’s “value denials” exercise(01:31:01) Closing thoughts(01:33:57) Lightning round—Referenced:• China’s Xi says ‘reunification’ with Taiwan is inevitable: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/31/chinas-xi-says-reunification-with-taiwan-is-inevitable.html• The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists: https://www.amazon.com/Crux-How-Leaders-Become-Strategists/dp/1541701240• Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Strategy-Bad-Difference-Matters/dp/0307886239• Fundamental Issues in Strategy: A Research Agenda: https://www.amazon.com/Fundamental-Issues-Strategy-Research-Agenda/dp/0875843433/• Strategy, Structure, and Economic Performance: https://www.amazon.com/Strategy-Structure-Economic-Performance-Richard/dp/0875841090• There’s more than the CIA and FBI: The 17 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community: https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-17-intelligence-agencies-20170112-story.html• Programme for International Student Assessment: https://www.oecd.org/pisa/• Gerstner: Changing Culture at IBM—Lou Gerstner Discusses Changing the Culture at IBM: https://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/gerstner-changing-culture-at-ibm-lou-gerstner-discusses-changing-the-culture-at-ibm• Marvin Lieberman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marvin-lieberman-2a6b72/• S&P 500: https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/indices/equity/sp-500/#overview• Battle of Tora Bora: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tora_Bora• Milton Friedman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Friedman• The Louvre: https://www.louvre.fr/en• How does SpaceX build its Falcon 9 reusable rocket?: https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/how-does-spacex-build-its-falcon-9-reusable-rocket• Charles Darwin: History’s most famous biologist: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/charles-darwin-most-famous-biologist.html• Donald Rumsfeld: https://www.defense.gov/About/Biographies/Biography/Article/602800/• Bush: The Decider-in-Chief: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bush-the-decider-in-chief/• Woodrow Wilson: https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/woodrow-wilson/• How the Sinking of Lusitania Changed World War I: https://www.history.com/news/how-the-sinking-of-lusitania-changed-wwi• Nokia: https://www.nokia.com/• The Rise and Fall of Nokia: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=46041• Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/• These New Windows Let the Summer Breeze In, But Block the Street Noise: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-new-windows-let-the-summer-breeze-in-but-block-the-street-noise-7906121/• Stop it! (Bob Newhart): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvujypVVBAY• The Innovator’s Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business: https://www.amazon.com/Innovators-Dilemma-Revolutionary-Change-Business/dp/0062060244• Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works: https://www.amazon.com/Playing-Win-Strategy-Really-Works/dp/142218739X• Steve Jobs: https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1982176865• Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company: https://www.amazon.com/Only-Paranoid-Survive-Exploit-Challenge/dp/0385483821• Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.: https://www.amazon.com/Titan-Life-John-Rockefeller-Sr/dp/1400077303/• Yellowstone on Paramount+: https://www.paramountnetwork.com/shows/yellowstone• Smart telescopes: https://milehighastro.com/collections/smart-telescopes• Cassandra Clare: https://cassandraclare.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

Heidi Helfand is the author of Dynamic Reteaming, which outlines practical strategies for orchestrating successful team and company org changes. Her work is informed by more than 20 years in the tech industry at notable companies like AppFolio, Procore, and Expertcity/GoToMeeting. Today, she dedicates her efforts to sharing her knowledge through workshops, comprehensive courses, and consultative services, helping organizations navigate and optimize their team structures. In this episode, we discuss:• The importance of reteaming and reorging• The benefits of embracing reteaming• The five patterns of reteaming: one by one, grow and split, merging, isolation, and switching• Examples of successful reteaming• Why stable teams are not always ideal• How change can lead to great career opportunities• The RIDE framework for decision-making• Advice on how to set up isolated teams for success• The anti-patterns of reteaming and the challenges that can arise• Tactical tips for becoming a better listener—Brought to you by:• Productroadmap.ai—AI to connect your roadmaps to revenue• Hex—Helping teams ask and answer data questions by working together• Ahrefs—Improve your website’s SEO for free—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-art-and-wisdom-of-changing-teams—Where to find Heidi Helfand:• X: https://twitter.com/heidihelfand• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidihelfand/• Website: https://www.heidihelfand.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) Heidi’s background(03:40) How Heidi got involved with reteaming and reorgs(07:37) Advice for people dealing with reorgs(11:56) The benefits of change and the RIDE framework(17:11) The five patterns of reteaming(20:00) The power of isolation(27:38) Advice on how to be successful by isolating small teams(33:27) Supporting and protecting internal startups(34:33) The one-by-one pattern(36:44) The grow and split pattern(39:20) The merging pattern(42:14) The switching pattern(50:18) Anti-patterns of reteaming(52:49) Embracing change and growth(58:48) How to become a better listener(01:01:28) Lightning round—Referenced:• Dynamic Reteaming: The Art and Wisdom of Changing Teams: https://www.amazon.com/Dynamic-Reteaming-Wisdom-Changing-Teams/dp/1492061298• O’Reilly: https://www.oreilly.com/• Procore Technologies: https://www.procore.com/• Kristian Lindwall on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristianlindwall/• Chris Smith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrissmithagile• Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes: https://www.amazon.com/Transitions-Making-Changes-Revised-Anniversary/dp/073820904X• Pat Wadors on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patwadors/• The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products That Win: https://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Successful-Strategies/dp/1119690358• GoToMyPC: https://get.gotomypc.com/• Teamwork: https://www.amazon.com/Teamwork-Right-Wrong-Interpersonal-Communication/dp/0803932901• AppFolio: https://www.appfolio.com/• SecureDocs: https://www.securedocs.com/• Citrix: https://www.citrix.com/• The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups: https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Code-Secrets-Highly-Successful/dp/0804176981• Tuckman’s stages of group development: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuckman%27s_stages_of_group_development• Rich Sheridan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/menloprez/ • Menlo Innovations: https://menloinnovations.com/• Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us: https://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-Motivates/dp/1594484805• Toyota Kata: Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness and Superior Results: https://www.amazon.com/Toyota-Kata-Managing-Improvement-Adaptiveness/dp/0071635238• Paulo Freire: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freire• Jon Walker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwalker/• Managing Corporate Lifecycles: https://www.amazon.com/Managing-Corporate-Lifecycles-Ichak-Adizes/dp/9381860548• The Adizes Institute: https://www.adizes.com/• John Cutler on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/what-differentiates-the-highest-performing-product-teams-john-cutler-amplitude-the-beautiful-mes/• Co-Active Training Institute: https://coactive.com/• Co-Active Coaching: The proven framework for transformative conversations at work and in life: https://www.amazon.com/Co-Active-Coaching-Fourth-transformative-conversations/dp/1473674980• Creating Intelligent Teams: https://www.amazon.com/Creating-Intelligent-teams-Anne-R%C3%B8d/dp/186922583X• The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures: Simple Rules to Unleash a Culture of Innovation: https://www.amazon.com/Surprising-Power-Liberating-Structures-Innovation/dp/0615975305• Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making: https://www.amazon.com/Facilitators-Participatory-Decision-Making-Jossey-bass-Management/dp/1118404955• The Bear on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/series/the-bear-05eb6a8e-90ed-4947-8c0b-e6536cbddd5f—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

Ethan Evans is a writer, career coach, course instructor, and retired VP at Amazon. During his 15 years at Amazon, he helped invent Prime Video, Amazon Video, the Amazon Appstore, Prime Gaming (formerly Twitch Prime), and Twitch Commerce. Prior to Amazon, Ethan spent 12 years in technical leadership roles at several East Coast startups. He writes a newsletter, Level Up, which publishes candid career advice and has a growing community of ambitious professionals to connect with. Ethan also offers a range of Leadership Development Courses via live online classes and on-demand courses. In this episode, we discuss:• The Magic Loop framework: a five-step process to grow your career• A handful of reasons why people get stuck in their career growth• Advice on how to break out of a career plateau• How to cultivate inventiveness in your work• How to stand out in interviews• A personal story of failing Jeff Bezos and lessons learned• Contrarian opinions on the return-to-office movement and doing business on a handshake—Brought to you by Sidebar—Accelerate your career by surrounding yourself with extraordinary peers | Sprig—Build a product people love | Arcade Software—Create effortlessly beautiful demos in minutes—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/taking-control-of-your-career-ethan—Where to find Ethan Evans:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanevansvp/• Substack: https://levelupwithethanevans.substack.com/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Ethan’s background(04:25) The Magic Loop(08:31) The goal of the Magic Loop(10:59) Clarifications on the framework(12:46) Success stories(17:22) The importance and effectiveness of the Magic Loop(19:01) A quick summary of the steps in the Magic Loop(21:46) What if you’re not pursuing a promotion?(23:09) How to break out of a career plateau(28:52) How to become systematically inventive(36:04) Interview advice and how to stand out(40:43) A story of failing Jeff Bezos(50:31) Lessons learned from that failure(57:30) What Ethan would have done differently(01:00:35) Amazon’s leadership principles(01:08:52) Contrarian corner: Returning to the office vs. staying remote(01:10:39) Contrarian corner: Doing business on a handshake(01:11:52) Lightning round—Referenced:• The Magic Loop: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-magic-loop• SDE levels: https://www.masaischool.com/blog/understanding-sde-levels-sde-1-vs-sde-2-vs-sde-3-differences/• What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful: https://www.amazon.com/What-Got-Here-Wont-There/dp/1401301304• Thomas Edison’s quote: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/thomas_a_edison_109928• Jeff Bezos: Amazon and Blue Origin | Lex Fridman Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcWqzZ3I2cY• Unpacking Amazon’s unique ways of working | Bill Carr (author of Working Backwards): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/unpacking-amazons-unique-ways-of-working-bill-carr-author-of-working-backwards/• Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Working-Backwards-Insights-Stories-Secrets/dp/1250267595• Jeff Wilke on X: https://twitter.com/jeffawilke• Andy Jassy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-jassy-8b1615/• Werner Vogels on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wernervogels/• Amazon’s Silk browser explained: https://www.androidpolice.com/amazon-silk-browser-explainer/• Chickens and pigs: https://www.scrum.org/resources/chickens-and-pigs• 58% of tech employees experience imposter syndrome. Here’s how to overcome it: https://medium.com/wearefutureworks/58-of-tech-employees-experience-imposter-syndrome-heres-how-to-overcome-it-78172d8a2258• Jeff Bezos to exec after product totally flopped: ‘You can’t, for one minute, feel bad’: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/22/jeff-bezos-why-you-cant-feel-bad-about-failure.html• Amazon’s leadership principles: https://www.amazon.jobs/content/en/our-workplace/leadership-principles• Sam Altman on X: https://twitter.com/sama• Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work: https://www.amazon.com/Decisive-Make-Better-Choices-Life/dp/0307956393• Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box: https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Self-Deception-Getting-Out-Box/dp/1523097809• The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness: https://www.amazon.com/Almanack-Naval-Ravikant-Wealth-Happiness/dp/1544514212/• Angel list: https://venture.angellist.com/naval/syndicate• Naval Ravikant on X: https://twitter.com/naval• 1923 on Paramount+: https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/1923/• Yellowstone on Paramount+: https://www.paramountnetwork.com/shows/yellowstone• Chuckit! dog toys: https://www.chuckit-toys.co.uk/• Luke 12:48: https://law.utk.edu/2016/05/10/to-whom-much-is-given-much-will-be-required• The Challenger space shuttle disaster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster• Ethan’s popular course on Maven: https://maven.com/ethan-evans/break-through-to-executive—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

