Lenny's Podcast

Crafting a compelling product vision | Ebi Atawodi (YouTube, Netflix, Uber)

Ebi Atawodi is Director of Product Management for the Creator Experience at YouTube, former Head of Product at Uber, and a former Director of Product (Payments and EMEA) at Netflix. Known for crafting a strong, unified vision, Ebi empowers her teams to achieve outsized outcomes. In today’s episode, we go deep into vision and strategy, including: • The four key elements of a good vision statement • Three ways to determine your mission • The four pillars of great product management • How writing helps you gain clarity • How culture influences product • Tips on how to structure a strategy session • Advice on building team culture and improving work relationships • What’s coming soon at YouTube — Brought to you by Sidebar—Accelerate your career by surrounding yourself with extraordinary peers: https://www.sidebar.com/lenny?utm_source=lennys&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=waitlist&utm_content=accelerate | Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian’s new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams: https://atlassian.com/lenny/?utm_source=lennypodcast&utm_medium=paid-audio&utm_campaign=fy24q1-jpd-imc | Wix Studio—The web creation platform built for agencies: https://www.wix.com/studio?utm_source=Lennyspodcast&utm_medium=Podcastad&utm_campaign=SL Find the transcript and references at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/crafting-a-compelling-product-vision Where to find Ebi Atawodi: • X: https://twitter.com/ebiatawodi • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ebiatawodi • YouTube mixes: https://www.youtube.com/@EbiAtawodi/videos 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) Ebi’s background (04:31) Four key elements of a product vision (08:14) Examples of lofty but attainable visions (11:43) Vision vs. mission (13:23) Examples of visions and missions from notable companies (15:00) A simple framework for outlining a vision (20:51) Other methods for outlining a vision (23:29) The impact of writing clear headlines (26:41) Using mockups to frame your vision (28:24) A step-by-step approach to developing a vision (32:58) Ebi’s “10 Things” document (37:47) A quick summary of Ebi’s tips (40:56) How to use the “10 Things” doc in a strategy session (43:11) The three concentric circles of evangelizing (47:48) The cadence of developing a vision and bringing it to life (49:26) Visions vs. micro visions (52:58) First steps in developing a vision (55:12) Infrastructure is the product (56:39) Clarity and conviction, the main jobs of PMs (59:58) Ebi’s narrative doc (1:04:59) Conviction, its role in the job, and how to build it (1:08:20) How to build company culture (1:17:06) The monolithic culture at Uber (1:19:09) The culture Ebi embeds in her teams (1:23:58) How to evaluate your relationship with your engineering manager (1:26:02) What’s new at YouTube (1:29:22) Ebi’s closing thoughts (1:30:45) Lightning round 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.

Ebi AtawodiguestLenny Rachitskyhost

Dec 2, 20231h 39mWatch on YouTube ↗

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Product vision, culture, and craft with YouTube PM leader Ebi Atawodi

Ebi Atawodi, Director of Product Management at YouTube (creator experience), shares a deeply tactical framework for defining, expressing, and evangelizing product vision at any level of seniority.
She distinguishes clearly between mission and vision, then walks through concrete techniques—story Mad Libs, future news articles, and visual mocks—for making a vision vivid and shareable.
Ebi explains her view of PM craft as “clarity and conviction,” details a repeatable process for building strategy from customer problems, and shows how company culture (at Uber, Netflix, Google) shapes products.
She also dives into building strong team culture, leading with love (not likeability), and previews upcoming YouTube creator tools such as AI-powered idea inspiration and thumbnail A/B testing.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Always have a vision, even as a junior PM.

Regardless of level, you need a clear picture of the future you’re working toward—people won’t board a plane whose pilot doesn’t know the destination; your team is no different.

Define vision as a vivid future picture, distinct from mission.

Mission is the purpose (“why we exist”), while vision is what the world looks and feels like when you’ve succeeded—concrete and imaginable, like “a computer on every desk” or “a city without parking lots.”

Use simple storytelling tools to make vision real.

Ebi recommends three formats: a ‘once upon a time’ Mad Libs story, a future news/TechCrunch article headline and lede, and low‑fi visual mocks (even hand sketches) to help others *see* the future state.

Start vision work from a living list of real user problems.

Maintain a “top 10 things you should know” doc per area (including UX issues, data insights, tech debt, support pain), updated quarterly and cross‑functional, so your long‑term vision is anchored in concrete, shared problems.

Build strategy with a clear narrative: insights → strategy → big rocks.

Write a short (2–4 page) document that lays out key insights, your approach/strategy, and 3–5 ‘big rocks’—the few highest‑leverage initiatives that truly move the needle, not a laundry list roadmap.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

I do not believe in being liked. I believe in being loved.

— Ebi Atawodi

Product management is clarity and conviction.

— Ebi Atawodi

If you have to rewrite your vision every year, you haven’t done the work.

— Ebi Atawodi

If I could put all the research into an AI and it could spit out a PRD, then you haven’t done your job.

— Ebi Atawodi

Infrastructure is the product. You can’t build a skyscraper on a shaky foundation.

— Ebi Atawodi

What makes a strong product vision and how it differs from missionTactical frameworks for articulating and communicating visionA structured process for developing strategy: insights → strategy → big rocksThe core craft of product management: clarity and convictionGathering and organizing customer problems (the “top 10 things you should know” doc)How company culture at Uber, Netflix, and Google shapes product decisionsBuilding healthy team culture: partnership with engineering, vulnerability, and “leading with love”

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