Writer of Lenny's Newsletter and host of Lenny's Podcast.
Todd Jackson, a seed-stage investor at First Round Capital, interviewed founders of eight companies (Vanta, Flexport, Cocoon, Good Dog, Snackpass, Rec Room, LaunchDarkly, Pinwheel) about how they chose and validated…
Lenny Rachitsky surveys about two dozen venture investors on what growth rates count as good or great at each stage of a business. The post argues that early-stage investors weigh time-to-$1M ARR, retention, and…
Lenny Rachitsky lays out a three-part approach to preparing for product manager interviews: research the product, company and interview process; practice with real people through mock interviews and coaching; and study…
Andy Johns, a growth leader who stepped away from a presidency at Wealthfront after a heart scare, argues that high achievers need a deliberate way to recognize and respect their personal limits. He introduces a…
Lenny Rachitsky lays out the four metrics he considers most important for an early marketplace: fill rate, bookings growth, supply growth, and GMV growth. He explains why each matters, shares practitioner perspectives…
Lenny Rachitsky lays out a practical playbook for interviewing product managers: a multi-stage funnel with screens, a full-day loop, and panel debriefs. He covers which skills to test, sample questions, how to design…
Jules Walter argues that product sense is a learned skill rather than an innate talent, defined as consistently crafting products that have the intended impact on users through empathy and creativity. He offers four…
Lenny explains when a product should be free and how to choose between freemium and a free trial, based on an analysis of about 50 SaaS pricing models. He frames free as an acquisition strategy, either disrupting a…
Lenny Rachitsky opens with a note on the war in Ukraine and ways to help, then answers a reader question about waitlist conversion. Drawing on founder input, he shares rough conversion benchmarks for free sign-ups, paid…
This guest-authored guide by Jason Shah, head of product at Alchemy, explains how the product manager role changes at web3 startups. The author argues that PMs there are more versatile, more art than science given…
Lenny Rachitsky benchmarks what counts as good and great monthly SaaS churn, drawing on growth leaders and ProfitWell data across B2C, SMB/mid-market, and enterprise segments. He argues churn should be read by price…
Lenny Rachitsky lays out seven practical strategies for earning a promotion, drawing on his own roughly nine promotions over a 16-year career. The core argument is that consistent, impactful work is the foundation, and…
Lenny Rachitsky reviews more than 140 of his angel investments, sharing seven surprises, a practical path into angel investing, and his startup evaluation criteria. His core argument is that access to good deals and a…
Deb Liu, who led the team behind Facebook Marketplace, recounts how an idea she pitched in 2009 languished for years before a small Groups-based commerce test revealed organic buying and selling behavior. The team's…
Lenny Rachitsky argues that product differentiation is essential, drawing on Michael Porter's view that winners either operate better or perform differently from rivals. The post lays out seven practical differentiators…
Lenny answers a first-time B2B founder's question about prioritization before product-market fit. He argues that typical frameworks suit large companies, lists common early-stage pitfalls, and proposes a single goal…
Guest post by Justin Gage, writer of Technically, offering five practical technical areas product managers should understand to work more effectively with engineers. He argues that a strong technical foundation makes…
Lenny Rachitsky polls sixteen growth experts on what counts as a good customer payback period across B2C, SMB and enterprise businesses. The post explains how to calculate payback on a gross-profit basis, why it matters…
This excerpt from Andrew Chen's book argues that networked products should first build a small, self-sustaining 'atomic network' before expanding. The atomic network is the smallest unit that can stand on its own, and…
Lenny Rachitsky answers a question from a newly minted product manager by describing five common early-career pitfalls: acting as a coordinator, a dictator, a dreamer, a feature factory, and a shield failing to filter…
“Q: My co-founder and I are thinking about building a community around our product. Should we? And how do we get started? Community—so hot right now. Ask any founder if they’ve thought about building a community and 9 out of 10 times you’ll get an immediate yes. And for good reason. Companies like Atlassian, Glossier, Datadog, Twitch, dbt, Salesforce, Peloton, and many others have succeeded in large part due to the passionate community…”
Lenny Rachitsky answers a reader's question about which metrics matter for a consumer app, arguing the right metrics depend on how the business makes money. He walks through five consumer models (trial-based…
Lenny Rachitsky answers the common interview question of what a product manager does, offering a working definition centered on delivering business impact through a team and customer problems. He frames the day-to-day…
Elena Verna argues that a founder's first growth hire is one of the most consequential hires a startup makes, and that many founders begin with avoidable mistakes. She proposes six rules: define a growth model before…
This post is mostly a promotional announcement for a part-time PM course aimed at early-career product managers, with a reader Q&A in the middle. The core advice in the Q&A explains how to move from a generalist PM role…
Lenny Rachitsky explains what a 'wedge' strategy is, namely entering a large market through a narrow, sharp initial product and segment. He covers when a wedge is most needed (entrenched or crowded markets), why it…
This guest-written issue, drawn from Ali Abouelatta's First 1000 research, catalogs 60 examples of 'Turbo Boosts,' one-off events that temporarily accelerate growth. It frames them as the fuel-like components of a…
Lenny Rachitsky shares a curated directory of roughly 200 favorite reads, listens, and watches on growth, startups, writing, angel investing, product management, leadership, and frameworks, cleaned up and expanded for…
Lenny Rachitsky offers a three-step process for a product person to say no to a manager while keeping their trust: listen and ask questions, form an independent point of view, then respond constructively using one of…
Niya Dragova, co-founder of Candor, shares ten rules for salary negotiation aimed at tech professionals who find negotiating uncomfortable. She argues that compensation is deliberately opaque and that most people lose…