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

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

September 18, 2022

Duration

1h 10m

Channel

Lenny's Podcast

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

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: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-a-meaningful-career-jason — Where to find Jason Shah:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jasonyogeshshah
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonyogeshshah/
• Website: https://www.jasonshah.me/

— Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

— Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:

• Whimsical: https://whimsical.com/lenny
• Coda: http://coda.io/lenny
• Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/

— Referenced:

• Creative Selection: Inside Apple’s Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs: https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Selection-Inside-Apples-Process/dp/1250194466
• Casey Winters on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-sell-your-ideas-and-rise-within#details
• Jason Shah in Lenny’s newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/a-product-managers-guide-to-web3
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers: https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Thing-About-Things-Building/dp/0062273205
• Polygon: https://polygon.technology/
• Solana: https://solana.com/
• MoonPay: https://www.moonpay.com/
• The Vietnam War series by Ken Burns: https://www.pbs.org/show/vietnam-war/
• Alchemy: https://www.alchemy.com/

— 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! — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Jason Shah

  guest

• Lenny Rachitsky

  host

• Jon (from Amplitude)

  guest

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Lenny's Podcast, featuring Jason Shah and Lenny Rachitsky, Building a meaningful career | Jason Shah (Airbnb, Amazon, Microsoft, Alchemy) explores from Web3 winters to career maps: building meaningful product careers Jason Shah, product leader at Alchemy and veteran of Airbnb, Amazon, Microsoft, and Yammer, shares how to build a meaningful, resilient product career. He contrasts Web3 hype cycles with real product progress, explains how PMs can keep teams motivated during downturns, and describes the evolving role of product management in crypto. Jason also dives into Amazon’s working-backwards process, what great leadership looks like up close, how to effectively “push back” on CEOs, and his ladder-vs-map framework for long-term career decisions. The conversation closes with practical advice on hiring, defining the right problems, and choosing when to stay versus when to take a risky leap.

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