Lenny's Podcast

Brian Tolkin: How twin turbine jets shape Uber and Opendoor

How product and ops fly as a twin turbine jet plane at Uber and Opendoor; calm leadership and product reviews as collaboration, not a firing squad.

LRLenny RachitskyhostBTBrian Tolkinguest

Aug 4, 2024·1h 14m·Watch on YouTube ↗

📖 CHAPTERS

1. 1
   0:00 – 2:14

   Brian’s background

2. 2
   2:14 – 2:49

   Career beginnings at Uber

3. 3
   2:49 – 6:47

   Transitioning from product operations to product management

4. 4
   6:47 – 10:00

   Product and operations synergy

5. 5
   10:00 – 12:18

   Surge pricing at Uber

6. 6
   12:18 – 15:47

   Scaling challenges, and stories

7. 7
   15:47 – 25:38

   Opendoor and Covid adaptations

8. 8
   25:38 – 40:30

   Product reviews and Jobs to Be Done

9. 9
   40:30 – 42:23

   The challenges of A/B testing

10. 10
    42:23 – 44:33

    Increasing conviction in solutions

11. 11
    44:33 – 47:07

    Leveraging intuition in product decisions

12. 12
    47:07 – 52:55

    Partnering with Zillow

13. 13
    52:55 – 56:25

    Staying calm under pressure

14. 14
    56:25 – 1:00:21

    Finding the “kernel of truth” in product management

15. 15
    1:00:21 – 1:06:11

    Failure corner: Early days of Uber Pool

16. 16
    1:06:11 – 1:14:39

    Lightning round and final thoughts