Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

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

Nov 26, 2023

01:40:04

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Tom Conrad, former CEO of Zero, discusses lessons from failures at Pets.com and Quibi, along with successful experiences at Apple, Pandora, and Snap. He shares advice on choosing where to work, understanding the math formula of a business, and how to avoid burnout. Tom emphasizes that not everyone needs to be a founder and talks about his current projects.

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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 concept of Ikegai and its application to life and career choices

01:24

Engaging with Users and Word of Mouth: The Growth of Pandora

01:30

Prioritizing People Over Products

02:26

Introduction

5min

Passion for Apple and Lucky Opportunities

2min

The Persistence of Design Detail

7min

The Importance of Trusting Your Instincts and Learning from Product Disasters

27min

The Journey to Pandora: From Enterprise Software to Personalized Music Discovery

12min

Original Vision, Trend of Ideas, and a Sponsor Ad

3min

The Challenges of Decision-Making in a Highly Intelligent Company

21min

Success and Challenges in Consumer Subscription Apps

2min

Mental Health and Avoiding Burnout in the Entrepreneurial Journey

22min

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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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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