Building Anchor, selling to Spotify, and lessons learned | Maya Prohovnik (Head of Podcast Product)

Maya Prohovnik is currently Spotify’s Head of Podcast Product. She was employee #1 at Anchor, which was acquired by Spotify in 2019 and now powers more than 80% of all new podcasts created in the world. In 2023, Maya was named one of the Most Important People in Podcasting by The Hollywood Reporter. In today’s episode, we discuss:• How Maya operationalizes “dogfooding”• How to balance data-driven decision-making and intuition• Strategies for preserving startup culture in a large organization• Tactical tips to improve at public speaking• How Radical Candor and the Eisenhower matrix transformed her approach to managing people• What’s next at Spotify for Podcasters — Brought to you by Sidebar—Catalyze your career with a Personal Board of Directors: https://www.sidebar.com/?utm_source=lennys&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=waitlist_launch | Wix Studio—The web creation platform built for agencies: https://www.wix.com/studio | LinkedIn Ads—Reach professionals and drive results for your business: https://www.linkedin.com/podlenny Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-anchor-selling-to-spotify Where to find Maya Prohovnik: • Threads: https://www.threads.net/@mayafish • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayaprohovnik/ Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • X: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Maya’s background (04:34) Spotify’s podcasting platform (06:24) Maya’s personal podcasts (11:36) The importance of “dogfooding”  (13:24) How Maya operationalizes dogfooding (16:31) How to balance data-driven decision-making and trusting your gut (21:38) Building Anchor 2.0 (26:24) The beginning of Anchor’s hockey stick growth (28:08) How Anchor utilized interns to make the Apple Podcasts integration “magical” (35:36) Anchor and Spotify’s successful integration (37:50) Maintaining a startup culture within a large organization (39:20) Transitioning from a startup to a large company (42:02) Challenges brought on by the acquisition (48:49) How Maya’s leadership approach is guided by Radical Candor (51:53) The Eisenhower matrix for prioritization and task management (52:46) Productivity tips (55:10) How to get better at public speaking (59:38) The future of Spotify for Podcasters (1:00:58) Lightning round Referenced: • What is “Dogfooding”?: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/business/dogfooding.html • The Derry Connection: A Stephen King Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ixSiYlj3A9NqEXZDBgycf • Blood on Their Hands: A Big Brother Fancast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4VP16lTL8sUniQXCFeBInv • Time Share: A Children of Time Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/38yhl2lNOUajccfsdluh5j • The End of the World as We Know It: A First-Time Parenting Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TUr0LxcueYo2nvnyR5rML • Forgotify (stream Spotify songs that have never been played): https://forgotify.com/  • Michael Mignano on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mignano/ • Lessons from scaling Spotify: The science of product, taking risky bets, and how AI is already impacting the future of music | Gustav Söderström (Co-President, CPO, and CTO at Spotify): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/lessons-from-scaling-spotify-the-science-of-product-taking-risky-bets-and-how-ai-is-already-impacting-the-future-of-music-gustav-soderstrom-co-president-cpo-and-cto-at-spotify/ • Radical Candor: https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Candor-Revised-Kick-Ass-Humanity/dp/1250235375 • What is the Eisenhower matrix?: https://www.figma.com/resource-library/what-is-the-eisenhower-matrix/ • Todoist: https://todoist.com/ • Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity: https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0143126563/ • Spotify for Podcasters: https://podcasters.spotify.com/ • Children of Time: https://www.amazon.com/Children-Time-Adrian-Tchaikovsky/dp/0316452505 • It: https://www.amazon.com/Novel-Stephen-King/dp/1982127791/ • Poker Face on Peacock: https://www.peacocktv.com/stream-tv/poker-face • Barbie on Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Barbie-Margot-Robbie/dp/B0CB1TMKR6 • Deadly Games: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096741/ • 1-800 Contacts: https://www.1800contacts.com/ • Lovevery: https://lovevery.com/ • CoopCrate: https://www.coopcratechickens.com/ Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.