How to build product at Linear with Nan Yu (Repeat)

Today, we're re-running one of our favorite episodes with Nan Yu, Head of Product at Linear, a purpose-built tool for planning and building products. Prior to working at Linear, Nan worked at Mode, Abstract, Everlane, and Bank of America.

On today’s episode, Nan talks to LogRocket’s VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, about being intentional with organizational design, prioritizing tasks that make product special while minimizing unnecessary complexity, and what is so important about heirloom tomatoes.

Links and references

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thenanyu/
https://x.com/thenanyu

Chapters

00:00 Intro
01:25 Essential tools for product managers
02:07 Career highlights and organizational design
05:27 Everlane's growth strategy
08:03 Focus and prioritization in startups
11:10 Challenges in organizational setup
15:23 Team dynamics and management
20:30 The importance of hiring based on need
20:52 High output management principles
22:46 Team structure and communication
26:31 Balancing core and non-core tasks
29:13 The Linear approach to project management
33:48 Challenges with legacy project management tools
35:45 The philosophy behind Linear's design
37:40 Work trials at Linear
40:44 Outro

What does LogRocket do?

LogRocket provides AI-first session replay and analytics that surfaces UX and technical issues impacting user experiences. Understand where your users are struggling by trying it free at LogRocket.com.

Special Guest: Nan Yu.