2min snip

Making Meta | Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth (CTO)

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

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ADVICE

Value of Critique

💬 “You know more than the critics do. You know more than the analysts in the marketplace do…You know more about what’s real and substantial value about our company than they do.”

You possess more knowledge about your company's true value than external observers.
Don't dismiss criticism entirely. It offers valuable perspectives, even if flawed.
Actively seek out critiques to identify potential blind spots and unknown information.
Scrutinize critiques for confirmation bias and potential inaccuracies.
Integrate external viewpoints into your comprehensive understanding, but don't accept them blindly.
Gilmanian amnesia: People tend to accept information as gospel truth on topics they know little about while dismissing information on topics they're experts in.

Key takeaway: Value your own expertise while remaining open to external perspectives. Critiques, even if imperfect, can contribute to a more holistic understanding.

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Transcript

Episode notes

Andrew Bosworth—or Boz, as most people know him—is the chief technology officer at Meta and head of Reality Labs, the company’s augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) organization, which he created in 2017. Boz joined Facebook in 2006 as their approximately 10th engineer, and in his 18-year tenure he built the original News Feed, Messenger, and Groups, as well as many early anti-abuse and infrastructure systems. At various times he has been the engineering director overseeing Events, Places, Photos, Videos, Timeline, Privacy, and more. Before Reality Labs, he ran the Ads and Business Platform product group, where he led engineering, product, research, analytics, and design, taking annual revenue from $4 billion to $40 billion in five years. Andrew currently leads Meta’s efforts in AR, VR, AI, and consumer hardware across Quest, Ray-Ban Meta glasses, and more. In our conversation, we discuss:

• Stories from the early days of Facebook

• Lessons from Meta’s downturn and recent turnaround

• Meta’s culture of transparency

• Boz’s thoughts on the Apple Vision Pro

• Why communication is the job

• Why you should regularly seek help from your manager

• Lessons in setting incentives and avoiding their misuse

• Why you should optimize for a variety in experience in your career

• The importance of trusting your own expertise and not being swayed by external opinions

• Stories of failures and personal growth

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