Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 239
Aug 17, 2021 · 6 min
“Q: I recently discovered your newsletter, and I’m finding it hard to browse your posts. Is there someplace I can find your best stuff, ideally grouped by topic? After two and a half years of putting out this newsletter every single week, we’re now at over 150 posts. Discoverability has become a problem. So let’s fix that. Below, I’ve collected my best posts, from day one until today, roughly sorted by popularity, across nine topics: 1…”
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 24
Aug 10, 2021 · 7 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny Rachitsky lists five habits that make product managers annoying to their teams and suggests how to avoid them. The core argument is that great PMs add much value, but rigid process worship, impulsive…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 32
Aug 3, 2021 · 7 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyThe post argues that marketplaces succeed by choosing one of three routes: delivering far more convenience, offering a significantly lower price, or unlocking desirable supply that customers want. It also explains what…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 89
Jul 27, 2021 · 8 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny argues that most teams should skip elaborate prioritization frameworks and use a simple impact-versus-cost sort of T-shirt-sized ideas, then refine it with team input. He stresses that the roadmap must follow a…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 30
Jul 21, 2021 · 10 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny Rachitsky examines whether a startup needs a strong 'why now'—a clear reason the product is only possible at this moment. He argues it improves odds by enabling a 10x better product or a new untapped market, but…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 30
Jul 21, 2021 · 4 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny Rachitsky examines whether startups need a strong 'why now' to win over investors and build large businesses. He argues a clear answer helps, since it can enable a much better product or open an untapped market…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 48
Jul 13, 2021 · 12 min
Lenny Rachitsky examines how labor marketplaces find and grow their supply side, drawing on interviews with founders and early team members of roughly a dozen fast-growing companies. Because these platforms connect…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 25
Jul 6, 2021 · 10 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyThe post answers a founder's question about hiring difficulty by synthesizing advice from several early-stage founders who consistently attract strong talent. It argues that hiring success comes from a compelling…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 46
Jun 29, 2021 · 6 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny answers a new PM's question about how to judge day-to-day performance by proposing three priority-ordered checks: whether the team delivers business impact, whether the individual contributes to strategy and team…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 25
Jun 22, 2021 · 9 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyThe post argues that distribution, not product alone, separates startups that succeed from those that fail, and that a unique distribution advantage is needed to reach audiences more cheaply than competitors. It lays…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 109
Jun 16, 2021
This is a short announcement newsletter pointing readers to a guest post Lenny Rachitsky wrote for a16z's Future site on choosing a North Star Metric. The guide draws on a survey of current and former employees at more…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 64
Jun 15, 2021 · 8 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny Rachitsky shares his favorite interview questions for product managers, one per core PM responsibility, with notes on what strong answers look like and which red flags to watch for. He also includes a set of…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 62
Jun 10, 2021 · 9 min
Shivani Berry, a former PM turned leadership coach, argues that buy-in comes from showing teammates how your idea advances their goals. She explains three common failure modes: assuming others think like you, feeling…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 61
Jun 8, 2021 · 10 min
Lenny Rachitsky argues that people learn about new products through seven distinct channels, split by whether they encounter the product online, out in the world, or at home, and whether the exposure is organic or paid…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 25
Jun 1, 2021 · 10 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyThe post asks how long marketplace startups take to reach product-market fit and answers by collecting founder accounts from companies like Lyft, DoorDash, Uber, and Airbnb. The core argument is that marketplaces take…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 80
May 25, 2021 · 15 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny Rachitsky analyzes more than twenty public PM career ladders to identify the core skills companies value in product managers. He outlines ten recurring PM competencies, the shifts that separate junior from senior…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 21
May 18, 2021 · 11 min
Carole Robin, co-creator of Stanford's 'Touchy Feely' course, answers a reader whose co-founder relationship is deteriorating while the business still needs it to work. She argues that co-founder friction, like marriage…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 21
May 11, 2021 · 9 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyA reader question about business model types prompts this issue, which the author notes was hard to find summarized anywhere. It lays out eight core ways businesses make money, such as selling a thing, renting, taking a…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 74
May 4, 2021 · 12 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny Rachitsky answers a reader's question about what makes product managers great by sharing 14 habits he has observed and refined over years. The core argument is that effective PMs build habits around clear…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 1
Apr 27, 2021 · 16 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyA guest post by DJ DiDonna of the Sabbatical Project that debunks three common manager objections to sabbatical programs: that everyone will leave, that the company will collapse without the leader, and that people…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 65
Apr 20, 2021 · 12 min
Lenny's newsletter opens with his own sabbatical experience and then hands the floor to DJ DiDonna, founder of The Sabbatical Project, who has interviewed over 250 people about extended time off. DJ argues that…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 27
Apr 13, 2021 · 16 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny Rachitsky explains why marketplaces fail, drawing on dozens of failed examples. He argues the core causes mirror any startup: lacking product-market fit on demand or supply, poor liquidity, weak unit economics…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 23
Apr 6, 2021 · 8 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny Rachitsky explains how marketplace and platform builders should choose a take rate, the fee charged on each transaction. He introduces a simple formula combining convenience and demand minus competition, walks…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 118
Mar 30, 2021 · 10 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny explains the Minto Pyramid Principle (lead with the answer, then support it with arguments and data) and the Situation-Complication-Resolution (SCR) framework for structuring business narratives. He shows how…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 46
Mar 23, 2021 · 13 min
Katie Dill, a design leader who has worked with hundreds of PMs, offers five practical tips for building a strong product management and design partnership. She argues that PMs and designers share the same goal of…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 13
Mar 16, 2021 · 6 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny answers a reader's question about keeping support for a long-term 'big bet' project at a large company. His core argument is that steady, visible wins (the 80/20 split of incremental work and high-risk work) earn…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 19
Mar 9, 2021 · 5 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny Rachitsky compiles informal Twitter poll results on the software tools product, design, analytics, research, and data teams rely on, plus what early-stage founders buy first and spend most on. The post separates…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 143
Mar 2, 2021 · 21 min
Lenny Rachitsky maps the landscape of content-driven growth into five strategies, then zooms in on editorially generated SEO content (EGSO), where employees create search-optimized material. He profiles Slidebean…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 15
Feb 23, 2021 · 5 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny Rachitsky argues that most job postings are dull and that a standout posting is a high-return investment for attracting applicants and strengthening brand. He shares several examples from companies like…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 53
Feb 16, 2021 · 13 min
Lenny Rachitsky announces Atelier Ventures, the debut $13 million fund of Li Jin, who coined the 'passion economy' term in a 2019 essay. The fund backs platforms that broaden access to new forms of work, lower barriers…