Sam Schillace is deputy CTO and corporate vice president at Microsoft. Prior to working at Microsoft, Sam started a company called Writely, which was acquired by Google and became the foundation of what today is Google Docs. While at Google, Sam helped lead many of Google’s consumer products, including Gmail, Blogger, PageCreator, Picasa, Reader, Groups, and more recently Maps and Google Automotive Services. Sam was also a principal investor at Google Ventures, has founded six startups, and was the SVP of engineering at Box through their IPO. In this episode, we discuss:• The journey of building Google Docs• The importance of taking risks, embracing failure, and finding joy in your work• The importance of asking “what if” questions vs. “why not”• Why convenience always wins• How, and why, Sam stays optimistic• Inside Microsoft’s culture• Why you should solve problems without asking for permission• Early-career advice• Why “pixels are free” and “bots are docs”—Brought to you by Teal—Your personal career growth platform | Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security | Ahrefs—Improve your website’s SEO for free—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-be-more-innovative-sam-schillace—Where to find Sam Schillace:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schillace/• Newsletter: https://sundaylettersfromsam.substack.com/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Sam’s background(03:45) The first Google Docs file(06:45) Disruptive innovation(10:11) First-principles thinking(11:00) Recognizing disruptive ideas(13:17) Examples of first-principles thinking(15:46) The power of optimism(19:47) Sam’s motto: Get to the edge of something and f**k around(21:53) User value and laziness(24:31) People are lazy (and what to do about it)(28:36) Building Google Docs(31:06) The evolution of Google Docs(37:15) Finding product-market fit(39:52) The future of documents(44:57) The value of playing with technology(47:58) Taking risks and embracing failure(49:21) Thinking in the future(53:48) Finding joy in your work(01:01:20) Just do the best you can(01:02:34) The transformational power of AI(01:09:27) Advice for approaching AI(01:13:07) The culture at Microsoft(01:16:51) Closing thoughts(01:17:32) Lightning round—Referenced:• Google Docs began as a hacked-together experiment, says creator: https://www.theverge.com/2013/7/3/4484000/sam-schillace-interview-google-docs-creator-box• Edna Mode: https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Edna_Mode• Sergey Brin’s profile on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/profile/sergey-brin/• People Who Were No Smarter Than You: https://medium.com/thrive-global/people-who-were-no-smarter-than-you-4e1c88c3fee6• Nat Torkington (O’Reilly Media): https://www.oreilly.com/people/nathan-torkington/• How Tesla Has Shaken (Not Stirred) Established Carmakers—and Why It Really Matters: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferdungs/2021/04/23/how-tesla-has-shaken-not-stirred-established-carmakersand-why-it-really-matters/• First Principles: Elon Musk on the Power of Thinking for Yourself: https://jamesclear.com/first-principles• Ashton Tate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashton-Tate• Learning by Doing: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/learning-doing-sam-schillace• Kevin Scott on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkevinscott/• How do we make sense of all of this?: https://sundaylettersfromsam.substack.com/p/how-do-we-make-sense-of-all-of-this• Steve Newman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevescalyr/• Eric Schmidt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-schmidt-02158951/• Michael Arrington on X: https://twitter.com/arrington• TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/• “Hello, Computer” scene from Star Trek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hShY6xZWVGE• Writely—Process Words with your Browser: https://techcrunch.com/2005/08/31/writely-process-words-with-your-browser/• Satya Nadella on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/satyanadella/• Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger: https://press.stripe.com/poor-charlies-almanack• Calvinism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinism• This Quote from Seth Godin Could Change How You Think About Pursuing Your Passion: https://friedchickenandsushi.com/blog/2021/7/5/this-quote-from-seth-godin-could-change-how-you-think-about-pursuing-your-passion• AI isn’t a feature of your product: https://sundaylettersfromsam.substack.com/p/ai-isnt-a-feature-of-your-product• Introducing Gemini: our largest and most capable AI model: https://blog.google/technology/ai/google-gemini-ai/• Invisible Cities: https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Cities-Italo-Calvino/dp/0156453800• The Wasp Factory: https://www.amazon.com/WASP-FACTORY-NOVEL-Iain-Banks/dp/0684853159• Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation: https://www.amazon.com/Where-Good-Ideas-Come-Innovation/dp/1594485380/• Slow Horses on Apple TV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/slow-horses/umc.cmc.2szz3fdt71tl1ulnbp8utgq5o• Monarch: Legacy of Monsters on Apple TV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/monarch-legacy-of-monsters/umc.cmc.62l8x0ixrhyq3yaqa5y8yo7ew?mttn3pid• Scavengers Reign on Max: https://www.max.com/shows/scavengers-reign/50c8ce6d-088c-42d9-9147-d1b19b1289d4• 2023 Mustang Mach-E: https://www.ford.com/suvs/mach-e/• Boccalone Salumeria (now closed) on X: https://twitter.com/boccalone—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

Will Larson is Chief Technology Officer at Carta. Prior to joining Carta, he was the CTO at Calm and held engineering leadership roles at Stripe, Uber, and Digg. He is the author of two foundational engineering career books, An Elegant Puzzle and Staff Engineer, and The Engineering Executive’s Primer, which will be released in February. In our conversation, we discuss:• Systems thinking: what it is and how to apply it• Advice for product managers on fostering productive relationships with engineering managers• Why companies should treat engineers like adults• How to best measure developer productivity• Writing and its impact on his career• How to balance writing with a demanding job• How to develop your company values—Brought to you by DX—A platform for measuring and improving developer productivity | OneSchema—Import CSV data 10x faster | Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-engineering-mindset-will-larson—Where to find Will Larson:• X: https://twitter.com/Lethain• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-larson-a44b543/• Website: https://lethain.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) Will’s background(04:12) Changes in the field of engineering(06:27) We need to stop treating engineers like children(08:32) Systems thinking(13:23) Implementing systems thinking in hiring(16:32) Engineering strategy(20:21) Examples of engineering strategies(25:08) How to get good at strategy(26:48) The importance of writing about things that excite you(32:40) The biggest risk to content creation is quitting too soon(35:24) How to make time for writing(37:41) Tips for aspiring writers(41:18) Building productive relationships between product managers and engineers(43:45) Giving the same performance rating to EMs and PMs(48:24) Measuring engineering productivity(55:53) Defining company values(01:02:10) Failure corner: the Digg rewrite(01:11:05) Will’s upcoming book, The Engineering Executive’s Primer(01:12:04) Lightning round—Referenced:• The end of the “free money” era: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/11/techscape-zirp-tech-boom• Work on what matters: https://lethain.com/work-on-what-matters/• Sheryl Sandberg to Harvard Biz Grads: “Find a Rocket Ship”: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/05/24/sheryl-sandberg-to-harvard-biz-grads-find-a-rocket-ship/?sh=708c9a93b37a• What Is Systems Thinking?: https://www.snhu.edu/about-us/newsroom/business/what-is-systems-thinking• Introduction to systems thinking: https://lethain.com/systems-thinking/• Thinking in Systems: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Systems-Donella-H-Meadows/dp/1603580557• Silent Spring: https://www.amazon.com/Silent-Spring-Rachel-Carson/dp/0618249060• Writing an engineering strategy: https://lethain.com/eng-strategies/• Carta: https://carta.com/• Eric Vogl on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericvogl/• Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The difference and why it matters: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Strategy-Bad-difference-matters/dp/1781256179• The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists: https://www.amazon.com/Crux-How-Leaders-Become-Strategists/dp/1541701240/• How Big Things Get Done: The Surprising Factors That Determine the Fate of Every Project, from Home Renovations to Space Exploration and Everything in Between: https://www.amazon.com/How-Big-Things-Get-Done/dp/0593239512/• Technology Strategy Patterns: Architecture as Strategy: https://www.amazon.com/Technology-Strategy-Patterns-Architecture/dp/1492040878/• The Value Flywheel Effect: Power the Future and Accelerate Your Organization to the Modern Cloud: https://www.amazon.com/Value-Flywheel-Effect-Accelerate-Organization/dp/1950508579• The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win: https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Business/dp/1942788290• The Engineering Executive’s Primer: Impactful Technical Leadership: https://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Executives-Primer-Impactful-Leadership/dp/1098149483• An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management: https://press.stripe.com/an-elegant-puzzle• Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track: https://www.amazon.com/Staff-Engineer-Leadership-beyond-management-ebook/dp/B08RMSHYGG• Gergely Orosz’s newsletter: https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/author/gergely/• Leaving big tech to build the #1 technology newsletter | Gergely Orosz (The Pragmatic Engineer): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/videos/leaving-big-tech-to-build-the-1-technology-newsletter-gergely-orosz-the-pragmatic-engineer/• The art of product management | Shreyas Doshi (Stripe, Twitter, Google, Yahoo): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/videos/the-art-of-product-management-shreyas-doshi-stripe-twitter-google-yahoo/• Henry Ward on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heward/• Vrushali Paunikar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vrushali-paunikar/• Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations: https://www.amazon.com/Accelerate-Software-Performing-Technology-Organizations/dp/1942788339• How to measure and improve developer productivity | Nicole Forsgren (Microsoft Research, GitHub, Google): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-measure-and-improve-developer-productivity-nicole-forsgren-microsoft-research-github-goo/• DORA: https://dora.dev/• Setting engineering org values: https://lethain.com/setting-engineering-org-values/• Digg: https://digg.com/• Kevin Rose on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinrose/• Digg’s v4 launch: an optimism born of necessity: https://lethain.com/digg-v4/• Dash Gopinath on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dashgopinath/• Rich Schumacher on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richschumacher/• The ALL NEW Don’t Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate: https://www.amazon.com/ALL-NEW-Dont-Think-Elephant-ebook/dp/B00NP9LHFA• Top Chef on Peacock: https://www.peacocktv.com/watch-online/tv/top-chef/5172289448907967112• Hard to work with: https://lethain.com/hard-to-work-with/—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

Judd Antin has spent 15 years leading research and design teams at companies like Yahoo, Meta, and Airbnb. His direct reports have gone on to lead user research at Figma, Notion, Slack, Robinhood, Duolingo, AllTrails, and more. In our conversation, we unpack the transformation that the user-research field is experiencing. Specifically:• Where user research went wrong over the past decade• The three types of research—macro, middle-range, and micro—and the purpose of each• How to effectively integrate researchers into the product development process• The “user-centered performance” phenomenon and why it’s a waste of time• Common tropes about PMs, from researchers• The ideal ratio of researchers in a company• Why Judd says NPS is useless, and what to use instead—Brought to you by Teal—Your personal career growth platform | Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security | Ahrefs—Improve your website’s SEO for free—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ux-research-reckoning-is-here—Where to find Judd Antin:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juddantin/• Website: https://juddantin.com/• Blog: https://medium.com/onebigthought—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) Judd’s background(04:16) Critiques and responses to Judd’s post “The UX Research Reckoning Is Here”(07:33) The state of user research(08:53) Macro, middle-range, and micro research(14:05) What teams get wrong when it comes to research(15:46) The importance of integrating research from the beginning(17:30) Traits of great researchers(19:53) Advice for evaluating user researchers(21:10) Balancing business and product focus(23:55) User-centered performance(26:42) The role of intuition in product development(30:15) Checking your gut instincts(32:54) Common tropes about PMs, from researchers(41:02) A/B testing vs. user research(43:15) Hindsight bias and narrative fallacy(44:55) Making recommendations based on research(47:26) Advice for teams on how to leverage researchers(51:18) How product managers can be better partners to user researchers(56:53) The ideal ratio of researchers in a company(59:43) Empowering user researchers to drive impact(01:03:39) The limitations of NPS as a metric(01:06:48) The risks of dogfooding(01:08:51) Lightning round—Referenced:• Matt Gallivan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgallivan/• Janna Bray on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janna-bray-a4046a25/• Celeste Ridlen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/celesteridlen/• Rebecca Gray on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccagray2/• Hannah Pileggi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-pileggi-43169314/• Louise Beryl on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louise-beryl-13225833/• The UX Research Reckoning Is Here: https://medium.com/onebigthought/the-ux-research-reckoning-is-here-c63710ea4084• The end of the “free money” era: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/11/techscape-zirp-tech-boom• Cognitive biases: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases• IDEO design thinking: https://designthinking.ideo.com/• Everything Is Obvious: How Common Sense Fails Us: https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Obvious-Common-Sense-Fails/dp/0307951790• Patrick Collison’s tweet: https://twitter.com/patrickc/status/1443215022029619200?lang=en• Brian Chesky on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianchesky/• Brian Chesky on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/brian-cheskys-new-playbook/• NPS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_promoter_score• What is CSAT and how do you measure it?: https://www.qualtrics.com/experience-management/customer/what-is-csat/• Michael Murakami on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhmurakami/• Bad Leadership: What It Is, How It Happens, Why It Matters: https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Leadership-Happens-Matters-Common/dp/1591391660• Demon Copperhead: https://www.amazon.com/Demon-Copperhead-Novel-Barbara-Kingsolver/dp/0063251922• All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries: https://www.amazon.com/All-Systems-Red-Murderbot-Diaries/dp/0765397536• The Last of Us on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-last-of-us• Belay glasses: https://www.amazon.com/Belay-Glasses-Climbing-Comfortable-Sturdy/dp/B08GSBYDKQ/• Epictetus: Control What You Can—Especially Yourself: https://www.shortform.com/blog/epictetus-control/• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change: https://www.amazon.com/Habits-Highly-Effective-People-Powerful/dp/0743269519—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

