Lenny's Reads

Ben Erez is a former PM at Meta, the first PM at three different startups, and now a full-time interview coach and educator. In this episode, Ben shares the five-part framework he developed after studying dozens of mock interviews, interviewing 50+ candidates at Facebook, and coaching hundreds of PMs through their job searches. It’s designed to help you master one of the most misunderstood stages of the PM interview loop: the product sense interview.

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In this episode, you’ll learn

• Ben’s five-part framework for acing product sense interviews

• How to set assumptions and lead with structure

• How to define a clear mission that guides every decision

• A process for segmenting users and developing strong personas

• How to map user journeys and surface high-impact problems

• A method for brainstorming, prioritizing, and scoping solutions

• Lessons from mock-examples (Claude, Meta, and Netflix)

• Common pitfalls to avoid, and how to practice effectively

References

• AI Practice Copilot for Product Sense & Analytical Thinking Interviews: https://payhip.com/b/LCkbr

• Attentive: https://www.attentive.com/

• How to Ace Product Sense PM Interviews: https://maven.com/p/af5908/how-to-ace-product-sense-pm-interviews

• Lewis Lin’s PM Question Bank: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rz10oEeLx-eGnilahKczYPhGfCUzIEKL-xRnjoQ-SX4/edit?gid=1024620532#gid=1024620532

• Product Sense Interview Template: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1-jdZAVtLuk8dUnf9peUKlNkguSOuAk5VdMPTmgr9Kns/edit

• Recorded Mock of PS Response: https://grain.com/share/recording/be7899c9-f09e-4a18-93ec-ef40e7a26fac/Sex5ycmtyfFMOytY9K16yYQAx5p7lEn7X8D0fy2b and the Completed Template: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WV2kQNdM_kKHvr6Wsq0Znx7-r1gLK0qTOcuZg3LPqwo/edit?usp=sharing

• The Definitive Guide to Mastering Analytical Thinking Interviews: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/8fe3dc12-1ed3-4876-a73d-2be943f18204

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Follow Ben: 

• Twitter/X: https://x.com/ViableBen

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benerez/

• Newsletter: https://benerez.substack.com/

About

Welcome to Lenny’s Reads, where every week you’ll find a fresh audio version of my newsletter about building product, driving growth, and accelerating your career, read to you by the soothing voice of Lennybot.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

If you’re a premium subscriber

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Ben Erez is a former PM at Facebook, the first PM at multiple startups, and now a full-time interview coach and educator. In this episode, he shares the five-part framework he’s used to help hundreds of PMs land roles at top companies. It’s the most practical, e…

To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

If you’re a premium subscriber

Add the private feed to your podcast app at https://add.lennysreads.com

You’ve probably heard terms like LLM, transformer, and hallucination, but do you really know what they mean?

In this episode, I walk through 20 of the most common AI terms with dead-simple explanations you can actually understand (and use).

In this episode, you’ll learn

• What a “model” actually is

• The difference between pre-training, fine-tuning, and RLHF

• What transformers are—and why they changed everything

• How prompt engineering and RAG improve model outputs

• What AGI and ASI really mean

• The difference between LLMs, GenAI, and GPT

• Why models hallucinate (and how to prevent it)

• What synthetic data is—and why it matters

• How vibe coding works and what agents can actually do

• What MCP, inference, and tokens are in plain English

Referenced

• A complete guide on RLHF

• AGI vs ASI

• Andrej Karpathy on LLMs

• Andrej Karpathy on vibe coding

• Anthropic’s guide on building effective agents

• Anthropic’s guide to reducing hallucinations

• Fine-tuning vs RAG vs prompt engineering

• Guide to model context protocol (MCP)

• How LLMs work

• How fine-tuning works

• How top models tokenize words

• How training and pre-training works

• Ilya Sutskever on AGI

• Ilya Sutskever on next-word prediction

• Lenny’s Podcast on prompt engineering

• Make product management fun again with AI agents

• RLHF explainer

• Sam Altman on synthetic data

• Technical deep dive on transformers

• What are transformers?

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About

Welcome to Lenny’s Reads, where every week you’ll find a fresh audio version of my newsletter about building product, driving growth, and accelerating your career, read to you by the soothing voice of Lennybot.

To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

If you’re a premium subscriber

Add the private feed to your podcast app at add.lennysreads.com

Three weeks ago, Noam Segal and I shared data showing that 84% of tech workers feel burned out. That left one big question: Who are the 16% who aren’t?

This episode is their playbook. We analyzed 175 follow-up surveys and spoke with 15 “burnout conquerors” to understand how they’ve cracked the code.

In this episode, you’ll learn

• The five-part “ARMOR” framework for burnout protection

• The habits, systems, and beliefs that keep burnout at bay

• How to set boundaries that actually hold

• How to prioritize mental and physical wellbeing, without guilt

• Early warning signals that most people miss

• How to take rhythmic, reflective, and restorative breaks

• How to choose roles based on energy, not ego

• Why relationships, not perks are your best defense

References

• Conversations online about the first sentiment survey

• How tech workers really feel about work right now

• Make product management fun again with AI agents

• Managing up

• The burnout check

• The “How I Work” template

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About

Welcome to Lenny’s Reads, where every week you’ll find a fresh audio version of my newsletter about building product, driving growth, and accelerating your career, read to you by the soothing voice of Lennybot.

To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

If you’re a premium subscriber

• Add the private feed to your podcast app at add.lennysreads.com

About

Colin Matthews was a longtime PM and is the creator of my favorite AI prototyping course, AI Prototyping for Product Managers. He already has two posts in my all-time top 10 — and I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes his third.

