Behind the Craft

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 b...

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...

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 (...

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...

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:...

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...

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 Linked...

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...

My guest today is Ben Tossell, founder of Ben's Bites. Ben built a 7-figure business that has taught 10,000+ people how to use AI to save time and automate work. In less than a year, this business has already made more than his last exit (selling no-code platform MakerPad to Zapier). Timestamps: (00:00) AI is your co-pilot, it's not the end to end solution yet (00:56) I scaled to $1M+ by avoiding...

My guest today is Marily Nika, AI Product Lead at Google. Marily built AI products at Meta and Google for 12+ years after getting a PhD in machine learning. She's also a top AI instructor who has given talks at TED, Harvard, and through her top-rated AI course and newsletter. Timestamps: (00:00) Anyone can be an AI PM (01:22) A crash course on core AI concepts (01:51) AI algorithms and applica...

My guest today is Justin Welsh, a 7-figure solopreneur and creator. Justin burned out from startups in 2019 after suffering from a panic attack. Since then, he’s built an $8M one-person business and an audience of millions. His new course, Creator MBA, is one of the highest value-to-time courses I’ve ever taken. Timestamps: (00:00) The specific path to build an $8M solo business (01:47) Leaving th...

My guest today is Shishir Mehrotra, co-founder and CEO of Coda. Shishir is the co-founder and CEO of Coda and was YouTube's Chief Product Officer. We had a great chat about what I think is the best framework to grow your career, how a PM applied it to build a 0 to $1B product in 18 months, and other rituals to level up your strategy and leadership. Brought to you by: - Amplitude: Get their Nor...

My guest today is Jon Lax, former VP of Design at Meta. Jon is a 25-year design veteran who most recently led design for Meta’s Reality Labs (e.g., Ray Ban glasses, Quest, and more). Before Meta, Jon ran his own design firm for 12 years. He’s got many hot takes on product development and design that I’m excited to dig into. Brought to you by: - Amplitude: Get their north star playbook for free: ht...

My guest today is Sharmeen Chapp, Head of Product for Revenue and Finance Automation at Stripe. In 2021, Sharmeen was diagnosed with breast cancer after becoming a Senior Director at Meta and a new mom. She shared lessons on leading with empathy through cancer, growing from IC to VP in 6 years, and Stripe’s unique product culture. Brought to you by: - Amplitude: Get their North Star playbook for f...

My guest today is Mihika Kapoor, product lead at Figma. Mihika and team built Figma Slides from just an idea to a featured product at Config this year. She shared with me how anyone can build 0 to 1 products inside large companies - from building internal excitement to getting leadership buy-in to shipping on time. She also shared why she no longer writes any PRDs. Timestamps: (00:00) What it real...

My guest today is Lee Robinson, VP Product at Vercel. Lee has built products and great developer experiences for over a decade and has written some of the most clear-sighted content about how to get developers to adopt your product that I’ve ever read. We chatted about what makes a great developer experience, what resonates with developer marketing, and how to appeal to this no-bullshit customer s...

My guest today is Chris Jones, partner at Silicon Valley Product Group. Chris and Marty Cagan wrote the best-selling book Empowered based on their 30+ years of experience working with 200+ companies. Their definition of “empowered vs. feature product teams” has created controversy, so I knew I had to chat with them. Chris and I had a heart-to-heart chat about empowered vs. feature teams, how to av...

My guest today is Miqdad Jaffer, ex-head of AI products at Shopify. Miqdad leads enterprise products at OpenAI and was previously Head of AI Products at Shopify. He also teaches Maven’s #1 AI PM course on building AI products inside companies. Miqdad and I spoke about: -- Why traditional product development doesn't work for AI - How to build product principles early to manage AI's infinite...

My guest today is Dan Shipper, co-founder of Every. Dan co-founded Every and hosts a podcast called AI & I, where he has interviewed 25+ AI experts. He also recently launched Spiral, a new AI tool to help writers and creators save time and get more done. We had a great chat about how Dan uses AI to write, the traits that top AI experts have in common, and why “managers of AI models” could be a...

My guest today is Siqi Chen, co-founder and CEO of Runway. Siqi is a 3x founder who’s an expert at using AI to scale his business and life. We discussed his favorite AI prompts and workflows, building a company where people "give a shit," and how to raise your kids and cheat death in an AI-first world. Timestamps: (00:00) Can AI solve death? (00:55) Introducing Siqi (01:08) The #1 startu...

My guest today is Nat Eliason, one of my favorite writers online. Nat is the author of Crypto Confidential, a real-life thriller about how he made and lost millions in crypto. We also talked about how Nat uses AI to edit his writing, why he pushes himself to do hard things like writing a sci-fi novel, and his advice for aspiring creators on avoiding the dark side of the creator economy. Nat is a p...

My guest today is Lane Shackleton, Chief Product Officer of Coda. Lane has interviewed hundreds of product teams from Figma, Uber, Spotify, and more as the chief product officer of Coda. He shared with me his favorite rituals from these interviews for crafting a vision, running product reviews, and making decisions. Timestamps: (00:00) Cathedrals, not bricks to craft a great vision (03:41) Moving...

My guest today is Robbie Crabtree, founder of Competitive Storytelling. Robbie is a top storytelling coach who has helped hundreds of founders raise $600M+ through this skill. Before that, he perfected his storytelling craft as a trial lawyer who oversaw 100+ criminal cases. We talked about: - How to craft a great story - The two stories that every leader must have - How to deliver your story in a...

My guest today is Josh Miller, CEO of the Browser Company. Josh and his team built Arc, an AI-first browser that users can’t stop raving about. To take on Google Chrome, they’ve raised $550M from top investors such as LinkedIn’s Jeff Weiner and Figma’s Dylan Field. In our chat, Josh gives us an inside look at how the Browser Company crafts great products and hires top talent. Timestamps: (00:00) T...

My guest today is Dave Kline. David led teams at Bridgwater for 20+ years, working directly with billionaire Ray Dalio. Since then, he’s coached 1000s of leaders through his course and newsletter. We spoke about: - His journey from leader to solopreneur - How to manage up well - How to delegate and help others grow If you enjoy our conversation, please like and subscribe to support the podcast. Ge...