Podcast
Lenny's Reads
Hosted by Lenny Rachitsky · EN
Audio editions of Lenny's Newsletter
18episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Listen: Building AI product sense, part 2
Feb 1000:22:30Summary readyIf you’re a premium subscriber, add the private feed to your podcast app at add.lennysreads.comDr. Marily Nika, longtime AI PM at Google and Meta, shares a simple weekly ritual that rapidly builds AI product sense – the ability to translate probabilistic model behavior into products people can trust. In this episode, Marily walks through the framework for uncovering failure modes before users do.Listen now: YouTube | Apple | SpotifyIn this episode, you’ll learn• Why Meta added “Product Sense with AI” to its PM interview loop• The rituals that surface hidden failure modes• Why generative models confidently invent structure when confronted with mess• What minimum viable quality (MVQ) means and how to define three critical thresholds• Five strategic context factors that raise or lower your quality bar• Why you need to estimate your AI feature’s cost envelope early• How to design guardrails that protect users from model shortcomings• Four patterns that cover most real-world failure casesReferenced• AI PM Bootcamp & Certification• AI Product Sense & AI PM Interview prep• Dr. Marily Nika: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marilynika/• How to build AI Product sense (Part 1)• Marily’s AI Product Academy Newsletter• Thriving as a senior IC PM in the AI eraAboutWelcome to Lenny's Reads, where every week you’ll find a fresh audio version of my newsletter about building product, driving growth, and accelerating your career, read to you by the soothing voice of Lennybot. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com
Summary
Listen: Product Pass drop: Canva, ElevenLabs, Manus, Factory, Amp, Railway, Framer—now free with your paid subscription
Jan 2700:10:33Summary readyIf you’re a premium subscriber, add the private feed to your podcast app at add.lennysreads.comYour product builder's Product Pass just got even better. In this episode, we introduce the seven new premium partners joining the Product Pass, bringing the total value of a paid newsletter subscription to over $25,000. We cover all the new products, what they do, how people are using them, and the key details you need to know before subscribing.Listen now: YouTube | Apple | SpotifyIn this episode, you’ll learn:• Key features of each of the seven new products• Applicable, real-world examples of how people are using them• Which products are exclusive to Insider subscribersReferences:• Affinity• Amp• Canva Business• Duolingo• ElevenLabs• Every• Factory• Flourish• Framer• Harvey• Kernel• Leonardo.Ai• Lovable• Manus• Meta• Metabase• Mozart AI• n8n• Nvidia• Perplexity• Product Pass codes• Railway• Sentry This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe
Summary
ChatGPT apps are about to be the next big distribution channel: Here’s how to build one
Jan 2000:11:36Summary readyColin Matthews, shares how ChatGPT apps are emerging as a powerful new distribution channel. In this episode, Colin shares how discovery will become contextual inside ChatGPT, what the architecture looks like, and why ChatGPT apps represent a rare distribution opportunity. He also covers two fast paths you can take to build and deploy your first ChatGPT app.In this episode, you'll learn:• Why chat-native apps could change the tech ecosystem• How users will discover apps contextually inside ChatGPT• The three UI modes for ChatGPT apps• The “one widget per message” constraint• How tools, widgets, and MCP fit together• Two build paths: Replit and ChippyReferences:• Adobe• AllTrails• Anthropic• Apple• Booking.com• Bolt• Canva• ChatPRD• Chippy• Colin Matthews• Coursera• Datavant• Descript• Devin• DoorDash• Expedia• Figma• Gamma• GitHub• Granola• Instacart• Linear• LinkedIn• Lovable• Magic Patterns• Maven• Mobbin• n8n• OpenAI• Perplexity• PostHog• Railway• Raycast• Replit• Shopify• Spotify• Stripe Atlas• Substack• Superhuman• Vercel• Warp• Wispr Flow• ZillowRead the newsletterhttps://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/chatgpt-apps-are-about-to-be-theSubscribe to Lenny’s Newsletterhttps://www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribeSubscribe• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lennysreads• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lennys-reads/id1810314693• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0IIunA06qMtrcQLfypTooj• Substack: https://lennysreads.com/Follow Lenny• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/• Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@lennyspodcastAboutWelcome to Lenny's Reads, where every week you’ll find a fresh audio version of my newsletter about building product, driving growth, and accelerating your career, read to you by the soothing voice of Lennybot. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com
Summary
AI tools are overdelivering: results from our large-scale AI productivity survey
