Behind the Craft

Yuhki Yamashita, CPO of Figma, discusses creating a craft-loving culture, building AI products, and making design accessible. Topics include PM-designer collaboration, AI use cases in Figjam, balancing power users' needs, and embracing AI in work.

Dan Siroker, CEO of Limitless, talks about creating the world's most wearable AI, fast shipping without compromising quality, and balancing entrepreneurship with 3 kids. Topics include the journey to build an AI wearable, life-changing impacts of Limitless, hiring top talent, and managing product scope. Learn about the motivations behind Limitless, revolutionizing meetings with AI, prioritizing quality in product development, involving engineers in decision-making, and balancing work and family life with young kids.

Wes Kao, co-founder of Maven, discusses creating and marketing online courses to make $20,000 per cohort. She emphasizes building a spiky point of view to stand out and using the state change method to keep people interested. Topics include empowering operators, aligning passion with demand, content creation, viral content, and growth strategies.

My guest today is Brian Balfour, CEO of Reforge. Brian and I did a deep dive into how 4 of the best AI products grew so fast. We spoke about: Why ChatGPT is investing in custom GPTs How Midjourney grew to $200M ARR despite an interface that relies on Discord How Perplexity is competing with Google Search How LinkedIn collaborative articles combine AI and user growth loops Brian is one of the best growth leaders out there so I hope you enjoy our conversation. Consider subscribing for more great interviews every week. Timestamps: [00:00] The decline of Google Search [02:13] Why no one should try to copy ChatGPT's growth [04:33] Many AI products struggle with retention [07:39] Why OpenAI is investing in custom GPTs [13:56] How Midjourney grew to $200M ARR off Discord [21:22] Hardcore AI users vs. casual AI users [21:49] Perplexity's challenge to Google Search [25:12] The SEO industry is a mess [29:22] Growth loops fueling LinkedIn's collaborative articles [35:08] How AI will impact the growth profession Where to find me: Newsletter: https://creatoreconomy.so/ 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!

My guest today is Jackie Bavaro, author of Cracking the PM Career and Cracking the PM Interview, two of the most popular books on product management out there. Jackie was also head of PM at Asana. I spoke to Jackie about: 1. How to be more strategic 2. How to define a great vision and strategy for your team 3. How to communicate your strategy to the rest of the company There are so many misconceptions about strategy, but Jackie makes everything crystal clear. Consider subscribing for more great interviews every week. Chapter timestamps: [00:00] Three parts of a great product strategy [02:56] A personal story on why strategy matters [07:05] Vision, strategic framework, and roadmap [10:29] When to start thinking about strategy [13:35] How to bring your vision to life [16:47] Breaking down the strategic framework [17:13] Master the framework for market domination [22:04] Think of a roadmap like a charcuterie board [25:09] A checklist is not a strategy [29:11] How to get exec buy-in for your strategy [31:54] Communicate principles to guide decisions Where to find me: Newsletter: https://creatoreconomy.so/ 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!

My guests today are Sanchan (ex-general manager at Airbnb), Nickey (Product Director at Duolingo) and John (Senior Director at Toast). We talked about: 1. How the PM role is changing 2. Our favorite PM use cases for AI 3. How to avoid PM title envy to pick your own path Over 200 people tuned into this conversation live so I think you’ll love it too. Chapter Timestamps [00:00] Less internal shenanigans, more customer focus [03:30] Why companies are tired of product managers [07:44] Thoughts on Airbnb merging products with marketing [10:25] How Airbnb builds products using narratives [13:09] Designing the right incentives for PMs [17:03] How Duolingo incentivizes PMs to focus on customer obsession [18:34] Why more PMs should pursue building vs. manager [22:01] How the PM and design relationship is evolving [26:08] Getting hired in today's tough tech jobs market [29:41] How to ramp up on AI and get your hands dirty [32:55] Favorite AI use cases for PM [36:25] How to think about what you want in the PM career ladder [41:15] How to talk to users to get useful feedback [42:25] How to be a great product leader in post-ZIRP era [45:27] Your number one career skill is how to smell out orgs Where to find me: Newsletter: https://creatoreconomy.so/ 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!

