Innovative Leadership and Startup Dynamics

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

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-happiness-and-pain-of-product

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Where to find Noam Lovinsky:

• X: https://twitter.com/noaml

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noaml/

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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) 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

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Referenced:

• Substack: https://substack.com/

• Hunter Walk on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hunterwalk/

• The rituals of great teams | Shishir Mehrotra of Coda, YouTube, Microsoft: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-rituals-of-great-teams-shishir-mehrotra-coda-youtube-microsoft/

• Salar Kamangar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/salar-kamangar-5a059712/

• Grammarly: https://www.grammarly.com/

• Thumbtack: https://www.thumbtack.com/

• FRED on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/FRED

• How Airbnb Proved That Storytelling Is the Most Important Skill in Design: https://www.inc.com/yazin-akkawi/the-surprising-technique-airbnb-uses-to-better-sell-an-experience.html

• Google+: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google%2B

• Marco Zappacosta on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcozappacosta/

• Bryan Schreier on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanschreier/

• Whitney Steele on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitneydsteele/

• David Shein on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidshein/

• The magic of thinking big, by Lenny Rachitsky: https://www.mindtheproduct.com/the-magic-of-thinking-big-by-lenny-rachitsky/

• What Seven Years at Airbnb Taught Me About Building a Business: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/what-seven-years-at-airbnb-taught

• New apps, new experiences: NPE Team, from Facebook: https://tech.facebook.com/engineering/2019/7/npe-team-from-facebook/

• The Origin Story of the BRC Trash Fence: https://journal.burningman.org/2016/05/black-rock-city/leaving-no-trace/the-origin-story-of-the-brc-trash-fence/

• Nike opens high-tech research and innovation lab: https://www.just-style.com/news/nike-opens-high-tech-research-and-innovation-lab/

• ChatGPT: https://chat.openai.com/

• Microsoft Copilot: https://copilot.microsoft.com/

• How to grow a subscription business | Yuriy Timen (Grammarly, Canva, Airtable): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-grow-a-subscription-business-yuriy-timen-grammarly-canva-airtable/

• “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek”: https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/the-cave-you-fear-to-enter-holds-the-treasure-you-seek-d624e28c3848

• Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making: https://www.amazon.com/Build-Unorthodox-Guide-Making-Things/dp/0063046067

• For All Mankind on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/for-all-mankind/umc.cmc.6wsi780sz5tdbqcf11k76mkp7

• Fargo TV series on Hulu: https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/fargo

• Arc browser: https://arc.net/

• Competing with giants: An inside look at how The Browser Company builds product | Josh Miller (CEO): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/competing-with-giants-an-inside-look-at-how-the-browser-company-builds-product-josh-miller-ceo/

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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.

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