Frameworks for product differentiation, team building, and first principles thinking | Ayo Omojola

Ayo Omojola is Chief Product Officer at Carbon Health, one of the fastest-growing and most innovative health tech companies in the world. Previously, he was a PM leader at Cash App, where he co-created the Cash Card and scaled it to a nine-figure revenue line for Square. He’s also an angel investor in companies like Mercury, Modern Treasury, Faire, and many others. In this episode, we discuss: • How Cash App broke through the noise and became a consumer app success story • Why small teams are better than big ones • Hard-won lessons on team building and hiring • Why it’s “criminal” not to connect people in your network to things that they need • Why you sometimes shouldn’t listen to experts • The importance of first-principles thinking • Advice for health tech founders — Brought to you by Microsoft Clarity—See how people actually use your product | Eco—Your most rewarding app | LMNT—Zero-sugar hydration Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/frameworks-for-product-differentiation-team-building-and-thinking-from-first-principles-ayo-omojola-carbon-health-cash-app/#transcript Where to find Ayo Omojola: • Twitter: https://twitter.com/ay_o • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omojola/ • Blog: https://kunle.app/ Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Ayo’s background (04:13) The story of how Ayo used Quora for discoverability  (06:44) The scale of Cash App  (07:37) What Cash App did well (10:12) Lessons from building consumer apps  (13:08) Why it’s so important to be different (14:08) What Ayo learned from how Square/Block operates (16:36) How to succeed at building a startup within a startup (19:06) How Ayo transitioned from fintech to health tech (22:51) Why Ayo loves hiring founders  (28:32) Team-building strategies (32:12) The importance of going deep and challenging assumptions (36:58) Why you should always ask questions (38:45) Lessons in leadership (41:43) Advice for founders in the health-care space (44:48) What Carbon Health is (46:58) Lightning round Referenced: • Ayo on Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Ayo-Omojola • Carbon Health: https://carbonhealth.com/ • Cash App: https://cash.app/ • Lob: https://www.lob.com/ • Mailform: https://www.mailform.io/ • Venmo: https://venmo.com/ • PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/us/home • Apple Cash: https://www.apple.com/apple-cash/ • Square: https://squareup.com/us/en/home/ • Block: https://block.xyz/ • Pinwheel: https://www.pinwheelapi.com/ • The Three-Body Problem: https://www.amazon.com/Three-Body-Problem-Cixin-Liu/dp/0765382032 • Children of Time: https://www.amazon.com/Children-of-Time-audiobook/dp/B06ZXTHNSJ • Children of Memory: https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Children-of-Memory/dp/B0B84HRYT1 • Children of Ruin: https://www.amazon.com/Children-of-Ruin-audiobook/dp/B07RB7WQR3 • Stormlight Archive: https://www.amazon.com/Stormlight-Archive-Boxed-Set-Books/dp/1250776635 • Fire in the Deep: https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Deep-Robert-J-Miller/dp/1532611641 • War of the Worlds on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.49a287c2-44ed-4ffc-afa0-fab86dd0d31d • Succession on HBO Max: https://play.hbomax.com/player/urn:hbo:episode:GWukCJAu0e4uHwwEAAAB5 • No Context Succession on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nocontextroyco 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.