Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 51
Sep 17, 2021 · 13 min
“Q: I’m looking for ways to increase the conversion rate of our core flow. I’ve already read your post on conversion, and it was great, but do you have any other suggestions? I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure what to do with your question when I first got it. But then, while catching up with my buddy Kristen Berman, I found my answer. Kristen co-founded a company called Irrational Labs, which helps companies and nonprofits understand and…”
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♥ 97
Jul 19, 2022 · 11 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyPart three of Lenny Rachitsky's consumer-business series argues that busy audiences ignore ordinary products, so founders need a remarkable 'hook.' It offers four strategies for finding one: spotlighting what's unique…
Lenny’s Podcast104 min
Brian Balfour · Oct 5, 2023
Key learnings- Building a great product is necessary but not sufficient; durable winners separate themselves by building strong distribution…
- New distribution platforms tend to follow a cycle: competitive consensus, identifying a moat, opening a third-party ecosystem…
- Being early to a new platform matters because late adopters face shrinking windows, since platform cycles appear to be getting…
Lenny’s Podcast98 min
Melissa Tan · Jun 18, 2023
Key learnings- Hire first-principles thinkers who are humble and collaborative, since that combination drove much of Dropbox's innovation…
- Start go-to-market and monetization planning early rather than treating growth as a layer added on top of the product later.
- Introduce a PLG motion when the product is intuitive to onboard onto and has a viral component; move toward enterprise sales once…
Lenny’s Podcast105 min
Zoelle Egner · Jan 29, 2023
Key learnings- Start with a laughably small MVP, as Zoelle's team did with a spreadsheet and phone calls, to learn what infrastructure you…
- Repeat your core message relentlessly; people fill gaps with wrong assumptions, so the leader's job is saying the same things…
- Punch above your weight as a small company by polishing emails, landing pages, and sample content so customers feel the product…
HEY World · Jason FriedFeb 3, 2025
Feb 3, 2025
Jason Fried describes a six-week sprint at Basecamp focused on smoothing the trial-to-paid onboarding experience, which bundled many small changes at once: a sample Getting Started project, a one-step project creation…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 85
Dec 10, 2019 · 9 min
This post is Part 1 of a Phase 2 series on scaling marketplaces, asking how a company can tell whether it is supply-constrained or demand-constrained once it has product-market fit. The author argues the answer is…
Lenny’s NewsletterAug 25, 2020
Aug 25, 2020 · 7 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyThis paid post explains how to measure retention using cohort analysis, including how to read cohort charts for trends and for signs of flattening that indicate product-market fit. It then previews a framework of seven…
Lenny’s Podcast117 min
Peter Sellis · Sep 20, 2026
Key learnings- Collaboration carries hidden coordination costs that slow teams down to the pace of the slowest node; a clear ideology plus clear…
- Give product leaders explicit, repeatable phrases that shortcut the company strategy, and tie them to both a mission and concrete…
- Growth often comes from deepening engagement with your core users (higher daily or weekly use) rather than chasing new monthly…
Lenny’s Podcast117 min
Elena Verna 4.0 · Dec 18, 2025
Key learnings- Expect most of your classic growth playbook to transfer poorly in fast-moving AI categories; Elena estimates only 30-40% of her…
- Build in public: pair regular product shipping with founder-led and employee social posts so the market sees constant change and…
- Give the product away generously, including credits for hackathons and events, since removing the barrier to trying an AI product…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 223
Sep 5, 2023 · 29 min
Lenny Rachitsky's fourth installment in his B2B startup series argues that finding your first ten customers starts with trust and hand-to-hand effort, not scalable channels. Drawing on interviews with founders of…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 112
Aug 22, 2023 · 17 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyThe post offers a step-by-step guide to hiring and structuring a first growth team, drawing on interviews with a dozen growth practitioners. It argues growth should follow product-market fit, that acquisition is usually…
Lenny’s Podcast95 min
Krithika Shankarraman · May 25, 2025
Key learnings- Don't copy competitors' playbooks blindly; first diagnose the real funnel problem, since a leaky bottom-of-funnel means…
- Use a four-step DATE approach: diagnose the problem, analyze competitors for gaps, take a deliberately different path, then…
- Judge marketing by pipeline, revenue, signups, and activation rather than vanity metrics like clicks, views, and impressions.
Lenny’s Podcast91 min
Adriel Frederick · Oct 20, 2022
Key learnings- Make new R&D or incubation teams feel core to the company mission and share their wins, so the rest of the organization doesn't…
- For algorithm-heavy products, decide explicitly what the algorithm owns versus what people own, and design interfaces that let…
- Treat operational control as a first-order product requirement when a marketplace needs day-to-day human adjustments like weather…
Lenny’s Podcast74 min
Cam Adams · Jun 2, 2024
Key learnings- Cameron says Canva replaces traditional managers with specialty coaches, roughly 800 to 1,000 internal people who help colleagues…
- Cameron argues that scaling requires 'giving away your Lego': hand off tasks you personally own, like writing every email, so you…
- Cameron advises founders to build something they are truly passionate about, since passion sustains them through the dark…
SVPG · Marty CaganApr 5, 2005
Apr 5, 2005 · 7 min
Marty Cagan argues that consumer internet services differ sharply from traditional enterprise software: there is no sales force or distribution channel between the product and its users, so ideas can be tested and…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 97
Nov 24, 2020 · 29 min
Pete Kazanjy argues that bottom-up, self-serve B2B products should eventually layer in a direct sales motion, since waiting too long creates large opportunity costs and lets competitors capture enterprise segments. He…
Lenny’s Podcast80 min
Adam Fishman · Oct 13, 2022
Key learnings- Use a competency model (growth execution, customer knowledge, growth strategy, communication and influence) to hire for a…
- Before hiring a growth leader, agree on what you need and where the gaps are, and use the model as a reverse interview to see…
- Give specific feedback by naming the exact competency to improve, instead of vague comments like 'be more strategic'.
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 26
Nov 2, 2021 · 7 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyThis 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’s Podcast121 min
Naomi Gleit · Oct 27, 2024
Key learnings- Keep one canonical doc per project that links to all other docs, listing workstreams, single-threaded owners, processes…
- Pursue a dream company or role persistently, even by volunteering informally in the role you want until the formal job becomes a…
- Pick a clear activation or retention milestone so the whole team optimizes toward one shared goal, even if the exact threshold is…
Product Talk · Teresa TorresFeb 25, 2013
Feb 25, 2013 · 3 min
Teresa Torres argues that email remains a powerful channel for products despite claims it is dead. She counters common myths: that young users avoid email, that spam has ruined it, and that users will be annoyed by…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 84
Apr 26, 2022 · 12 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny 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’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…