Vlad Loktev: Why inquiry beats advocacy in tense rooms

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

September 1, 2024

Duration

1h 37m

Channel

Lenny's Podcast

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Vlad Loktev spent 10 years at Airbnb, where he started as an IC PM and quickly advanced to lead the core Airbnb marketplace business and then GM the entire homes business, managing over 1,000 people and reporting directly to CEO Brian Chesky. He recently left Airbnb and joined Index Ventures as their newest partner. Vlad was my manager at Airbnb for many years, and is the person I credit most for teaching me how to be a great product manager. Prior to Airbnb, Vlad spent a year at Zynga, where he helped grow Words with Friends to over 14 million daily active users. In our conversation, Vlad shares:

• Insight into Brian Chesky’s leadership style
• Why success as a PM is all about impact, impact, impact
• Why chaos can be good
• Why as a leader it’s OK to let some fires burn
• Why you should learn to “poke the bear”
• Balancing product release speed with quality
• Lessons on prioritization, decision-making, and organizational design
• Advice for founders on building company culture
• Much more

— Brought to you by:

• Pendo—The only all-in-one product experience platform for any type of application: https://www.pendo.io/lenny
• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security: https://vanta.com/lenny
• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments: https://www.geteppo.com/

Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/impact-impact-impact-vlad-loktev Where to find Vlad Loktev:

• X: https://x.com/vladimirloktev
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vladimirloktev/

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) Vlad’s background (02:54) Reflecting on transformative years at Airbnb (04:28) Skills and mindsets for success (11:03) Impact-driven mindset (13:16) Saying no and inquiry before advocacy (17:54) “Poking the bear” (22:46) Psychological tools for leadership (30:08) Building and scaling teams (36:12) Letting fires burn (47:34) Embracing chaos (54:40) The unsell email strategy (01:02:01) Finding your place in an organization (01:05:38) The importance of company culture (01:13:16) Airbnb’s unique approach to product management (01:26:41) Failure corner (01:31:32) Lightning round and final thoughts Referenced:

• Inquiry vs. Advocacy framework: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/vladimirloktev_ever-get-feedback-that-you-need-to-listen-activity-7107746905190797313-tR1k/?trk=public_profile_like_view
• Making an impact through authenticity and curiosity | Ami Vora (CPO at Faire, ex-WhatsApp, FB, IG): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/authenticity-and-curiosity-ami-vora
• Serenity prayer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_Prayer
• Index Ventures: https://www.indexventures.com/
• Unorthodox PM wisdom: Automating user insights, unselling job candidates, logging every decision, more | Kevin Yien (Stripe, Square, Mutiny): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/unorthodox-pm-wisdom-kevin-yien
• The Unsell Email: https://kevinyien.com/blog/unsell.html
• What Seven Years at Airbnb Taught Me About Building a Business: https://marker.medium.com/what-seven-years-at-airbnb-taught-me-about-building-a-company-e1d035d49c56
• Life at Airbnb: https://careers.airbnb.com/life-at-airbnb/
• Brian Chesky’s new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach
• Making Meta | Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth (CTO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/making-meta-andrew-boz-bosworth-cto
• The growing importance of software product marketing managers: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/the-growing-importance-of-software-product-marketing-managers
• Red Rising: https://www.amazon.com/Red-Rising-Pierce-Brown/dp/034553980X
• Silo series: https://www.amazon.com/Silo-Saga-Wool-Shift-Stories/dp/0358447828
• Silo on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/silo/umc.cmc.3yksgc857px0k0rqe5zd4jice
• Survivor on CBS: https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/
• Discord: https://discord.com/
• Gobblet Gobblers: https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Orange-103-Gobblet-Gobblers/dp/B001TMXDMK/

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.

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Lenny Rachitsky

  host

• Vlad Loktev

  guest

• Narrator

  other

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Lenny's Podcast, featuring Lenny Rachitsky and Vlad Loktev, Vlad Loktev: Why inquiry beats advocacy in tense rooms explores airbnb leader Vlad Loktev on impact, chaos, and fearless inquiry Former Airbnb Homes GM and now Index Ventures partner Vlad Loktev breaks down the mindsets and behaviors that powered his rapid rise from IC PM to leading a 1,000-person org. He emphasizes an almost obsessive focus on impact, learning the true drivers of the business, and saying no to everything that distracts from top company priorities.

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