Lenny’s Podcast105 min
Ada Chen Rekhi · Apr 16, 2023
Key learnings- Run a curiosity loop by asking a specific, unbiased question with a rationale request, sent lightweight to 5-10 people who are…
- Avoid generic advice by making it contextual: weigh each recommendation against your own situation, skills, and experience rather…
- Use a personal values exercise to rank what matters to you, then test big decisions against that internal scorecard instead of…
Lenny’s Podcast74 min
Laura Modi · Apr 13, 2023
Key learnings- Build culture first: if the team internalizes that the supply side or users come first, growth and better tools tend to follow.
- Connect your brand to the top worries your customer already has, rather than trying to convince them they have a new problem.
- When a crisis threatens customers, be willing to pause growth, like Bobbie did by turning off its site to protect current…
SVPG · Marty CaganApr 12, 2023
Apr 12, 2023
Marty Cagan argues that a common reason transformation efforts fail is structural: large management consultancies and IT outsourcing firms are poorly positioned to drive a shift to the product model. Their people are…
Product Talk · Teresa TorresApr 12, 2023
Apr 12, 2023 · 23 min
Teresa Torres and Hope Gurion analyze free-text answers from a 2022 benchmark survey where many product teams answered 'other' when asked whether their product aims to grow revenue or reduce costs. Using real examples…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 497
Apr 11, 2023 · 4 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny Rachitsky argues that learning to work alongside AI tools like ChatGPT is quickly becoming a baseline skill for product managers, not something that replaces them. The post surveys a dozen concrete ways PMs…
Lenny’s Podcast53 min
Shweta Shriva · Apr 9, 2023
Key learnings- Build autonomous driving to feel natural and predictable, using human driving data while discarding bad driving behavior, so…
- Expect the MVP bar to be far higher when safety is at stake, but still ship early and iterate on real-world deployment.
- Track both commercial/operational metrics (trips, active users, cost) and system behavior metrics (safety versus human…
Lenny’s Podcast77 min
Nikita Miller · Apr 6, 2023
Key learnings- Have product, design, engineering and data leaders each write expectations for their own role and for each other, then review…
- Revisit roles and responsibilities every few months, usually triggered by tension or missed work, with a quick retro when…
- Watch execution velocity and decision-making speed closely; outcomes matter, but shipping output quickly is the indicator that…
Product Talk · Teresa TorresApr 5, 2023
Apr 5, 2023 · 7 min
Brainstorming in groups often underperforms because of social loafing, conformity, production blocking, and downward norm setting, yet teams still benefit from the diverse perspectives each member brings. This essay…
Lenny’s Podcast106 min
Hila Qu · Apr 2, 2023
Key learnings- Treat PLG as data-led growth: free products should yield broader reach plus usage data showing which features correlate with…
- Most companies end up running both PLG and sales motions; start PLG early because retrofitting it into a sales-led organization…
- Commit for a year or two and don't mistake simply opening a free trial for a PLG strategy; it requires redesigning activation…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 181
Mar 28, 2023 · 15 min
Kyle Poyar argues that product-led growth (PLG) only works economically if customer acquisition cost stays near zero, roughly under $1 per unique website visitor. Using OpenView benchmark funnel math, he shows that a…
Lenny’s Podcast65 min
Kevin Aluwi · Mar 26, 2023
Key learnings- Super apps often fail to deliver promised lower acquisition costs and higher retention unless the services share a unifying…
- Treat brand as the second most important priority after product, and build it through consistent tone across copy, ads, product…
- Embed your brand in physical reality: branded jackets and helmets worked because they visibly signaled the service to people…
Lenny’s Podcast76 min
Lulu Cheng Meservey · Mar 23, 2023
Key learnings- Make ideas spread by making them memorable and giving people a reason to repeat them, such as humor, a vivid mental image, an…
- Test a catchphrase by asking whether a second-grader could understand it immediately; avoid inside jokes that only make sense…
- Treat making mistakes of commission rather than omission as the better bet, since visible errors can be learned from while…
SVPG · Marty CaganMar 21, 2023
Mar 21, 2023 · 4 min
Marty Cagan argues that the rapid rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney and GPT-4 is a disruptive technology wave comparable to personal computers, the Internet, and the iPhone. He notes that disruptions…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 265
Mar 21, 2023 · 19 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny Rachitsky interviews Duolingo VP of Product Cem Kansu about how the company builds product. The post covers its co-lead team structure, quarterly and yearly OKR cycles, a tiered product review process, weekly…
Lenny’s Podcast106 min
Josh Miller · Mar 19, 2023
Key learnings- Optimize for the feeling you want users to have (joy, speed, surprise, focus) and use metrics as an honesty check rather than the…
- Track one tight engagement metric that captures retention, engagement, and growth together, such as how many users return five of…
- Hire people who show up with heartfelt intensity and something to prove, then give them an ambitious prompt and get out of their…
Lenny’s Podcast99 min
Christina Wodtke · Mar 16, 2023
Key learnings- OKRs amplify a company that already has strategy, empowered teams and psychological safety; they reveal dysfunction rather than…
- Use a weekly question as the core unit: what am I doing this week to move closer to our strategic outcomes?
