Shreyas Doshi is a former product leader at Stripe, Twitter, Google, and Yahoo. He’s now a full-time advisor and coach to founders and executives. Shreyas is known for his incredibly insightful writing on products, which has garnered him a passionate following in the PM and startup community. Last week, we sat down together at the very first Lenny and Friends Summit in San Francisco for a special live episode. We covered:
• Why product leaders often feel overwhelmed with work, and how to combat it
• The importance of developing good taste, and how to do it
• How to reduce frustration in your product leadership role
• The critical skill of truly listening as a leader
• Common pitfalls in annual planning and decision-making
• Lots of laughs
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To learn more from Shreyas, check out these courses:
• Improving Your Product Sense: https://bit.ly/product-sense
• Managing Your PM Career: https://bit.ly/pm-career-course
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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/shreyas-doshi-live
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Where to find Shreyas Doshi:
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreyasdoshi/
• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@shreyas.threads
• Linktree: https://linktr.ee/shreyasdoshi
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ShreyasDoshiVideos
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction
(05:35) Question one: Why am I so busy?
(10:08) Annual planning as an example
(16:48) Tactical tips for staying less busy
(25:20) Question two: Do I actually have good taste?
(38:09) Question three: Why does my job feel so frustrating?
(43:29) Question four: Am I really listening?
(44:35) Closing remarks
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Referenced:
• 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: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/episode-3-shreyas-doshi
• LNO framework: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1492345184171945984
• Time management techniques that actually work: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/time-management-techniques-that-actually
• Part 2: Time management techniques that actually work: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/part-2-time-management-techniques
• Eisenhower quote: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/dwight_d_eisenhower_164720
• Stripe Connect: https://stripe.com/connect
• Jeff Bezos explains one-way door decisions and two-way door decisions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxsdOQa_QkM
• Spotify Is America’s Most Loved Workplace: https://www.newsweek.com/2021/10/29/spotify-americas-most-loved-workplace-1639982.html
• Shreyas on “thinking is cheap”: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/shreyasdoshi_thinking-is-very-cheap-doing-is-very-expensive-activity-7225237421813116929-Qzi3/
• Good Product Strategy, Bad Product Strategy from Shreyas: https://x.com/shreyas/status/1244810075908128768
• Shreyas on annual planning and metrics:
https://x.com/shreyas/status/1302423854095036421
https://x.com/shreyas/status/1304628719374544896
• Jensen Huang on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenhsunhuang/
• Patrick Mahomes’s website: https://www.adidas.com/us/patrick_mahomes
• Virat Kohli: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virat_Kohli
• Reversible and Irreversible Decisions: https://fs.blog/reversible-irreversible-decisions/
• Fail fast: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fail_fast
• 3 levels of product work: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1370248637842812936
• Shakespeare quote: https://nosweatshakespeare.com/quotes/famous/to-thine-own-self-be-true/
• Rick Rubin: Legendary Music Producer | Lex Fridman Podcast #275: https://Dwww.youtube.com/watch?v=H_szemxPcTI
• Blake Burge on Rick Ruben: https://x.com/blakeaburge/status/1794470295828341222
• Rick Rubin on X: https://x.com/RickRubin
• Dee Hock on X: https://x.com/deewhock
• Dee Hock quote on listening: https://x.com/shreyas/status/1351279398423465984
• Peter Drucker: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Drucker
• Peter Drucker quotes on listening: https://www.azquotes.com/author/4147-Peter_Drucker/tag/listening
• Lenny’s first podcast recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP_QghPLG-8
• A Recipe to Become a Great Listener: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUQJkiDy2Ko
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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.
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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.