Unicorn Bakery - For Startup Founders artwork

Learnings as Head of Product at Instagram, Airbnb & Coinbase; product strategy, leading product teams & scaling - Sanchan Saxena.

Unicorn Bakery - For Startup Founders

English - February 28, 2023 03:00 - 58 minutes - 80.9 MB
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Previous Episode: Customers pay this founder >100,000 per year: pricing software and the interplay of content and business - Kison Patel, DealRoom.
Next Episode: Award-winning company culture & the relevance of capacity building as a founder – Robert Glazer, Acceleration Partners

Sanchan Saxena was one of the first employees at Instagram, then led product management at Airbnb, and then was responsible for everything consumer at Coinbase.


What you'll learn:


How do the product strategies of Kevin Systrom (Instagram), Brian Chesky (Airbnb), and Brian Armstrong (Coinbase) differ?


What qualities do I look for in product management?


How do I test a senior executive in product management?


What skills does a good product team need and how do I select the right people for it?


Do products always have to be developed in combination with customer feedback or is the intuition of the founders enough?




ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY:


https://zez.am/unicornbakery




(00:01:14) What excites you about product management?


(00:03:19) What does good product management mean?


(00:08:07) What are the biggest mistakes and misconceptions of product management that you have encountered in your career?


(00:10:44) Balancing data and intuition in product development.


(00:12:37) How do the product strategies of Kevin Systrom (Instagram), Brian Chesky (Airbnb), and Brian Armstrong (Coinbase) differ?


(00:19:01) Are there only the two options: Either total product management nerd or very aten-driven?


(00:22:48) Which metrics should I measure in product management, which ones shouldn't I, and how do I build meaningful structures for that?


(00:27:24) How do I best prepare my product for scaling?


(00:30:51) How do I manage a product team properly?


(00:35:29) What qualities make up a strong product team?


(00:40:38) How do I decide whether to hire a senior or someone who prefers to get their hands dirty and really get involved?


(00:42:48) Best practices in hiring product teams.


(00:47:03) What are the biggest challenges when I want to scale a product-based business?


(00:52:29) How do you find the right pace to embrace growth, challenges, and opportunities without going under?


(00:59:46) Of all the people you've met over the years, who have inspired you the most? Did you have a mentor?


Sanchan Saxena


LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanchans