PodcastsThe Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch20Product: Why You Should Not Go Into Product Management, Why the CEO is Always the CPO, How to Build the Best Product Teams & Why You Should Hire People Who Aren't In Product Already with Databricks SVP Product, David Meyer

20Product: Why You Should Not Go Into Product Management, Why the CEO is Always the CPO, How to Build the Best Product Teams & Why You Should Hire People Who Aren't In Product Already with Databricks SVP Product, David Meyer
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The PitchWed Nov 01 2023
CEO as CPO:
- The CEO is seen as the Chief Product Officer (CPO) in a startup because they drive the vision of the company and know what needs to be done.
- Great leaders in startups are able to bend reality and create things that seem impossible by using their ingenuity and determination.
Importance of Leadership:
- Most leaders struggle with leading because they fail to truly see and understand their team members. Making your team feel seen and heard is crucial for effective leadership.
- A great product leader focuses on making their team members feel valued and helps them find opportunities outside of the company if it aligns with their goals.
Building the Best Product Teams:
- Hiring people who have demonstrated impact in their previous roles is key to building the best product teams.
- Asking relevant questions during interviews and looking for signals that indicate alignment with the company's values are important factors in hiring.
- Hiring mistakes can happen when there is a lack of clarity about what qualities or skills are needed for a specific role. It's important to learn from these mistakes and adjust the hiring approach accordingly.
Art vs Science in Product Management:
- While data-driven decision-making is valuable, it's essential not to rely solely on data without considering other factors such as user experience, intuition, and creativity.
- Finding the balance between art and science depends on individual perspectives. Some may lean more towards one side while others see an equal mix of both.
Hiring Process:
- People can be successful in one company but fail in another due to different cultures and needs.
- Hiring committees should not be too big, but include individuals who can provide different perspectives.
- Antagonists should be included in the hiring committee to ensure a thorough evaluation of candidates.
- The committee should consist of cross-functional members, including technical, product, and naysayer roles.
Scaling Product Talks:
- Losing touch with the day-to-day work of individual contributors is a common breakdown when scaling product talks.
- It's important for product leaders to understand what truly matters for customers and not get caught up in meaningless tasks.
- Integrating team members into customer support and ensuring they spend time talking to customers helps maintain focus on customer needs.
Friction between Engineering and Sales:
- The relationship between engineering and sales can be challenging due to opposing motivations and short-term vs. long-term thinking.
- Engineers may resist building features that sales believes will generate revenue, while engineers prioritize long-term sustainability over short-term gains.
Mediating Conflicts as a Product Leader:
- As a product leader, it's crucial to find a third way or compromise when conflicts arise between different teams or departments.
- Being able to communicate effectively and enroll others in your vision is key to mediating conflicts and finding solutions.
The Relationship Between CPO and CEO:
- The CEO often serves as the Chief Product Officer (CPO), which creates a complex dynamic between their visions and the product leader's expertise.
- Communication between the CPO and CEO is essential but can be challenging due to limited time and differing contexts.
- High bandwidth communication, truth-seeking, vulnerability, and clarity are crucial for maintaining a strong relationship between the CPO and CEO.
Improvement Areas for Product Leaders:
- Product leaders need to be aware of how their words impact others and avoid underestimating the negative effects they may have on people.
- Building better awareness of body language and its interpretation is important for effective communication.
- Being direct, honest, vulnerable, and sharing what's going on can help establish better communication and assume best intentions.
Impressive Product Strategies:
- Notion and Canva are mentioned as companies with impressive product strategies due to their innovative approaches to templates and opening up new possibilities for users.
- Business model innovation is also highlighted as an area that impresses the speaker, where creative solutions address complex problems such as environmental transformation and energy efficiency.
Parenting Insights:
- The importance of holding onto wonder and enjoying each stage of parenting is emphasized.
- Balancing work-life priorities can be challenging, but finding clarity becomes easier as children grow older.
- Setting boundaries while being a good communicator is essential in parenting.