Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career By cover art

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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Episodes
  • Inside Canva: Coaches not managers, giving away your Legos, and running profitably | Cameron Adams (co-founder and CPO)

    Inside Canva: Coaches not managers, giving away your Legos, and running profitably | Cameron Adams (co-founder and CPO)
    Jun 2 2024
    Cameron Adams is the co-founder and chief product officer of Canva. Canva is one of the world’s most valuable private software companies, used by 95% of Fortune 500 companies. Since its launch in 2013, Canva has grown to over 150 million monthly users in more than 190 countries, generating $2.3 billion in annual revenue. Prior to Canva, Cameron ran a design consultancy, worked at Google on Google Wave, and founded the email startup Fluent. He is also an author of five web design books and a regular speaker at global conferences. In our conversation, we discuss:• Why they spent a year building their minimum viable product (MVP) before launch• Why Canva has no managers, and their unique approach to coaching and performance reviews• Why they encourage employees to “give away their Legos”• Insights into Canva’s SEO growth strategy• Their three-pillar framework for integrating AI into their product• Stories from the early days—Brought to you by:• WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs• Attio—The powerful, flexible CRM for fast-growing startups• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-canva-with-cameron-adams—Where to find Cameron Adams:• X: https://twitter.com/themaninblue• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themaninblue• Website: https://themaninblue.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) Cameron’s background(02:00) Reflecting on the success of Canva(04:50) Reflecting on hard times(10:01) Canva’s product-obsessed culture(12:02) Why they prioritize internal promotions and hires(13:56) What makes Canva unique(16:31) The concept of giving away your Legos(21:44) Why Canva has no managers(24:29) Product management at Canva(27:56) Reflections on working with a married couple(30:37) Why they spent a year building their MVP before launch(33:49) Advice for building an MVP(41:23) Canva’s onboarding transformation(44:25) Canva’s SEO strategy(50:37) The success of Canva’s freemium strategy(54:24) Integrating AI into Canva’s product(01:01:50) Where to find Cameron—Referenced:• Canva: https://www.canva.com/• Melanie Perkins on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanieperkins• Cliff Obrecht on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cliff-obrecht-79ba9920• Jennie Rogerson, Head of People, LinkedIn post about “season opener” events: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jennierogerson_season-opener-is-one-of-my-favourite-events-activity-7006815614556135424-73bD/• Game of Thrones on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones• Woodstock: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodstock• ‘Give Away Your Legos’ and Other Commandments for Scaling Startups: https://review.firstround.com/give-away-your-legos-and-other-commandments-for-scaling-startups/• Minimum viable product (MVP): https://www.productboard.com/glossary/minimum-viable-product-mvp• Canva’s SEO Strategy Is Elite: https://thegrowthplaybook.substack.com/p/canvas-seo-strategy-is-elite• The SEO Strategy That Led Canva to a $40 Billion Valuation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INyGKt6LAqM• Andrianes Pinantoan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrianes/• Canva Create: https://www.canva.com/canva-create/—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 3 mins
  • The surprising truth about what closes deals: Insights from 2.5m sales conversations | Matt Dixon (author of The Challenger Sale and The JOLT Effect)

    The surprising truth about what closes deals: Insights from 2.5m sales conversations | Matt Dixon (author of The Challenger Sale and The JOLT Effect)
    May 30 2024
    Matt Dixon is one of the world’s foremost experts in sales and the author of The Challenger Sale, which sold over a million copies worldwide and was a #1 Amazon and Wall Street Journal bestseller. His most recent book, The JOLT Effect, focuses on overcoming customer indecision—one of the biggest challenges to closing deals. Outside of writing, Matt co-founded DCM Insights, a boutique consultancy helping organizations understand customer behavior, and is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, with more than 20 print and online articles to his credit. In our conversation, we discuss:• Why 40% to 60% of qualified sales opportunities are lost due to customer indecision• Why dialing up FOMO doesn’t work, and what to do instead• The “pings and echoes” technique to catch issues early• The JOLT method for overcoming indecision• Key lessons from The Challenger Sale• Practical examples of how to apply these principles to close more deals—Brought to you by:• Enterpret—Transform customer feedback into product growth• Webflow—The web experience platform• Heap—Cross-platform product analytics that converts, engages, and retains customers—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/close-more-deals-matt-dixon—Where to find Matt Dixon:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewxdixon• Website: https://www.jolteffect.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) Matt’s background(01:57) The research behind Matt’s books(06:08) Insights from The JOLT Effect(10:15) FOMO vs. FOMU(18:18) An example of selling software(26:04) The JOLT method Step 1: Judge their level of indecision(29:41) The “pings and echoes” technique(34:49) Step 2: Offer a recommendation(38:36) Step 3: Limit the exploration(41:43) Step 4: Take risk off the table(45:58) When to hit the pause button with a customer(47:27) Insights from The Challenger Sale(49:07) An example of a challenger sale(55:23) Where to find Matt—Referenced:• A step-by-step guide to crafting a sales pitch that wins | April Dunford (author of Obviously Awesome and Sales Pitch): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/a-step-by-step-guide-to-crafting• The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation: https://www.amazon.com/Challenger-Sale-Control-Customer-Conversation/dp/0670922854• The JOLT Effect: How High Performers Overcome Customer Indecision: https://www.amazon.com/JOLT-Effect-Performers-Overcome-Indecision/dp/0593538102• Gartner acquires CEB: https://www.gartner.com/en/about/acquisitions/history/ceb-acquisition• Tiger King on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81115994• Why sourdough went viral: https://www.economist.com/1843/2020/08/04/why-sourdough-went-viral• Neil Rackham: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Rackham• Status quo bias in decision-making: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_quo_bias• Omission bias: https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/omission-bias• Gartner Magic Quadrant & Critical Capabilities: https://www.gartner.com/en/research/magic-quadrant• Dunning-Kruger effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect• Stop Losing Sales to Customer Indecision: https://hbr.org/2022/06/stop-losing-sales-to-customer-indecision• Dentsply Sirona: https://www.dentsplysirona.com/• “We happy?” Briefcase scene from Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGchDuOpbhE• Nupro Freedom Cordless Prophy System: https://www.dentsplysirona.com/en-us/discover/discover-by-category/preventive/hygiene-handpieces.html—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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    57 mins
  • Unorthodox frameworks for growing your product, career, and impact | Bangaly Kaba (YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Instacart)

