Humanizing product development | Adriel Frederick (Reddit, Lyft, Facebook)
Adriel Frederick is VP of Product Management at Reddit X, where he helps incubate and scale new products. He is a former Product Lead at Facebook, as well as a former PM and Director of Product at Lyft. In today’s episode, we focus on what it takes to become a better product leader. Adriel shares anecdotes from his time at Lyft and Facebook, insights about how to lead through tough times, why there isn’t an algorithmic solution to everything, why R&D teams need to be a part of the core mission, the tangible benefits of working on diverse teams, and his thoughts on the future of AI. He also introduces the concept of cannonballs, why you should focus on the marginal user, why organization and empathy are the most important PM skills, and so much more. Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Google, Overcast, and YouTube. — Where to find Adriel Frederick: • Twitter: https://twitter.com/drell • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrielfrederick/ — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ — Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible: • Linear: https://linear.app/lenny • Flatfile: https://www.flatfile.com/lenny • Eppo: https://www.geteppo.com/ — Referenced: • Jules Walter on Twitter: https://twitter.com/julesdwalt • Jules Walter’s guest post on Lenny’s newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/product-sense • Mark Zuckerberg on The Joe Rogan Experience: https://open.spotify.com/episode/51gxrAActH18RGhKNza598 • Sam Harris’s TED Talk on AI: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nt3edWLgIg • Facebook’s 7 friends in 10 days: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-chamath-palihapitya-dramatically-improved-user-malinda-senanayake/ • The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power: https://www.amazon.com/Prize-Epic-Quest-Money-Power/dp/1439110123/ • The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations: https://www.amazon.com/New-Map-Energy-Climate-Nations/dp/0143111159/ • Revisionist History podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/revisionist-history/id1119389968 • Tuned In podcast: https://www.hpacademy.com/blog/tuned-in-high-performance-academy-podcast/ • Mo on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81134264 • Radiant Nuclear: https://www.radiantnuclear.com/ — In this episode, we cover: (00:40) Adriel’s background (06:13) What he does at Reddit X (07:27) Reddit X’s avatar marketplace and NFTs (08:33) Why R&D teams need to be a part of the core mission (11:12) What it’s like to be the first black PM at Facebook (14:58) How to foster diversity (19:40) Being a PM at controversial companies, and how to evaluate criticism (28:25) Adriel’s most stressful time at Lyft (30:35) The importance of operational control and what it means (32:35) Why there isn’t always an algorithmic solution to everything (37:47) Thoughts on AI (42:42) Growth hacking and algorithms at Facebook (48:18) Cannonballs in growth—fundamental changes in the product for optimization (49:07) Facebook’s “7 friends in 10 days” push (51:30) What is a marginal user, and what can you learn from their experience? (56:06) How to think about doing experiments (59:10) Why organization and empathy are the most important skills (1:02:59) Lightning round — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. You’re a free subscriber to Lenny's Newsletter. For the full experience, become a paid subscriber. |
Key phrases
Older messages
Mission → Vision → Strategy → Goals → Roadmap → Task
Tuesday, October 18, 2022
As taught to us by Oceans 11
Building better product roadmaps | Janna Bastow (Mind the Product, ProdPad)
Sunday, October 16, 2022
Listen now (54 min) | Janna Bastow is a former product manager, and currently the CEO and co-founder of ProdPad. She also co-founded Mind the Product, a community for PMs, which has grown to 300000
How to build a high-performing growth team | Adam Fishman (Patreon, Lyft, Imperfect Foods)
Thursday, October 13, 2022
Listen now (66 min) | Adam Fishman has decades of experience building and scaling some incredible businesses, like Lyft, Patreon, and Imperfect Foods. He is currently an Executive in Residence at
Developing a growth model + marketplace growth strategy | Dan Hockenmaier (Faire, Thumbtack, Reforge)
Sunday, October 9, 2022
Listen now (64 min) | Dan Hockenmaier is an expert on marketplace strategy and growth. He was previously the Director of Growth at Thumbtack as well as a partner at Reforge, where he co-created the
Using behavioral science to improve your product | Kristen Berman (Irrational Labs)
Sunday, October 2, 2022
Listen now (56 min) | Kristen Berman is the CEO and co-founder of Irrational Labs, where she helps companies like Google, Airbnb, PayPal, Microsoft, and LinkedIn improve their products and services
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