Elena Verna is a solopreneur who has served as head of growth at Dropbox, Amplitude, Miro, and more. Elena and I talked about: 1. Why she left a full-time role to work for herself 2. The five laws of growth and how they can be applied to careers 3. Her advice for people who want to explore solopreneurship Elena is incredibly inspiring and I think you’ll love our conversation. Brought to you by: • Amplitude – Get the free product-led growth guide: https://bit.ly/498xoLz Chapter timestamps: [00:00] Make imposter syndrome your superpower [01:10] Elena's journey from entry-level to executive [03:00] Finding exponential growth paths in your career [07:00] What led Elena to explore solopreneurship [09:59] The benefits of advisory roles [12:33] Step by step on how to get started advising [15:18] Pitching to a company why advising is better than full-time [18:19] How Elena applies growth loops to her business [22:18] The five laws of growth and how they apply to your career [26:48] Learn how to fail to learn how to win [28:31] Build career optionality to not be at the whim of companies [31:29] Your business needs clear positioning ("why you?") Where to find Elena: X: https://twitter.com/ElenaVerna LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elenaverna/ Get the interview takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/elena-verna-growth-to-solopreneur

Kaz Neyatian is the Chief Operating Officer of Shopify. Kaz and I spoke about about: 1. Why traditional career ladders are broken 2. Why strategy is the least important part of building products 3. Why Shopify canceled all recurring meetings. I think this interview will feel like therapy if you’ve worked at big tech companies. Brought to you by: • Figma–My favorite design suite for creators and teams https://psxid.figma.com/qyj56p0lygjt Chapter timestamps: [00:00] Nobody ever dreamed of sitting in meetings [01:15] The difference between crafters and managers [02:31] Traditional career ladders just don't work [04:36] Our job is to rage against being a big company [05:43] Strategy is the least meaningful aspect of product [07:15] People misunderstand how great products are built [09:57] We're not an OKR company [11:23] Why there are so few good product managers [12:25] Operation Chaos Monkey to remove meetings [15:26] Why managers need to value their personal craft time [16:06] Why there are always no meeting rooms available [18:22] How to reduce meetings on your calendar [21:02] Just because someone else does it is a bad reason [23:33] The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing Where to find Kaz: X: https://twitter.com/CanadaKaz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kasranejatian/ Get the interview takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/kaz-coo-shopify-craft-and-no-meetings Try Figma for free: https://psxid.figma.com/qyj56p0lygjt 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!

Fareed Mosavat is a growth veteran who has worked at Reforge, Slack, Instacart, Pixar, and other top companies. We had some real talk about how to: 1. Cross the chasm from product manager to product leader 2. Not confuse the work behind the work with the actual work 3. Look beyond traditional job titles to chart your own career path Fareed is one of my favorite product leaders and I think you’ll love our conversation. Brought to you by: Figma–My favorite design tool for creators and teams: https://psxid.figma.com/qyj56p0lygjt Chapter timestamps: 00:00 Focus on the work that actually matters 02:17 The PM to product leader chasm 06:21 The manager death spiral 08:49 Rethinking PM roles 10:44 How small teams can achieve big results 16:17 Why PM performance theater needs to end 19:29 Designing the right incentives for PM orgs 24:34 Why Fareed chose impact over titles 28:33 How to find work that you love 34:19 Why external exec hires often don't work out 39:00 How to be your own customer Where to find Fareed: X: https://twitter.com/far33d LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fareed/ Get the interview takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/fareed-real-talk-about-the-pm-career 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!

Claire Vo is the Chief Product Officer of LaunchDarkly and ex-CPO of Color and Optimizely. Claire believes that it’s never been a better time to be a strong IC PM and has built a career ladder where the best individual contributors report directly to the C-suite. We spoke about: 1. Why PM performance theater needs to end 2. How to pursue the super IC PM career path 3. How IC PMs can use AI to excel at their job Claire had so many hot takes throughout and I think you’ll love our interview. Chapter timestamps: 00:00 Welcome Claire 01:39 The Importance of the IC Path 04:08 The Limitations of Frameworks 05:20 Designing a Better Ladder for PMs 09:39 The Changing Landscape for PMs 11:55 Why Fast Beats Right 16:20 The Coaches, Captains, and Players Framework 19:16 Traits of Great ICs 23:55 Protecting Craft Time 28:48 The Chat PRD and AI Journey 33:13 The Future of PMs with AI Where to find Claire: X: https://twitter.com/clairevo LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairevo/ Get the interview takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/claire-vo-why-its-time-for-ic-product-manager Try Figma for free: https://psxid.figma.com/qyj56p0lygjt 📌 Subscribe to this channel - more videos coming soon!