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.

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    Lenny Rachitsky
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Economics Leadership
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Episodes
  • 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)

    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)
    Nov 7 2024
    Archie Abrams is the VP of Product and Head of Growth at Shopify, where he leads a 600+ person growth org across product, design, engineering, data, ops, and growth marketing. Shopify powers over 10% of e-commerce in the United States, with $235 billion in GMV in 2023 (roughly the size of Finland’s economy). He previously led Consumer product and growth at Lyft and was at Udemy for 8 years as SVP of Product having joined the company when it was 10 people. In our conversation, we discuss:• Why Shopify optimizes for churn• Why the core product team doesn’t use metrics-based goals• Why they keep multi-year experiment holdouts• How they structure their growth team• The benefits of not having a CMO• Lessons learned about integrating sales into a product-led growth model• The power of discounting as a growth lever• Much more—Brought to you by:• Explo—Embed customer-facing analytics in your product• Dovetail—The customer insights hub for product teams—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/shopifys-growth-archie-abrams—Where to find Archie Abrams:• X: https://x.com/archieabrams• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/archie-abrams-b6aa8b6/—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) Archie’s background (02:30) Shopify’s impressive growth(06:17) Shopify’s unique approach to churn and retention(08:43) Monetization model and success metrics(11:08) Long-term experimentation and metrics(23:00) Examples of big wins that Archie’s team has shipped(26:42) Monetary friction(27:14) Metrics(29:47) Shopify’s growth team structure(33:03) Goal setting and forecasting(37:10) Examples of long-term results within Shopify(41:36) Shipping neutral experiments(42:05) Building a hundred-year company(48:04) Why Shopify doesn’t use KPIs(51:30) Shopify’s “Get s**t done” framework(54:30) Cross-team collaboration (58:48) The importance of an opinionated founder (01:01:12) Growth and sales integration(01:06:42) Shopify’s marketing structure(01:08:49) Insights on discounting from Udemy(01:11:09) Lightning round—Referenced:• Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/• Tobias Lütke on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobiaslutke• Gross Merchandise Value: Calculation and Best Practices: https://www.shopify.com/retail/gross-merchandise-value• Brian Chesky’s new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach• Glen Coates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glcoates• Harley Finkelstein on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harleyf• Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/• Scientific Advertising: https://www.amazon.com/Scientific-Advertising-Original-Claude-Hopkins/dp/1640954252• Four-Minute Mile: https://www.amazon.com/Four-Minute-Mile-Roger-Bannister/dp/1493038753/• The Sopranos on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-sopranos• Suno: https://suno.com/—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 18 mins
  • Just evil enough: Subversive marketing strategies for startups | Alistair Croll (author, advisor, entrepreneur)

    Just evil enough: Subversive marketing strategies for startups | Alistair Croll (author, advisor, entrepreneur)
    Nov 3 2024
    Alistair Croll is the co-author of the best-selling book Lean Analytics and a longtime product manager, entrepreneur, and startup advisor. He was also instrumental in my starting a company, funding it, and helping us exit to Airbnb as part of his Year One Labs incubator. He’s chaired notable events such as O’Reilly’s Strata and UBM’s Cloud Connect and founded FWD50. In our conversation, we focus on lessons from an upcoming book by Alistair and his co-author, Emily Ross, Just Evil Enough, which is set for release in late 2024. We cover:• The importance of subversive marketing strategies in most startups’ growth• 11 specific subversive tactics that successful companies have used• Examples of companies like Netflix, Airbnb, and Tesla that used clever tactics early on• A framework for scanning your market for opportunities• The importance of finding your “zero-day marketing exploit”• How to apply these tactics ethically without actually being evil• Much more—Brought to you by:• WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs• Hex—Helping teams ask and answer data questions by working together• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security—Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/just-evil-enough-alistair-croll—Where to find Alistair Croll:• X: https://x.com/acroll• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@alistairish• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alistaircroll/• Website: https://justevilenough.com/• Substack: https://acroll.substack.com/• Just Evil Enough on X: https://x.com/evilenough• Just Evil Enough on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/just-evil-enough/—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) Alistair’s background (02:00) The story behind Alistair and Emily’s book Just Evil Enough(06:17) Examples of subversive tactics(07:43) The importance of unfair advantage(10:36) The origin of the title “Just Evil Enough”(14:24) System awareness and novelty(19:16) How to use this thinking successfully (22:37) Normalizing disagreeable thinking (25:49) Recon canvas and market scanning(32:43) 11 tactics for subversive marketing(57:01) Implementing subversive strategies(01:05:01) Ethical considerations in marketing(01:08:19) Lightning round—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 15 mins
  • 4 questions Shreyas Doshi wishes he’d asked himself sooner | Former PM leader at Stripe, Twitter, Google

