Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Building a culture of excellence | David Singleton (CTO of Stripe)

259 snips

May 4, 2023

David Singleton, CTO of Stripe, shares his extensive experience leading engineering teams. He reveals Stripe's unique hiring practices that foster a culture of collaboration and product focus. Singleton discusses the innovative 'friction logging' practice for enhancing user experience and details how AI is revolutionizing engineering workflows. He emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and strategic planning at scale, particularly how user feedback shapes product development. Singleton's insights provide a glimpse into building a high-performing tech organization.

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ANECDOTE

Late PM Hires

Stripe waited to hire PMs until much later, around the 200th employee.
Early engineers were very product-minded, acting like PMs and understanding users deeply.

ANECDOTE

Jeff Weinstein and the IRS

Jeff Weinstein, PM for Stripe Atlas, relentlessly pursued a solution for EIN delays.
He worked with the IRS to enable instant EIN issuance upon signup, improving user experience.

ADVICE

Co-create With Users

Build products by deeply understanding user needs and co-creating with them.
Stripe co-created its billing product with companies like Slack and Figma, using shared feedback loops.

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