Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Building minimum lovable products, stories from WeWork and Airbnb, and thriving as a PM | Jiaona Zhang (Webflow, WeWork, Airbnb, Dropbox)

Jul 2, 2023

Jiaona Zhang, SVP of Product at Webflow and a Stanford lecturer, shares insights from her extensive experience at top companies like Airbnb and WeWork. She emphasizes the importance of creating 'minimum lovable products' that resonate with users. Discover how effective roadmaps and storytelling can drive product success, along with tips for early-career PMs on setting ambitious OKRs. Jiaona also reflects on leadership challenges during her time at WeWork, offering valuable lessons on empathy and strategic planning.

01:07:32

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Episode guests

Jiaona Zhang

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Quick takeaways

Building a “minimum lovable product” rather than a minimum viable product

The importance of understanding user problems and exploring opportunities before pushing for a preconceived solution

The value of investing in and leveraging the unique aspects of a product to deliver a better user experience

Deep dives

Importance of Building a Reputation

It is important to become known for something and excel at it in order to build a reputation. By focusing on a specific area of expertise, such as shepherding complex launches or solving technically complex problems, one can establish a strong reputation and be entrusted with more responsibility.

The Common Mistake New PMs Make: Jumping to Solutions

01:12

How to do OKRs

02:52

Understanding and Leveraging your Core Advantage in Developing New Products

00:32

Road Mapping: Telling a Story and Creating Scaffolding for Prioritization

03:26

Intro

4min

Avoiding Common Pitfalls in Product Management

2min

Redefining Product Management and User Connection

20min

The Importance of Structured Artifacts in Product Development

2min

Accelerating Your PM Career

8min

Navigating Leadership Challenges

23min

Rapid Fire Recommendations and Childlike Entertainment

2min

Navigating Interviews and Innovations

7min

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Jiaona Zhang (JZ) is a product leader with a strong background in consumer products and extensive hiring and management experience. She is currently SVP of Product at Webflow as well as a lecturer at Stanford, where she teaches a graduate-level course on product management. Before Webflow, JZ was Head of Product for the Homes Platform at Airbnb and has also led product teams at Airbnb, WeWork, and Dropbox. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• Building a “minimum lovable product” rather than a minimum viable product

• How to create better roadmaps through storytelling

• Top lessons from Dropbox, Airbnb, WeWork, and Webflow

• The importance of setting ambitious OKRs

• JZ’s first 90 days playbook: how to succeed in a new role

• Advice for early-career PMs

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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-minimum-lovable-products

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Where to find Jiaona Zhang:

• Reforge: https://www.reforge.com/managing-your-pm-career

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