Dec 2400:13:36Summary readyNoam Segal, AI Insights Manager at Figma, shares the results from our comprehensive survey of 1,750 product managers, engineers, designers, and founders on how AI is reshaping their work. The findings are striking: more than half of respondents are saving at least half a day per week on their most important tasks. Since the quality of AI tools are improving at breakneck speed, Noam reveals we're watching the early innings of a compounding productivity revolution.In this episode, you'll learn:• Why 55% say AI has exceeded expectations and how it's improving work quality• Which roles are winning with AI (and which are struggling)• Where the biggest opportunities are• Which AI tools have product-market fit• Which AI tool dominates for most roles• Why engineers prefer specialized tools• Why 92% report significant downsides to AI tools• What AI agents need to take offReferences:• Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com/• Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/• Build your personal AI copilot: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/build-your-personal-ai-copilot• ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/• Claude: https://claude.ai/• Cursor: https://cursor.com/• Figma: https://www.figma.com/• Gemini: https://gemini.google.com/• GitHub: https://github.com/• Granola: https://www.granola.ai/• How to build your second brain with ChatGPT: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-build-your-pm-second-brain• Intercom: https://www.intercom.com/• Lindy: https://www.lindy.ai/• Lovable: https://lovable.dev/• Manus: https://manus.im/• Microsoft Copilot: https://copilot.microsoft.com/• Midjourney: https://www.midjourney.com/home• Monday.com: https://www.monday.com• n8n: https://n8n.io/• Noam Segal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noamsegal/• Notion: https://www.notion.com/• Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai/• Replit: https://replit.com/• v0: https://v0.app/• Zapier: https://zapier.com/Read the newsletterhttps://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ai-tools-are-overdelivering-resultsSubscribe to Lenny’s Newsletterhttps://www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribeSubscribe• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lennysreads• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lennys-reads/id1810314693• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0IIunA06qMtrcQLfypTooj• Substack: https://lennysreads.com/Follow Lenny• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/• Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@lennyspodcastAboutWelcome to Lenny's Reads, where every week you’ll find a fresh audio version of my newsletter about building product, driving growth, and accelerating your career, read to you by the soothing voice of Lennybot. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com
Summary
How to build your PM second brain with ChatGPT
Dec 1600:09:21Summary readyIf you’re a premium subscriber, add the private feed to your podcast app at add.lennysreads.comIn this episode, Amir Klein, from monday.com, shares a practical, battle-tested system for building a PM “second brain”. In this episode, Amir explains exactly how to set up a ChatGPT Project with a clear personality, feed it the messy context scattered across your tools, and then put it to work—drafting sign-up forms, spinning up prototypes, and tailoring comms for every audience.Listen now: YouTube | Apple | SpotifyIn this episode, you’ll learn:• Why context is the PM’s heaviest mental load• How to build a second brain that challenges you and mirrors your taste• The wealth of information your second brain can absorb• A simple loop to keep your second brain fresh• Three end-to-end use case examplesReferences• Amir Klein• Build your personal AI copilot• ChatGPT• Claude• Figma• Gemini• Google Docs• Lovable• monday.com• Notion• Reddit• SlackRead the newsletterhttps://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-build-your-pm-second-brainSubscribe to Lenny’s Newsletterhttps://www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribeSubscribe• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lennysreads• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lennys-reads/id1810314693• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0IIunA06qMtrcQLfypTooj• Substack: https://lennysreads.com/Follow Lenny• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/• Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@lennyspodcastAboutWelcome to Lenny's Reads, where every week you’ll find a fresh audio version of my newsletter about building product, driving growth, and accelerating your career, read to you by the soothing voice of Lennybot. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com
Summary
How to spot a 1% startup early
