Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career
Building product at Stripe: craft, metrics, and customer obsession | Jeff Weinstein (Product lead)
Episode guests
Podcast summary created with Snipd AI
Quick takeaways
- Customer obsession drives product excellence at Stripe.
- Metrics align with customer value for effective development.
- Encouraging founders to pay reveals genuine commitment.
- Setting specific Key Results enhances product success metrics.
- Atlas streamlines company creation to spur entrepreneurship.
Deep dives
Focusing on Customer Feedback and Support to Drive Product Improvements
Prioritizing customer feedback was a pivotal strategy discussed in the podcast episode, with a focus on minimizing support tickets for optimal user experience. By analyzing and addressing common support issues promptly, the team at Atlas was able to enhance their service. Progress was tracked through a specific metric aimed at reducing support tickets, leading to a significant improvement from 15% to 85% of customers with no support issues.
Importance of Metrics for Product Success
Emphasizing the significance of metrics in product development, the podcast highlighted how metrics serve as a numerical representation of the value provided to customers. The concept of aligning metrics with customer value and ensuring a balance between quantitative and qualitative indicators was underscored. Selecting a core metric, such as evaluating companies with zero support tickets, enabled the team to measure and optimize for customer satisfaction effectively.
Practice of Paying Customers to Determine True Value
A unique approach shared in the podcast involved encouraging founders to practice 'paying' by invoicing for a nominal amount, uncovering the true willingness to pay. This method aimed to distinguish between casual interest and genuine commitment from potential customers. By setting a rule to disregard feedback from non-paying sources, the focus shifted towards understanding value through actionable customer actions.
Strategic Use of Metrics and Tactics for Continuous Improvement
The podcast detailed a strategic approach to utilizing metrics in the product development process, emphasizing the need for specific Key Results (KR) aligned with overarching metrics. With a focus on improving the risk review timeline, the team at Atlas set targeted goals to drive success. By implementing a cohort metric approach and tactical optimization, they achieved notable progress, reflected in a substantial reduction of support-related issues.
Simplifying Company Start-Up with Atlas
Atlas provides a streamlined process for starting a company with just a few clicks, aiming to lower barriers for entrepreneurs. The tool automates bureaucratic tasks like sending important paperwork, enabling founders to focus on building and growing their businesses. By integrating with governments and banking partners, Atlas accelerates the process, allowing entrepreneurs to establish their ventures quickly and efficiently.
Diversity and Perspective in Team Building
The Atlas team prioritizes diversity to ensure a broad range of perspectives in problem-solving and decision-making. With intentional hiring practices, the team aims to reflect a world of inclusivity and varied backgrounds. By fostering a team with diverse viewpoints, Atlas enhances its ability to innovate and address challenges effectively.
Encouraging Entrepreneurship with Atlas
Through Atlas, one in six new Delaware corporations are launched, demonstrating the tool's impact on entrepreneurship. The platform facilitates the creation of businesses, driving economic growth and fostering innovation. By empowering founders worldwide, Atlas plays a significant role in enabling startup success and catalyzing entrepreneurial endeavors.
Efficiency and Innovation in Problem Solving
Jeff's approach to problem-solving involves cutting through complexity to focus on practical solutions. By emphasizing direct observations and customer feedback, solutions are derived from real needs rather than theoretical frameworks. This efficient approach drives innovation and effectiveness, leading to impactful outcomes and streamlined processes within a large company like Stripe.
Achieving Forward Progress through Tangible Solutions
Aligning people with customer stories and visually storyboarding solutions helps in creating an unconstrained perfect solution to tackle pressing issues. Taking small steps and defining a clear use case motivates progress. By focusing on proof of existence through tangible progress and engaging customers early on, momentum is maintained towards achieving goals.
Building Strong Relationships and Embracing Alternatives for Success
Establishing partnerships and close relationships with competitors can lead to mutually beneficial outcomes. By prioritizing customer needs and collaboration, competitors can turn into alternatives that promote progress and innovation. Embracing feedback and advice to focus on essential problems contributes to building efficient solutions and long-term growth.
