Nan Yu: How Linear ships beloved B2B software at speed

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

January 30, 2025

Duration

1h 21m

Channel

Lenny's Podcast

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Nan Yu is the head of product at Linear, one of the most beloved and fastest-growing B2B SaaS products out there today, and the gold standard for high-performing tech teams. In our conversation, we discuss:

• Why speed and quality aren’t actually at odds
• Linear’s unique approach to product development
• Nan’s systematic approach to creativity
• Linear’s philosophy on deadlines
• The “double triangle” framework for product management
• Nan’s approach to landing his dream product roles
• Much more

— Brought to you by:

• Sinch—Build messaging, email, and calling into your product: https://sinch.com/lenny
• Paragon—Ship every SaaS integration your customers want: https://www.useparagon.com/lenny
• Wix Studio—The web creation platform built for agencies: https://www.wix.com/studio

Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/linears-secret-to-building-beloved-b2b-products-nan-yu Where to find Nan Yu:

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

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) Introduction to Nan Yu and Linear (04:54) Survey insights: Linear vs. Jira (07:51) The speed vs. quality myth (09:24) Building and iterating quickly (15:31) Avoiding bloat in enterprise software (23:57) Understanding user needs deeply (30:09) How to approach customer calls (34:10) Creating strong emotional hooks (40:31) Managing the product backlog (44:46) Systemizing creativity (48:16) Demo: Saving drafts in Linear (51:38) Breaking constraints and building at extremes (54:15) Adopting new tools (58:22) The “double triangle” framework for product management (01:04:23) Effective job-hunting strategies for PMs (01:09:15) Thoughts on deadlines (01:14:15) Lightning round Referenced:

• Jira: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira
• Linear: https://linear.app/
• Patrick Collison’s post on X: https://x.com/patrickc/status/1869422495985750459
• Magnus Carlsen on X: https://x.com/magnuscarlsen
• Hikaru Nakamura on X: https://x.com/gmhikaru
• Geoffrey Moore on finding your beachhead, crossing the chasm, and dominating a market: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/geoffrey-moore-on-finding-your-beachhead
• Customer Request feature on Linear: https://linear.app/customer-requests
• Everlane: https://www.everlane.com/
• Schlep Blindness: https://paulgraham.com/schlep.html
• Linear’s triage tool: https://linear.app/docs/triage
• Patrick Collison’s post about mental models on X: https://x.com/patrickc/status/1443215022029619200
• Brian Chesky’s new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach
• Unpacking Amazon’s unique ways of working | Bill Carr (author of Working Backwards): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/unpacking-amazons-unique-ways-of
• Mode: https://mode.com/
• The Diplomat on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81288983
• Sakura Micron pens: https://www.amazon.com/SAKURA-PIGMA-MICRON-ESSENTIAL-COLORS/dp/B07VJFXT3C/

Recommended books:

• Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers: https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-3rd-Disruptive-Mainstream/dp/0062292986
• The Design of Everyday Things: https://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Revised-Expanded/dp/0465050654/

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

• Nan Yu

  guest

• Narrator

  other

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Lenny's Podcast, featuring Lenny Rachitsky and Nan Yu, Nan Yu: How Linear ships beloved B2B software at speed explores linear’s playbook: fast iteration, opinionated design, deeply empathetic product discovery Lenny interviews Nan Yu, Head of Product at Linear, about how the company builds a beloved, high-velocity B2B product without sacrificing quality. Nan explains why speed and quality are not opposites, describing Linear’s practice of shipping a working version in the first 10% of a project’s timeline and iterating from there. He details how Linear avoids enterprise bloat by refusing features that worsen individual contributor (IC) workflows, instead digging deeply into real user pain and emotional triggers to design native, opinionated solutions. They also cover Nan’s systematized creativity process, the PM’s role as a bridge between building and selling, and his approach to landing PM roles by treating the interview like solving the hiring manager’s real job-to-be-done.

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