Behind the Craft

By Peter YangTechnology

Behind the Craft episodes

December 22, 2024 This Will Make You Rethink Your Product and Career in 2025 | Sachin Rekhi (Notejoy)
My guest today is Sachin Rekhi.
Sachin scaled LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator to $200M ARR and 500 employees. He then left it all behind to start Notejoy; a team notes app. I had a great chat with him about finding market fit for your product and career in 2025 and how to design work to suit your life, not vice versa.
Timestamps:
(00:00) I got my dream PM job then realized I didn’t want it
(02:19) The MVP is dead
(08:02) Execution is NOT the only thing that matters
(09:40) A proven loop to achieve product-market fit
(14:18) Better ways to validate your product than MVPs
(20:01) How to even measure product-market fit
(26:03) Why Sachin opted out of the path to VP
(29:16) Aligning your career with your zone of genius
(36:18) I saw the small team trend coming
(40:38) Use explore-exploit to find your dream career
(44:01) Closing tips to design your life with purpose
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/rethink-your-pm-career-in-2025-sachin-rekhi
Where to find Sachin:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sachinrekhi/
Website: https://www.sachinrekhi.com/
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48 min
December 15, 2024 How to Survive and Thrive as a Busy Working Parent | Deb Liu (CEO Ancestry)
My guest today is Deb Liu.
Deb is the CEO of Ancestry, former VP at Meta, and writer of Perspectives. But for our interview, I wanted to talk to Deb about a more personal topic: How to survive and thrive as a busy working parent with your spouse, aging parents, and kids. In our interview, Deb shared her best advice on building a 60-60 relationship with your spouse, raising resilient kids, caring for aging parents, and dealing with grief.
Timestamps:
(00:00) How to stop parenting through guilt
(01:19) Building a 60-60 relationship with your spouse
(03:05) Choosing your marriage swim lanes
(05:41) A simple ritual for authentic family conversations
(09:51) Why the world isn't set up for two working parents
(12:24) How to solve stressful mornings
(17:29) The sandwich generation and dealing with grief
(21:38) How to build your modern village
(27:49) Raising resilient kids as a busy parent
(35:19) Closing words of advice for balancing career and family
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/how-to-survive-and-thrive-as-a-busy-working-parent
Where to find Deb:
Newsletter: https://debliu.substack.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahliu/
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40 min
December 01, 2024 Zapier Co-Founder on Using AI Agents to 10X Your Productivity | Mike Knoop (Zapier)
My guest today is Mike Knoop, co-founder of Zapier.
Mike co-founded Zapier and started the ARC Prize to accelerate progress towards open AGI. We had a great chat about how Zapier works, how PMs and marketers can use AI to automate even more work, and why LLMs won’t reach AGI by themselves.
Timestamps:
(00:00) There are two types of AI automation
(01:57) How Zapier automation works
(05:14) I quit being Zapier's CPO to do AI research
(07:54) I gave employees a week off to just use AI(11:57) How PMs can use AI agents to save time
(14:03) We saved $100K by using AI agents in marketing
(21:28) Robotic process automation might be better than APIs
(26:30) Most definitions of AGI are wrong
(30:45) Why LLMs won't get us to AGI and what might work instead
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/zapier-co-founder-ai-agents-10x-productivity-mike-knoop
Where to find Mike:X: https://x.com/mikeknoopWebsite: https://mikeknoop.com/
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46 min
November 24, 2024 How the Product Manager Role is Changing in 2025 | Jiaona Zhang (CPO Linktree)
My guest today is Jiaona Zhang, CPO of Linktree.
JZ is the Chief Product Officer of Linktree and a guest lecturer at Stanford. We had a great chat about AI’s impact on PM managers and super ICs, the shift towards PM specialists, and whether becoming a creator can help advance your PM career.