- Keep strategy as a half-built plan across quarters and set the detailed key results only for the current quarter.
SVPG · Marty CaganMar 15, 2023
Mar 15, 2023 · 5 min
Marty Cagan introduces the core competencies that a product operating model requires, framing product teams as responsible for solving hard customer and business problems rather than delivering features on request. He…
Product Talk · Teresa TorresMar 15, 2023
Mar 15, 2023 · 19 min
Teresa Torres and Hope Gurion discuss how leaders can hold empowered product teams accountable to outcomes without sliding back into feature-factory control. They describe empowerment as a spectrum: teams get discretion…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 235
Mar 14, 2023 · 7 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyA practical brainstorming list of growth tactics organized by funnel stage and team area: top-of-funnel acquisition (short and long term), monetization, conversion and activation, retention, and team velocity. The post…
Lenny’s Podcast119 min
Sriram and Aarthi · Mar 12, 2023
Key learnings- Meet peers across your org for coffee with no agenda, asking about their work and who else to meet; two coffees a week compounds…
- Follow up after good first meetings and check in every six months or so; most people never follow through, which wastes the…
- Put your work out publicly (threads, posts, talks, GitHub, video); it acts as a signal that attracts serendipitous opportunities…
Lenny’s Podcast103 min
Laura Schaffer · Mar 9, 2023
Key learnings- Build career momentum beyond your manager by learning your customers deeply and sharing those insights, which makes you a go-to…
- Share customer insights regularly and make them visible; a recurring voice-of-the-customer report can grow into a forum that…
- Expect many ideas to be rejected; treat each refusal as a chance to bring better information, since leaders value insights they…
Product Talk · Teresa TorresMar 8, 2023
Mar 8, 2023 · 3 min
Teresa Torres addresses a common confusion: how OKRs relate to outcomes. She explains that an OKR pairs an inspiring objective with measurable key results, while an outcome is the change that results from actions…
Lenny’s Podcast102 min
Claire Hughes Johnson · Mar 5, 2023
Key learnings- Start with self-awareness: seek feedback on your motivators, strengths, and blind spots, and share them with your team, since…
- Introduce job levels and career ladders earlier than feels necessary; waiting until a company is large makes the change far more…
- Treat company-building infrastructure as essential, not optional: product-market fit alone won't scale, and weak structures and…
SVPG · Marty CaganMar 3, 2023
Mar 3, 2023 · 3 min
Marty Cagan explains that his upcoming book TRANSFORMED needs a name for the way the best tech companies work, and he tentatively settles on the 'product operating model' or 'product model.' He notes that the industry…
Lenny’s Podcast113 min
Gustaf Alstromer · Mar 2, 2023
Key learnings- Hire people who are genuinely excited to build the specific company and screen motivations with culture interviews, as Airbnb did…
- Startups most often fail because they don't talk to customers and so never find product-market fit; validating with users is the…
- Expect to contact many prospects (roughly 25 to 50 conversations) to find the early adopters who will actually engage.
Product Talk · Teresa TorresMar 1, 2023
Mar 1, 2023 · 23 min
Teresa Torres reports on the second part of her inaugural CDH Benchmark Survey, which asked product teams about their discovery habits. She argues that many people doubt that continuous discovery exists in practice…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 1,022
Feb 28, 2023 · 21 min
Jorge Mazal, former CPO of Duolingo, recounts how the company reversed a slide in daily active user growth and eventually grew DAU about 4.5x over four years. The journey began with failed attempts: a…
Lenny’s Podcast86 min
Annie Pearl · Feb 26, 2023
Key learnings- When sharing a scheduling link, first invite the other person to share their availability, and paste your open times directly…
- Break into product via internal transfer: show curiosity, help with product work on the side, and build relationships with PMs…
- Start from a clear product strategy that defines where you play and where you don't, including the markets, segments, and…
Lenny’s Podcast70 min
Upasna Gautam · Feb 23, 2023
Key learnings- Build buffer time into plans for newsroom work, since breaking news routinely pulls journalists away from scheduled research and…
- Use recurring touchpoints such as weekly demo days, multi-session working sessions, and office hours to gather continuous…
- Script breaking-news dress rehearsals to stress-test the platform under realistic time pressure before a real event hits.
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 64
Feb 21, 2023 · 7 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny Rachitsky answers a reader worried about layoffs by compiling advice from people who were recently laid off. The post walks through seven preparation steps, including documenting accomplishments, rebuilding your…