Nir Eyal is the author of two best-selling books, Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products and Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life. He writes, consults, and teaches at the intersection of psychology, technology, and business. His books have sold over 1 million copies in more than 30 languages; he has taught at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and its Design School; and he has started and sold two startups since 2003. In our conversation, we discuss:• Strategies for becoming less distractible and improving focus• The difference between distraction and “traction”• Reactive work vs. reflexive work and why you should book time in your calendar• The 10-minute rule to overcome internal triggers and stay focused• The problem with to-do lists, and what to do instead• The value of creating a timebox schedule that aligns with personal values and priorities• The use of pacts as a last line of defense against distraction• How to develop a high-agency mindset• Advice for leaders on helping employees improve focus in the workplace—Brought to you by Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security | Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian’s new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams | Teal—Your personal career growth platform—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/strategies-for-becoming-less-distractible—Where to find Nir Eyal:• X: https://twitter.com/nireyal• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nireyal/• Website: https://www.nirandfar.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) Nir’s background(04:20) How to become less distractible(07:43) Understanding distraction and traction(12:52) The four steps to becoming indistractable(13:53) Mastering internal triggers(18:49) Surfing the urge with a 10-minute timer(23:20) Making time for traction with a timebox schedule(25:02) How to turn your values into time(28:36) Booking deep work time(29:22) Making pacts to prevent distraction(31:00) The problem with to-do lists(34:31) The drawback of deadlines(36:08) Distraction is an emotion regulation problem(39:54) Hacking back external triggers(45:03) Preventing distraction with pacts(48:18) Specific tools to hold you accountable(53:42) Managing emotions and discomfort(56:37) Taking responsibility and being high-agency(01:00:09) Becoming indistractable at work(01:05:04) Schedule syncing to align with managers(01:09:36) We are not as hooked on technology as people think(01:16:00) Life purpose and personal responsibility(01:17:38) Lightning round—Referenced:• Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life: https://www.amazon.com/Indistractable-Control-Your-Attention-Choose/dp/194883653X• Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products: https://www.amazon.com/Hooked-How-Build-Habit-Forming-Products/dp/1591847788• Dorothy Parker’s quote: https://twitter.com/nireyal/status/1472280598723108866• “Writing is bleeding” quote: https://www.hemingwaysociety.org/quotation-controversy-writing-and-bleeding• The Pomodoro Technique Explained: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryancollinseurope/2020/03/03/the-pomodoro-technique/• Timeboxing: Why It Works and How to Get Started in 2024: https://www.nirandfar.com/timeboxing/• Using your working time well - Issue 22: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/time-management-issue-22• All-In podcast: https://www.allinpodcast.co/• Nir’s post about “the planning fallacy”: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nireyal_why-do-tasks-always-seem-to-take-longer-than-activity-7137440438939959297-XIUB/• How the Ancient Greeks Beat Distraction: https://www.nirandfar.com/tantalizing-distractions/• Jeremy Bentham: https://iep.utm.edu/jeremy-bentham• An overview of Sigmund Freud’s pleasure principle: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/nursing-and-health-professions/pleasure-principle• The Matrix “There is no spoon” scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAXtO5dMqEI• Outlet timer: https://www.amazon.com/Century-Indoor-24-Hour-Mechanical-Outlet/dp/B01LPSGBZS• Forest app: https://www.forestapp.cc/• Focusmate: https://www.focusmate.com/• Have We Been Thinking About Willpower the Wrong Way for 30 Years?: https://hbr.org/2016/11/have-we-been-thinking-about-willpower-the-wrong-way-for-30-years• We Need Social Antibodies to Fight the Disease of Distraction: https://nireyal.medium.com/we-need-social-antibodies-to-fight-the-disease-of-distraction-51f9187be016• The Mere Presence of Your Smartphone Reduces Brain Power, Study Shows: https://news.utexas.edu/2017/06/26/the-mere-presence-of-your-smartphone-reduces-brain-power• Leading in Tough Times: HBS Faculty Member Amy C. Edmondson on Psychological Safety: https://www.hbs.edu/recruiting/insights-and-advice/blog/post/leading-in-tough-times• If Tech Is So Distracting, How Do Slack Employees Stay So Focused?: https://www.nirandfar.com/slack-use/• Managing up: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/managing-up• Duolingo: https://www.duolingo.com/• FitBot: https://www.fitbotapp.com/• Paulo Coelho’s quote: https://twitter.com/paulocoelho/status/416264984188825600• Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life: https://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Curious-Science-Creating-Business/dp/006238841X• The Experience Machine: How Our Minds Predict and Shape Reality: https://www.amazon.com/Experience-Machine-Minds-Predict-Reality/dp/1524748455• Empire of the Sun on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Sun-Christian-Bale/dp/B001N3JY82• Sesame grinder: https://www.miyacompany.com/450-014-450-014• Muji pens: https://www.muji.us/collections/pen-pencils—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

Sarah Tavel is a General Partner at Benchmark and sits on the boards of Chainalysis, Hipcamp, Rekki, Cambly, and Medely. She is a founding member of All Raise, the nonprofit organization working to accelerate the success of women in the venture-capital and VC-backed startup ecosystem. Before Benchmark, Sarah was a partner at Greylock Partners. She joined Pinterest in 2012 as their first PM and launched their first search and recommendations features. She also led three acquisitions as she helped the company scale through a period of hypergrowth. In this episode, we discuss:Sarah’s Hierarchy of Engagement framework for growing a consumer startup• The three levels of the Hierarchy of Engagement: core action, retention, and self-perpetuation• The importance of measuring cohorts and maintaining focus on the core action• Examples of core user actions from Pinterest and YouTubeSarah’s Hierarchy of Marketplaces framework for building a marketplace startup• The three vectors of growth for dominating a marketplace• Advice on “tipping the marketplace” and ultimately dominating the market• The value of focusing on a constrained market• How to avoid disruption—This entire episode is brought to you by Gelt—Redefine your approach to taxes.—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-hierarchy-of-engagement-sarah—Where to find Sarah Tavel:• X: https://twitter.com/sarahtavel• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahtavel/• Substack: https://www.sarahtavel.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) Sarah’s background(03:33) Framework 1: The Hierarchy of Engagement(06:03) Level 1: Core action(10:33) Level 2: Retention(14:00) Level 3: Self-perpetuation(19:32) The importance of focus(23:54) The challenge of anonymity(26:04) Advice for founders who want to increase retention(29:34) What founders often get wrong(31:43) Examples of core actions(37:37) Finding your North Star Metric(38:12) Who should use the Hierarchy of Engagement framework(38:54) The Hierarchy of Marketplaces framework(46:09) Level 1: Focus on a constrained opportunity(50:19) Sarah’s “happy GMV” and “minimum viable happiness” concepts(54:47) Thumbtack: a counterexample to this approach(56:36) Signs you’re ready to move to level 2(58:06) Level 2: Tipping the marketplace(01:04:15) Tipping loops(01:10:53) Not all markets are susceptible to tipping(01:15:55) The challenge of homogeneity in B2B marketplaces(01:20:29) Signs you’re tipping successfully(01:21:43) Level 3: Dominating the market(01:28:29) The opportunity in underestimated markets(01:30:11) The challenges of chasing GMV and losing focus(01:36:36) Recognizing currents and momentum in the market(01:39:20) You can never rest on your laurels(01:41:03) How to apply these frameworks outside of marketplaces(01:42:57) Three ways to find marketplace opportunity(01:45:10 ) Lightning round—Referenced:• Hierarchy of Engagement, Expanded: https://sarahtavel.medium.com/the-hierarchy-of-engagement-expanded-648329d60804• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/• Evernote: https://evernote.com/• Notion: https://www.notion.so/• Houseparty app: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houseparty_(app)• Clubhouse: https://www.clubhouse.com/• How to price your product | Naomi Ionita (Menlo Ventures): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-price-your-product-naomi-ionita-menlo-ventures/• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/• Lessons on building a viral consumer app: The story of Saturn: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-on-building-a-viral-consumer• Saturn: https://www.joinsaturn.com/• What happened to Secret?: https://www.failory.com/cemetery/secret• How to determine your activation metric: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-determine-your-activation• Shishir Mehrotra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shishirmehrotra/• The rituals of great teams | Shishir Mehrotra of Coda, YouTube, Microsoft: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-rituals-of-great-teams-shishir-mehrotra-coda-youtube-microsoft/• Engagement Hierarchy: Core Actions: https://sarahtavel.medium.com/engagement-hierarchy-core-actions-dd4f72042100• Choosing Your North Star Metric: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/choosing-your-north-star-metric• Hierarchy of Marketplaces: https://sarahtavel.medium.com/the-hierarchy-of-marketplaces-introduction-and-level-1-983995aa218e• Mike Williams on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoroomie/• Everything Marketplaces: https://www.everythingmarketplaces.com/• Fabrice Grinda on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabricegrinda/• OLX: https://www.olx.com/• DoorDash Loves the ’Burbs as Much as You Do: https://www.wsj.com/articles/doordash-loves-the-burbs-as-much-as-you-do-11605618001• Thumbtack: https://www.thumbtack.com/• NPS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_promoter_score• Sean Ellis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanellis/• Rekki: https://rekki.com/• Ronen Givon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronen-givon-535b2514• Hipcamp: https://www.hipcamp.com/• Demand driving supply: The little-understood growth loop behind a surprising number of iconic billion-dollar companies: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/demand-driving-supply-marketplaces• Inside the Revolution at Etsy: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/25/business/etsy-josh-silverman.html• Faire: https://www.faire.com/• Bill Gurley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billgurley/• Mechanical Turk: https://www.mturk.com/• Parker Conrad on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parkerconrad/• Rippling: https://www.rippling.com/• “White Space” for Building a Marketplace: How to Find Your Competition’s Vulnerabilities—and Capitalize: https://sarahtavel.medium.com/white-space-for-building-a-marketplace-how-to-find-your-competitions-vulnerabilities-and-79674aa4d399• Pachinko: https://www.amazon.com/Pachinko-National-Book-Award-Finalist/dp/1455563935• The Five Temptations of a CEO: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Temptations-CEO-Anniversary-Leadership/dp/0470267585• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756• Tesla: https://www.tesla.com/• Reid Hoffman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reidhoffman/• What Is A Good Activation Rate: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/what-is-a-good-activation-rate—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

Christian Idiodi is a partner at Silicon Valley Product Group. After a long product career and founding multiple companies, Christian now spends his time working closely with product leaders at companies big and small to implement and improve their discipline of product management. In today’s episode, we discuss:• Why there’s often a negative perception of product managers, and how we can fix this• The four attributes of a product manager’s job: value, usability, viability, and feasibility• The power of finding reference customers• How Christian developed a process for high-volume hiring to help companies like McDonald’s and Starbucks• Tactical tips for coaching, building relationships, and building trust as a leader—Brought to you by Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian’s new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams | Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security | Teal—Your personal career growth platform—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-essence-of-product-management—Where to find Christian Idiodi:• X: https://twitter.com/CIdiodi• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cidiodi/• Website: https://www.svpg.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) Christian’s background(03:56) The negative perception of product managers(07:58) How to become a PM people want to work with(11:30) The definition of a product manager(14:46) Where new PMs fail(16:59) Reference customers: what they are and why they are so important(24:05) A quick summary of how to build a product that people want and love(26:44) How to determine product-market fit(29:54) The benefits of this approach(34:11) Real examples of using reference customers(40:06) Doing things that don’t scale(48:40) How to get better at coaching and build trust with leaders(55:53) The fastest way to build trust(01:00:01) What to do in the absence of good coaching(01:02:51) How to get into product management(01:04:16) The pitfalls of early promotions(01:11:11) How to train someone for a promotion before giving the promotion(01:13:30) How to find a good coach(01:14:40) Christian’s product work in Africa(01:21:22) The importance of passion and empathy in product work(01:22:54) Lightning round—Referenced:• Marty Cagan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cagan/• The nature of product | Marty Cagan, Silicon Valley Product Group: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-nature-of-product-marty-cagan-silicon-valley-product-group/• Silicon Valley Product Group: https://www.svpg.com/• Enhanced Product Discovery by SVPG Partner Christian Idiodi at Lean Product Meetup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQKaFEqhiqc• Geoffrey Moore’s technology adoption curve: https://fourweekmba.com/technology-adoption-curve/• Stripe: https://stripe.com/• Building a culture of excellence | David Singleton (CTO of Stripe): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/building-a-culture-of-excellence-david-singleton-cto-of-stripe/• Building beautiful products with Stripe’s Head of Design | Katie Dill (Stripe, Airbnb, Lyft): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/building-beautiful-products-with-stripes-head-of-design-katie-dill-stripe-airbnb-lyft/• Rippling: https://www.rippling.com/• Snagajob: https://www.snagajob.com/• Howard Schultz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/howardschultz/• Tesla portable charger: https://shop.tesla.com/product/mobile-connector• Innovate Africa Foundation: https://www.innovateafrica.io/about/• Inspire Africa Conference: https://www.inspireafricaconference.com/• Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love: https://www.svpg.com/books/inspired-how-to-create-tech-products-customers-love-2nd-edition/• Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products: https://www.svpg.com/books/empowered-ordinary-people-extraordinary-products/• Transformed: Moving to the Product Operating Model: https://www.svpg.com/books/transformed-moving-to-the-product-operating-model/• Succession on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/succession• Billions on Showtime: https://www.sho.com/billions• Real sports app: https://www.realapp.link/—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