(00:00) Find what makes you happy in your PM career
(01:44) AI's impact on PM managers and super ICs
(04:03) How to balance strategy and execution
(08:24) Streamlining PM tasks with AI
(13:28) Creating strategy docs and PRDs that work
(16:50) Your career is your most important product
(22:55) The shift from PM generalists to specialists
(23:58) Exploring JZ's Career Odyssey framework
(25:49) Why you shouldn't just optimize for comp and title
(31:12) Does the creator economy actually work?
(44:19) Can being a creator help advance your product career?
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/how-the-product-manager-role-is-changing-jiaona-zhang
Where to find Jiaona:
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jz
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jiaona/
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50 min
November 17, 2024 Why K-12 Education Is Broken for High Achieving Kids | Niels Hoven (Mentava)
My guest today is Niels Hoven, founder and CEO of Mentava.
Niels founded Mentava, an education startup teaching 2-year-olds to read at the 2nd-grade level. We had a great chat about why K-12 education is broken for high-achieving kids, whether AI will unlock personalized learning, and how his software teaches 2-year-olds to read.
Timestamps:
(00:00) Our schools don't work for high-achieving kids
(01:26) The problem with K-12 education in the US
(03:08) Why California banned 8th grade algebra
(10:11) Never be ashamed of advocating for your kids
(14:21) How Niels homeschooled 3 kids during COVID
(19:25) Teaching 2-year-olds to read like 2nd graders
(25:24) Rethinking how we teach kids math
(28:44) Will AI replace teachers?
(30:34) Will elite college credentials still matter?
(35:29) Tips for parents to raise high-achieving kids
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/why-education-is-broken-for-high-achieving-kids-niels-hoven
Where to find Niels:
X: https://x.com/NielsHoven
Website: https://www.mentava.com/
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39 min
November 10, 2024 Inside How Perplexity is Disrupting Online Search | Aravind Srinivas (CEO)
My guest today is Aravind Srinivas, CEO and co-founder of Perplexity.
Aravind is the CEO of Perplexity, the AI answer engine disrupting online search. Aravind gave me an inside look at how Perplexity builds products, how it scaled to 100M queries a week, and how it’ll deliver better ads than Google’s ten blue links.
Timestamps:
(00:00) We don't do product reviews
(01:22) The secret to Perplexity's incredible shipping velocity
(05:16) Giving feedback as a user instead of as the CEO
(07:01) How Perplexity decides what to build next
(10:56) Perplexity's "7 friends in 10 days" metric
(14:02) How Perplexity uses AI to build Perplexity
(17:30) How to get a great job without traditional credentials
(21:50) Key drivers behind Perplexity's growth to 100M queries
(27:50) The future of search ads and why 10 blue links are dead
(35:56) Closing advice to get what you want out of life
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/inside-how-perplexity-is-disrupting-search-aravind-srinivas
Where to find Aravind:
X: https://x.com/AravSrinivas
Website: https://www.perplexity.ai/
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39 min
November 03, 2024 Inside Duolingo Unhinged Growth to a $500M Business | Cem Kansu (Duolingo)
My guest today is Cem Kansu.
Cem is the Head of Product at Duolingo. Over 8 years, he helped Duolingo grow to 100M+ monthly active users and $500M+ in annual revenue. I had a super fun chat with Cem about Duolingo's unhinged product culture, the top drivers of Duolingo's user and revenue growth, and whether AI will democratize education.
Timestamps:
(00:00) We love being unhinged with our owl
(01:26) Duolingo is a game and this is our core loop
(03:46) The top 3 drivers of Duolingo's growth to 100M users
(05:55) Passive-aggressive push notifications work!
(08:12) How Duolingo onboards new users to maximize retention
(13:11) Our winding path to $500M+ in revenue
(17:25) We've figured out how international expansion works
(21:13) Will AI kill Duolingo?
