Building a meaningful career | Jason Shah (Airbnb, Amazon, Microsoft, Alchemy)

Jason Shah has led product teams at Amazon, Airbnb, Microsoft, and Yammer and currently leads the product team at Alchemy (one of the most important web3 infrastructure companies). In addition, he’s an advisor, investor, and two-time founder. In today’s episode, Jason discusses what it’s like to be a PM in web3, why his role at Amazon made such a big impact on his life and career, what makes a great leader, and how to hire well. He also shares his unique perspective on building a meaningful career and life.
Find the full transcript here: www.lennyspodcast.com/buildin...
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Where to find Jason Shah:
• Twitter: / jasonyogeshshah
• LinkedIn: / jasonyogeshshah
• Website: www.jasonshah.me/
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: www.lennysnewsletter.com
• Twitter: / lennysan
• LinkedIn: / lennyrachitsky
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Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:
• Whimsical: whimsical.com/lenny
• Coda: coda.io/lenny
• Amplitude: amplitude.com/
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Referenced:
• Creative Selection: Inside Apple’s Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs: www.amazon.com/Creative-Selec...
• Casey Winters on Lenny’s Podcast: www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ho...
• Jason Shah in Lenny’s newsletter: www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/a-...
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers: www.amazon.com/Hard-Thing-Abo...
• Polygon: polygon.technology/
• Solana: solana.com/
• MoonPay: www.moonpay.com/
• The Vietnam War series by Ken Burns: www.pbs.org/show/vietnam-war/
• Alchemy: www.alchemy.com/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Jason’s background
(08:19) The current state of web3
(12:44) The evolution of product management in web3
(15:27) The value of a great product manager
(18:11) Why Amazon was a great learning experience
(20:25) A look into Amazon’s process on working backward
(23:55) How to communicate clearly
(28:17) Working backward from excitement
(32:46) What makes a great leader
(38:26) How to influence a CEO or founder’s direction
(46:19) The career ladder vs. career map framework
(52:27) When to follow a new opportunity vs. when to stick it out
(58:50) How to hire the right people
(1:03:47) What skill is most important for product managers
(1:06:49) Lightning round!
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Production and marketing by penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [e-mail].

[@PortoAR]

Jason comes across as a brilliantly calm, thoughtful and decisive leader. The companies he's worked for are very lucky to have benefited from his experience., Thanks Lenny for bringing us this, and very interesting to hear your shared stories. PRFAQ is such a great methodology, especially in early-stage as a way to challenge idealistic founders. It's been brilliant to expose early WATERFALL expectation issues v Agile sprint reality when shipping product in stages.

[@hassammustafa8356]

This podcast really makes my life a lot more easier❤

[@katekate7304]

Both the interviewer and the interviewee are super likeable, and I can see why they've seen sucess. Question please: what is the difference between product manager and other titles such as program manager and project manager? When I hear Jason say things like motivating a team, to me that sounds like the purview of program or project manager as I understand the roles.

[@rahulthacker9618]

I can share my take on this: - The "Project" Manager's involvement primarily pertains to resource, timeline, cost, & budget management. - The "Program" Manager's involvement primarily pertains to cross-org collaboration for programs, initiatives, bets, and large projects which can be very ambiguous & hence needed a dedicated person who can ensure that clear communication is taking place. - The "Product" Manager's involvement primarily pertains to setting product vision, features that need to be built, defining functionality, metrics & KPIs that need to be tracked etc. When we talk about things like motivation, it isn't an official responsibility of an individual role. It's a leadership skill that's very necessary across every role. Does this help?