Jason Fried is the co-founder and CEO of 37signals, the maker of Basecamp and HEY. 37signals is a very different kind of company. With fewer than 80 employees, they have over 100,000 customers, generate tens of millions of dollars in profit each year, and have no investors, board, or any plans to ever raise money or sell the company. In our conversation, we explore a path many tech founders never consider—bootstrapping. We discuss:• Why he and his team prioritize profit above all else• The unexpected challenges with raising venture capital• The “Shape Up” framework for building products• Why, and how, to foster a gut-driven culture• Jason’s thoughts on why work should not feel like war• Advice for starting a bootstrapped business• The philosophy behind Once, 37signals’s new line of software products—Brought to you by Coda—Meet the evolution of docs | Sidebar—Accelerate your career by surrounding yourself with extraordinary peers | Wix Studio—The web creation platform built for agencies—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/jason-fried-challenges-your-thinking—Where to find Jason Fried:• X: https://twitter.com/jasonfried• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-fried/• Email: [email protected]—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) Jason’s background(03:49) The success of 37signals(06:46) When raising money makes sense(09:58) The power of small teams(13:55) Defining success and goals(17:08) Playing “infinite games” in life(20:11) Starting a business vs. staying in business(22:13) Lessons from 25 years in business(27:28) Venture scale vs. bootstrapping(30:30) Choosing the right path for your business(33:19) The “Shape Up” framework(37:59) The drawback of promises(39:56) Adopting a new way of working(41:36) The two-week cooldown(43:53) Trusting intuition and gut(46:41) Creating a gut-driven culture(49:44) What Jason looks for in new hires(56:19) Advice on making changes and adapting(01:00:06) What Jason has changed his mind about(01:02:33) Planning in 6-week stretches and figuring it out as you go(01:06:43) Being proud of the work you do(01:09:05) Jason’s thoughts on why work should not feel like war(01:11:31) Advice for starting a bootstrapped business(01:14:33) You must be at peace with the worst that can happen(01:15:42) The benefits of bootstrapping(01:19:11) The value of constraints in business(01:22:00) Jason’s philosophy: “Just keep making great s**t”(01:23:19) Once, 37signals’s new line of software products(01:26:33) The philosophy behind Once(01:35:47) Closing thoughts(01:37:23) Lightning round—Referenced:• 37 Signals: https://www.smartsheet.com/• Basecamp: https://basecamp.com/• Finite and Infinite Games: https://www.amazon.com/Finite-Infinite-Games-James-Carse/dp/1476731713/• Ingram Micro: https://www.ingrammicro.com/• Once: https://once.com/• Basecamp’s Shape Up framework: https://basecamp.com/shapeup• Hill charts: https://basecamp.com/features/hill-charts• Jason Fried’s quote about long-term business planning: https://medium.com/@farkhan569/unless-you-are-a-fortune-teller-long-term-business-planning-is-a-fantasy-jason-fried-quote-a69e8778e9c4• Brian Chesky’s new playbook: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/brian-cheskys-new-playbook/• Matt Mullenweg on X: https://twitter.com/photomatt• Leo Polovets on X: https://twitter.com/lpolovets• HEY: https://www.hey.com/• Redefining success, money, and belonging | Paul Millerd (The Pathless Path): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/redefining-success-money-and-belonging-paul-millerd-the-pathless-path/• It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work: https://www.amazon.com/Doesnt-Have-Be-Crazy-Work/dp/0062874780• Squarespace: https://www.squarespace.com/• Stoic negative visualization: https://dailystoic.com/premortem/• Linear: https://linear.app/• Peter Rahal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-rahal-037bba43/• RXBAR: https://www.rxbar.com/en_US/home.html• Jason’s LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jason-fried_just-keep-making-great-s**t-keep-your-costs-activity-7130978623523614720-VBGX/?trk=public_profile• Several Short Sentences About Writing: https://www.amazon.com/Several-Short-Sentences-About-Writing/dp/0307279413• Hell Yeah or No: What’s Worth Doing: https://www.amazon.com/Hell-Yeah-No-whats-worth/dp/1988575117/• Home-Made: Contemporary Russian Folk Artifacts: https://www.amazon.com/Home-Made-Contemporary-Russian-Folk-Artifacts/dp/0955006139• Oppenheimer: https://www.oppenheimermovie.com/• Tom Petty’s “Crawling Back to You” on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/1JenqZNMU6unIwVWmoP3J0• Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger: https://press.stripe.com/poor-charlies-almanack—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

Matthew Dicks is a best-selling author, columnist, blogger, podcaster, playwright, and teacher. He wrote my all-time favorite book on storytelling, Storyworthy. He is an elementary school teacher by day and by night teaches storytelling and public speaking to individuals, corporations, universities, religious institutions, and school districts around the world. He’s taught storytelling at Yale, MIT, Harvard, and Purdue, along with Amazon, Salesforce, Slack, Lego, and others. In this conversation, Matthew shares insights and techniques for effective storytelling, including:• The benefits of good storytelling in business• The five-second moment and why it’s so important• Why you should start every story at the end• How to build a vault of stories that can be deployed in business situations• Tips on how to be funnier• His life-changing “Homework for Life” practice• Advice for dealing with nervousness in public speaking• The power of saying yes—Brought to you by OneSchema—Import CSV data 10x faster | Maui Nui Venison—The healthiest red meat on the planet delivered directly to your door | Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-tell-better-stories-matthew—Where to find Matthew Dicks:• Website: https://matthewdicks.com/• X: https://twitter.com/MatthewDicks• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-dicks-84a95711/• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4K0fcEJkzJLso5h6CN00LQ• Storyworthy: https://www.storyworthymd.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) Matthew’s background(04:27) The five-second moment(10:29) Knowing the ending(14:28) The importance of including a transformation(15:59) The dinner test(18:19) You can’t tell someone else’s story(20:24) Vacation stories(23:14) Adding stakes to the story(25:12) The power of surprise(29:20) The benefits of storytelling in business(32:20) An example of adding stakes(34:02) Storytelling in the workplace(44:29) Using personal inventory to make stories relatable(48:46) Four ways to keep people listening(50:52) Using humor in business storytelling(53:09) Advice for adding humor(58:43) An example of how storytelling helped a biotech company sell product(1:02:06) Advice for people who don’t want to become storytellers(1:06:35) The power of “Homework for Life”(01:15:26) Practical tips for starting Homework for Life(01:19:28) Dealing with nervousness in public speaking(01:24:42) Preparing for a talk or presentation(01:25:24) The power of saying yes(01:30:55) Lightning round—Referenced:• How ‘Star Wars’ answers our biggest religious questions: https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/21/how-star-wars-answers-our-biggest-religious-questions/• When Harry Met Sally on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/When-Harry-Sally-Billy-Crystal/dp/B001Q556QG• Persuasive communication and managing up | Wes Kao (Maven, Seth Godin, Section4): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/persuasive-communication-and-managing-up-wes-kao-maven-seth-godin-section4/• Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 Tenets of Storytelling: https://www.themarginalian.org/2012/04/03/kurt-vonnegut-on-writing-stories/• Vertigo on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Vertigo-James-Stewart/dp/B000I9YLXU• Ocean’s Eleven on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Oceans-Eleven-George-Clooney/dp/B001EBV0JE• David Mamet | JCCSF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZOT1jCHfhI• Pulp Fiction on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Pulp-Fiction-John-Travolta/dp/B005T3AX6E• Charity Thief: Boston Moth StorySLAM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjrlGhAB4a4• Boris Levin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boris-levin-ab95404/• Masha Reutovski on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/masha-reutovski/• Top Three Steve Jobs Speeches: https://www.pcworld.com/article/482269/top_three_steve_jobs_speeches.html• The Javits Center: https://www.javitscenter.com/• Stranger Things on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80057281• 1989 (Taylor’s Version) on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/64LU4c1nfjz1t4VnGhagcg• Classic Sesame Street—one of these things is not like the other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCxrkl2igGY• Homework for Life: https://matthewdicks.com/homework-for-life/• Homework for Life | Matthew Dicks | TEDxBerkshires: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7p329Z8MD0• Seth Meyers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seth_Meyers• David Sedaris on MasterClass: https://www.masterclass.com/classes/david-sedaris-teaches-storytelling-and-humor• Happy-Go-Lucky: https://www.amazon.com/Happy-Go-Lucky-David-Sedaris/dp/0316392456• A life of yes: Matthew Dicks at TEDxSomerville: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3TaQFcaMk4• New York Comedy Festival: https://nycomedyfestival.com/• In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex: https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Sea-Tragedy-Whaleship-Essex/dp/0141001828• The Tale of Despereaux: https://www.amazon.com/Tale-Despereaux-Being-Princess-Thread/dp/0763680893• I’ll Show Myself Out: Essays on Midlife and Motherhood: https://www.amazon.com/Ill-Show-Myself-Out-Motherhood/dp/0062981595• You’ll Grow Out of It: https://www.amazon.com/Youll-Grow-Out-Jessi-Klein/dp/1455531200• David Sedaris books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/David-Sedaris/author/B000AQ3YUW• Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere: https://www.amazon.com/Sure-Ill-Join-Your-Cult/dp/1982168560• The Last of Us on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-last-of-us• Barbie: https://www.barbie-themovie.com/• Krinner tree genie on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Krinner-Genie-Christmas-Stand-Small-Green/dp/B081D78FTP• Power Pod: https://powerpodshop.com/• Nostalgia hotdog toaster: https://www.amazon.com/Nostalgia-HDT600RETRORED-Pop-Up-Toaster-Retro/dp/B005Q8X6IO—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

In 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 at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/failure—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, you’ll hear from:(00:00) Lenny: Why I’m focusing on failure(03:25) Katie Dill: The single meeting that changed how Katie leads forever(08:03) Paul Adams: Freezing onstage in front of thousands of people(18:38) Tom Conrad: Lessons from Pets.com and Quibi—two of the most famous product disasters of all time(33:19) Sri Batchu: When you fail, make sure you fail conclusively(39:00) Jiaona Zhang (JZ): One of the biggest product misses at Airbnb(44:32) Gina Gotthilf: Everyone has an “A side” and a “B side,” and we should all share our B sides more(57:57) Maggie Crowley: Her favorite interview question about failure, and lessons from a personal failure(1:00:33) Thanks for listening—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

