Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

By: Lenny Rachitsky
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  • Summary

  • Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover concrete, actionable, and tactical advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.

    www.lennysnewsletter.com
    Lenny Rachitsky
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Economics Leadership
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Episodes
  • Tobi Lütke’s leadership playbook: Playing infinite games, operating from first principles, and maximizing human potential (founder and CEO of Shopify)

    Tobi Lütke’s leadership playbook: Playing infinite games, operating from first principles, and maximizing human potential (founder and CEO of Shopify)
    Feb 2 2025
    Tobi Lütke is the founder and CEO of Shopify, a $130 billion business that powers over 10% of all U.S. e-commerce. Starting as a snowboard shop in 2004, Shopify has become the leading commerce platform by consistently approaching problems differently. Tobi remains deeply technical, frequently coding alongside his team, and is known for his unique approach to leadership, product development, and company building. In our conversation, we discuss:• Why complexity kills entrepreneurship• How to develop and leverage your unique talent stack• How specifically Tobi approaches thinking from first principles• The importance of focusing on unquantifiable qualities like joy and delight• Why Tobi works backward from a 100-year vision• Why metrics should support decisions, not make them• The power of following your curiosity• What Tobi believes it takes to be a great product leader• Much more—Brought to you by:• Sinch—Build messaging, email, and calling into your product• Liveblocks—Ready-made collaborative features to drop into your product• Loom—The easiest screen recorder you’ll ever use—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/tobi-lutkes-leadership-playbook—Where to find Tobi Lütke:• X: https://x.com/tobi• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobiaslutke/• Website: https://tobi.lutke.com/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Welcome and introduction(04:17) The Tobi tornado(07:10) Maximizing human potential(11:05) Education and personal growth(16:47) Operating without KPIs(25:00) First-principles thinking(40:04) Remote work(45:59) Why Tobi never stopped coding(54:46) Embracing disagreement(01:01:27) The 100-year vision(01:09:29) Balancing tactics and positioning(01:17:15) Encouraging entrepreneurship(01:19:34) The power of good UX(01:28:42) The talent stack and unique opportunities(01:34:30) The role of passion in product development(01:36:39) Final thoughts and farewell—Referenced:• How Shopify builds a high-intensity culture | Farhan Thawar (VP and Head of Eng): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-shopify-builds-a-high-intensity-culture-farhan-thawar• Breaking the rules of growth: Why Shopify bans KPIs, optimizes for churn, prioritizes intuition, and builds toward a 100-year vision | Archie Abrams (VP Product, Head of Growth at Shopify): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/shopifys-growth-archie-abrams• The ultimate guide to performance marketing | Timothy Davis (Shopify): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/performance-marketing-timothy-davis• Brandon Chu on building product at Shopify, how writing changed the trajectory of his career, the habits that make you a great PM, pros and cons of being a platform PM, how Shopify got through Covid: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brandon-chu-on-what-its-like-to-build• IRC: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRC• Goodhart’s law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law• Glen Coates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glcoates/• How Shopify builds product: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-shopify-builds-product• The Last Dance on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80203144• Autoregressive Models for Natural Language Processing: https://medium.com/@zaiinn440/autoregressive-models-for-natural-language-processing-b95e5f933e1f• Archimedean property: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedean_property• Tabula rasa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabula_rasa• Daniel Weinand on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielweinand/• World of Warcraft: https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com• Harley Finkelstein on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harleyf/• Monorepo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monorepo• The Sarbanes Oxley Act: https://sarbanes-oxley-act.com/• Shopify builds Shopify Balance with Stripe to give small businesses an easier way to manage money: https://stripe.com/customers/shopify• Stanford marshmallow experiment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment• Brian Armstrong on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barmstrong/• We are the Web: https://link.wired.com/public/32945405—Recommended books:• Finite and Infinite Games: https://www.amazon.com/Finite-Infinite-Games-James-Carse/dp/1476731713• The Infinite Game: https://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Game-Simon-Sinek/dp/073521350X/—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe
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    1 hr and 42 mins
  • Linear’s secret to building beloved B2B products | Nan Yu (Head of Product)

    Linear’s secret to building beloved B2B products | Nan Yu (Head of Product)
    Jan 30 2025
    Nan Yu is the head of product at Linear, one of the most beloved and fastest-growing B2B SaaS products out there today, and the gold standard for high-performing tech teams. In our conversation, we discuss:• Why speed and quality aren’t actually at odds• Linear’s unique approach to product development• Nan’s systematic approach to creativity• Linear’s philosophy on deadlines• The “double triangle” framework for product management• Nan’s approach to landing his dream product roles• Much more—Brought to you by:• Sinch—Build messaging, email, and calling into your product• Paragon—Ship every SaaS integration your customers want• Wix Studio—The web creation platform built for agencies—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/linears-secret-to-building-beloved-b2b-products-nan-yu—Where to find Nan Yu:• X: https://x.com/thenanyu• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thenanyu/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Introduction to Nan Yu and Linear(04:54) Survey insights: Linear vs. Jira(07:51) The speed vs. quality myth(09:24) Building and iterating quickly(15:31) Avoiding bloat in enterprise software(23:57) Understanding user needs deeply(30:09) How to approach customer calls(34:10) Creating strong emotional hooks(40:31) Managing the product backlog(44:46) Systemizing creativity(48:16) Demo: Saving drafts in Linear(51:38) Breaking constraints and building at extremes(54:15) Adopting new tools(58:22) The “double triangle” framework for product management(01:04:23) Effective job-hunting strategies for PMs(01:09:15) Thoughts on deadlines(01:14:15) Lightning round—Referenced:• Jira: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira• Linear: https://linear.app/• Patrick Collison’s post on X: https://x.com/patrickc/status/1869422495985750459• Magnus Carlsen on X: https://x.com/magnuscarlsen• Hikaru Nakamura on X: https://x.com/gmhikaru• Geoffrey Moore on finding your beachhead, crossing the chasm, and dominating a market: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/geoffrey-moore-on-finding-your-beachhead• Customer Request feature on Linear: https://linear.app/customer-requests• Everlane: https://www.everlane.com/• Schlep Blindness: https://paulgraham.com/schlep.html• Linear’s triage tool: https://linear.app/docs/triage• Patrick Collison’s post about mental models on X: https://x.com/patrickc/status/1443215022029619200• Brian Chesky’s new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach• Unpacking Amazon’s unique ways of working | Bill Carr (author of Working Backwards): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/unpacking-amazons-unique-ways-of• Mode: https://mode.com/• The Diplomat on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81288983• Sakura Micron pens: https://www.amazon.com/SAKURA-PIGMA-MICRON-ESSENTIAL-COLORS/dp/B07VJFXT3C/—Recommended books:• Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers: https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-3rd-Disruptive-Mainstream/dp/0062292986• The Design of Everyday Things: https://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Revised-Expanded/dp/0465050654/—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe
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    1 hr and 21 mins
  • An operator’s guide to product strategy | Chandra Janakiraman (CPO at VRChat, ex-Meta, Headspace, Zynga)

