The art of product management | Shreyas Doshi (Stripe, Twitter, Google, Yahoo)

Shreyas Doshi is a treasure trove of wisdom and tactical insights on product, strategy, psychology, leadership, and life. Over the course of his career, he’s PM’d at Google, Twitter, Yahoo, and Stripe-where he joined as its fourth product manager, later becoming Stripe’s first PM manager and helping define and grow its product management function from ~5 to more than 50 people. Since leaving Stripe, Shreyas has amassed a huge Twitter following in large part thanks to consistent sharing of high-quality insights on the art of product management.
Where to find Shreyas Doshi:
• Twitter: / shreyas
• LinkedIn: / shreyasdoshi
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: www.lennysnewsletter.com
• Twitter: / lennysan
• LinkedIn: / lennyrachitsky
Referenced:
• Coda template: coda.io/@shreyas/pre-mortems-...
• Pre-mortems: / 1221257568510603264
• LNO framework: / 1492345184171945984
• Three levels of product work: / 1370248637842812936
• Execution problems: / 1427116991274307588
• Opportunity-cost thinking: / 1409726218438549514
• High agency: / 1276956836856393728
Episode transcripts:
www.lennyspodcast.com/shreyas...
In this episode, we cover:
[00:00] Shreyas’ upbringing and path into product management
[14:22] Lessons from working at Stripe, Twitter, Google, and Yahoo
[27:12] How pre-mortem meetings impacted the culture at Stripe
[33:23] What are the best practices in running a pre-mortem meeting?
[39:27] The LNO framework: What is it and how did it change the way Shreyas went about his day?
[48:06] The two-step tactic you can apply to overcome procrastination on important tasks
[53:19] The three levels of product work and which level should you optimize for
[56:46] How might these product work levels cause conflict or influence your company culture?
[1:03:43] Common types of problems hiding behind the execution label
[1:05:14] Two traits you need to identify a fake execution problem
[1:13:10] The pitfall of ROI thinking
[1:21:03] What is opportunity-cost thinking and how can you apply it?
Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:
• Coda: coda.io/lenny
• Productboard: www.productboard.com/
• Sprig: sprig.com/lenny
Production and marketing by penname.co/. For inquires about sponsoring the podcast, email [e-mail].

[@agomisrael]

Listening in 2024. Shreyas is really insightful 👍🏽👍🏽

[@aekagrasaxena]

This is a gold mine!

[@cookingwithcolesy710]

04:03 Shreyah upbringing and path into product management 14:12 Lessons from working at Stripe, Twitter, Google and Yahoo 27:12 How pre-mortem meetings impacted the culture at Stripe 33:23 What are the best practices in running a pre-mortem meeting 39:27 The LNO framework: What is it and how did it change Shreyas went about his day 48:06 The two-step tactic you can apply to overcome procrastination on important tasks 53:19 The three levels of product work and which level you should optimise 56:46 How might these product work levels cause conflict or influence your company culture 1:03:43 Common types of problems hiding behind the execution label 1:05:14 Two traits you need to identify a fake execution problem 1:13:10 The pitfall of ROI thinking 1:21:03 What is opportunity-cost thinking and how can you apply it?

[@carolheinzig666]

Shreyas is so insightful

[@DoiLoOkLiKeIcArE1213]

I love this episode! The pre-mortem, LNO and three layers of product work are super useful tools! I recently quit my PM job because of the false execution issues and focus on ROI culture of the company. Hearing these problems presented in a structured way crystallized the reasons behind many of the symptoms I saw. Thank you for sharing your wisdom Shreyas! Lenny, you are so good at this! You asked every single question I had in my mind when following the conversation. Thank you 🙏

[@mshibinz]

Keep doing these podcast, one day you'll break your equilibrium of growth and grow exponentially.....Untill then these podcasts are reserved for thinkers like us. Good work dude

[@productgirl]

I can’t imagine that Lenny hasn’t hit exponential growth, I mean, are there PMs who don’t listen to Lenny or read his newsletters??

[@ranjiniar7612]

❤😂😢🎉😂😂😅🎉❤😂🎉😂😂❤😂 2:49 ny, y ynynayyyyyy, anyyyyanyyyyYayby.😅 YyYNYBYBYYY, yy, y 2:51

[@career-calling]

Getting to this a bit late but so many gems here that was relatable. The most relatable was LNO concept. It reminded me of scenarios when the managers were incapable of understanding all tasks are not created equal and exhaust their teams by sending them to chase 10 things in 10 direction. This concept is good to teach in leadership lessons

[@federicocunese]

I loved this. Being a PM is hard, so hard. Sometimes i think about giving all up... but i continue, and try to grow, learn and improve. This Podcast, and the way, the way in which Shreyas talked about this real and not theoretical stuff that just happens day to day in our jobs was awesome and heartwarming to hear.

[@amartyadey8892]

This podcast is sheer gold. Thanks to Shreyas for the insights and Lenny for conducting a wonderful interview. Loved it!

[@25viditkad]

Simply pearls of wisdom, backed by real world insights and anecdotes !!

[@sami22rg]

Spot ON!! So much stuff he talks about resonates. I learned so much. Thanks @Shreyas and @Lenny

[@segunagbaje6823]

Currently going through a career segue and your podcast is really helpful. Thank you so much.

[@atulminocha]

Great Stuff. It is all great music to my ears. Thanks Lenny for taking time to host Shreyas and initiate this great podcast

[@productgirl]

Ooh to be a Shreyas in my lifetime… 🤍

[@mariolattuga3053]

Excellent! Great work Lenny.

[@AjayJJohn]

This is one of the best episodes and thoroughly enjoyed all the nuggets of insights shared.

[@kiranks5995]

Great podcast; Highly informative, authentic. Shreyas drives the point (quoting real-life examples) so lucidly with such clarity. In many hi-tech and modern enterprises conflicts, misalignments crop up even though every team tries its' best to excel. So much of blame-game, pointing fingers, and constant firefighting can be avoided and eliminated if the top leadership is cognizant of these issues.

[@dmvisionary]

This was amazing! I'll have to watch this multiple times, so much great insight. Thank you, super helpful for an APM looking to elevate their career

[@MrTeluguSongs]

What a nice and intense conversation, how Lenny runs it and how Shreyas joyfully answered every question taking it as an opportunity to enligten the audience, gives me a feeling that I will get better applying these ideas and techniques very soon. This is a good example outcome of Intent driven leadership where creativity and innovation are encouraged in word and in action and at heart.

[@stasy_stasy]

This podcast is so great even the ad products could be helpful and smth new to check)

[@badhreer.r.n1293]

Another Expert Host 🥳 Thanx a. Lot " LR " - Learn from Lenny Rachitsky Podcast "... Very useful

[@BrijeshBolar79]

Thanks you so much for sharing these insights. This is definitely helpful for someone like me who is new to PM.

[@SouravKumar-jj6tj]

that's brilliant, man

[@DenBorchev]

20:10 the twitter prediction is spot-on: "unless something terrible happens". Listening to this nine months later and looking back, well it kinda had happened.

[@LennysPodcast]

great point!

[@krahomy8569]

Great podcast. Enjoyed a lot 🙌

[@jatinkhaimani709]

Just a suggestion to add the key phrases in the video. I love the podcast with subtitles on but would be great if Intro can have the words pop-up. You got a soothing voice Lenny. Good luck!

[@vivekboharpi]

Loved it! Very insightful and thought provoking

[@nizamshariff1984]

This was super ! thank you so much

[@liammurray8502]

It sounds like John at Stripe was very good at identifying what outcomes customers were looking for and bringing attention back to that rather than outputs. Was interesting to hear that.

[@thaboshikwambane5578]

Top 20% dev then he switched 🙆🏽‍♂️. Probably turned out well but top 20% software engineer in Silicon Valley is a pretty hectic achievement

[@ANU1194]

Amazing thoughts. Added a lot of value

[@chandan007301]

Very informative interview.. Thank you Lenny!

[@woodsey]

Top class episode

[@erengunduz]

Nice Job Lenny. Very helpful content 💪

[@Sumeetshubham]

amazing video

[@user-iq3ti1yh6c]

Simply perfect speaker and video material. Lenny - great podcast! Thank you!!!

[@LennysPodcast]

Thank you!

[@rajvalli2006]

super

[@abhipatil4844]

too good

[@muzahmad2104]

Amazing content

[@jaimesmith1086]

Thanks Lenny for creating this video. Great to see two of my favorite PM legends. I am wondering If I can get your thoughts on this - I recently discovered product management but my impression so far is that I can be paid well (sweet sweet tech salary), don't need to code, don't need any special certifications/MBA/MS Computer Science (or any specific degrees for that matter) or specific experiences. Seems too good to be true. Wondering if I am missing something?

[@annethroop229]

In my experience, it’s the accountability. You set the direction and strategy for your product (making sure it’s aligned with the overall strategy). If your team works on the wrong thing, or or a small list of okay things but not the thing your product or customer needs, that’s on the PM. The PM has let down the team, the product, the company. And some PMs do code, some do design but it’s more that as PM you need to know enough about all aspects that impact your product to be able to decide on a coherent strategy, know what the teams priorities should be, and know what is right for the product.

[@francishoward7813]

If you Want get a competitive advantage over peer PMs, Listen carefully to this

[@akashjogi4106]

I'd like to start a career in product management but I have no tech background. Is a tech background absolutely necessary?

[@christhornham]

Coda is amazing. My entire brain lives in Coda.

[@user-si2ee6mz6h]

sir make one video on NISST Entrance exam for job oriented course

[@LostMonk679]

29:20

[@shariqueahmadazizy1946]

Google simulates the future

[@zetsui0411]

20:18 network affect + product diff means stickness 53:00 pay attention to your fears they are telling you something

[@rocioherrerao7569]

GRACIAS POR ENVIARME EL MATERIAL ROCIO HERRERA OBESO

[@da_revo5747]

How are there so few comments?

[@siddmiss8162]

bhai hindi bol le

[@kalpavrikshika8256]

learn English bhai! You want this man who works in the U.S to speak in Hindi as a response to English questions lol

[@aquib-J]

kuch bhi

[@Sumeetshubham]

super