Kim Scott is the author of Radical Candor, currently the #1 most recommended book on this podcast. The book has sold over 1 million copies and has been translated into 23 languages. Before writing, Kim was a CEO coach at Dropbox, Qualtrics, Twitter, and other tech companies. She was also a member of the faculty at Apple University and before that led AdSense, YouTube, and DoubleClick teams at Google. This spring she’ll be launching Radical Respect, which she considers to be a prequel to Radical Candor. In today’s conversation, we go deep on Kim’s popular framework, including:• What separates radical candor and obnoxious aggression• Tactical advice on delivering constructive feedback• How well-meaning empathy can become ruinous• Strategies for effectively soliciting and responding to feedback• The importance of having regular career conversations• The false dichotomy of a good leader versus a kind person• A sneak peek into Radical Respect—Brought to you by Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian’s new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/radical-candor-from-theory-to-practice—Where to find Kim Scott:• X: https://twitter.com/kimballscott• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimm4/• Website: https://www.radicalcandor.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) Kim’s background(03:13) A brief overview of Radical Candor(06:46) How people fail with ruinous empathy, manipulative insincerity, and obnoxious aggression(08:37) The impact of radical candor on Kim’s life(14:16) How to communicate feedback effectively(20:34) A story illustrating the problem with ruinous empathy and manipulative insincerity(27:50) How to get over the need to be liked(31:31) How to have career conversations with your direct reports(29:40) Reflections on how Kim handled an underperforming employee(33:31) Best practices for soliciting feedback as a leader(35:53) How to respond to feedback(39:22) How often to ask for feedback(41:48) Whether or not to accept “no feedback” as an answer(50:48) Investing time in feedback(54:04) How to ask for feedback as an employee(57:42) Why obnoxious aggression is not the best way to deliver feedback(1:01:23) A notable example of problematic management (1:03:43) Why context matters when diagnosing obnoxious aggression (1:07:39) Empathy is a good thing, but empathy can paralyze(1:10:47) Reflections on the limitations of radical candor in a society riddled with biases (1:14:41) Kim’s new book, Radical Respect(1:15:51) Tactical advice to get better at radical candor(1:16:46) Lightning round—Referenced:• Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity: https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Candor-Kick-Ass-Without-Humanity/dp/1250103509• Radical Respect: How to Work Together Better: https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Respect-Work-Together-Better/dp/1250623766/• The Office (American version) on Peacock: https://www.peacocktv.com/stream-tv/the-office• Radical Candor diagram: https://www.radicalcandor.com/our-approach/• A behavioral scientist explains why we should reacquaint ourselves with the telephone: https://news.uchicago.edu/story/nicholas-epley-explains-why-phone-calls-can-connect-us-better-zoom• How to get promoted: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-get-promoted• When They Win, You Win: Being a Great Manager Is Simpler Than You Think: https://www.amazon.com/When-They-Win-You-Manager/dp/1250279666• Peter Kazanjy on X: https://twitter.com/Kazanjy• Christa Quarles on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christaquarles/• Jason Rosoff on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-r-rosoff/• Andrew Grove: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Grove• Columbo on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Columbo-Season-1/dp/B008SA89HA• Squid Game on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81040344• Leveraging mentors to uplevel your career | Jules Walter (YouTube, Slack): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/leveraging-mentors-to-uplevel-your-career-jules-walter-youtube-slack/• Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger: https://www.amazon.com/Poor-Charlies-Almanack-Essential-Charles/dp/1953953239• Bridgewater: https://www.bridgewater.com/• The Fund: Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates, and the Unraveling of a Wall Street Legend: https://www.amazon.com/Fund-Bridgewater-Associates-Unraveling-Street/dp/1250276934/• Tim Cook on X: https://twitter.com/tim_cook• Elon Musk: https://www.amazon.com/Elon-Musk-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1982181281• Building high-performing teams | Melissa Tan (Webflow, Dropbox, Canva): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/building-high-performing-teams-melissa-tan-webflow-dropbox-canva/• Middlemarch: https://www.amazon.com/Middlemarch-Penguin-Classics-George-Eliot/dp/0141439548• The Bluest Eye: https://www.amazon.com/Bluest-Eye-Vintage-International/dp/0307278441• Song of Solomon: https://www.amazon.com/Song-Solomon-Toni-Morrison/dp/140003342X• Orlando: https://www.amazon.com/Orlando-Biography-Virginia-Woolf/dp/015670160X• The Color Purple: https://www.amazon.com/Color-Purple-Novel-Alice-Walker/dp/0143135694• The Deptford Trilogy: Fifth Business; The Manticore; World of Wonders: https://www.amazon.com/Deptford-Trilogy-Business-Manticore-Wonders/dp/0140147551• Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/70140391• My year of saying yes to everything: https://www.ted.com/talks/shonda_rhimes_my_year_of_saying_yes_to_everything• Attitude: https://attitudeliving.com/collections/adult-hair-care• Dostoevsky books: https://www.amazon.com/Fyodor-Dostoevsky-Books/s?k=Fyodor+Dostoevsky—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

Anuj Rathi is the Chief Product and Marketing Officer at Jupiter Money, where he leads product management, marketing, design, growth, and analytics. Before Jupiter Money, Anuj served as the Senior Vice President of Revenue and Growth at Swiggy, VP of Product at SnapDeal, a Senior PM at Walmart Labs and the first-ever PM at Flipkart. He’s also one of the most beloved and respected product leaders in India. In this episode, we discuss:• How product management is different in India• How to rethink your approach to new users• How Anuj operationalizes the “working backwards” framework• Why Anuj thinks PMs should be more full-stack than they are• How to use Anuj’s “4BB” framework to get better at product strategy and prioritization• Advice on developing innovative roadmap ideas• The three essential skills of a successful PM• Three reasons why leadership fails• Why OKRs don’t work in marketplaces—Brought to you by Sanity—The most customizable content layer to power your growth engine | Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security | Wix Studio—The web creation platform built for agencies—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-full-stack-pm-anuj-rathi-swiggy—Where to find Anuj Rathi:• X: https://twitter.com/anujrathi• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anujrathi1—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) Anuj’s background(04:28) How product differs in India (08:34) When modern product thinking started to gain traction in India(14:01) How Anuj thinks about new-user experiences(15:07) Scott Belsky’s “lazy, vain, and selfish” framework (19:59) Why PMs must understand category consumers(22:30) Anuj’s philosophy on the PM job(23:59) How Anuj applies the working-backwards framework(28:36) The importance of FAQs(30:10) The full-stack PM mindset(33:06) Anuj’s “show don’t tell” framework(36:19) How to use the show-don’t-tell framework(39:14) The impact of using this framework(41:27) Anuj’s “4BB framework” for product strategy(48:59) Contrarian corner(50:49) Anuj’s “framework of 3” for great PMs(52:34) How to develop grit and influence(54:00) Three reasons why leaders fail (56:21) AI corner(57:51) Lessons from building a successful marketplace(1:02:19) How to balance and maintain stability on all sides of a marketplace(1:07:48) Lightning round—Referenced:• MakeMyTrip: https://www.makemytrip.com/• Shaadi.com: https://www.shaadi.com/• Bharat Matrimony: https://www.bharatmatrimony.com/• Flipkart: https://www.flipkart.com/• Ola: https://www.olacabs.com/mobile• Swiggy: https://www.swiggy.com/• Jio: https://www.jio.com/• UPI: http://cashlessindia.gov.in/upi.html• The First 15 Seconds by Scott Belsky: https://medium.com/positiveslope/the-first-15-seconds-9590d7dabc• Jupiter: https://jupiter.money/• How to get better at influence: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-get-better-at-influence#• Working Backwards: https://www.workingbackwards.com/• Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World: https://www.amazon.com/Range-Generalists-Triumph-Specialized-World/dp/0735214484• In Search of Greatness on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Search-Greatness-Wayne-Gretzky/dp/B07P5X99P5• Team Topologies: Organizing Business and Technology Teams for Fast Flow: https://www.amazon.com/Team-Topologies-Organizing-Business-Technology/dp/1942788819• Conway’s Law: https://www.atlassian.com/blog/teamwork/what-is-conways-law-acmi• Lessons from scaling Spotify: The science of product, taking risky bets, and how AI is already impacting the future of music | Gustav Söderström (Co-President, CPO, and CTO at Spotify): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/lessons-from-scaling-spotify-the-science-of-product-taking-risky-bets-and-how-ai-is-already-impac/• Taobao: https://world.taobao.com/• Alibaba: https://offer.alibaba.com/• Working Backwards: https://www.amazon.com/Working-Backwards-PB/dp/1529033845• How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don't Know: https://www.amazon.com/How-Brands-Grow-What-Marketers/dp/0195573560• The Luxury Strategy: Break the Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brands: https://www.amazon.com/Luxury-Strategy-Break-Marketing-Brands/dp/0749464917• The Office on Peacock: https://www.peacocktv.com/stream-tv/the-office• Rise: https://www.risescience.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

Ebi Atawodi is Director of Product Management for the Creator Experience at YouTube, former Head of Product at Uber, and a former Director of Product (Payments and EMEA) at Netflix. Known for crafting a strong, unified vision, Ebi empowers her teams to achieve outsized outcomes. In today’s episode, we go deep into vision and strategy, including:• The four key elements of a good vision statement• Three ways to determine your mission• The four pillars of great product management• How writing helps you gain clarity• How culture influences product• Tips on how to structure a strategy session• Advice on building team culture and improving work relationships• What’s coming soon at YouTube—Brought to you by Sidebar—Accelerate your career by surrounding yourself with extraordinary peers | Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian’s new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams | Wix Studio—The web creation platform built for agencies—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/crafting-a-compelling-product-vision—Where to find Ebi Atawodi:• X: https://twitter.com/ebiatawodi• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ebiatawodi• YouTube mixes: https://www.youtube.com/@EbiAtawodi/videos—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) Ebi’s background(04:31) Four key elements of a product vision(08:14) Examples of lofty but attainable visions(11:43) Vision vs. mission (13:23) Examples of visions and missions from notable companies(15:00) A simple framework for outlining a vision (20:51) Other methods for outlining a vision (23:29) The impact of writing clear headlines(26:41) Using mockups to frame your vision(28:24) A step-by-step approach to developing a vision(32:58) Ebi’s “10 Things” document(37:47) A quick summary of Ebi’s tips(40:56) How to use the “10 Things” doc in a strategy session(43:11) The three concentric circles of evangelizing (47:48) The cadence of developing a vision and bringing it to life(49:26) Visions vs. micro visions(52:58) First steps in developing a vision(55:12) Infrastructure is the product(56:39) Clarity and conviction, the main jobs of PMs(59:58) Ebi’s narrative doc(1:04:59) Conviction, its role in the job, and how to build it(1:08:20) How to build company culture(1:17:06) The monolithic culture at Uber(1:19:09) The culture Ebi embeds in her teams(1:23:58) How to evaluate your relationship with your engineering manager (1:26:02) What’s new at YouTube(1:29:22) Ebi’s closing thoughts(1:30:45) Lightning round—Referenced:• Andre Albuquerque on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andre-albuquerque• TED’s mission: https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization• Stripe’s operating principles: https://stripe.com/jobs/culture• Microsoft’s vision and mission: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/about• Tesla’s mission statement: https://www.tesla.com/blog/mission-tesla• Lyft’s mission on Comparably: https://www.comparably.com/companies/lyft/mission• Ebi’s playbooks and templates: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tU3jpbq_xHcF4x1bdANCVBsO6rbQ8h1HqvdQfwGW4MA/edit• Working Backwards Press Release Template and Example: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/working-backwards-press-release-template-example-ian-mcallister/• Patrick Collison on X: https://twitter.com/patrickc• Seinfeld meme: https://seinfeldmemes.com/you-know-how-to-take-the-reservation/• Travis Kalanick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/traviskalanick/• Wimdu: https://www.wimdu.com/• Leaving big tech to build the #1 technology newsletter | Gergely Orosz (The Pragmatic Engineer): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/leaving-big-tech-to-build-the-1-technology-newsletter-gergely-orosz-the-pragmatic-engineer/• The 48 Laws of Power: https://www.amazon.com/48-Laws-Power-Robert-Greene/dp/0140280197• The God of Small Things: https://www.amazon.com/God-Small-Things-Novel/dp/0812979656/• Outliers: The Story of Success: https://www.amazon.com/Outliers-Story-Success-Malcolm-Gladwell/dp/0316017930• All About Love: https://www.amazon.com/All-About-Love-New-Visions/dp/0060959479• The Bear on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/series/the-bear-05eb6a8e-90ed-4947-8c0b-e6536cbddd5f• Scavengers Reign on Max: https://www.max.com/shows/scavengers-reign/50c8ce6d-088c-42d9-9147-d1b19b1289d4• Sleep Cycle: https://www.sleepcycle.com/• Nanit: https://www.nanit.com/• “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/51642/invictus• Burning Man: https://burningman.org/—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

Inbal Shani is the chief product officer at GitHub, where she leads core product management, along with product strategy, marketing, open source, and communities, including the development of GitHub Copilot. Prior to joining GitHub, she led engineering and product teams at Amazon and Microsoft. In today’s conversation, we discuss:• What Inbal believes is overhyped and underhyped in the rapidly changing field of AI• How AI-driven code generation is changing software development• Her take on whether AI will replace developers• How software development looks in 3 to 5 years• How product teams operate at GitHub• GitHub’s Next team, and other ways the company fosters a culture of innovation• The success metrics and philosophy behind GitHub’s Copilot—Brought to you by Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian’s new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams | Sanity—The most customizable content layer to power your growth engine | HelpBar by Chameleon—The free in-app universal search solution built for SaaS—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-future-of-ai-in-software-development-inbal-shani-cpo-of-github/#transcript—Where to find Inbal Shani:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inbalshani/—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) Inbal’s background(04:17) Why generative AI is not going to replace developers in the near future (05:54) Why AI-driven testing is underhyped(07:48) What the next 3 to 5 years will look like(10:13) Stats around the use of GitHub Copilot (12:07) How Copilot enables engineers to work more efficiently(13:38) Common mistakes when adopting AI into your workflows(16:42) How GitHub operationalizes “dogfooding”(18:46) The philosophy behind Copilot(20:24) Copilot’s success metrics(24:54) How Copilot encourages collaboration(26:37) What we lose when AI writes code for us(29:35) A retrospective on the generative AI space(30:47) Inbal’s thoughts on the future of AI(32:35) How to make space for innovative product ideas(34:37) How GitHub stays on the cutting edge of innovation(36:44) The GitHub Next team(39:20) Advice for early product managers(42:17) Inbal’s “biggest learning” from her career(45:34) Inbal’s closing thoughts(46:19) Lightning round—Referenced:• How to measure and improve developer productivity | Nicole Forsgren (Microsoft Research, GitHub, Google): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-measure-and-improve-developer-productivity-nicole-forsgren-microsoft-research-github-goo/• DORA: https://dora.dev/• The role of AI in product development | Ryan J. Salva (VP of Product at GitHub, Copilot): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-role-of-ai-in-new-product-development-ryan-j-salva-vp-of-product-at-github-copilot/• GitHub Universe 2023 day 2 keynote: The productivity platform for all developers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_o9kFPVeiw• Satya Nadella on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/satyanadella/• TomTom: https://www.tomtom.com/• Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success: https://www.amazon.com/Failing-Forward-Turning-Mistakes-Stepping/dp/0785288570/• Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996• Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great: https://www.amazon.com/Turning-Flywheel-Monograph-Accompany-Great/dp/0062933795• Dare to Lead Like a Girl: How to Survive and Thrive in the Corporate Jungle: https://www.amazon.com/Dare-Lead-Like-Girl-Corporate/dp/1538163527• All the Light We Cannot See on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81083008• The Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Wheel-Time-Season-1/dp/B09F59CZ7R—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