    An operator’s guide to product strategy | Chandra Janakiraman (CPO at VRChat, ex-Meta, Headspace, Zynga)
    Jan 26 2025
    Chandra Janakiraman is the chief product officer, executive vice president, and a board member at VRChat. Previously, he was a product leader at Meta, where he led Facebook’s social experience interfaces and Reality Labs’ growth; served as CPO at Headspace, where he helped relaunch the platform, driving a 4x subscriber boost; and was a GM at Zynga, delivering massive hit games that reached hundreds of millions. In our conversation, Chandra shares:• His playbook for developing a product strategy• The difference between “small s” and “big S” strategy• How to run strategy sprints• Who should be involved in strategy work• Common pitfalls in strategy development• The role of AI in future strategy development• More—Brought to you by:• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments• Airtable ProductCentral—Launch to new heights with a unified system for product development• OneSchema—Import CSV data 10x faster—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/an-operators-guide-to-product-strategy-chandra-janakiraman—Where to find Chandra Janakiraman:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandramohanj/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Chandra’s background(04:47) The importance of strategy(12:40) Defining product strategy(15:42) Developing a winning strategy: an overview(18:51) The preparation phase(30:46) The strategy sprint process(45:51) The design sprint (51:19) Document writing(57:39) Rolling out your strategy(01:01:28) Resourcing and roadmapping(01:04:42) Strategy lessons from Zynga(01:11:34) Strategy lessons from Meta(01:15:55) Big S strategy(01:26:58) AI in strategy formulation(01:38:12) Final thoughts and lightning round—Referenced:• Headspace: https://www.headspace.com/• Good Strategy, Bad Strategy | Richard Rumelt: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/good-strategy-bad-strategy-richard• 5 essential questions to craft a winning strategy | Roger Martin (author, advisor, speaker): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-strategy-roger-martin• VRChat: https://hello.vrchat.com/• Andrew Chen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pmandrewchen/• Template: Working Backwards PR FAQ: https://www.workingbackwards.com/resources/working-backwards-pr-faq• How LinkedIn became interesting: The inside story | Tomer Cohen (CPO at LinkedIn): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-linkedin-became-interesting-tomer-cohen• Making time for what matters | Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky (authors of Sprint and Make Time, co-founders of Character Capital): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/making-time-for-what-matters-jake• Identify your bullseye customer in one day | Michael Margolis (UX Research Partner at Google Ventures): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/finding-your-bullseye-customer-michael-margolis• Chandra’s flow chart: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SLmQ0oRFadzJnNM3MJetnLUvB18U4W4GXU4KtJ2ujEQ/edit?tab=t.0• Chandra’s strategy template: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iNeYUaMnpicvkpVZO-gj9cCxLeHfWN0xtGm_QoxgemE/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.5d3jz6v86yrs• Zynga: https://www.zynga.com/• David Foster Wallace’s quote about water: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/97082-there-are-these-two-young-fish-swimming-along-and-they• Oculus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oculus• Elon Musk’s quote: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wf8TadbGYok• Concept car: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept_car• Acquired podcast: The Mark Zuckerberg interview: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/the-mark-zuckerberg-interview• Armand Ruiz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/armand-ruiz/• What is a multi-armed bandit? Full explanation: https://amplitude.com/explore/experiment/multi-armed-bandit• IF on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/IF-John-Krasinski/dp/B0CW19SCVW• Dune: Part 2 on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/dune-part-two/umc.cmc.363aycnv6vy9qgekvew6fveb9• Dune Prophecy on Max: https://www.max.com/shows/dune-prophecy-2024/57660b16-a32a-476f-89da-3302ac379e91• Capybara Go on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/ph/app/capybara-go/id6596787726• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/• Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Lost-Interview/dp/B01IJD1BES—Recommended books:• The Art of War: https://www.amazon.com/Art-War-Sun-Tzu/dp/1599869772• Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors: https://www.amazon.com/Competitive-Strategy-Techniques-Industries-Competitors/dp/0684841487/• Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Strategy-Bad-Difference-Matters/dp/0307886239/• Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works: https://www.amazon.com/Playing-Win-Strategy-Really-Works/dp/142218739X• Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every ...
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    1 hr and 47 mins

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best product podcast

great guests, always learn so much. good quality production. if you are in tech or business, this is for you!

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