Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Humanizing product development | Adriel Frederick (Reddit, Lyft, Facebook)

Oct 20, 2022

Adriel Frederick, VP of Product Management at Reddit X, shares his wealth of experience from Facebook and Lyft. He highlights the importance of human judgment in product development, arguing that not everything can be solved algorithmically. Adriel discusses how diversity in teams fuels innovation and the necessity of effective onboarding for customer retention. He introduces the concept of 'cannonballs' for product strategies and emphasizes empathy alongside organization as key PM skills. His insights into the future of AI and its implications are thought-provoking and essential for aspiring product leaders.

01:07:25

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Episode guests

Adriel Frederick

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Quick takeaways

Human judgment is vital in product management to complement algorithmic limitations.

Operational control is essential in balancing algorithmic efficiency with human decision-making.

Empathy and organizational skills are crucial for senior leaders to drive impactful outcomes.

Deep dives

The Role of Product Managers in Algorithmic Heavy Products

Product managers play a crucial role in algorithmic heavy products by determining what the algorithms should be responsible for, what people are responsible for, and establishing a decision-making framework. Algorithms often lack understanding of long-term effects, human responses, and product intent, highlighting the importance of human judgment in product management.

Is There Anything You've Learned About R&D Teams?

01:39

Is There a Hidden Cost to the Experiment?

01:57

Intro

3min

The Importance of Onboarding in Customer Retention

2min

Navigating a Diverse Tech Journey

22min

Navigating Customer Sentiments and Product Challenges

5min

Balancing Human Insight and Algorithmic Power

12min

Navigating Growth in Product Development

20min

Rapid Insights and Recommendations

4min

Adriel Frederick is VP of Product Management at Reddit X, where he helps incubate and scale new products. He is a former Product Lead at Facebook, as well as a former PM and Director of Product at Lyft. In today’s episode, we focus on what it takes to become a better product leader. Adriel shares anecdotes from his time at Lyft and Facebook, insights about how to lead through tough times, why there isn’t an algorithmic solution to everything, why R&D teams need to be a part of the core mission, the tangible benefits of working on diverse teams, and his thoughts on the future of AI. He also introduces the concept of cannonballs, why you should focus on the marginal user, why organization and empathy are the most important PM skills, and so much more.

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Find the full transcript here: https://www.podpage.com/lennys-podcast/humanizing-product-development-adriel-frederick-reddit-lyft-facebook/#transcript

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Where to find Adriel Frederick:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/drellf

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

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

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

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