Podcast Summary
Operations background in product leadership: An operations background can equip product leaders with valuable insights into business operations, enabling them to build scalable technologies and foster effective collaboration between teams.
Having a background in operations can make for an effective product leader. Brian Tolkin, the head of product and design at Open Door, shares his experience of starting in operations at Uber and eventually transitioning into product, where he led the launch of Uber Pool and took it global. He emphasizes that having a deep understanding of how a business operates from an operational standpoint provides valuable insights when building scalable technologies. Additionally, he stresses the importance of staying calm under pressure and fostering a harmonious relationship between product and operations teams for optimal business success.
Product Operations, Local Knowledge: Effective communication and collaboration between centralized product teams and decentralized operations teams is crucial for global product success. Local knowledge and human intervention are important in implementing features in global markets, especially in the early days of new concepts.
Effective communication and collaboration between centralized product teams and decentralized operations teams are crucial for global product success. This was exemplified at Uber, where a formalized product operations function was established to strengthen the bidirectional feedback loop between teams and help implement features in global markets. However, this concept was not unique to Uber, as similar roles had existed at other tech companies. Another key insight gained from the discussion was the importance of local knowledge and human intervention in the early days of Uber's surge pricing system. GM's in each city controlled the parameters of surge pricing, allowing them to account for local events and optimize for their specific markets. This manual approach was a function of the newness of the concept, the belief in local city teams' expertise, and the technical constraints of building a fully dynamic, always-on geospatial aware pricing system. Additionally, the speaker shared some entertaining stories from their time at Uber, including the origin of the name "UberX" and the stressful experience of launching UberPool in China. These stories illustrate the intense dedication and long hours required to bring innovative products to market and the unique memories that come from overcoming significant challenges.
Product-Operations alignment: Clear communication and mutual respect between product and operations teams are crucial for a successful business. Technology can provide leverage, but operational challenges require continuous optimization and experimentation.
Product and operations teams must have mutual respect and clear communication to build a successful business. The product team should focus on where technology can provide the most leverage, while the operations team handles the complexities of the real world. At Open Door, the focus was on a seller-focused digital platform to buy and sell real estate, offering simplicity and certainty by making all-cash offers. However, as the business grew, operational challenges arose, such as validating driver's licenses at scale. The solution was to integrate technology, allowing for automatic validation and freeing up resources for other tasks. While operations may be seen as a sign of inefficiency, it's important to remember that there will always be new challenges to tackle. The key is to continuously optimize and experiment, ultimately driving the business forward.
Product Reviews: Product reviews are opportunities for intellectual conversations aimed at improving products and aligning teams. Set clear goals, communicate context, create a comfortable culture, and invite a diverse group for effective discussions.
Product reviews are an essential tool for product and operations-led companies to improve their products and align teams. These meetings should not be seen as intimidating "firing squads," but rather as opportunities for intellectual conversations aimed at making the product better. To make product reviews effective and less intimidating, it's crucial to set clear goals, communicate context, and create a culture where team members feel comfortable sharing their perspectives. Inviting a small, diverse group of team members and maintaining a consistent cadence can also help foster productive discussions. Ultimately, product reviews are about collaboration, understanding the customer's perspective, and working together to solve problems and create better products.
Jobs to be Done framework: Implementing Jobs to be Done framework improves product development by encouraging customer perspective and understanding, but requires time, effort, and cultural institutionalization.
Implementing the Jobs to be Done (JTBD) framework can significantly improve the way a team approaches product development by encouraging thoughtful and intentional consideration of the customer's perspective and context. This framework not only helps in understanding the problem the customer is trying to solve but also considers the external factors influencing their decision-making process. The implementation of JTBD involves creating templates and cultural internalization, which sets expectations and makes it easier for people to work off a common framework. However, it's important to recognize that implementing the framework takes time and effort, and the content requires thoughtful conversation and cultural institutionalization. The template might be the same, but the content and understanding of the job to be done evolve over time. It's essential to avoid being too dogmatic about a single framework and instead choose the right one for the job. For teams looking to learn more about JTBD, resources like blogs and internal examples of successful implementation can be helpful. When it comes to experimentation, especially with low sample sizes, it's crucial to have a solid understanding of the problem, perform power analysis, and ensure the runtime of the experiment is acceptable. Some experiments may be more important and worth investing in despite the challenges of low sample sizes.
Intuition vs Data-driven Decision Making: Intuition and experimentation are crucial in product development, but it's important to recognize their limitations and be open to testing hypotheses when possible. Trusting intuition and shipping the product can be the right choice if there's a reasonable feedback loop to understand if the intuition was correct.
While data-driven decision making is important, intuition and experimentation also play a crucial role in product development. When faced with a challenge where testing assumptions is not an option, trusting intuition and shipping the product can be the right choice, as long as there's a reasonable feedback loop to understand if the intuition was correct. However, it's essential to recognize the limitations of intuition and be open to testing hypotheses when possible. Companies like OpenDoor and Zillow, despite having significant reach and resources, have learned that mastering various functions from product development to operations and risk management is necessary for success in complex businesses.
Leadership skills: Stay focused on core jobs, remain calm under pressure, learn from past experiences, seek out other people's stories, and find the kernel of truth in ambiguity.
Staying focused on the core jobs to be done for your customers and maintaining a calm demeanor under pressure are essential skills for leaders. When faced with competition or stressful situations, it's important to remember that you're never as good or bad as you think you are, and learning from past experiences can help you navigate future challenges. Additionally, seeking out other people's stories and understanding that the journey is not linear can provide valuable insights. In the realm of product development, finding the kernel of truth in a sea of ambiguity is crucial, and it may involve saying no to good ideas that don't align with the core job. An example of this principle in action can be found in the early days of Uber, where the company prioritized connecting riders and drivers, pricing transactions, and handling payments over building sophisticated tooling, infrastructure, or growth teams.
Early stage product growth: Focus on growing user base and liquidity, even with high customer acquisition costs. Listen to written feedback and adapt strategies from failures.
In the early stages of building a product company, it's important to focus on liquidity and growing the user base, even if customer acquisition costs are high. Written down feedback and ideas are crucial for making informed decisions and ensuring that everyone's voice is heard. Failures are opportunities to learn and adapt strategies. When building teams, it's essential to consider the unique skill sets of potential hires and how they match the problem at hand. Brian recommended books like "Shoe Dog," "Black Swan," "Design of Everyday Things," and "Chantaran." He enjoys sports documentaries on Netflix and recently discovered the Fi color GPS tracker for dogs.
AI news apps, mentors: Staying updated on industry trends through AI news apps and seeking guidance from mentors can contribute significantly to a successful product management career.
Staying curious and seeking out mentors have been key factors in Brian's successful product management career. He mentioned his love for the AI news app Particle, which keeps him updated on industry happenings. Brian also highlighted the importance of Jeff Holden, a mentor who supported him early in his product journey and helped him grow. In an interesting turn of events, Brian shared a story about his unconventional interview at Uber on July 4th, which involved a grueling gauntlet interview with Travis Kalanick and other team members. Despite the challenges, Brian was ultimately offered the job and went on to have a successful tenure at the company. You can connect with Brian on Twitter and LinkedIn, and he encourages feedback on Open Door's product. If you have a home to sell, consider using Open Door as well. Listeners can be helpful by providing feedback on the podcast or sharing what they learned from Brian's experiences.