Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Billion dollar failures, and billion dollar success | Tom Conrad (Quibi, Pandora, Pets.com, Snap, Zero)

Nov 26, 2023

Tom Conrad, CEO of Zero Longevity Science and former VP at Snap and Pandora, shares his wealth of experience in tech. He dives into lessons from the failures of Pets.com and Quibi, shedding light on team dynamics and investment alignment. Conrad emphasizes that not everyone needs to be a founder, advocating for collaboration in innovative environments. He reflects on successful stints at Apple and Pandora, while also discussing the importance of timing in product launches. Tune in for insights on avoiding burnout and nurturing sustainable work practices.

01:40:04

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Episode guests

Tom Conrad

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Quick takeaways

Timing in the market and investor enthusiasm can greatly impact a company's trajectory.

Empowering teams and allowing them to thrive in their respective roles is crucial for success.

Taking big risks and encouraging speculative feature development can lead to a culture of innovation.

Understanding the business model as a whole and optimizing variables like LTV and CAC can drive efficient decision-making.

Deep dives

Becoming an Expert in Your Field

During my time at Berkeley Systems working on You Don't Know Jack, I learned the importance of going deep in a specific area and becoming an expert. This experience allowed me to sharpen my software engineering skills and gave me the confidence to hold my own in technical discussions.

Challenges of being a founder and a product manager

01:03

The Life and Times of a Technical Director

01:27

Clarify Your Intentions To Inspire Action

00:42

The concept of Ikegai and its application to life and career choices

01:24

Intro

5min

A Journey Through Apple: Passion and Design

8min

Lessons from Tech Failures: Pets.com to Quibi

29min

Serendipity in Music Tech

11min

Innovative Ideas and Timing: The Quibi Reflection

3min

Navigating Leadership Transitions

23min

Discovering Ikigai: Balance and Collaboration

18min

Significance of Details and a GIF Debate

3min

Tom Conrad is the CEO of Zero and on the board of Sonos. He began his career in engineering at Apple, where he helped build key features that remain in iOS today. Tom was previously the VP of Product at Snap and the chief technology officer of Pandora. He also held leadership positions at notable tech flops Pets.com and Quibi, giving him a unique perspective not only on what it takes to build a successful company but also on lessons from failure. In today’s conversation, we discuss:

• Lessons learned from the infamous failures of Pets.com and Quibi

• Lessons learned from the successes of Apple, Pandora, and Snap

• Advice on choosing where to work

• Understanding the math formula of a business

• How to avoid burnout

• Why Tom says not everyone needs to be a founder

• What he’s building now

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Brought to you by Coda—Meet the evolution of docs | Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian’s new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams | HelpBar by Chameleon—the free in-app universal search solution built for SaaS

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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/billion-dollar-failures-and-billion

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Where to find Tom Conrad:

• X: https://twitter.com/tconrad

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

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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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