    Unorthodox frameworks for growing your product, career, and impact | Bangaly Kaba (YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Instacart)
    May 26 2024
    Bangaly Kaba was an early growth PM at Facebook, head of growth at Instagram, and VP of Product at Instacart and is currently Director of Product at YouTube overseeing a global team working on creator monetization. Bangaly has also been a growth advisor to dozens of companies, including Twitter, on the board of multiple companies, and is an active angel investor. In our conversation, we discuss:• A simple framework for choosing where to work and what to work on• The importance of “understand work”• The “adjacent users” theory and how it can help you drive growth• Advice for coaching product managers• Invaluable lessons from his time at Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube• Much more—Brought to you by:• Uizard—AI-powered prototyping for visionary product leaders• Mercury—The powerful and intuitive way for ambitious companies to bank• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.—Find the transcript and references at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/frameworks-for-growing-your-career-bangaly-kaba—Where to find Bangaly Kaba:• X: https://twitter.com/iambangaly• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iambangaly/• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambangaly/—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) Bangaly’s background(06:31) Choosing where to work and what to work on(08:39) The impact factor(10:53) Evaluating the environment(15:53) The manager component(18:27) The skills part of the equation(23:49) Advice on finding a mentor(25:42) The power of “understand work”(31:17) Operationalizing understand work(37:55) Balancing understand work(41:25) Managing complex change(45:26) Effective management of product managers(51:35) The role of product managers as coaches and team leaders(54:52) Driving growth through flywheels and value proposition(01:03:14) Understanding adjacent users(01:08:41) The role of partnerships and SEO in Instagram’s early growth(01:16:08) The secret behind Instagram’s growth(01:25:37) Lessons from Facebook(01:29:15) Failure corner(01:31:58) Lightning round—Referenced:• Impact = Environment x Skills: How to Make Career Decisions: https://www.reforge.com/blog/how-to-make-career-decisions• Thinking beyond frameworks | Casey Winters (Pinterest, Eventbrite, Airbnb, Tinder, Canva, Reddit, Grubhub): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/thinking-beyond-frameworks-casey• Casey Winters’s blog: https://caseyaccidental.com/• Ben Thompson’s newsletter: https://stratechery.com/about/• Elena Verna on how B2B growth is changing, product-led growth, product-led sales, why you should go freemium not trial, what features to make free, and much more: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/elena-verna-on-why-every-company• George Lee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geolee/• Bangaly Kaba: The Path to 1 Billion: Lessons Learned from Growing Instagram—CXL LIVE 2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9ZHlb6kj_E• What Is ‘Dogfooding’?: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/business/dogfooding.html• Bloom’s taxonomy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom%27s_taxonomy• Kevin Systrom on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinsystrom/• Mike Krieger on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikekrieger/• LeBron James: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeBron_James• Kobe Bryant: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_Bryant• Mike Krzyzewski: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Krzyzewski• John Calipari: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Calipari• Stripe: https://stripe.com/• Chief: https://chief.com/• Jobs to be done framework: https://jobs-to-be-done.com/jobs-to-be-done-a-framework-for-customer-needs-c883cbf61c90• The Adjacent User: https://brianbalfour.com/quick-takes/the-adjacent-user• How the biggest consumer apps got their first 1,000 users: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-the-biggest-consumer-apps-got• Alex Zhu on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keepsilence/• From Brush to Canvas with Alex Zhu of Musical.ly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey15v81pwII• Selena Gomez on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/selenagomez/• Kim Kardashian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimkardashian/• Rob Andrews on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robby-andrews-64669720/• Instagram’s growth speeds up as it hits 700 million users: https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/26/instagram-700-million-users/• Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World: https://www.amazon.com/Range-Generalists-Triumph-Specialized-World/dp/0735214484• Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World: https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/dp/1455586692• Start at the End: How to Build Products That Create Change: https://www.amazon.com/Start-End-Products-Create-Change/dp/0525534423• Flighty app: https://www.flightyapp.com/• Adam...
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    1 hr and 42 mins
Leadership Economics
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