This 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-interview-questions-from—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, you’ll hear from:(00:00) Lenny(03:21) Eeke De Miliano(03:57) Geoff Charles(04:31) Shishir Mehrotra(08:44) Yuhki Yamashita(09:56) Katie Dill(10:36) Karri Saarinen(11:02) Camille Hearst(11:28) Jiaona Zhang(12:43) Noah Weiss(13:10) Ben Williams(14:41) Meltem Kuran Berkowitz(15:29) Paige Costello(16:13) Nikhyl Singhal(17:51) Ayo Omojola(18:20) Scott Belsky(19:17) Lauryn Isford(19:46) Paul Adams—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

Tom Conrad is the CEO of Zero and on the board of Sonos. He began his career in engineering at Apple, where he helped build key features that remain in iOS today. Tom was previously the VP of Product at Snap and the chief technology officer of Pandora. He also held leadership positions at notable tech flops Pets.com and Quibi, giving him a unique perspective not only on what it takes to build a successful company but also on lessons from failure. In today’s conversation, we discuss:• Lessons learned from the infamous failures of Pets.com and Quibi• Lessons learned from the successes of Apple, Pandora, and Snap• Advice on choosing where to work• Understanding the math formula of a business• How to avoid burnout• Why Tom says not everyone needs to be a founder• What he’s building now—Brought to you by Coda—Meet the evolution of docs | Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian’s new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams | HelpBar by Chameleon—the free in-app universal search solution built for SaaS—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/billion-dollar-failures-and-billion—Where to find Tom Conrad:• X: https://twitter.com/tconrad• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomconrad/—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) Tom’s background(04:40) Landing a gig at Apple(07:41) Pioneering the blinking folder design on iOS(11:04) Advice on choosing where to work(12:43) The importance of trusting your gut when it comes to people(14:05) Lessons from failed ventures(17:32) Why and how Pets.com shut down (18:30) How Tom’s experience at Quibi renewed his passion for building(28:48) Takeaways from Quibi and why it ultimately failed(31:42) Failing is okay(35:04) Tom’s career at Apple(39:11) Lessons from You Don’t Know Jack(40:24) Lessons from building Pandora(48:24) Looking back at Pandora and what could have been done differently(55:17) How Tom became VP of Product at Snapchat(1:01:31) Tom’s philosophy on being involved as CEO(1:05:51) Tom’s current role as CEO of Zero, and what he’s learned along the way(1:10:37) How Zero builds product(1:18:33) Advice on work-life balance (1:27:22) Contrarian corner: why not everyone needs to be a founder(1:30:08) Lightning round—Referenced:• Ron Lichty on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronlichty/• What happened to Pets.com?: https://fourweekmba.com/pets-com-failure/• 11 reasons why Quibi crashed and burned in less than a year: https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/22/21528404/quibi-shut-down-cost-subscribers-content-tv-movies-katzenberg-whitman-tiktok-netflix• Meg Whitman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meg_Whitman• Jeffrey Katzenberg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-katzenberg-4b3b47123/• John Sculley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnsculley/• Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/• How Pandora Soothed the Savage Beast: https://www.fastcompany.com/3001052/how-pandora-soothed-savage-beast• Joe Kennedy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-kennedy-329417/• Why Did Yahoo Pay $160 Million for Musicmatch?: https://www.wired.com/2007/07/why-did-yahoo-p/• TikTok Is the New TV: https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-new-show-tv-takeover/• Evan Spiegel on X: https://twitter.com/evanspiegel• Brian Chesky’s new playbook: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/brian-cheskys-new-playbook/• What sets great teams apart | Lane Shackleton (CPO of Coda): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/what-sets-great-teams-apart-lane-shackleton-cpo-of-coda/• Flashtags: https://lane.substack.com/p/flashtags• Patrick Spence on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickspence/• The Philosophy of Ikigai: 3 Examples About Finding Purpose: https://positivepsychology.com/ikigai• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life: https://www.amazon.com/Subtle-Art-Not-Giving-Counterintuitive/dp/0062457713• High Growth Handbook: Scaling Startups from 10 to 10,000 People: https://www.amazon.com/High-Growth-Handbook-Elad-Gil/dp/1732265100• Hyperion: https://www.amazon.com/Hyperion-Cantos-Dan-Simmons/dp/0553283685• A Fire Upon the Deep: https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Upon-Deep-Zones-Thought/dp/0812515285/• Mrs. Davis on Peacock: https://www.peacocktv.com/stream-tv/mrs-davis• Watchmen on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/watchmen• Lost on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/series/lost-466b3994-b574-44f1-88bc-63707507a6cb• Eartune replacement tips: https://eartune.com/products/eartune-fidelity-ufa• Charles Eames’s quote: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/charles_eames_169188• Compuserve: https://www.compuserve.com/• Steve Wilhite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Wilhite—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

Paul Millerd spent several years working in strategy consulting and on the “default path” before deciding to walk away to work on his own in 2017. His book, The Pathless Path, chronicles his own journey and deep dive into the history of work and has been read by more than 40,000 people. His podcast, The Pathless Path Podcast, highlights conversations with others following unconventional paths. He also runs the online training business StrategyU, helping people learn the skills of consulting without having to work in the industry. In our conversation, Paul shares:• An explanation of the “default path” and the “pathless path”• Signs you may be stuck on the default path• How to inch your way toward the pathless path• Why Paul suggests everyone should take a three-month sabbatical• Tips for embracing fear and betting on yourself• How to work through the fear of losing money and prestige—Brought to you by Sanity—The most customizable content layer to power your growth engine | Maui Nui Venison—The healthiest red meat on the planet delivered directly to your door | Wix Studio—The web creation platform built for agencies—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/redefining-success-money-and-belonging-paul-millerd-the-pathless-path/—Where to find Paul Millerd:• X: https://twitter.com/p_millerd• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulmillerd/• Website: https://pathlesspath.com/• Newsletter: https://newsletter.pathlesspath.com • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCofS_FvauuHc-x6mq7yz6nA• Podcast: https://think-boundless.com/podcast/• Email: [email protected]—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) Paul’s background(04:33) An explanation of the “default path”(06:32) Questions to help clarify which path you are on(07:35) Paul’s thoughts on “remixing your path”(09:57) An explanation of the “pathless path” (12:06) Examples of the pathless path(13:54) Why meaning is hard to find and sustain on a traditional career path (16:05) A case for the three-month sabbatical (18:16) A mindfulness and self-reflection exercise(20:18) Why Paul recommends three months(22:28) Advice to founders on offering sabbaticals(23:40) Other tactics for self-discovery(27:08) The variability of income in self-employed roles (29:12) Methods for staying afloat after leaving your job(30:42) Tips for reframing your thoughts around money(33:19) Why betting on yourself usually works out(34:46) The importance of setting aside time for creative pursuits(36:22) How to dip your toes in and find your path (37:53) Lenny’s personal journey(39:27) Advice on dealing with the naysayers (40:22) How to acknowledge and tame your fears(44:52) The “ship, quit, and learn” framework(46:39) Why the pathless path is one of constant reinvention(51:27) Paul’s response to criticism (58:02) First steps for getting started on your journey(55:42) Lightning round—Referenced:• The Pathless Path: Imagining a New Story for Work and Life: https://www.amazon.com/Pathless-Path-Imagining-Story-Work/dp/B09QF6Q421• David Autor on X: https://twitter.com/davidautor• Tim Ferriss’s blog: https://tim.blog/• Why you should define your fears instead of your goals | Tim Ferriss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J6jAC6XxAI• How Lenny Rachitsky Got 531,000 Substack Subscribers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMZem1NYfpM• The Lindy effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect• StrategyU: https://strategyu.co/• David Deming’s website: https://www.daviddeming.com/nyt-columns• The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling: https://www.amazon.com/Great-Work-Your-Life-Journey/dp/0553386077• Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life: https://www.amazon.com/Wanting-Power-Mimetic-Desire-Everyday/dp/1250262488• Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain: https://www.hbo.com/movies/roadrunner-a-film-about-anthony-bourdain• Nuna travel stroller: https://nunababy.com/usa/trvl-easy-fold-compact-stroller• Build Your Own Chatbot with OpenAI GPT-3 and Streamlit: https://medium.com/@avra42/build-your-own-chatbot-with-openai-gpt-3-and-streamlit-6f1330876846—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 CEO of Produx Labs, a product management training organization; author of the seminal PM book The Build Trap; and a former Harvard Business School professor of product management. Denise Tilles is the CPO at Grocket, Melissa’s colleague at Produx Labs, and a seasoned product leader with over a decade of experience. Together they authored the new book Product Operations: How successful companies build better products at scale. In today’s episode, they share insights, strategies, and real-world experiences to master all things product ops. We discuss:• What exactly product operations is• The three pillars of the product ops role• The biggest benefits of adding product ops to your organization• Which tasks product managers should offload to product ops and which they need to own• How to help PMs embrace the value of product ops• Examples of companies that have implemented product ops well• Who and how to hire for this role—This entire episode is brought to you by Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian’s new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-product-operations-melissa-perri-and-denise-tilles/#transcript—Where to find Melissa Perri:• X: https://twitter.com/lissijean• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissajeanperri/• Website: https://produxlabs.com/—Where to find Denise Tilles:• X: https://twitter.com/dtilles• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisetilles/• Website: https://www.denisetilles.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) About our guests, Melissa Perri and Denise Tilles(03:46) How common is the product operations role?(07:41) The benefits of having a product ops person in your organization(09:16) How to help PMs embrace the value of product ops(11:44) The three pillars of the product ops role(15:25) How user research fits in(18:35) Why product ops will be an essential role for product managers to thrive(24:24) Which tasks product managers should offload to product ops and which they need to own(28:58) Project management vs. product ops(29:44) The jobs of a product ops person(37:38) Why the product ops role will never become obsolete(39:31) How many product ops people you need(45:13) First steps in building out a product ops team(47:06) What to look for in your first hire(51:11) Key skills needed for a product ops person(57:29) Who product ops should report to(59:50) An example of rolling out product ops at Athena Health(1:09:35) Lightning round—Referenced:• Product Operations: How successful companies build better products at scale: https://www.productoperations.com/• Produx Labs: https://produxlabs.com• How to create a winning product strategy | Melissa Perri: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-create-a-winning-product-strategy-melissa-perri/• Blake Samic on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blakesamic/• Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value: https://www.amazon.com/Escaping-Build-Trap-Effective-Management/dp/149197379X• Athena Health: https://www.athenahealth.com/• Pendo: https://www.pendo.io/• PopSQL: https://popsql.com/• Understanding the role of product ops | Christine Itwaru (Pendo): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/understanding-the-role-of-product-ops-christine-itwaru-pendo/• Doodle: https://doodle.com/en/• Stephanie Leue on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-leue/• Jira: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira• Dovetail: https://dovetail.com/• Looker: https://cloud.google.com/looker/• Brian Bhuta on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianbhuta/• How to sell your ideas and rise within your company | Casey Winters, Eventbrite: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-sell-your-ideas-and-rise-within-your-company-casey-winters-eventbrite/• Thinking beyond frameworks | Casey Winters (Pinterest, Eventbrite, Airbnb, Tinder, Canva, Reddit, Grubhub): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/thinking-beyond-frameworks-casey-winters-pinterest-eventbrite-airbnb-tinder-canva-reddit-grubhub/• Shared services model: https://www.gartner.com/en/finance/insights/shared-services-model• Shintaro Matsui on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smatsui/• Tableau: https://www.tableau.com/• Jen Cardello on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jencardello/• Tim Davenport on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-davenport-28249b9/• Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral: https://www.amazon.com/Traffic-Genius-Rivalry-Delusion-Billion-Dollar/dp/0593299752• The Art of Action: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Action-10th-Anniversary/dp/1529376963• Continuous Discovery Habits: Discover Products that Create Customer Value and Business Value: https://www.amazon.com/Continuous-Discovery-Habits-Discover-Products/dp/1736633309• Deutschland89 on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/series/deutschland-89-a4cf05f7-b4f2-44c7-84a1-4034671944b9• The Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81414665• Love Is Blind on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80996601• The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80189221• Dragonboat: https://dragonboat.io/solution/product-operations/• Vistaly: https://www.vistaly.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

