The art of product management | Shreyas Doshi (Stripe, Twitter, Google, Yahoo)

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

August 25, 2022

Duration

1h 31m

Channel

Lenny's Podcast

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Shreyas Doshi is a treasure trove of wisdom and tactical insights on product, strategy, psychology, leadership, and life. Over the course of his career, he’s PM’d at Google, Twitter, Yahoo, and Stripe—where he joined as its fourth product manager, later becoming Stripe’s first PM manager and helping define and grow its product management function from ~5 to more than 50 people. Since leaving Stripe, Shreyas has amassed a huge Twitter following in large part thanks to consistent sharing of high-quality insights on the art of product management. Where to find Shreyas Doshi:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/shreyas
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreyasdoshi/

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

Referenced:

• Coda template: https://coda.io/@shreyas/pre-mortems-how-a-stripe-product-manager-predicts-prevents-probl
• Pre-mortems: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1221257568510603264
• LNO framework: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1492345184171945984
• Three levels of product work: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1370248637842812936
• Execution problems: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1427116991274307588
• Opportunity-cost thinking: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1409726218438549514
• High agency: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1276956836856393728

Episode transcripts: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/shreyas-doshi-on-pre-mortems-the-lno-framework-the-three-levels-of-product-work-why-most-execution-problems-are-strategy-problems-and-roi-vs-opportunity-cost-thinking/#transcription In this episode, we cover: [00:00] Shreyas’ upbringing and path into product management [14:22] Lessons from working at Stripe, Twitter, Google, and Yahoo [27:12] How pre-mortem meetings impacted the culture at Stripe [33:23] What are the best practices in running a pre-mortem meeting? [39:27] The LNO framework: What is it and how did it change the way Shreyas went about his day? [48:06] The two-step tactic you can apply to overcome procrastination on important tasks [53:19] The three levels of product work and which level should you optimize for [56:46] How might these product work levels cause conflict or influence your company culture? [1:03:43] Common types of problems hiding behind the execution label [1:05:14] Two traits you need to identify a fake execution problem [1:13:10] The pitfall of ROI thinking [1:21:03] What is opportunity-cost thinking and how can you apply it? Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:

• Coda: https://coda.io/lenny
• Productboard: https://www.productboard.com/
• Sprig: https://sprig.com/lenny

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquires about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Shreyas Doshi

  guest

• Lenny Rachitsky

  host

• Narrator

  other

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Lenny's Podcast, featuring Shreyas Doshi and Lenny Rachitsky, The art of product management | Shreyas Doshi (Stripe, Twitter, Google, Yahoo) explores Shreyas Doshi reveals powerful mental models for exceptional product management In this episode, Shreyas Doshi distills years of experience at Stripe, Twitter, Google, and Yahoo into a set of practical mental models for product managers. He covers how to prevent failures with pre-mortems, how to prioritize your time using the L-N-O framework, and how to navigate the three levels of product work: impact, execution, and optics. Shreyas argues that most “execution problems” are actually strategy or culture issues, and reframes prioritization around minimizing opportunity cost instead of maximizing ROI. He closes by emphasizing the importance of high agency—taking ownership, executing creatively, and persisting through adversity—as the meta-skill that unlocks everything else.

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