Lenny's PodcastVision, conviction, and hype: How to build 0 to 1 inside a company | Mihika Kapoor (Product, Figma)
Episode Details
EPISODE INFO
- Released
- April 21, 2024
- Duration
- 1h 40m
- Channel
- Lenny's Podcast
- Watch on YouTube
- ▶ Open ↗
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Mihika Kapoor is a design-engineer-PM hybrid at Figma, where she was an early PM on FigJam and is now spearheading development on a new product at the company that’s coming out this June. She’s known as the go-to person at Figma for leading new 0-to-1 products, and, as you’ll hear in our conversation, beloved by everyone she works with. Her background includes founding Design Nation, a national nonprofit focused on democratizing design education for undergraduates; spearheading product launches at Meta; and community building within the NYC AI startup scene. In our conversation, we discuss:
- How to effectively take ideas from 0 to 1 at larger companies
- How to craft a compelling vision
- The importance of vulnerability and feedback
- The role of intuition and product sense in making decisions
- How to practically communicate your vision
- How to balance collaboration and strong opinions
- Advice for building a strong team culture
- Pivoting with grace and enthusiasm
- The current AI revolution and its impact on PM
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Find the transcript and references at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/vision-conviction-hype-mihika-kapoor Where to find Mihika Kapoor:
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) Mihika’s background (04:29) Core attributes of great product managers (07:34) Crafting a compelling vision (12:12) The vision behind FigJam (18:25) Delivering a vision without design or engineering skills (21:52) Creating momentum (26:36) The importance of strong conviction (27:45) Direct communication (32:48) Building hype (42:20) Immersing yourself in user insights (47:16) Operationalizing user insights (50:33) Caring deeply about what you build (54:01) Finding passion in your work (57:00) Building a strong culture (01:07:07) Pivoting with grace and enthusiasm (01:11:48) Design Nation (01:13:15) Mihika’s weaknesses (01:16:07) Building new products at larger companies (01:20:50) Coming up with a great idea (01:22:49) The key to going from 0 to 1 (01:26:47) Spreading the idea across the company (01:29:15) Closing thoughts (01:32:11) 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.
SPEAKERS
Lenny Rachitsky
hostMihika Kapoor
guest
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Lenny's Podcast, featuring Lenny Rachitsky and Mihika Kapoor, Vision, conviction, and hype: How to build 0 to 1 inside a company | Mihika Kapoor (Product, Figma) explores inside Figma’s Zero-to-One Playbook: Vision, Conviction, Culture, Hype Mihika Kapur, a product and design-engineering hybrid at Figma, breaks down how she repeatedly takes ideas from zero to one inside a fast-growing company. She explains how to craft a compelling, user-rooted vision, build deep conviction, and create momentum and hype that carry fragile new ideas through skepticism and change. A major theme is extreme closeness to users, paired with highly visual storytelling, prototypes, and bottoms‑up experimentation via hackathons like Figma’s Maker Week. She also digs into culture-building, direct communication, and embracing constant change as essential ingredients for entrepreneurial product teams inside large organizations.
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