Brian Chesky is the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb. Under Brian’s leadership, Airbnb has grown into a community of over 4 million hosts who have welcomed more than 1.5 billion guests across over 220 countries and regions. I had the privilege of working under his leadership, so it is a great honor to have him on the show. We discuss:• How Airbnb has shifted their thinking on product management• Why bureaucracy happens in companies, and how to avoid it• The importance of founders diving into the details• Why Airbnb moved away from traditional growth channels and what they are doing instead• Airbnb’s newly released features• How and why Brian encourages his team to set ambitious goals• Why he says he still has a lot to prove—Brought to you by Sidebar—Catalyze your career with a Personal Board of Directors | Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian’s new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/brian-cheskys-new-playbook/#transcript—Where to find Brian Chesky:• X: https://twitter.com/bchesky• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianchesky/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Brian’s background(05:18) The current structure of product management at Airbnb(09:21) How fast-moving companies become slow-moving bureaucracies(12:20) Brian’s thoughts on performance marketing(13:50) Airbnb’s rolling two-year roadmap(15:30) Brian’s journey as CEO in a growing company(18:34) Best practices for A/B testing (20:30) Who inspired Airbnb’s new direction(23:18) The first changes Brian implemented at the onset of the pandemic(24:51) Why founders should be “in the details” (30:15) Airbnb’s marketing, communication, and creative functions(31:38) Advice for founders on how to lead(34:15) Tips for implementing Airbnb’s business methodology (38:48) Airbnb’s winter release(41:47) Why Airbnb no longer has separate guest and host teams (42:38) Brian’s thoughts on design trends (45:36) The importance of empowering hosts with great tools(45:57) How setting ambitious goals improves team performance (50:05) Tips for preventing burnout(56:02) Tips for personal and professional growth (58:19) Why Brian says he still has a lot to prove(1:02:58) Paying it forward(1:05:03) A fun fact about Brian(1:09:26) Airbnb’s origin story—Referenced:• Localmind: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/localmind• Config 2023 in review: https://www.figma.com/blog/config-2023-recap/• Why Founders Fail: The Product CEO Paradox: https://techcrunch.com/2013/08/10/why-founders-fail-the-product-ceo-paradox/• Hiroki Asai on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiroki-asai-a44137110/• Jony Ive on Crunchbase: https://www.crunchbase.com/person/jonathan-ive• Charles Eames: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Eames• Airbnb 2023 Winter Release: https://news.airbnb.com/en-in/airbnb-2023-winter-release-introducing-guest-favorites-a-collection-of-the-2-million-most-loved-homes-on-airbnb/• Airbnb 2023 winter release reel: https://x.com/bchesky/status/1722243847751970861?s=20• John Wooden’s website: https://coachwooden.com/• An 85-year Harvard study found the No. 1 thing that makes us happy in life: It helps us ‘live longer’: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/10/85-year-harvard-study-found-the-secret-to-a-long-happy-and-successful-life.html• Sam Altman on X: https://twitter.com/sama• Alfred P. Sloan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_P._Sloan• Bob Dylan quote: https://quotefancy.com/quote/950807/Bob-Dylan-An-artist-has-got-to-be-careful-never-really-to-arrive-at-a-place-where-he• OpenAI: https://openai.com/• Michael Seibel’s website: https://www.michaelseibel.com/• Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/• The Norman Rockwell Museum: https://www.nrm.org/• Rhode Island School of Design: https://www.risd.edu/• Joe Gebbia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jgebbia/• Nathan Blecharczyk on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blecharczyk/—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

Ramesh Johari is a professor at Stanford University focusing on data science methods and practice, as well as the design and operation of online markets and platforms. Beyond academia, Ramesh has advised some incredible startups, including Airbnb, Uber, Bumble, and Stitch Fix. Today we discuss:• What exactly a marketplace is, if you boil it down• What you need to get right to build a successful marketplace• How to optimize any marketplace• An easy litmus test to see if there’s an opportunity to build a marketplace in the space• The role of data science in successful marketplaces• Ramesh’s philosophy on experimentation and AI• Advice on implementing rating systems• Why learning isn’t free—Brought to you by Sanity—The most customizable content layer to power your growth engine | Hex—Helping teams ask and answer data questions by working together | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/marketplace-lessons-from-uber-airbnb-bumble-and-more-ramesh-johari-stanford-professor-startup/—Where to find Ramesh Johari:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rameshjohari/• Website: https://web.stanford.edu/~rjohari/• X: https://twitter.com/rameshjohari—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) Ramesh’s background(04:31) A brief overview of what a marketplace is(08:10) The role of data science in marketplaces(11:21) Common flaws of marketplaces(16:43) Why every founder is a marketplace founder(20:26) How Substack increased value to creators by driving demand(20:58) An example of overcommitting at eBay(22:24) An easy litmus test for marketplaces (25:52) Thoughts on employees vs. contractors(28:02) How to leverage data scientists to improve your marketplace(34:10) Correlation vs. causation(35:27) Decisions that should be made using data(39:29) Ramesh’s philosophy on experimentation(41:06) How to find a balance between running experiments and finding new opportunities(44:11) Badging in marketplaces(46:04) The “superhost” badge at Airbnb(49:59) How marketplaces are like a game of Whac-A-Mole(52:41) How to shift an organization’s focus from impact to learning(55:43) Frequentist vs. Bayesian A/B testing (57:50) The idea that learning is costly(1:01:55) The basics of rating systems(1:04:41) The problem with averaging(1:07:14) Double-blind reviews at Airbnb(1:08:55) How large language models are affecting data science(1:11:27) Lightning round—Referenced:• Riley Newman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rileynewman/• Upwork (formerly Odesk): https://www.upwork.com/• Ancient Agora: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Agora_of_Athens• Trajan’s Market: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trajan%27s_Market• Kayak: https://www.kayak.com/• UrbanSitter: https://www.urbansitter.com/• Thumbtack: https://www.thumbtack.com/• Substack: https://substack.com/• Ebay: https://www.ebay.com/• Coase: “The Nature of the Firm”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nature_of_the_Firm• Stitch Fix: https://www.stitchfix.com/• A/B Testing with Fat Tails: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/710607• The ultimate guide to A/B testing | Ronny Kohavi (Airbnb, Microsoft, Amazon): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-ab-testing-ronny-kohavi-airbnb-microsoft-amazon/• Servaes Tholen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/servaestholen/• Bayesian A/B Testing: A More Calculated Approach to an A/B Test: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/bayesian-ab-testing• Designing Informative Rating Systems: Evidence from an Online Labor Market: https://arxiv.org/abs/1810.13028• Reputation and Feedback Systems in Online Platform Markets: https://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/stadelis/Annual_Review_Tadelis.pdf• How to Lie with Statistics: https://www.amazon.com/How-Lie-Statistics-Darrell-Huff/dp/0393310728• David Freedman’s books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/David-Freedman/author/B001IGLSGA• Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals: https://www.amazon.com/Four-Thousand-Weeks-Management-Mortals/dp/0374159122• The Alpinist on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Alpinist-Peter-Mortimer/dp/B09KYDWVVC• Only Murders in the Building on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/series/only-murders-in-the-building-ef31c7e1-cd0f-4e07-848d-1cbfedb50ddf—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

Maggie Crowley is VP of product at Toast and previously vice president and head of product at Charlie Health, senior director of product management at Drift, and a PM at TripAdvisor. She’s also the host of Build, a podcast dedicated to product and product management. In today’s conversation, Maggie shares:• The value of building a broad-based PM skill set• Three qualities of the best product managers• A step-by-step guide for crafting a product strategy• How to break into PM• Why great writing is often just simplifying your writing• Why being too data-driven is a red flag• The impact of content creation on Maggie’s career—Brought to you by Productroadmap.ai—AI to connect your roadmaps to revenue | Composer—the AI-powered trading platform | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/mastering-product-strategy-and-growing-as-a-pm-maggie-crowley-toast-drift-tripadvisor/—Where to find Maggie Crowley:• X: https://twitter.com/maggiecrowley• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maggie-crowley-42a97112/—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) Maggie’s background(04:06) Three common traits among the best product managers(09:33) Strategy is an important but small part of the job(11:14) How to get better at simplification(13:39) Tips on simplifying your writing(15:13) Ownership as a PM(17:53) Examples of simplifying your work(19:39) Maggie’s Slack support group(21:37) How to improve on following up on your work(23:23) A realistic time horizon for PMs(26:31) Staying in your role vs. trying a new opportunity(27:37) The importance of “carrying the water” (28:56) Pros and cons of the PM job(31:42) Advice on landing a PM role(34:36) Maggie’s step-by-step process for writing your product strategy(39:55) Not every feature needs a strategy(46:29) The value of working through the process(48:09) Maggie’s one-pager doc (54:16) Contrarian corner(55:44) The worst product Maggie ever shipped(58:33) Why being “data-driven” is a red flag(1:01:10) Content creation as a career accelerator(1:14:27) Closing thoughts(1:15:17) Lightning round—Referenced:• David Cancel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcancel/• On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction: https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-Classic-Guide-Nonfiction/dp/0060891548• Notion: https://www.notion.so/• The Minto Pyramid Principle and the SCR Framework: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/minto-pyramid-principle-scr• Drift: https://www.drift.com/• Maggies Top 5 Product Lessons for 2021: https://www.drift.com/podcasts/build/?wchannelid=hg0p3zf4yx&wmediaid=nxrdvmotr3• Unpacking Amazon’s unique ways of working | Bill Carr (author of Working Backwards): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/unpacking-amazons-unique-ways-of-working-bill-carr-author-of-working-backwards/• Inside Linear: Building with taste, craft, and focus | Karri Saarinen (co-founder, designer, CEO): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/inside-linear-building-with-taste-craft-and-focus-karri-saarinen-co-founder-designer-ceo/• Adam Medros on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amedros/• How Figma builds product: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-figma-builds-product• Strategy Document Template: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1frggEj_gfFD4--8eNkkyY-zHryXbN5uIS8uiMDCYVes/edit• 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.lennyspodcast.com/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/• Einstein quote: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/albert_einstein_122232• The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience: https://www.amazon.com/Presentation-Secrets-Steve-Jobs-Insanely/dp/0071636080• Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Dont Have All the Facts: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Bets-Making-Smarter-Decisions/dp/0735216371• Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building: https://www.amazon.com/Scaling-People-Tactics-Management-Building/dp/1953953212/r• Slow Horses on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/slow-horses/umc.cmc.2szz3fdt71tl1ulnbp8utgq5o• Future: https://www.future.co/• Ladder: https://www.joinladder.com/• Pump Log: https://pumplogapp.com/• Huckleberry: https://huckleberrycare.com/• Toast: https://pos.toasttab.com/• Careers at Toast: https://careers.toasttab.com/homepage• What differentiates the highest-performing product teams | John Cutler (Amplitude, The Beautiful Mess): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/what-differentiates-the-highest-performing-product-teams-john-cutler-amplitude-the-beautiful-mess/—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

