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
  • Business strategy with Hamilton Helmer (author of 7 Powers)

    Business strategy with Hamilton Helmer (author of 7 Powers)
    May 5 2024
    Hamilton Helmer is one of the world’s leading experts on business strategy and the author of the seminal book 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy, which provides a comprehensive framework for understanding what it really takes to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage. With more than three decades of experience in the strategic consulting industry, Hamilton has advised over 200 companies—from burgeoning startups to Fortune 100 giants—on how to identify, build, and leverage their unique strategic powers. In our conversation, we discuss:• Potential sources of power that startups should develop from an early stage• Common misconceptions among companies about the types of power they possess• How power relates to strategy• The difference between a moat and a power• Practical strategies for non-leaders to leverage insights about power and strategy in their work• AI’s impact on competitive advantages and barriers to entry—Brought to you by:• WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security• Paragon—Ship every SaaS integration your customers want—Find the transcript and references at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/business-strategy-with-hamilton-helmer—Where to find Hamilton Helmer:• X: https://twitter.com/hamiltonhelmer• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamilton-helmer-42983/• Website: https://7powers.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) Hamilton’s background(04:08) When power becomes important(08:24) How strategy relates to power(12:09) How power informs strategy(14:46) The sequence of powers(21:13) Common misconceptions(24:39) Network effects vs. network economies(26:58) Uber’s success(29:16) Moats vs. powers(31:12) Strategies for non-leaders to leverage power and strategy(37:51) Advice on how to become a strategic thinker(39:27) AI’s impact on the seven powers(45:43) Why moving fast is not a power(50:24) Three things that create value in a company(51:16) The debt trajectory of the U.S.(56:35) Optimism for the future(59:25) Lightning round—Referenced:• 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy: https://www.amazon.com/7-Powers-Foundations-Business-Strategy/dp/0998116319• John von Neumann: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann• Pearl Harbor: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor• Where the Japanese Went Wrong at Pearl Harbor: https://pearlharbor.org/blog/where-japanese-went-wrong-pearl-harbor/• The ‘7 Powers’ of business success—from one of Netflix’s early investors: https://www.qualitycompounders.com.au/post/the-7-powers-of-business-success-from-one-of-netflix-s-early-investors• 7 Powers: Foundations of Business Strategy (Key Takeaways): https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/7-powers-foundations-business-strategy-key-takeaways-nikita-maloo/• Strategy Capital: https://strategycapital.com/• Warren Buffett: https://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/• Charlie Munger: https://www.forbes.com/profile/charles-munger/• Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger: https://www.stripe.press/poor-charlies-almanack• Bill Gates reveals why Warren Buffett was an invaluable source of support during the stormiest period of his career: https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-interview-warren-buffett-support-microsoft-antitrust-lawsuit-2019-6• Billionaire Warren Buffett’s Secret Love Affair With Castles, Revealed: https://www.thestreet.com/opinion/billionaire-warren-buffett-s-secret-love-affair-with-castles-revealed-14290973• Netflix didn’t kill Blockbuster—how Netflix almost lost the movie rental wars: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/22/how-netflix-almost-lost-the-movie-rental-wars-to-blockbuster.html• Michael Porter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/professorporter/• What Is Strategy?: https://hbr.org/1996/11/what-is-strategy• TSMC: https://www.tsmc.com/english• Toyota Production System: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Production_System• America will be left with ‘severe, irreversible scars’ if national debt goes unchecked. Now, a blockbuster report warns the bill is higher than believed, hitting $141T by 2054: https://fortune.com/2024/04/01/america-social-economic-scars-us-debt-gomes-price/• Ben S. Bernanke: https://www.federalreservehistory.org/people/ben-s-bernanke• Forty-four of 50 U.S. states worsen inequality with ‘upside-down’ taxes: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/10/states-wealth-inequality-taxes• Joseph A. Schumpeter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Schumpeter• Theory of Economic Development: https://www.amazon.com/Theory-Economic-Development-Science-Classics/dp/0878556982• The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe: https://...
