The happiness and pain of product management | Noam Lovinsky (Grammarly, FB, Thumbtack, YT)

Noam Lovinsky has had a distinguished career in product, leaving an indelible mark at Facebook, YouTube, Thumbtack, and currently as the chief product officer at Grammarly. At Facebook, Noam helped establish the New Product Experimentation team; at Thumbtack, he was chief product officer; and at YouTube, he was one of the early product leaders overseeing the consumer experience. In our conversation, we discuss: • Challenges and lessons from reviving growth at YouTube and Thumbtack • Lessons from building Facebook’s New Product Experimentation team • Insights into Grammarly’s success • Knowing when it’s time to kill your project • Why diversifying your growth channels is critical • The power of visioning and storytelling in shaping product strategy • How to create space for innovation at large companies • The resilience and motivation of Grammarly’s team in Ukraine — Brought to you by: • Whimsical—The iterative product workspace: https://whimsical.com/lenny • Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security: https://vanta.com/lenny • LinkedIn Ads—Reach professionals and drive results for your business https://www.linkedin.com/podlenny Find the transcript and references at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-happiness-and-pain-of-product Where to find Noam Lovinsky: • X: https://twitter.com/noaml • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noaml/ 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) Noam’s background (04:18) Noam’s lack of online presence (08:06) Lessons from YouTube: advocating for what’s best for yourself and the team (14:31) Prioritizing what’s best for the business (19:37) Knowing when it’s time to kill a project (21:47) Lessons from Thumbtack: diversifying growth channels and overcoming challenges (26:24) How Thumbtack turned growth around (31:44) Building Airbnb’s instant booking feature (35:28) Lessons from Thumbtack: team collaboration and product strategy (38:38) Lessons from Facebook: building the New Product Experimentation team (40:43) The importance of starting small and building community density (46:07) Advice for building a startup within a startup (48:52) Having an incentive system (49:34) Lessons from Grammarly: adapting to changing user needs and building for the masses (54:20) The scrappiness and profitability of Grammarly (56:56) The resilience and motivation of the Grammarly team in Ukraine (59:08) General career advice (01:01:02) When to pull back (01:02:58) Closing thoughts (01:03:56) Lightning round 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.