LinkedIn’s product evolution and the art of building complex systems | Hari Srinivasan (LinkedIn)

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Hari Srinivasan is VP of Product at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, where he oversees LinkedIn Recruiter, LinkedIn Jobs, and LinkedIn Learning. He’s also a frequent guest lecturer at Stanford University. Previously, he served as the CEO and founder of We Created It, which was acquired by LinkedIn in 2014. Hari has a passion for building products, with experience ranging from creating the first U.S. hybrid SUV to developing a No. 1 app and writing a beloved children’s book. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• LinkedIn’s unique business model and org structure

• How to optimize your LinkedIn experience and improve your chances of getting a PM role

• How to adapt to a skills-first talent market

• The story of Hari’s failed first product review, and how he pivoted for success

• Strategies for building and maintaining complex systems

• How to get into product management

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

Find the transcript for this episode and all past episodes at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/episodes/. Today’s transcript will be live by 8 a.m. PT.

Where to find Hari Srinivasan:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hsrinivasan1/

• Website: https://www.mindofhari.com/

Where to find Lenny:

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

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

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

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Hari’s background

(05:04) How Twitter brought Lenny and Hari together

(06:32) LinkedIn’s positive evolution, and what they did right

(10:14) Specific changes that made LinkedIn’s feed more interesting

(11:12) Understanding the algorithm and what kinds of content perform best

(12:21) The talent solution product

(15:46) The shift to skills-first hiring, and how LinkedIn changed their approach

(20:24) The open-to-work signal, and the newly released open-to-internal-work signal

(22:13) The PM talent landscape, and tips for landing a PM role

(24:55) How to optimize your LinkedIn profile to get noticed by recruiters

(28:38) Hari’s first product review at LinkedIn

(30:38) LinkedIn’s North Star, and how to operationalize the North Star at any company

(33:24) LinkedIn’s members-first value

(35:32) Building and maintaining complex systems

(38:09) The RAPID framework and the Five-Day Alignment framework

(39:51) What LinkedIn looks for in new hires

(40:51) The latest innovations at LinkedIn

(43:16) LinkedIn Learning

(45:00) Hari’s product management course

(48:19) Advice for people hoping to get into product management

(50:40) How to level up your PM skills

(51:57) Hari’s creative side projects 

(55:02) Lightning round

Referenced:

• Tweet from TheCuriousPM: https://twitter.com/zatin_jatin/status/1658616200560254978?s=20

• The Curious PM on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zatin_jatin

• Decision-making at LinkedIn: https://engineering.linkedin.com/blog/2018/03/scaling-decision-making-across-teams-within-linkedin-engineering

• LinkedIn Learning: https://www.linkedin.com/learning

• Thinking in Systems: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Systems-Donella-H-Meadows/dp/1603580557

• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow: https://www.amazon.com/Tomorrow-novel-Gabrielle-Zevin/dp/0593321200

• An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us: https://www.amazon.com/Immense-World-Animal-Senses-Reveal/dp/0593133234

• Star Wars on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/brand/star-wars

• Case 63 on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4c9ZKaFtEKweSYOlYvxfvp

• E.T. on Tubi: https://tubitv.com/movies/607451/e-t-the-extra-terrestrial

• BriteBrush: https://www.amazon.com/BriteBrush-Interactive-Smart-Toothbrush-featuring/dp/B07VLL8QH4

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

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.