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • This will make you a better decision maker | Annie Duke (author of “Thinking in Bets” and “Quit”, former pro poker player)

    This will make you a better decision maker | Annie Duke (author of “Thinking in Bets” and “Quit”, former pro poker player)
    May 2 2024
    Annie Duke is a former professional poker player, a decision-making expert, and a special partner at First Round Capital. She is the author of Thinking in Bets (a national bestseller) and Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away and the co-founder of the Alliance for Decision Education, a nonprofit whose mission is to improve lives by empowering students through decision skills education. In our conversation, we cover:• What Annie learned from the late Daniel Kahneman• The power of pre-mortems and “kill criteria”• The relationship between money and happiness• The power of “mental time travel”• The nominal group technique for better decision quality• How First Round Capital improved their decision-making process• Many tactical decision-making frameworks—Brought to you by:• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.• UserTesting—Human understanding. Human experiences.• LinkedIn Ads—Reach professionals and drive results for your business—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/making-better-decisions-annie-duke—Where to find Annie Duke:• X: https://twitter.com/AnnieDuke• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annie-duke/• Website: https://www.annieduke.com/• Substack: https://www.annieduke.com/substack/—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) Annie’s background(03:53) Lessons from Daniel Kahneman: humility, curiosity, and open-mindedness(09:15) The importance of unconditional love in parenting(15:15) Mental time travel and “nevertheless”(20:06) The extent of improvement possible in decision-making (24:54) Independent brainstorming for better decisions(35:36) Making sure people feel heard(42:41) The “3Ds” framework to make better decisions(44:49) Decision quality(55:46) Improving decision-making at First Round Capital(01:05:05) Using pre-mortems and kill criteria(01:10:15) Making explicit what’s implicit(01:10:55) The challenges of quitting and knowing when to walk away(01:19:23) Where to find Annie—Referenced:• Daniel Kahneman, Who Plumbed the Psychology of Economics, Dies at 90: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/27/business/daniel-kahneman-dead.html• Adversarial collaboration: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adversarial_collaboration• Does more money correlate with greater happiness?: https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/does-more-money-correlate-greater-happiness-Penn-Princeton-research#• Income and emotional well-being: A conflict resolved: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36857342/• Strategic decisions: When can you trust your gut?: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/strategic-decisions-when-can-you-trust-your-gut• Cass Sunstein on X: https://twitter.com/CassSunstein• Dr. Becky on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drbeckyatgoodinside• A framework for finding product-market fit | Todd Jackson (First Round Capital): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/a-framework-for-finding-product-market• First Round Capital: https://firstround.com/• Brett Berson on X: https://twitter.com/brettberson• Renegade Partners: https://www.renegadepartners.com/• Renata Quintini on X: https://twitter.com/rquintini• Roseanne Wincek on X: https://twitter.com/imthemusic• Josh Kopelman on X: https://twitter.com/joshk• Bill Trenchard on X: https://twitter.com/btrenchard• Linnea Gandhi on X: https://twitter.com/linneagandhi• Maurice Schweitzer on X: https://twitter.com/me_schweitzer• Problems with premortems: https://sjdm.org/presentations/2021-Poster-Gandhi-Linnea-debiasing-premortem-selfserving~.pdf• Create a Solid Plan on How to Fail Big This Year: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2020/02/07/create-a-solid-plan-on-how-to-fail-big-this-year/• Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away: https://www.amazon.com/Quit-Power-Knowing-When-Walk/dp/0593422996/• Richard Thaler on X: https://twitter.com/R_Thaler• Stewart Butterfield on X: https://twitter.com/stewart• Glitch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glitch_(video_game)• How the Founder of Slack & Flickr Turned Colossal Failures into Billion-Dollar Companies: https://medium.com/swlh/how-the-founder-of-slack-flickr-turned-failures-into-million-and-billion-dollar-companies-7bcaf0d35d66• The Most Fascinating Profile You’ll Ever Read About a Guy and His Boring Startup: https://www.wired.com/2014/08/the-most-fascinating-profile-youll-ever-read-about-a-guy-and-his-boring-startup/• The Alliance for Decision Education: https://alliancefordecisioneducation.org/• Make Better Decisions course on Maven: https://maven.com/annie-duke/make-better-decisions—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 ...
