Behind the Craft

Latest Episodes:

Zapier Co-Founder on Using AI Agents to 10X Your Productivity | Mike Knoop (Zapier) Dec 01, 2024

Show notes

My guest today is Mike Knoop, co-founder of Zapier. Mike co-founded Zapier and started the ARC Prize to accelerate progress towards open AGI. We had a great chat about how Zapier works, how PMs and marketers can use AI to automate even more work, and why LLMs won’t reach AGI by themselves. Timestamps: (00:00) There are two types of AI automation (01:57) How Zapier automation works (05:14) I quit being Zapier's CPO to do AI research (07:54) I gave employees a week off to just use AI(11:57) How PMs can use AI agents to save time (14:03) We saved $100K by using AI agents in marketing (21:28) Robotic process automation might be better than APIs (26:30) Most definitions of AGI are wrong (30:45) Why LLMs won't get us to AGI and what might work instead Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/zapier-co-founder-ai-agents-10x-productivity-mike-knoop Where to find Mike:X: https://x.com/mikeknoopWebsite: https://mikeknoop.com/ 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!

How the Product Manager Role is Changing in 2025 | Jiaona Zhang (CPO Linktree) Nov 24, 2024

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My guest today is Jiaona Zhang, CPO of Linktree. JZ is the Chief Product Officer of Linktree and a guest lecturer at Stanford. We had a great chat about AI’s impact on PM managers and super ICs, the shift towards PM specialists, and whether becoming a creator can help advance your PM career. (00:00) Find what makes you happy in your PM career (01:44) AI's impact on PM managers and super ICs (04:03) How to balance strategy and execution (08:24) Streamlining PM tasks with AI (13:28) Creating strategy docs and PRDs that work (16:50) Your career is your most important product (22:55) The shift from PM generalists to specialists (23:58) Exploring JZ's Career Odyssey framework (25:49) Why you shouldn't just optimize for comp and title (31:12) Does the creator economy actually work? (44:19) Can being a creator help advance your product career? Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/how-the-product-manager-role-is-changing-jiaona-zhang Where to find Jiaona: Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jiaona/ 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!

Why K-12 Education Is Broken for High Achieving Kids | Niels Hoven (Mentava) Nov 17, 2024

Show notes

My guest today is Niels Hoven, founder and CEO of Mentava. Niels founded Mentava, an education startup teaching 2-year-olds to read at the 2nd-grade level. We had a great chat about why K-12 education is broken for high-achieving kids, whether AI will unlock personalized learning, and how his software teaches 2-year-olds to read. Timestamps: (00:00) Our schools don't work for high-achieving kids (01:26) The problem with K-12 education in the US (03:08) Why California banned 8th grade algebra (10:11) Never be ashamed of advocating for your kids (14:21) How Niels homeschooled 3 kids during COVID (19:25) Teaching 2-year-olds to read like 2nd graders (25:24) Rethinking how we teach kids math (28:44) Will AI replace teachers? (30:34) Will elite college credentials still matter? (35:29) Tips for parents to raise high-achieving kids Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/why-education-is-broken-for-high-achieving-kids-niels-hoven Where to find Niels: X: https://x.com/NielsHoven Website: https://www.mentava.com/ 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!

Inside How Perplexity is Disrupting Online Search | Aravind Srinivas (CEO) Nov 10, 2024

Show notes

My guest today is Aravind Srinivas, CEO and co-founder of Perplexity.

Aravind is the CEO of Perplexity, the AI answer engine disrupting online search. Aravind gave me an inside look at how Perplexity builds products, how it scaled to 100M queries a week, and how it’ll deliver better ads than Google’s ten blue links.

Timestamps: (00:00) We don't do product reviews (01:22) The secret to Perplexity's incredible shipping velocity (05:16) Giving feedback as a user instead of as the CEO (07:01) How Perplexity decides what to build next (10:56) Perplexity's "7 friends in 10 days" metric (14:02) How Perplexity uses AI to build Perplexity (17:30) How to get a great job without traditional credentials (21:50) Key drivers behind Perplexity's growth to 100M queries (27:50) The future of search ads and why 10 blue links are dead (35:56) Closing advice to get what you want out of life Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/inside-how-perplexity-is-disrupting-search-aravind-srinivas Where to find Aravind: X: https://x.com/AravSrinivas Website: https://www.perplexity.ai/ 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!

Inside Duolingo Unhinged Growth to a $500M Business | Cem Kansu (Duolingo) Nov 03, 2024

Show notes

My guest today is Cem Kansu. Cem is the Head of Product at Duolingo. Over 8 years, he helped Duolingo grow to 100M+ monthly active users and $500M+ in annual revenue. I had a super fun chat with Cem about Duolingo's unhinged product culture, the top drivers of Duolingo's user and revenue growth, and whether AI will democratize education. Timestamps: (00:00) We love being unhinged with our owl (01:26) Duolingo is a game and this is our core loop (03:46) The top 3 drivers of Duolingo's growth to 100M users (05:55) Passive-aggressive push notifications work! (08:12) How Duolingo onboards new users to maximize retention (13:11) Our winding path to $500M+ in revenue (17:25) We've figured out how international expansion works (21:13) Will AI kill Duolingo? (26:20) We made Lily an AI emo teenager on purpose (32:41) How to A/B test without sacrificing quality (37:09) What the best PMs at Duolingo have in common Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/inside-duolingo-unhinged-growth-to-500m-cem-kansu Where to find Cem: X: https://x.com/cemkansu LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cemkansu/ 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!

How to Crack the PM Interview in 2024 | Satish Mummareddy (Meta) Oct 27, 2024

Show notes

My guest today is Satish Mummareddy, ex-product leader at Meta.

During his 6 years at Meta as an IC7 product leader, Satish interviewed 200+ PM candidates and mentored 100+ PMs. We had a great chat about how to crack the PM interview, choose the right job offer, and find strong mentors.

Timestamps:

(00:00) How not to let rejection get you down

(01:53) Hot takes after interviewing 200+ PMs at Meta

(05:14) Why experienced PMs often struggle in interviews

(09:13) 3-month plan to crush interviews at top tech companies

(15:05) How to uplevel your product thinking skills

(20:10) Why interview frameworks aren't enough

(27:31) How to avoid getting down-leveled

(30:01) Choosing the right company to join

(36:24) 3 steps to find great mentors and sponsors

(40:25) Deliberate practice, career arcs, and mental fitness

Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/meta-product-leader-cracking-the-pm-interview-satish

Where to find Satish:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/satishmummareddy/

Course: https://maven.com/crossing-career-chasms/product-thinking

:pushpin: Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!

LinkedIn's Chief Product Officer on Growing to 1B with AI | Tomer Cohen (LinkedIn) Oct 20, 2024

Show notes

My guest today is Tomer Cohen, Chief Product Officer at LinkedIn. Tomer gave me an inside look at LinkedIn’s growth from 100M to 1B+ users by transforming its feed. He also shared his best advice on growing AI products and advancing your PM career. Finally, I had to ask him about r/LinkedinLunatics. 🙂 Timestamps: (00:00) 3 must-have principles for building AI products (02:55) Revamping the LinkedIn feed for knowledge-sharing (06:15) Why it's so hard to be a feed PM and how Tomer overcame doubts (11:09) r/LinkedInLunatics and the role of humor on LinkedIn (13:18) How newsletters and videos can succeed on LinkedIn (18:24) "Thinking fast and slow" as an AI PM (22:22) How to deal with AI's non-deterministic nature (24:49) "Founder mode" and traits that the best PMs have (27:52) How to design an org to reward impact more than optics (31:29) The best way to land your dream job isn't to apply to everything Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/linkedins-cpo-on-growing-to-1b-with-ai-tomer-cohen Where to find Tomer: - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomercohen/ - Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/34ScXLvdmBeZ2Yza7ZWtLi 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!

Founder Mode Lessons from Instagram, Airbnb, and Coinbase | Sanchan Saxena Oct 13, 2024

Show notes

My guest today is Sanchan Saxena, SVP at Atlassian. Sanchan worked directly with 4 of the best founders out there — Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger (Instagram), Brian Armstrong (Coinbase), and Brian Chesky (Airbnb). In our chat, he shares what we can learn from each founder’s superpowers and the 4 traits he always looks for when hiring exceptional PMs. (00:00) The secret product approach that sets Airbnb and Apple apart (01:21) Inside Instagram's early days at 100 employees (03:07) Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger's superpowers (04:54) How "do the simple thing first" led to Instagram Stories' success (07:15) The single common trait shared by the greatest founders (08:50) Brian Armstrong's golden rule, "No decision by committee" (13:36) "Unconstrained thinking" with Brian Chesky at Airbnb (18:21) What Brian Chesky learned from Disney movies and storytelling (23:29) Why obsessing over metrics kills product quality (27:43) Shifting focus to prioritize customers and craft in your company (30:55) Climbing the ladder From PM to product director and VP (33:38) Mastering the yin and yang of product management (42:02) How to set yourself up to get lucky in your career Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/sanchan-instagram-airbnb-coinbase Where to find Sanchan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanchans/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@therealsanchan 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!

How I Built a 7-Figure Business in Less than A Year with AI | Ben Tossell (Ben's Bites) Sep 29, 2024

Show notes

My guest today is Ben Tossell, founder of Ben's Bites. Ben built a 7-figure business that has taught 10,000+ people how to use AI to save time and automate work. In less than a year, this business has already made more than his last exit (selling no-code platform MakerPad to Zapier). Timestamps: (00:00) AI is your co-pilot, it's not the end to end solution yet (00:56) I scaled to $1M+ by avoiding things I hate doing (03:11) Key drivers of growing to 7-figures in 9 months (10:44) What to automate with AI vs. delegate to teammates (15:30) How to find and hire help online (17:22) Has the community been critical to the business? (22:09) The art of writing great AI prompts (25:42) Ben's bear take on Perplexity (29:36) My defense of Perplexity (33:18) Why all of us are winners from the AI race (36:17) Underrated AI tools for illustrations, videos, and more (40:02) How to build a business to suit your life, not vice versa Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/how-i-built-a-7-figure-business-with-ai-ben-tossell Where to find Ben: Website: https://bensbites.com/ X: https://x.com/bentossell 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!

How to Break into AI PM from Google AI Product Leader | Marily Nika (Google) Sep 22, 2024

Show notes

My guest today is Marily Nika, AI Product Lead at Google. Marily built AI products at Meta and Google for 12+ years after getting a PhD in machine learning. She's also a top AI instructor who has given talks at TED, Harvard, and through her top-rated AI course and newsletter.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Anyone can be an AI PM (01:22) A crash course on core AI concepts (01:51) AI algorithms and applications map (06:38) Traits that the best AI PMs have in common (09:53) How to get leadership buy-in for AI products (11:37) A day in the life as an AI PM (14:51) How to break into AI product management (20:25) How to avoid the retention problem for AI products (23:08) A live demo of ChatGPT Voice (33:39) How Marily uses AI in her personal life Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/how-to-break-into-ai-product-management

Where to find Marily:

Newsletter: https://marily.substack.com/

Course: https://maven.com/marily-nika/ai-pm-bootcamp 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!

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