Bill Carr is the co-author of Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon. With a background at Amazon of over 15 years, Bill played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s global digital music and video ventures, including Amazon Music, Prime Video, and Amazon Studios. After Amazon, Bill was an Executive in Residence with Maveron, an early-stage, consumer-only venture capital firm. He later served as the chief operating officer of OfferUp, the largest mobile marketplace for local buyers and sellers in the U.S. Today he’s the co-founder of Working Backwards LLC, where he helps companies implement Amazon’s time-tested management strategies. In this episode, we discuss:• What exactly “working backwards” is, and how you do it• Why having “single-threaded leaders” is so effective• Inside Amazon’s intense product review process• How to actually follow the “disagree and commit” principle• The thinking behind the principle “Leaders are right, a lot”• Input vs. output metrics• Fostering a culture of risk-taking and innovation• The role and responsibilities of a “bar raiser” in your hiring, and how it significantly improves the success rate of new hires—Brought to you by AssemblyAI—Production-ready AI models to transcribe and understand speech | Coda—Meet the evolution of docs | Wix Studio—The web creation platform built for agencies—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/unpacking-amazons-unique-ways-of-working-bill-carr-author-of-working-backwards/—Where to find Bill Carr:• X: https://twitter.com/BillCarr89• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-carr/• Website: https://www.workingbackwards.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) Bill’s background(04:26) Amazon’s workplace evolution(09:54) Amazon’s “fitness function”(11:44) Single-threaded leadership(18:07) Implementing a program orientation with single-threaded leadership(20:16) The GM model vs. single-threaded leadership(21:31) Functional countermeasures needed for single-threaded leadership(25:22) Embracing the “disagree and commit” principle(30:22) Understanding disagreements(32:41) Deciphering Amazon’s “Leaders are right, a lot” principle(35:25) An explanation of the working backwards framework(41:16) PR FAQ process: Amazon’s innovation engine(44:47) Deconstructing the PR FAQ structure(43:49) The concentric circle model for sharing PR FAQs(44:55) The customer problem-solution statement(47:52) Create a product funnel, not a product tunnel(51:19) How Amazon promotes action vs. talk(54:35) Amazon’s flywheel and input metrics(1:00:51) Signs you’ve got a good input metric(1:04:23) How mistakes can still be made with working backwards(1:06:54) Why disagreements aren’t necessarily signs products will fail(1:08:02) Examples of failed Amazon projects(1:09:55) Cultivating risk-taking and accepting failure(1:13:57) Amazon’s “bar-raiser” practice for hiring(1:18:21) Selecting Amazon’s bar raisers(1:20:41) Advice on implementing practices from Working Backwards(1:23:10) Bill’s work as an advisor(1:26:05) Lightning round—Referenced:• Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Working-Backwards-Insights-Stories-Secrets/dp/1250267595• Jeff Bezos on X: https://twitter.com/jeffbezos• D.E. Shaw: https://www.deshaw.com/• Eric Ries’s website: https://theleanstartup.com/• GM business model: https://fourweekmba.com/general-motors-business-model/• Rick Dalzell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richarddalzell/• The Effective Decision by Peter F. Drucker: https://hbr.org/1967/01/the-effective-decision• Template: Working Backwards PR FAQ: https://www.workingbackwards.com/resources/working-backwards-pr-faq• Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996• The Amazon flywheel: https://feedvisor.com/resources/amazon-trends/amazon-flywheel-explained/• Sixsigma: https://www.6sigma.us/• Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries: https://www.amazon.com/Loonshots-Nurture-Diseases-Transform-Industries/dp/1250185963• Andy Jassy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-jassy-8b1615/• Implementing Amazon’s Bar Raiser Process in Hiring: A Quick Guide: https://www.barraiser.com/blogs/implementing-amazons-bar-raiser-process-in-hiring• Microspeak: The As-Appropriate (AA) interviewer: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20231017-00/?p=108897• The Practice of Management: https://www.amazon.com/Practice-Management-Peter-F-Drucker/dp/0060878975• The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done: https://www.amazon.com/Effective-Executive-Definitive-Harperbusiness-Essentials/dp/0060833459• Steve Jobs: https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1451648537• Seveneves: https://www.amazon.com/Seveneves-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0062334514• A Gentleman in Moscow: https://www.amazon.com/A-Gentleman-in-Moscow/dp/0143110438• Dune on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Dune-Timoth%C3%A9e-Chalamet/dp/B09LJXY4PH• A Spy Among Friends: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15565872/• Zipp 303 Firecrest tubeless disc brake: https://www.sram.com/en/zipp/models/wh-303-ftld-a1• The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization: https://www.amazon.com/Fifth-Discipline-Practice-Learning-Organization/dp/0385517254—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

Eric Ries is the creator of the Lean Startup methodology, author of the New York Times bestseller The Lean Startup, and founder of the Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE). He’s also a multi-time founder and currently advises startups, VC firms, and larger companies on business and product strategy. In today’s episode, we discuss:• The current state of the Lean Startup methodology• Common misconceptions about the Lean Startup methodology• Understanding how to actually think about MVPs (minimum viable products)• When to pivot and when to stay the course• Thoughts on AI and how to deal with uncertainty• How to structure your company around core values and create products that benefit humanity• The philosophy behind Eric’s current big idea: the Long-Term Stock Exchange• Much more—Brought to you by Sanity—The most customizable content layer to power your growth engine | Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian’s new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams | LinkedIn Ads—Reach professionals and drive results for your business—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/reflections-on-a-movement-eric-ries-creator-of-the-lean-startup-methodology/#transcript—Where to find Eric Ries:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eries/• X: https://twitter.com/ericries• Website: https://theleanstartup.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) Eric’s background(04:46) Eric’s recent activities and projects(06:23) Eric’s start in advising and first-principles thinking(10:56) Lessons from designing the Lean Startup process(14:04) The current state of lean startup methodology(22:33) Common misconceptions about the methodology(24:28) Changes Eric would make in an updated version of Lean Startup(27:52) An explanation of minimum viable product (MVP) and why Eric still stands by the process(37:36) An example of “Less is more”(41:24) More on MVPs and the importance of testing your hypotheses (41:24) How LTSE had to pivot after a partnership fell apart(48:37) Eric’s take on the concept of craft(53:36) Why getting fired for standing by your conviction can be a career accelerator(55:17) Tech’s mental health crisis(56:28) Advice for founders stuck in a “zombie company”(1:00:16) How continuous pivots shape a company’s vision, with a real-life story(1:08:20) Challenges in assessing companies from an external perspective(1:13:17) Practical advice for businesses considering a pivot(1:18:42) The impact of artificial intelligence(1:26:59) The current capabilities of ChatGPT and its potential use as an equalizer in the marketplace(1:31:26) Eric’s current work with founders on human flourishing(1:42:40) Advice for founders who want to build ethical companies (1:49:37) Examples of first-principles thinking(1:53:42) Why shareholder primacy theory is wrong(1:55:19) The “spiritual holding company” (1:58:12) Lightning round—Referenced:• The Long-Term Stock Exchange: https://ltse.com/• The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses: https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898• Lean manufacturing: https://www.techtarget.com/searcherp/definition/lean-production• Six Sigma: https://www.6sigma.us/six-sigma.php• Clay Christensen: https://claytonchristensen.com/• Eric Ries on 4 Common Misconceptions About Lean Startup: https://www.entrepreneur.com/starting-a-business/eric-ries-on-4-common-misconceptions-about-lean-startup/286701• Anakin Skywalker meme: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/for-the-better-right• Linear: Building with taste, craft, and focus | Karri Saarinen (co-founder, designer, CEO): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/inside-linear-building-with-taste-craft-and-focus-karri-saarinen-co-founder-designer-ceo/• Snow Crash: https://www.amazon.com/Snow-Crash-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0553380958• IMVU: https://about.imvu.com/• Ben Silbermann on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/silbermann/• Wonder Boy: Tony Hsieh, Zappos, and the Myth of Happiness in Silicon Valley: amazon.com/Wonder-Boy-Zappos-Happiness-Silicon/dp/1250829097• Understanding Steve Jobs’s Reality Distortion Field: https://www.emexmag.com/understanding-steve-jobs-reality-distortion-field• Paul Graham’s website:http://www.paulgraham.com/raham• Segment: https://segment.com/• Loom: https://www.loom.com/• The Slack story: https://www.paperflite.com/blogs/slack-story• The Social Network on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/70132721• Thomas Kuhn: Paradigm Shift: https://www.simplypsychology.org/kuhn-paradigm.html• Conway’s Law: the little-known principle that influences your work more than you think: https://www.atlassian.com/blog/teamwork/what-is-conways-law-acmi• Monty Python and the Holy Grail Guards Scene on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVWH01E2weA• Toyota Production System: https://global.toyota/en/company/vision-and-philosophy/production-system/• Warren Buffett’s Forbes bio: https://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett• The Enlightened Capitalists: Cautionary Tales of Business Pioneers Who Tried to Do Well by Doing Good: amazon.com/Enlightened-Capitalists-Cautionary-Business-Pioneers/dp/0062880241• The Grace of Kings (The Dandelion Dynasty): https://www.amazon.com/Grace-Kings-Dandelion-Dynasty/dp/148142428• All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries: https://www.amazon.com/All-Systems-Red-Murderbot-Diaries/dp/0765397536• Star Wars: Andor on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/series/star-wars-andor/3xsQKWG00GL5• Tesla Powerwall: https://www.tesla.com/powerwall• Levoit Classic 300S ultrasonic smart humidifier: https://www.amazon.com/LEVOIT-Humidifiers-Ultrasonic-Essential-Customized/dp/B09C24TYGQ• The Law of Sustainable Growth: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20121015181612-2157554-the-law-of-sustainable-growth/—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

Paul Adams is the longtime chief product officer at Intercom, where he leads the product management, product design, data science, and research teams. Before Intercom, Paul was the global head of brand design at Facebook, a senior user researcher at Google, and a product designer at Dyson. He’s also a best-selling author, a podcast host, and a public speaker. In today’s episode, we discuss:• Practical advice on integrating AI into your organization• Tips and tools for learning AI as a PM• Hilarious stories from Google and Facebook• How to build conviction with skeptical coworkers• Lessons learned from pricing at Intercom• How Intercom implemented JTBD—Brought to you by Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments | Hex—Helping teams ask and answer data questions by working together | HelpBar by Chameleon—The free in-app universal search solution built for SaaS—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/what-ai-means-for-your-product-strategy-paul-adams-cpo-of-intercom/—Where to find Paul Adams:• X: https://twitter.com/Padday• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauladams/—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) Paul’s background(04:09) Freezing onstage in front of 8,000 people(07:28) Insights from Google+ days(12:31) Learning from failure(13:56) Intercom’s “ship fast, ship early, ship often” principle(15:17) Integrating AI into product strategy(17:31) Making time for AI learning(19:37) AI in new-product development(21:16) Questions to ask about your product(23:33) How Intercom pivoted after the release of ChatGPT(25:13) Intercom’s AI chatbot, Fin (26:45) The early impact of AI adoption at Intercom(28:53) Mind-blowing capabilities of AI(34:27) How to structure teams around AI products(37:57) Why all teams should be involved in AI(39:04) Staying up to date on emerging technology(42:44) Hurdles implementing AI at Intercom(45:52) Building conviction around AI(49:52) Why you shouldn’t fear AI(50:56) Paul’s “before-after” framework(51:54) Pricing lessons from Intercom(54:54) Paul’s “differentiation vs. table stakes” framework(59:22) What “swinging the pendulum” means and examples from Intercom(1:05:21) Paul’s “product market story fit” framework(1:08:23) His take on JTBD(1:11:01) How Intercom uses the “four forces” framework(1:12:54) Lightning round—Referenced:• Intercom: https://www.intercom.com/• The New ChatGPT Can “See” and “Talk.” Here’s What It’s Like: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/27/technology/new-chatgpt-can-see-hear.html• Fergal Reid on X: https://twitter.com/fergal_reid• Intercom’s AI chatbot, Fin: https://www.intercom.com/drlp/fin• Mark Zuckerberg: First Interview in the Metaverse | Lex Fridman Podcast #398: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVYrJJNdrEg• Black Mirror “Joan Is Awful” episode: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20247352/• Mission: Impossible on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Mission-Impossible-Tom-Cruise/dp/B000X4IRE4• Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/• Claude: https://claude.ai/• Matt Rickard’s newsletter: https://substack.com/@mattrickard• OpenAI’s blog: https://openai.com/blog• The Rundown AI newsletter: https://www.therundown.ai/• Exponential View newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/• Google Bard: https://bard.google.com/• Rewind: https://www.rewind.ai/• The Three Horizons Framework: https://medium.com/fact-of-the-day-1/the-three-horizons-framework-9d7ac0fbea21• Sam Altman on X: https://twitter.com/sama• Tableau: https://www.tableau.com/• Kano model: https://www.productplan.com/glossary/kano-model/• The ultimate guide to JTBD | Bob Moesta (co-creator of the framework): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-jtbd-bob-moesta-co-creator-of-the-framework/• Hot takes and techno-optimism from tech’s top power couple | Sriram and Aarthi: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/hot-takes-and-techno-optimism-from-techs-top-power-couple-sriram-and-aarthi/• Outcome-Driven Innovation: JTBD Theory in Practice: https://jobs-to-be-done.com/outcome-driven-innovation-odi-is-jobs-to-be-done-theory-in-practice-2944c6ebc40e• The Four Forces Framework: https://thefourforces.com/four-forces-framework/• It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be: https://www.amazon.com/Its-Not-How-Good-Want/dp/0714843377/• Principles: Life and Work: https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Life-Work-Ray-Dalio/dp/1501124021• The Bear on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/series/the-bear-05eb6a8e-90ed-4947-8c0b-e6536cbddd5f• “Terry (Olivia Colman) and Richie peel mushrooms” scene from The Bear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7D8THR_osU• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change: https://www.amazon.com/Habits-Highly-Effective-People-Powerful/dp/0743269519• Guinness: https://www.guinness.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