Jeff Weinstein is a product lead at Stripe, where he helped grow their payment APIs to hundreds of billions in volume and transformed the way founders start companies into a few simple clicks with Atlas. Prior to Stripe, Jeff led several startups and sold companies to Groupon and Box. He’s known for his customer obsession, craft, quality, and building beloved products businesses rely on. In our conversation, we discuss:
• The power of customer obsession and how to operationalize it in the product development process
• How to pick the right metrics and use them to drive impact
• Techniques for getting things done at big companies
• A group practice Jeff started to uplevel product craft, called Study Group
• The story behind Stripe Atlas and its mission to increase entrepreneurship globally
• Lessons from working with the founders of Stripe
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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/creating-a-culture-of-excellence
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Where to find Jeff Weinstein:
• X: https://x.com/jeff_weinstein
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffwweinstein/
• Email: jweinstein@gmail.com
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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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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Jeff’s background
(10:16) The “go, go, go ASAP + optimistic, long-term compounding” approach
(15:38) The importance of craft and quality
(24:15) Effective customer communication strategies
(28:57) The importance of speed in customer interactions
(33:19) Narrowing your focus
(36:53) Why you should pay attention only to paying-customer feedback
(40:24) Practicing silence when communicating
(45:33) The role of metrics in product success
(54:08) Empowering teams with a single metric
(58:23) Picking the right metric for your audience
(01:05:10) The importance of metric hygiene
(01:11:33) How Stripe uses “study groups” for product improvement
(01:37:20) Stripe’s Atlas: simplifying company formation
(01:50:38) Automation and operational efficiency
(01:55:13) Diversity and team building
(02:03:09) Building new products within a large company
(02:21:10) Lightning round
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Referenced:
• Atlas: https://stripe.com/atlas
• Stripe: https://stripe.com/
• SQL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL
• GitHub: https://github.com/
• Linear: https://linear.app/
• Figma: https://www.figma.com/
• Jeff’s tweet about Stripe’s bug-finder program: https://x.com/jeff_weinstein/status/1777487507934040300
• The “Collison installation”: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18400504
• How we use friction logs to improve products at Stripe: https://dev.to/stripe/how-we-use-friction-logs-to-improve-products-at-stripe-i6p
• Fidelity: https://www.fidelity.com/
• 83(b) election: https://docs.stripe.com/atlas/83b-election
• Jeff’s tweet about Atlas’s NPS score: https://x.com/jeff_weinstein/status/1788644576330469638
• What is a Delaware corporation? Here’s what makes this state so attractive to businesses: https://stripe.com/resources/more/what-is-a-delaware-corporation
• Incorporating in Delaware explained: Why it’s such a popular option for businesses: https://stripe.com/resources/more/incorporating-in-delaware-explained
• 7 of Pixar’s Best Storyboard Examples and the Stories Behind Them: https://boords.com/blog/7-of-pixars-best-storyboard-examples-and-the-stories-behind-them
• Alex Kehayias on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexkehayias/
• Patrick McKenzie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmckenzie/
• AngelList: https://www.angellist.com/
• Dan Hightower on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danhighto/
• Stripe Atlas perks partners: https://support.stripe.com/questions/stripe-atlas-perks-partners
• Vision, conviction, and hype: How to build 0 to 1 inside a company | Mihika Kapoor (Product at Figma): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/vision-conviction-hype-mihika-kapoor
• High Output Management: https://www.amazon.com/High-Output-Management-Andrew-Grove/dp/0679762884
• Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace: https://www.amazon.com/Orbiting-Giant-Hairball-Corporate-Surviving/dp/0670879835
• 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy: https://www.amazon.com/7-Powers-Foundations-Business-Strategy/dp/0998116319
• Business strategy with Hamilton Helmer (author of 7 Powers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/business-strategy-with-hamilton-helmer
• Box: https://www.box.com/
• Patrick Collison on X: https://x.com/patrickc
• How to with John Wilson on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/how-to-with-john-wilson
• The Quiet Girl on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/movie/the-quiet-girl-b50a4b8e-d3ff-4635-b806-5e7dbd292ca4
• Raycast: https://www.raycast.com/
• Quicksilver: https://qsapp.com/
• Alfred: https://www.alfredapp.com/help/workflows/automations/
• CleanShot: https://cleanshot.com/
• John Collison on X: https://x.com/collision
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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.
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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
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