Building Slack with Noah Weiss

Introduction

In this episode of Building One hosted by Tomer Cohen, LinkedIn's Chief Product Officer, listeners are treated to an insightful conversation with Noah Weiss, the former Chief Product Officer (CPO) of Slack. Released on May 28, 2024, the episode delves deep into Noah's professional journey, his philosophies on product management, and the innovative strategies that propelled Slack to become a leading collaboration tool.

Noah Weiss’s Journey into Product Management

Noah Weiss shares his unconventional path into product management, emphasizing the pivotal moments that shaped his career. Highlighting his early focus on engineering during high school, Noah recounts how his curiosity led him to explore diverse fields such as design, economics, and psychology alongside computer science during college.

At [02:44], Noah reflects:

"I started doing design and economics and psychology and obviously computer science as well. And they all kind of intersect. And I didn't know what would come of it, but I thought, you know, following that path, we'll see where we wind up."

His internship at Google as a UX designer marked a turning point. Despite facing challenges and realizing that design roles weren’t highly valued at Google at the time, Noah's experience with the engineering team introduced him to product management. This serendipitous shift led him to pursue a career in product management full-time.

Fostering Curiosity and Internal Mobility at Slack

Noah attributes his success to an insatiable curiosity, which he considers a core superpower. From [07:05], he explains:

"Having an insatiable curiosity and excitement about whatever it is I'm working on... it's a superpower that I think is valuable and folks kind of overlook."

At Slack, fostering this curiosity is institutionalized through internal mobility. Noah emphasizes the importance of exposing team members to various problems and teams, enabling a cross-pollination of ideas and experiences. This strategy not only cultivates diverse perspectives but also drives innovation across the organization.

Product Market Fit: A Dynamic Process

One of the cornerstone insights Noah shares is the concept of product-market fit as an evolving target rather than a one-time achievement. Drawing from his experience at Foursquare, Noah asserts at [09:53]:

"Product market fit is not something you earn once and have forever. It's something that you have to keep renewing as your company matures."

At Slack, this philosophy translates into a phased expansion strategy. Starting with small software teams, Slack methodically scaled to larger enterprises by continuously reassessing and adapting to the changing needs of its expanding user base. This approach ensured that Slack remained relevant and valuable to its users as it grew.

Slack’s Product Principles

Noah delves into the foundational principles that guide product development at Slack, underscoring their importance in maintaining consistency and quality.

1. Don’t Make Me Think ([12:48]-[14:38]): This principle emphasizes intuitiveness and ease of use. Noah elaborates:

   "Slack should be intuitive, it should be effortless, it should be easy to comprehend, it should be easy to grok and to learn... but it's also about bringing our users along on a journey, helping them mature their usage."

2. Be a Great Host ([15:19]-[17:04]): Inspired by hospitality, this principle focuses on creating a pleasant and trustworthy user experience. Noah illustrates this with an analogy:

   "Like the simple act of fold towels and put them at the very foot of the bed... we think about Slack as a digital manifestation of their physical working environment."

3. Seek the Steepest Part of the Utility Curve ([17:08]-[18:47]): This nuanced principle encourages investing sufficiently in a feature to achieve exponential utility for users. Noah explains:

   "You need to put enough investment into a feature so that it reaches the point where that work starts to produce a large change in behavior or utility for the customer... you only stop when you reach a point of diminishing returns."

Consumerization of Enterprise Solutions

Noah discusses Slack’s pioneering role in bringing consumer-grade craftsmanship to B2B products. He highlights the contrast between traditional enterprise software complexity and the simplicity Slack aimed to achieve. This consumer-oriented mindset was integral in making Slack both user-friendly and highly functional within business environments.

Audience Focus and Scaling Strategy

A distinctive aspect of Slack’s strategy, as Noah points out at [24:10], is its focus on teams rather than individual buyers like CIOs. By targeting atomic units of teams, Slack ensures adoption starts organically within small groups, which then scales seamlessly across larger organizations. This approach prioritizes user experience and team productivity over hierarchical sales tactics.

Innovation through 'Complaint Storm'

To maintain an innovative edge, Slack employs a creative process called "Complaint Storm." This involves team-wide exercises of critiquing similar products from different domains to inspire fresh perspectives. As Noah explains at [28:03]:

"We're getting inspiration from a totally different domain to bring back to your own product area with hopefully fresh eyes."

This method fosters critical thinking and uncovers innovative solutions by drawing parallels from unrelated product spaces.

Future of Collaboration Tools and AI Integration

Looking ahead, Noah shares his predictions on the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within collaboration tools like Slack. He anticipates a shift towards more localized AI models, enabling functionalities like text compression and synthesis directly at the operating system level. However, he cautions that trust, privacy, and security will remain paramount, especially in the enterprise sector.

At [30:29], he states:

"What won't change? How much customers and end users care about trust, privacy and security."

Noah envisions AI enhancing user experience by embedding foundational capabilities into the OS, while specialized, efficient AI models at the application level will drive advanced functionalities without compromising security.

Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Noah Weiss’s insights offer a comprehensive blueprint for successful product management and growth within the tech industry. Key takeaways from the conversation include:

1. Stay Curious: Cultivating an environment that encourages intellectual curiosity and internal mobility fosters innovation and diverse perspectives.

2. Dynamic Product Market Fit: Constantly reassessing and adapting to the evolving needs of users ensures sustained relevance and scalability.

3. Strong Product Principles: Clear, actionable principles like "Don’t make me think" and "Seek the steepest part of the utility curve" guide consistent and impactful product development.

4. Consumer Mindset in B2B: Adopting consumer-oriented approaches in enterprise solutions enhances user experience and product value.

5. Team-Centric Audience: Focusing on teams as the primary audience drives organic adoption and aligns product development with user productivity needs.

6. Innovative Practices: Techniques like "Complaint Storm" encourage creative problem-solving and continuous improvement.

7. Future-Ready with AI: Anticipating technological advancements while prioritizing trust and security prepares collaboration tools for the next wave of innovation.

Noah Weiss’s articulate and experience-driven perspectives provide valuable lessons for product leaders aiming to build meaningful, scalable, and user-centric products.

Notable Quotes

• Noah Weiss [07:05]:

  "Having an insatiable curiosity and excitement about whatever it is I'm working on... it's a superpower that I think is valuable and folks kind of overlook."

• Noah Weiss [09:53]:

  "Product market fit is not something you earn once and have forever. It's something that you have to keep renewing as your company matures."

• Noah Weiss [17:10]:

  "Seek the steepest part of the utility curve... You need to put enough investment into a feature so that it reaches the point where that work starts to produce a large change in behavior or utility for the customer."

• Noah Weiss [24:10]:

  "Primary audience are teams... not trying to appeal to the Chief Information Officer. Instead, we're rallying adoption from those teams who will be the most frequent users."

• Noah Weiss [30:29]:

  "What won't change? How much customers and end users care about trust, privacy and security."

Final Thoughts

This episode of Building One offers a treasure trove of wisdom from Noah Weiss, blending personal anecdotes with strategic insights. Product leaders and enthusiasts alike will find Noah’s experiences and methodologies both inspiring and actionable, providing a roadmap for building products that not only meet market needs but also foster lasting user loyalty.