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    1 hr and 21 mins
  • Twitter’s former Head of Product opens up: being fired, meeting Elon, changing stagnant culture, building consumer product, more | Kayvon Beykpour

    Twitter’s former Head of Product opens up: being fired, meeting Elon, changing stagnant culture, building consumer product, more | Kayvon Beykpour
    Apr 28 2024
    Kayvon Beykpour was the longest-serving head of product at Twitter and was GM of Twitter’s consumer division until the platform was acquired by Elon Musk. He originally joined Twitter in 2015 through the acquisition of his company, Periscope, the largest live video streaming platform at the time. Periscope pioneered technology that inspired Instagram Live, TikTok Live, Facebook Live, and other social networks’ expansion into video streaming. In our conversation, we discuss:• The story of being let go from Twitter after Elon’s acquisition• How he turned Twitter’s stagnant culture around• Kayvon’s thoughts on the limitations of frameworks like Jobs to Be Done• Why Periscope failed• Advice for building consumer products• When to copy, when to innovate—Brought to you by:• Enterpret—Transform customer feedback into product growth• OneSchema—Import CSV data 10x faster• Heap—Cross-platform product analytics that convert, engage, and retain customers—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/twitters-former-head-of-product-kayvon-beykpour—Where to find Kayvon Beykpour:• X: https://twitter.com/kayvz• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayvz/—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) Kayvon’s background(04:31) Getting Elon up to speed at Twitter(11:34) The story of being let go from Twitter after Elon’s acquisition(21:09) Changing the product culture at Twitter(29:44) Building the “hide replies” feature(32:02) Sacred crows, taking bold bets, and reigniting growth(34:28) Aquihires and their impact(42:40) Tips for successful acquisitions and staffing(47:00) The limitations of frameworks like JTBD(53:20) Signs you’ve gone too far with a framework(57:44) Lessons from building Periscope(01:00:41) Reasons why Periscope failed(01:07:24) The challenges of implementing video at Twitter(01:12:05) Copying ideas in good taste(01:17:58) How to get better at building consumer products(01:19:51) What Kayvon is building(01:20:31) Lightning round—Referenced:• Lessons on building product sense, navigating AI, optimizing the first mile, and making it through the messy middle | Scott Belsky (Adobe, Behance): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/lessons-on-building-product-sense-navigating-ai-optimizing-the-first-mile-and-making-it-through-t/• What it’s like to sell your startup for ~$120 million before it’s even launched: Meet Twitter’s new prized possession, Periscope: https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-periscope-and-why-twitter-bought-it-2015-3• Walter Isaacson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walter-isaacson-b8b81520/• Elon Musk on X: https://twitter.com/elonmusk• Parag Agrawal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parag-agrawal-5a14742a/• Jack Dorsey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-dorsey-a43b07242/• Blackboard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackboard_Inc.• Keith Coleman on X: https://twitter.com/kcoleman• Esther Crawford on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esthercrawford/• Twitter acquires Chroma Labs: https://tech.hindustantimes.com/tech/news/twitter-acquires-chroma-labs-story-aqvcRPAoYXqXJuAbefA6cN.html• John Barnett on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbarnettt/• Jobs to Be Done framework: https://jobs-to-be-done.com/jobs-to-be-done-a-framework-for-customer-needs-c883cbf61c90• Hot takes and techno-optimism from tech’s top power couple: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/hot-takes-and-techno-optimism-from-techs-top-power-couple-sriram-and-aarthi/• Nike Is Unveiling the Kobe 11 Tomorrow Using Periscope: https://sneakernews.com/2015/12/13/nike-is-unveiling-the-kobe-11-tomorrow-using-periscope/• Chris Sacca’s website: https://chrissacca.com/• Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/formedia/tools/facebook-live• Kevin Hart on X: https://twitter.com/KevinHart4real• Clubhouse: https://www.clubhouse.com/• Vine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vine_(service)• Paul Davison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davison/• Rohan Seth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohanseth/• Cryptonomicon: https://www.amazon.com/Cryptonomicon-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0380788624• Reamde: https://www.amazon.com/Reamde-Novel-Neal-Stephenson-ebook/dp/B004XVN0WW• The Name of the Wind: https://www.amazon.com/Name-Wind-Kingkiller-Chronicle-Book-ebook/dp/B0010SKUYM• Star Trek official site: https://www.startrek.com/• Dune: part 2: https://www.dunemovie.com/• Oppenheimer on Peacock: https://www.peacocktv.com/stream-movies/oppenheimer• Tokyo Vice on Max: https://www.max.com/shows/tokyo-vice/e7d93204-7f98-4e62-ab52-6c1da053f942• Devs on Hulu: https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/devs• Nick Offerman on X: https://twitter.com/nick_offerman• 3 Body Problem on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81024821• Perplexity AI: https://...
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    1 hr and 35 mins
Leadership Economics
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