    4 questions Shreyas Doshi wishes he’d asked himself sooner | Former PM leader at Stripe, Twitter, Google
    Oct 31 2024
    Shreyas Doshi is a former product leader at Stripe, Twitter, Google, and Yahoo. He’s now a full-time advisor and coach to founders and executives. Shreyas is known for his incredibly insightful writing on products, which has garnered him a passionate following in the PM and startup community. Last week, we sat down together at the very first Lenny and Friends Summit in San Francisco for a special live episode. We covered:• Why product leaders often feel overwhelmed with work, and how to combat it• The importance of developing good taste, and how to do it• How to reduce frustration in your product leadership role• The critical skill of truly listening as a leader• Common pitfalls in annual planning and decision-making• Lots of laughs—To learn more from Shreyas, check out these courses:• Improving Your Product Sense: https://bit.ly/product-sense• Managing Your PM Career: https://bit.ly/pm-career-course—Brought to you by:• WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs• Paragon—Ship every SaaS integration your customers want• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/shreyas-doshi-live—Where to find Shreyas Doshi:• X: https://x.com/shreyas• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreyasdoshi/• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@shreyas.threads• Linktree: https://linktr.ee/shreyasdoshi• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ShreyasDoshiVideos—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(05:35) Question one: Why am I so busy?(10:08) Annual planning as an example(16:48) Tactical tips for staying less busy(25:20) Question two: Do I actually have good taste?(38:09) Question three: Why does my job feel so frustrating?(43:29) Question four: Am I really listening?(44:35) Closing remarks—Referenced:• Shreyas Doshi on pre-mortems, the LNO framework, the three levels of product work, why most execution problems are strategy problems, and ROI vs. opportunity cost thinking: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/episode-3-shreyas-doshi• LNO framework: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1492345184171945984• Time management techniques that actually work: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/time-management-techniques-that-actually• Part 2: Time management techniques that actually work: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/part-2-time-management-techniques• Eisenhower quote: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/dwight_d_eisenhower_164720• Stripe Connect: https://stripe.com/connect• Jeff Bezos explains one-way door decisions and two-way door decisions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxsdOQa_QkM• Spotify Is America’s Most Loved Workplace: https://www.newsweek.com/2021/10/29/spotify-americas-most-loved-workplace-1639982.html• Shreyas on “thinking is cheap”: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/shreyasdoshi_thinking-is-very-cheap-doing-is-very-expensive-activity-7225237421813116929-Qzi3/• Good Product Strategy, Bad Product Strategy from Shreyas: https://x.com/shreyas/status/1244810075908128768• Shreyas on annual planning and metrics:https://x.com/shreyas/status/1302423854095036421https://x.com/shreyas/status/1304628719374544896• Jensen Huang on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenhsunhuang/• Patrick Mahomes’s website: https://www.adidas.com/us/patrick_mahomes• Virat Kohli: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virat_Kohli• Reversible and Irreversible Decisions: https://fs.blog/reversible-irreversible-decisions/• Fail fast: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fail_fast• 3 levels of product work: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1370248637842812936• Shakespeare quote: https://nosweatshakespeare.com/quotes/famous/to-thine-own-self-be-true/• Rick Rubin: Legendary Music Producer | Lex Fridman Podcast #275: https://Dwww.youtube.com/watch?v=H_szemxPcTI• Blake Burge on Rick Ruben: https://x.com/blakeaburge/status/1794470295828341222• Rick Rubin on X: https://x.com/RickRubin• Dee Hock on X: https://x.com/deewhock• Dee Hock quote on listening: https://x.com/shreyas/status/1351279398423465984• Peter Drucker: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Drucker• Peter Drucker quotes on listening: https://www.azquotes.com/author/4147-Peter_Drucker/tag/listening• Lenny’s first podcast recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP_QghPLG-8• A Recipe to Become a Great Listener: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUQJkiDy2Ko—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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    46 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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