(26:20) We made Lily an AI emo teenager on purpose
(32:41) How to A/B test without sacrificing quality
(37:09) What the best PMs at Duolingo have in common
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/inside-duolingo-unhinged-growth-to-500m-cem-kansu
Where to find Cem:
X: https://x.com/cemkansu
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cemkansu/
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42 min
October 27, 2024 How to Crack the PM Interview in 2024 | Satish Mummareddy (Meta)
My guest today is Satish Mummareddy, ex-product leader at Meta.
During his 6 years at Meta as an IC7 product leader, Satish interviewed 200+ PM candidates and mentored 100+ PMs. We had a great chat about how to crack the PM interview, choose the right job offer, and find strong mentors.
Timestamps:
(00:00) How not to let rejection get you down
(01:53) Hot takes after interviewing 200+ PMs at Meta
(05:14) Why experienced PMs often struggle in interviews
(09:13) 3-month plan to crush interviews at top tech companies
(15:05) How to uplevel your product thinking skills
(20:10) Why interview frameworks aren't enough
(27:31) How to avoid getting down-leveled
(30:01) Choosing the right company to join
(36:24) 3 steps to find great mentors and sponsors
(40:25) Deliberate practice, career arcs, and mental fitness
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/meta-product-leader-cracking-the-pm-interview-satish
Where to find Satish:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/satishmummareddy/
Course: https://maven.com/crossing-career-chasms/product-thinking
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47 min
October 20, 2024 LinkedIn's Chief Product Officer on Growing to 1B with AI | Tomer Cohen (LinkedIn)
My guest today is Tomer Cohen, Chief Product Officer at LinkedIn.
Tomer gave me an inside look at LinkedIn’s growth from 100M to 1B+ users by transforming its feed. He also shared his best advice on growing AI products and advancing your PM career. Finally, I had to ask him about r/LinkedinLunatics. 🙂
Timestamps:
(00:00) 3 must-have principles for building AI products
(02:55) Revamping the LinkedIn feed for knowledge-sharing
(06:15) Why it's so hard to be a feed PM and how Tomer overcame doubts
(11:09) r/LinkedInLunatics and the role of humor on LinkedIn
(13:18) How newsletters and videos can succeed on LinkedIn
(18:24) "Thinking fast and slow" as an AI PM
(22:22) How to deal with AI's non-deterministic nature
(24:49) "Founder mode" and traits that the best PMs have
(27:52) How to design an org to reward impact more than optics
(31:29) The best way to land your dream job isn't to apply to everything
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/linkedins-cpo-on-growing-to-1b-with-ai-tomer-cohen
Where to find Tomer:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomercohen/
- Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/34ScXLvdmBeZ2Yza7ZWtLi
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37 min
October 13, 2024 Founder Mode Lessons from Instagram, Airbnb, and Coinbase | Sanchan Saxena
My guest today is Sanchan Saxena, SVP at Atlassian.
Sanchan worked directly with 4 of the best founders out there — Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger (Instagram), Brian Armstrong (Coinbase), and Brian Chesky (Airbnb). In our chat, he shares what we can learn from each founder’s superpowers and the 4 traits he always looks for when hiring exceptional PMs.
(00:00) The secret product approach that sets Airbnb and Apple apart
(01:21) Inside Instagram's early days at 100 employees
(03:07) Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger's superpowers
(04:54) How "do the simple thing first" led to Instagram Stories' success
(07:15) The single common trait shared by the greatest founders
(08:50) Brian Armstrong's golden rule, "No decision by committee"
(13:36) "Unconstrained thinking" with Brian Chesky at Airbnb
(18:21) What Brian Chesky learned from Disney movies and storytelling
(23:29) Why obsessing over metrics kills product quality
(27:43) Shifting focus to prioritize customers and craft in your company
(30:55) Climbing the ladder From PM to product director and VP
(33:38) Mastering the yin and yang of product management
(42:02) How to set yourself up to get lucky in your career
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/sanchan-instagram-airbnb-coinbase
Where to find Sanchan:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanchans/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@therealsanchan
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45 min