Twitter’s former Head of Product opens up: being fired, meeting Elon, changing stagnant culture, building consumer product, more | Kayvon Beykpour

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Vision Storytelling in Product Development

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In product development, the process of conveying the vision and decisions behind the product is likened to storytelling. It involves repeatedly communicating the vision, the strategic choices being made, and the reasons behind them. This storytelling is crucial not only internally for the team but also externally for various stakeholders such as users and advertisers. The narrative should focus on what is being done and the rationale behind it to build trust and garner support.

Kayvon Beykpour was the longest-serving head of product at Twitter and was GM of Twitter’s consumer division until the platform was acquired by Elon Musk. He originally joined Twitter in 2015 through the acquisition of his company, Periscope, the largest live video streaming platform at the time. Periscope pioneered technology that inspired Instagram Live, TikTok Live, Facebook Live, and other social networks’ expansion into video streaming. In our conversation, we discuss:

• The story of being let go from Twitter after Elon’s acquisition

• How he turned Twitter’s stagnant culture around

• Kayvon’s thoughts on the limitations of frameworks like Jobs to Be Done

• Why Periscope failed

• Advice for building consumer products

• When to copy, when to innovate

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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/twitters-former-head-of-product-kayvon-beykpour

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Where to find Kayvon Beykpour:

• X: https://twitter.com/kayvz

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

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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) Kayvon’s background

(04:31) Getting Elon up to speed at Twitter

(11:34) The story of being let go from Twitter after Elon’s acquisition

(21:09) Changing the product culture at Twitter

(29:44) Building the “hide replies” feature

(32:02) Sacred crows, taking bold bets, and reigniting growth

(34:28) Aquihires and their impact

(42:40) Tips for successful acquisitions and staffing

(47:00) The limitations of frameworks like JTBD

(53:20) Signs you’ve gone too far with a framework

(57:44) Lessons from building Periscope

(01:00:41) Reasons why Periscope failed

(01:07:24) The challenges of implementing video at Twitter

(01:12:05) Copying ideas in good taste

(01:17:58) How to get better at building consumer products

(01:19:51) What Kayvon is building

(01:20:31) Lightning round

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Referenced:

• Lessons on building product sense, navigating AI, optimizing the first mile, and making it through the messy middle | Scott Belsky (Adobe, Behance): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/lessons-on-building-product-sense-navigating-ai-optimizing-the-first-mile-and-making-it-through-t/

• What it’s like to sell your startup for ~$120 million before it’s even launched: Meet Twitter’s new prized possession, Periscope: https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-periscope-and-why-twitter-bought-it-2015-3

• Walter Isaacson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walter-isaacson-b8b81520/

• Elon Musk on X: https://twitter.com/elonmusk

• Parag Agrawal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parag-agrawal-5a14742a/

• Jack Dorsey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-dorsey-a43b07242/

• Blackboard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackboard_Inc.

• Keith Coleman on X: https://twitter.com/kcoleman

• Esther Crawford on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esthercrawford/

• Twitter acquires Chroma Labs: https://tech.hindustantimes.com/tech/news/twitter-acquires-chroma-labs-story-aqvcRPAoYXqXJuAbefA6cN.html

• John Barnett on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbarnettt/

• Jobs to Be Done framework: https://jobs-to-be-done.com/jobs-to-be-done-a-framework-for-customer-needs-c883cbf61c90

• Hot takes and techno-optimism from tech’s top power couple: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/hot-takes-and-techno-optimism-from-techs-top-power-couple-sriram-and-aarthi/

• Nike Is Unveiling the Kobe 11 Tomorrow Using Periscope: https://sneakernews.com/2015/12/13/nike-is-unveiling-the-kobe-11-tomorrow-using-periscope/