Lessons in leading a product led growth organization

> People are Product: People, not process, build products. People mistakes are poison - make resolving them a priority. When picking your own professional opportunities, over-index on the people you work for. Their track record is in the public domain and it's crystal clear whether they value the product.

> Purposeful Friction: Friction is a controlled weapon at your disposal - don't shy away from it, create it. Purposely design the right type of friction through org design and leadership team composition so the right critical decisions get surfaced directly.

> Constructively Contrary: Organizations cycle from energized and depressed, neither are helpful, but the biggest risk is that success breeds complacency. Be calm during the roughest seas, but the most important thing is to be paranoid when everyone around you is calm and content - that's when the sloppy work happens.

> No Handlers: Be nicer, humbler, and lower maintenance with each success - don't have an entourage, don't talk through people, don't work behind peoples back and never assume your position comes with assumed power. Every day it needs to be earned. With every gatekeeper you add, the less you understand the lay of the land.

> Extreme Awareness: When people start to laugh at your bad jokes, you have a problem. You used to get feedback or at least authentic responses; now you have to be highly aware on your own. You have to read the room, from nervous silence to an awkward beat. Spend time playing back what happened during the day to find those cues.

> Instinctual Calls: Data is for optimizing, big calls require pattern recognition, strategy, and conviction (and they are all fuzzy). Leaders are there because they have the courage to take action against an unknowable future. Be ready for the smart well-intentioned risk averse people to provide a steady stream of paper cuts - absorb it ... no revel in it.

> Edit, Refine, Reduce: Your job is to only do a couple of high impact things perfectly every year and that means choosing the right small handful of things. Simplifying is one of your most foundational jobs ... do less than you think you can if you want to do great things.

> No Parroting: Learn from other people, don't blindly emulate them. The best product people are artists with unique voices. They learn/observe from others, but recognize what makes them and their situation unique and different. That said, do copy the best most forward looking products as step one.

> Cut Corners: Great product people thoughtfully cut corners - the very best cut more corners. When a team has demonstrated the ability to work smart, fast, and beautifully ... give them rope and let them operate. Circle back to understand why they cut that corner ... Operationalize their corner cutting for broader consumption.

> Storytellers: Talking is a skill not unlike building. Some are amazing at it, but it can be just talk. Builders may not value talk, which makes them harder to identify - especially if you value and have relied on your own ability to tell stories. You have to meet builders where they are and always be skeptical of great talkers. Great talkers burn the most money.