Building a meaningful career | Jason Shah (Airbnb, Amazon, Microsoft, Alchemy)

Jason Shah has led product teams at Amazon, Airbnb, Microsoft, and Yammer and currently leads the product team at Alchemy (one of the most important web3 infrastructure companies today). In addition, he’s an advisor, investor, and two-time founder. In today’s episode, Jason discusses what it’s like to be a PM in web3, why his role at Amazon made such a big impact on his life and career, what makes a great leader, and how to hire well. He also shares his unique perspective on building a meaningful career and life.

Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Google, and YouTube.

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Where to find Jason Shah:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jasonyogeshshah

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

• Website: https://www.jasonshah.me/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

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

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Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:

• Whimsical: https://whimsical.com/lenny

• Coda: http://coda.io/lenny

• Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/

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Referenced:

• Creative Selection: Inside Apple’s Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs: https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Selection-Inside-Apples-Process/dp/1250194466

• Casey Winters on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-sell-your-ideas-and-rise-within#details

• Jason Shah in Lenny’s newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/a-product-managers-guide-to-web3

• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers: https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Thing-About-Things-Building/dp/0062273205

• Polygon: https://polygon.technology/

• Solana: https://solana.com/

• MoonPay: https://www.moonpay.com/

• The Vietnam War series by Ken Burns: https://www.pbs.org/show/vietnam-war/

• Alchemy: https://www.alchemy.com/

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In this episode, we cover:

(04:31) Jason’s background

(08:19) The current state of web3

(12:44) The evolution of product management in web3

(15:27) The value of a great product manager

(18:11) Why Amazon was a great learning experience 

(20:25) A look into Amazon’s process on working backward

(23:55) How to communicate clearly

(28:17) Working backward from excitement

(32:46) What makes a great leader

(38:26) How to influence a CEO or founder’s direction 

(46:19) The career ladder vs. career map framework

(52:27) When to follow a new opportunity vs. when to stick it out

(58:50) How to hire the right people

(1:03:47) What skill is most important for product managers

(1:06:49) Lightning round!

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquires about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.