Dec 900:08:49Tap to summarizeIf you’re a premium subscriber, add the private feed to your podcast app at add.lennysreads.comHow do certain early employees keep picking generational companies—again and again—before the rest of the world catches on? In this episode, we distill lessons from five such super-spotters whose resumes include Palantir, OpenAI, Facebook, Stripe, Linear, Figma, Notion, Slack, Box, Spotify, and Dropbox. You’ll learn the three rare traits they all look for, and how you can apply these signals to your own career and company-building.In this episode, you’ll learn:• How “ludicrous” ambition shows up• The underrated signs of founder greatness• How to evaluate an early product• What a “Jurassic Park” moment in startups means• How to think about risk as an early employee• Tactics to “optimize for serendipity” when breaking into rocket shipsReferences:• Alex Karp: https://x.com/PalantirTech• Bob McGrew: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobmcgrew/• Box: https://www.box.com/• Christina Cordova: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristinajcordova/• Daniel Ek: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-ek-1b52093a/• Dylan Field: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanfield/• Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/• Figma: https://www.figma.com/• Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/• Ivan Zhao: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivanhzhao/• Linear: https://linear.app/• Meter: https://www.meter.com/• Notion: https://www.notion.so/• OpenAI: https://openai.com/• Palantir: https://www.palantir.com/• Patrick Collison: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcollison/• PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/• Rasmus Andersson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rasmusandersson/• Sean Rose: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-a-rose/• Slack: https://slack.com/• Soleio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soleio/• Spotify: https://www.spotify.com/• Stewart Butterfield: https://www.linkedin.com/in/butterfield/• Stripe: https://stripe.com/• Terrence Rohan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terrencerohan/Read the newsletter:• https://open.substack.com/pub/lenny/p/how-to-spot-a-top-1-startup-earlySubscribe to Lenny’s Newsletter:• https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribeSubscribe:• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lennysreads• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lennys-reads/id1810314693• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0IIunA06qMtrcQLfypTooj• Substack: https://lennysreads.com/Follow Lenny:• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/• Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@lennyspodcastAbout:Welcome to Lenny's Reads, where every week you’ll find a fresh audio version of my newsletter about building product, driving growth, and accelerating your career, read to you by the soothing voice of Lennybot. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com
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Ecosystem is the next big growth channel
Nov 1100:11:06Tap to summarizeAI gave everyone speed - but that same speed flooded every distribution channel. Search traffic's down, inboxes are overrun, and even virality is harder when everyone's shipping quickly.In this episode, Emily Kramer reveals the strategy behind today's breakout companies: ecosystem. Instead of going direct, win through partners, creators, communities, and integrations that already have your audience's trust. If you're still relying on the old playbook in an AI-saturated world, this episode will help you rewire your strategy.In this episode, you’ll learn:• Why classic inbound, outbound, virality, events, and lifecycle are weakening in the AI era• What an ecosystem flywheel is and how it compounds credibility and distribution• The six most common ecosystem motions• How fast-growing teams such as Supabase, Clay, Lovable, and more are using an ecosystem strategy• How to pick partners using “coverage” and “composition” instead of vanity reach• What a win-win-win relationship looks like in an ecosystem• How to start an ecosystem strategy, prove it, then expand without diluting the signalReferences:• Aaron Cort: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaroncort/• AirOps: https://www.airops.com/• Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/• Arrows: https://www.arrows.to/• Astro: https://www.astro.build/• Baseten: https://www.baseten.co/• Carta: https://carta.com/• Clay: https://www.clay.com/• Clio: https://www.clio.com/• Craft Ventures: https://www.craftventures.com/• Daniel Zarick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielzarick/• Elena Verna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elenaverna/• ElevenLabs: https://elevenlabs.io/• Emily Kramer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilykramer/• Emily Kramer's newsletter: https://newsletter.mkt1.co/• Ethan Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanls/• Gamma: https://gamma.app/• GC AI: https://gc.ai/• Graphite: https://graphite.dev/• Grant Lee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantslee/• HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/• Lenny's Product Pass: https://lennysproductpass.com/• Lovable: https://lovable.dev/• Mercury: https://mercury.com/• Midjourney: https://www.midjourney.com/• Navattic: https://www.navattic.com/• Supabase: https://supabase.com/• “The ultimate guide to AEO” Lenny’s Podcast episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT7kq-R3Gjc• Tom Orbach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomorbach/• Tracksuit: https://www.tracksuit.com/• Upstart: https://www.upstart.com/• Vanta: https://www.vanta.com/• Vercel: https://vercel.com/• Wiz: https://www.wiz.io/Read the newsletterhttps://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ecosystem-is-the-next-big-growthSubscribe to Lenny’s Newsletterhttps://www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribeSubscribe• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lennysreads• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lennys-reads/id1810314693• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0IIunA06qMtrcQLfypTooj• Substack: https://lennysreads.com/Follow Lenny• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/• Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@lennyspodcastAboutWelcome to Lenny's Reads, where every week you’ll find a fresh audio version of my newsletter about building product, driving growth, and accelerating your career, read to you by the soothing voice of Lennybot. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com
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Part 2 of how to get the most out of your product pass—and welcome, Stripe Atlas, to the bundle!
Nov 400:08:50Tap to summarizeIf you’re a premium subscriber, add the private feed to your podcast app at add.lennysreads.comYour product builder’s starter pack keeps getting better. In this episode, we continue the guide to getting maximum value from the Product Pass, with seven tools that have reshaped how I prototype, research, take notes, manage email, and move faster every single day.There’s also a new perk for Insiders: 40% off Stripe Atlas to go from idea to incorporated startup without the tax/legal slog.In this episode, you’ll learn• Why Lovable has become my go-to for vibe-coding apps and prototypes• How Bolt plugs into frontier coding agents so you can keep your favorite setup and still ship fast• How Granola quietly captures meetings from your device audio and turns notes into shareable, searchable summaries• What makes ChatPRD a PM-native copilot for specs, templates, and Linear workflows• Five Superhuman power moves beyond inbox zero• Everyday Raycast workflows that make it an instant Spotlight replacement• Why Perplexity’s Comet browser became my default for deep research and agentic browsing• Plus a bunch of practical examples that you can copyReferences:• Anton Osika: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonosika/• Bolt: https://bolt.new/• “Building Lovable” podcast episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZtGxNs9AVg• ChatGPT: https://openai.com/• ChatPRD: https://www.chatprd.ai/lenny• Claire Vo: https://clairevo.com/• Claude Code: https://www.claude.com/product/claude-code• Comet: https://www.perplexity.ai/comet• Cursor: https://cursor.com/• Eric Simons: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-simons-a464a664/• Gamma: https://gamma.app/• GitHub: https://github.com/• Granola: https://www.granola.ai/• “Inside Bolt” podcast episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L22DtAHLmzs• Intercom: https://www.intercom.com/• Linear: https://linear.app/• Lovable: https://lovable.dev/• Magic Patterns: https://www.magicpatterns.com/• Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai/• Rahul Vohra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulvohra/• Raycast: https://www.raycast.com/• Stripe Atlas: https://stripe.com/atlas• Superhuman: https://superhuman.com/• “Superhuman’s secret to success” podcast episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0igjSRZyX-w• Tailor Labs: https://www.tailoredlabsai.com/• Read the newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/part-2-of-how-to-get-the-most-outSubscribe• Lenny’s Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lennysreads• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lennys-reads/id1810314693• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0IIunA06qMtrcQLfypTooj• Substack: https://lennysreads.com/Follow Lenny• X/Twitter: https://x.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/• Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@lennyspodcastAboutWelcome to Lenny's Reads, where every week you’ll find a fresh audio version of my newsletter about building product, driving growth, and accelerating your career, read to you by the soothing voice of Lennybot. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com
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