Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 167
Jul 7, 2020 · 18 min
“Hello, and welcome to a free monthly editionof my weekly newsletter. I’m Lenny and each week I tackle reader questions about product, growth, and working with humans, and anything else that’s stressing you out at the office 🤜🤛 Q: How did the fastest growing B2B businesses find their first ten customers? “In the early days of Figma, we talked with practically every designer we knew. In search of more feedback, we turned to Twitter…”
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.
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 93
May 17, 2022 · 20 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny draws on interviews with founders and product leaders at Noom, Duolingo, Grammarly, Calm, Spotify, Future, Flo and others to explain what helps consumer subscription apps last. The core argument is that winners…
SVPG · Marty CaganJul 20, 2009
Jul 20, 2009 · 3 min
Marty Cagan examines what business incubators, from independent startup accelerators to corporate labs like HP Labs and Yahoo's Brickhouse, teach about turning product ideas into successful companies or products. He…
Product Talk · Teresa TorresDec 6, 2011
Dec 6, 2011 · 3 min
Teresa Torres argues that great product management means thinking from the whole business's perspective: a product must not only please customers but also earn money from them, which is the hardest part. She recommends…
Lenny’s Podcast114 min
Jonathan Lowenhar · Dec 5, 2024
Key learnings- Being a founder is a state of being, while being a CEO is a craft; founders should deliberately develop CEO skills like planning…
- Calibrate between founder mode and manager mode depending on what the moment needs; great CEOs know when to dive into details and…
- Start planning by working backwards from your next major milestone (exit, fundraise, profitability, or wind-down) and define what…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 195
Oct 3, 2023 · 33 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyPart six of Lenny Rachitsky's B2B startup series covers hiring an early team, organized around four questions: who to hire first, where to find people, how to persuade them to join, and when to bring on a salesperson…
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…
Product Talk · Teresa TorresApr 20, 2022
Apr 20, 2022 · 8 min
Teresa Torres argues that continuous discovery habits apply to early-stage startups, not just mature products, even before a product or customers exist. She illustrates the ideal path with fictional founders who set a…
Product Talk · Teresa TorresAug 26, 2013
Aug 26, 2013 · 3 min
Teresa Torres argues that most product ideas are born from fleeting thoughts, but only some should become businesses. She offers a set of questions to test an idea's viability before investing heavily. Her approach…
Medium · Hiten ShahMar 10, 2026
Mar 10, 2026 · 3 min
Hiten Shah revisits his 2015 observation of "infectious enthusiasm" in founders and argues its source is not charisma but a prior, settled decision to pursue the work regardless of outcome. He contends that investors…
The Looking Glass · Julie Zhuo♥ 66
Aug 21, 2025
Subscriber post — summary onlyJulie Zhuo's paid essay reflects on the path into founding a company, framing it as a hero's journey shaped by conviction. Based on the excerpt provided, the piece looks back on the starting point and suggests founders…
Lenny’s Podcast117 min
Kunal Shah · Mar 24, 2024
Key learnings- Use the Delta 4 test: if a new product is at least four points better than the existing alternative on a 1-10 scale, it tends to…
- Check whether a feature is genuinely more efficient than the old way; adding technology alone does not guarantee a Delta 4…
- In low-income markets, evaluate user counts with caution: India can deliver huge DAUs but low ARPU, so judge business potential…
Product Talk · Teresa TorresDec 11, 2013
Dec 11, 2013
Teresa Torres shares a short, personal reflection prompted by a quote from Brett Martin about his decision to step away from his startup Sonar. Her core point is that founders sometimes must concede a battle to win the…
SVPG · Marty CaganJun 30, 2026
Jun 30, 2026 · 4 min
Marty Cagan argues that great products are necessary but not sufficient for a great company, because a company known for strong products attracts predatory investors and executives who strip value for quick financial…
Lenny’s Podcast107 min
Mark Pincus · Jun 14, 2026
Key learnings- Use Proven, Better, New: master what already works first, make it measurably better in ways 10 out of 10 existing users would…
- Assume your instincts are right but your specific ideas are often wrong; test many ideas in your innovation zone and fail for the…
- Start humbly and small; ambitious visions before product-market fit tend to cause failure, and early wins usually come from…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 14
Feb 25, 2020 · 4 min
Lenny Rachitsky answers a SaaS founder's question about when a small startup should raise money and start hiring. His core guideline is to wait until product/market fit is found, since hiring before then slows a company…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 159
May 7, 2024 · 3 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny Rachitsky introduces a two-part series on startup pivots, drawing on research into 30+ successful pivots. The post points to a companion spreadsheet covering why each company pivoted, how long it took, how the new…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 16
Oct 1, 2019 · 8 min
Lenny Rachitsky's weekly Q&A newsletter tackles three practical questions: how a startup founder can tell they are approaching product/market fit, what matters most when interviewing for a Director of PM role, and…
Lenny’s Podcast118 min
Karri Saarinen · Oct 8, 2023
Key learnings- Ship features early to a small set of users or internal teammates and polish only at general release, rather than perfecting…
- Co-create early features with one or a few large customers to clarify how complex workflows should actually work.
- Give project teams ownership of their features; craft often emerges when engineers and designers discover better interaction…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 294
Aug 29, 2023 · 29 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyPart three of Lenny Rachitsky's B2B series argues that founders should define their ideal customer profile early, alongside the problem itself. Drawing on interviews with dozens of startup leaders, it outlines a list of…
Lenny’s Newsletter♥ 82
Dec 6, 2022 · 18 min
Subscriber post — summary onlyLenny Rachitsky shares tactics from angel investor and founder Sam Corcos on getting real value from investors. The post argues founders often fail to activate their networks because they don't ask well, and covers…
Lenny’s Newsletter · Free post♥ 172
Nov 25, 2019 · 13 min
This third installment of a marketplace growth series examines how leading marketplaces bootstrapped their initial supply, which is the side that most marketplaces remain constrained on. Drawing on interviews with…
Lenny’s Podcast107 min
Varun Mohan · Apr 20, 2025
Key learnings- Expect your first big bet to be wrong; stay irrationally optimistic about the vision while ruthlessly testing and discarding the…
- Be willing to pivot fully and quickly when hypotheses break, as Varun's team did when model architectures converged on…
- Build the interface where AI-generated code gets reviewed, not just where it gets typed; Windsurf's tripled acceptance rate after…