In this post, Colin shares his hands-on playbook for turning AI prototyping from scattered experiments into a repeatable, team-wide workflow.

In this episode, you’ll learn

• Colin’s go-to template prompt for rapid prototyping

• A six-step guide for shipping fast

• How to build reusable component libraries for high-quality mocks

• Three tactics to generate better components

• What “baselines and forks” are and how they streamline workflows

• Where prototypes fit into the product development lifecycle

• Common mistakes teams make with AI tooling

• Plus: time-saving prompts, tool comparisons, and a better way to add your logo

Referenced

• Read this post

• AI prototyping for product managers

• A guide to AI prototyping for product managers

• Become a more technical product manager

• Bolt

• Book a place in Colin’s free 45-minute live online class, coming up on July 8th

• Book a place in Colin’s AI Prototyping for Product Managers, which kicks off again on June 30th (use code LENNYSLIST to get $100 off)

• Book Colin for one-day team workshops

• Cursor

• Figma’s MCP

• Magic Patterns

• Unsplash

• v0

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Follow Colin: LinkedIn

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Add the private feed to your podcast app at add.lennysreads.com

Together with Noam Segal, we unpack the most surprising insights from a sweeping new study of over 8,200 tech professionals—across roles, company sizes, and work setups.

In this episode, you’ll learn

• Why burnout is rampant

• Who’s thriving in tech right now (and who’s not)

• The shocking stat: Only 1 in 4 workers think their manager is effective

• How sentiment shifts between remote, hybrid, and in-office setups

• Why you might want to switch to a smaller company

• What’s driving the mid-career slump—and how to escape it

• The clarity gap that’s holding people back

• Why women are more engaged but more burned-out than men

• How AI is fueling both career anxiety and reinvention

Referenced

• Become better at managing up

• Lennybot manager prompts

• Start your own company

• Take the burnout check

• The SOLO method

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Follow Noam: Twitter/X | LinkedIn

About

Welcome to Lenny’s Reads, where every week you’ll find a fresh audio version of my newsletter about building product, driving growth, and accelerating your career, read to you by the soothing voice of Lennybot.

To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

If you’re a premium subscriber

Add the private feed to your podcast app at add.lennysreads.com

Saumil Mehta shares his hard-earned framework for becoming a high-impact “manager of managers” — and why skip level leaders, not more middle managers, are the key to scaling product teams.

In this episode, you’ll learn

* When a manager struggles, look one level up

* Why the jump from line manager to skip lead is so tough

* The “API endpoint” trick for leading through layers

* How to get feedback without undermining your managers

* Why covering for a weak manager can backfire

* How to match people to the right projects

* A simple 2×2 for knowing when to step in or step back

* First-week habits that set skip leads up for success

Referenced

* High Output Management

* Jeff Weiner’s Essay

* Read the newsletter

* Subscribe to Lenny’s Newsletter

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Follow Saumil: Twitter/X | LinkedIn

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

The product job market is flipping. In this post, I break down the latest 2025 data – what’s growing, what’s fading, and where the real opportunities are right now.

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In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How layoffs are finally slowing after four tough years

• Which roles are bouncing back fastest

• What Big Tech is pouring billions into, and how it could unlock new hiring

• The new baseline for remote-friendly jobs

• Where the most AI roles are opening up, and which city leads by far

Who’s hiring: The top 20 companies for PMs and AI PMs

• Two rising trends changing how PMs work and get hired

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References

• Browse all open PM roles

• Part 1: New Data on the product job market

• Part 2: State of the product job market

• TrueUp

• Read the newsletter

• Subscribe to Lenny’s Newsletter

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Subscribe to Lenny's Reads

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• Apple

• Spotify

• Substack

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Follow Lenny

Twitter

LinkedIn

Podcast

To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

Jacob Warwick gives a masterclass on how to negotiate like a top-tier product leader, using a five-part framework that’s helped thousands secure compensation packages 2-4x above the posted range.

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In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why negotiation is about value, not tactics

• A five-step playbook for comp negotiation

• How to uncover intel others miss, like hidden power and future pain points

• Questions and scripts that shift you from applicant to collaborator

• Real-world stories of product leaders who doubled their compensation

• Tactics to build advocates, cross-team support, and momentum

• How to navigate complexity without losing leverage

• What to do after the offer to lock in long-term upside

• A case study on how one leader turned chaos into a $1.4M offer

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Read the full post: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-negotiating?r=1o9eyi

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Subscribe to Lenny’s Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

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Subscribe to Lenny’s Reads:

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lennysreads

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lennys-reads/id1810314693

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• Substack: https://lennysreads.com/

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Follow Lenny:

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• Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@lennyspodcast

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About:

Welcome to Lenny’s Reads, where every week you’ll find a fresh audio version of my newsletter about building product, driving growth, and accelerating your career, read to you by the soothing voice of Lennybot.

To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

In this episode, you’ll learn

* The six behaviors that separate “agents” from ordinary AI tools

* How to spot an ideal low-risk, high-impact task to automate first

* The five-question checklist that keeps your agent safe, scoped, and effective

* Smart ways to control cost, curb hallucinations, and satisfy your security team

* AI prompts you can copy-paste to identify the right platform for your agent and generate workflows in plain English

* Techniques for testing, iterating, and promoting your agent from “intern” to trusted teammate

* Where agents are headed next and what that means for your role as a PM

References

* Zapier Agents

* Gumloop

* Cassidy

* Manus

* Lindy

* Relay

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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe