Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Seth Godin's best tactics for building remarkable products, strategies, brands and more

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Seth Godin is a legend. He’s a marketer, teacher, entrepreneur, and author of more than 20 books, including Purple Cow, Permission Marketing, and Linchpin. He also writes one of the most popular and longest-running blogs in the world (approaching publishing 10,000 in a row!) and continues to shape how we think about marketing, brand, product, and creating lasting change in the world. In our conversation, we discuss: • How to build remarkable products that spread • The four critical strategic choices that determine your future • How to develop good taste and high standards • The role of tension in great strategy • How Seth used Claude to write his newest book • Much more — Brought to you by: • DX—A platform for measuring and improving developer productivity • Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security • Paragon—Ship every SaaS integration your customers want — Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/seth-godins-tactics-for-building-remarkable-products — Where to find Seth Godin: • Blog: http://seths.blog/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethgodin • Website: https://www.sethgodin.com — 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) Seth’s background (05:17) Understanding good taste and upholding high standards (08:09) Become the best at whatever you do (09:48) Seth’s journey as a product manager (14:09) What people often get wrong when building products (16:00) Building a brand in the age of AI (19:04) Using AI to enhance writing (22:40) Four critical elements for an effective strategy (27:38) The role of tension in strategy (29:15) The concept of the purple cow (33:11) "Safe is risky" (34:56) The power of systems (37:07) Better waves make better surfers (38:10) Rebranding vs. re-logoing (43:07) Empathetic leadership (44:14) Conclusion and farewell — Referenced: • Seth Godin on the Tim Ferriss Show: https://tim.blog/2024/03/20/seth-godin-3/ • Persuasive communication and managing up | Wes Kao (Maven, Seth Godin, Section4): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/persuasive-communication-wes-kao • Spinnaker: https://spinnaker.io • Ray Bradbury: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Bradbury • Arthur C. Clarke: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke • Isaac Asimov: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov • Roger Zelazny: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Zelazny • Herbie Hancock: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbie_Hancock • Fahrenheit 451 (game): https://www.filfre.net/2013/09/fahrenheit-451-the-game/ • RTFM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTFM# • Intercom: https://www.intercom.com • Claude: https://claude.ai • ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com • Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com • Steam: https://store.steampowered.com • P.F. Flyers: https://pfflyers.com • Steve Blank’s website: https://steveblank.com • Marissa Mayer on X: https://x.com/marissamayer • Jaguar unveils new logo ahead of electric relaunch: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgr0pw00n7qo • IHOP Becomes IHOb, the International House of ... Burgers: https://www.npr.org/2018/06/11/618844977/ihop-becomes-ihob-the-international-house-of-burgers • Oreo’s Super Bowl Power-Outage Tweet Was 18 Months in the Making: https://www.businessinsider.com/oreos-super-bowl-power-outage-tweet-was-18-months-in-the-making-2013-3 • Tesla’s New ‘Ludicrous Mode’ Makes the Model S a Supercar: https://www.wired.com/2015/07/teslas-new-ludicrous-mode-makes-model-s-supercar — Recommended books: • This Is Strategy: Make Better Plans (Create a Strategy to Elevate Your Career, Community & Life): https://www.amazon.com/This-Strategy-Better-Elevate-Community/dp/B0D47T8S7N• Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable: https://www.amazon.com/Purple-Cow-New-Transform-Remarkable/dp/1591843170 — 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. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

How a great founder becomes a great CEO | Jonathan Lowenhar (co-founder of Enjoy The Work)

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Jonathan Lowenhar is the co-founder of Enjoy The Work, an executive coaching firm that helps founders become great CEOs. Over the past decade, Enjoy The Work has supported over 165 founders on their journey to becoming better leaders. In our conversation, we discuss: • The difference between being a founder and being a CEO • Common failure modes for startup CEOs and how to avoid them • The four key elements of an effective go-to-market strategy • A framework for evaluating potential acquisitions: the magic box paradigm • How to find and hire the best people • How to build a repeatable GTM machine • Why founders need to trust their intuition • Much more — Brought to you by: • Pendo—The only all-in-one product experience platform for any type of application • OneSchema—Import CSV data 10x faster • Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security — Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-a-great-founder-becomes-a-great-ceo-jonathan-lowenhar — Where to find Jonathan Lowenhar: • X: https://x.com/jlowenhar • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlowenhar/ • Enjoy the Work: https://etw.live/lenny — 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) Jonathan’s background (02:56) Understanding the rhythm of well-run companies (09:20) The founder mode vs. manager mode debate (12:05) Common company failure modes (13:36) Common CEO failure modes (25:25) The magic box paradigm for selling your startup (43:07) Advice for founders on building relationships (49:28) Hiring and building an amazing team (57:11) Types of executives: architect, optimizer, scaler (59:45) Working backward in hiring (01:02:54) Four key components of a go-to-market strategy (01:15:01) Trusting founder intuition (01:19:12) Founder vs. CEO: different roles, different skills (01:20:52) Closing thoughts and lightning round — Referenced: • Founder mode memes: https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/04/those-founder-mode-memes-keep-coming/ • Founder mode: https://paulgraham.com/foundermode.html • “Founder Mode” Is a Dangerous Red Herring: https://enjoythework.com/founder-mode-is-a-dangerous-red-herring/ • Magic Box Paradigm: A Framework for Startup Acquisitions: https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Box-Paradigm-Framework-Acquisitions/dp/0692778047 • Facebook Buys Instagram for $1 Billion: https://archive.nytimes.com/dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/04/09/facebook-buys-instagram-for-1-billion/ • Chris Voss on X: https://x.com/fbinegotiator • Who: https://www.amazon.com/Who-Geoff-Smart/dp/0345504194 • Brian Chesky on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianchesky/ • Joe Gebbia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jgebbia/ • Nathan Blecharczyk on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blecharczyk/ • 4 questions Shreyas Doshi wishes he’d asked himself sooner | Former PM leader at Stripe, Twitter, Google: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/shreyas-doshi-live • Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth: https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Startup-Achieve-Explosive-Customer/dp/1591848369 • Adam Grant on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adammgrant/ • This will make you a better decision maker | Annie Duke (author of “Thinking in Bets” and “Quit,” former pro poker player): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/making-better-decisions-annie-duke • How to identify your ideal customer profile (ICP): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-identify-your-ideal-customer • How to get your marketing team to drive more impact: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-get-your-marketing-team-to • The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756 • The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself: https://www.amazon.com/Untethered-Soul-Journey-Beyond-Yourself/dp/1572245379 • Will & Harper on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81760197 • Slow Horses on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/slow-horses/umc.cmc.2szz3fdt71tl1ulnbp8utgq5o • Aura frames: https://auraframes.com/ • Augie studio: https://augie.studio/ • Harrah’s Entertainment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrah%27s_Entertainment — 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. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Identify your bullseye customer in one day | Michael Margolis (UX Research Partner at Google Ventures)

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Michael Margolis has been a UX research partner at Google Ventures (GV) for nearly 15 years. He has developed a unique approach to helping startups identify their “bullseye customer”—the specific subset of their target market who initially is most likely to adopt their product. Michael has conducted over 300 hands-on research sprints with GV portfolio companies across various industries and helped develop the “design sprint” process made famous by the book Sprint. In our conversation, we discuss: • The step-by-step process of running a bullseye customer sprint • The most common mistakes founders make when picking their first customers • Practical tips for conducting effective customer interviews • How to create simple but effective prototypes for user research • The power of “watch parties” in aligning teams around customer insights • How to apply these methods beyond typical tech startups — Brought to you by: • Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments • Paragon—Ship every SaaS integration your customers want • Enterpret—Transform customer feedback into product growth — Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/finding-your-bullseye-customer-michael-margolis — Where to find Michael Margolis: • X: https://x.com/mmargolis • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmargolis/ • Website: https://www.learnmorefaster.com/ • Medium: https://medium.com/@mmargolis — 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) Michael’s background (09:11) Bullseye customers vs. ideal customer profiles (ICPs) (12:32) An overview of the bullseye customer sprint (20:56) When to use the bullseye customer sprint (22:19) Step one: Agree on goals and key questions (23:48) Step two: Define your bullseye customer (25:52) The importance of a narrow target audience (29:00) An example of step two in action (38:24) Narrowing attributes and exclusion criteria (43:28) Step three: Recruiting and compensating participants (56:11) Step four: Creating effective prototypes (01:01:10) Step five: Drafting your interview guide (01:08:49) Step six: The watch party method (01:19:40) Common pitfalls and final thoughts (01:24:43) Closing thoughts and where to find Michael — Referenced: • Learn More Faster: How to Find Your Bullseye Customer and Their Perfect Product: https://www.learnmorefaster.com • Alcoa: https://www.alcoa.com • Dupont: https://www.dupont.com • Ericsson: https://www.ericsson.com • Google Ventures: https://www.gv.com/ • Kate Aronowitz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katearonowitz/ • Vanessa Cho on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/veecho/ • How to kickstart and scale a consumer business—Step 2: Identify your super-specific who: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/consumer-business-super-specific-who • When enough is enough | Andy Johns (ex-FB, Twitter, Quora): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/when-enough-is-enough-andy-johns • Zipline for health care: https://www.flyzipline.com/solutions/healthcare • Jobs to Be Done framework: https://www.christenseninstitute.org/theory/jobs-to-be-done • User Interviews: https://www.userinterviews.com/ • Respondent: https://www.respondent.io/ • Flatiron Health: https://flatiron.com/ • How to identify your ideal customer profile (ICP): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-identify-your-ideal-customer • Gong: https://www.gong.io • Linear: https://linear.app • Gusto: https://gusto.com/ • Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling: https://bookshop.org/p/books/humble-inquiry-second-edition-the-gentle-art-of-asking-instead-of-telling-edgar-h-schein/14739375 • Figma: https://www.figma.com — 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. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

The ultimate guide to founder-led sales | Jen Abel (co-founder of JJELLYFISH)

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Jen Abel is the co-founder of JJELLYFISH, where she and her team have worked with over 300 early-stage founders to learn how to sell, do early customer discovery, and set up a repeatable sales motion on the way to their first $1M ARR. In our conversation, Jen shares: • Why founder-led sales is so crucial early on • The sales process, step by step • How to craft effective outreach messages • Where to find leads • What three channels work best for outreach • What to say on your first call • How to maintain momentum • Strategies for navigating procurement and closing deals • Common pitfalls in the sales process and how to avoid them — Brought to you by: • Brave Search—A smarter way to search • Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security • Paragon—Ship every SaaS integration your customers want — Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/master-founder-led-sales-jen-abel — Where to find Jen Abel: • X: https://x.com/jjen_abel • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/earlystagesale — 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) Jen’s background (02:20) The importance of founder-led sales (08:24) The steps of a sales cycle (12:01) Tactics for effective cold outreach (16:47) Conversion rate vs. win rate (20:20) The time it takes to find product-market fit (23:06) Identifying and engaging prospects (30:58) Nailing the first phone call (34:14) Buying vs. selling (38:08) Testing the questions to ask (41:57) Avoiding common sales questions and securing the second call (43:08) Co-authoring with customers (45:06) Time-boxing service contracts (49:20) Why you should avoid demos on the first call (51:05) Dealing with procurement (54:22) The power of enterprise sales (58:14) Getting a signature (01:00:15) Choosing a focus and overcoming sales challenges (01:02:19) General timelines (01:04:27) Final thoughts and advice (01:13:32) Working with Jen — Referenced: • Wiz: https://www.wiz.io/ • JJELLYFISH: https://www.jjellyfish.com/ • Clay: https://www.clay.com/ • A guide for finding product-market fit in B2B: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/finding-product-market-fit • Airtable: https://www.airtable.com/ • Figma: https://www.figma.com/ • GitHub: https://github.com/ • Vanta: https://www.vanta.com/ • Christine Cacioppo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ccacioppo/ • Glengarry Glen Ross: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104348/ • A step-by-step guide to crafting a sales pitch that wins | April Dunford (author of Obviously Awesome and Sales Pitch): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/a-step-by-step-guide-to-crafting • Sales Pitch: How to Craft a Story to Stand Out and Win: https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Pitch-Craft-Story-Stand-ebook/dp/B0CHY6BNDN • Sprig: https://sprig.com/ • Zip: https://zip.co/ — 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. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe