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- The Most Validating and Impactful Product Leaders in My Life
The Most Validating and Impactful Product Leaders in My Life
Product Leaders You Should Follow
Throughout my career, I’ve learned a LOT by doing. The problem with that, is you don’t always have a chance to process what you’ve done, and what you can do. It’s even harder when your title doesn’t match the taxonomy of titles across the industry.
I know I’m a product leader. Everyone I’ve worked with knows I’m a product leader… I’m a product leader… right?
One of the best ways to fight self-doubt and that never-ending imposter syndrome is to get some validation from people who are/have been successful doing the same things that you’re doing. You can downplay your own successes to an extreme, but you can’t really downplay the success and impact of the leaders who have helped major companies grow in exponential ways.
I want to give a special shout-out to Lenny’s Podcast and Newsletter. Lenny’s platform has been instrumental in collecting incredible and actionable insights from numerous thought leaders in the field. While there are some episodes that resonate more than others, every single conversation is filled with useful and actionable insights for product managers. Not all of the people on my list came to me from Lenny, but I’m pretty sure they have all been on the podcast.
Without further adieux, here are the people who helped anchor me in product, build my confidence, and give me inspiration and motivation.
Elena Verna: Elena Verna is a true authority in the realm of growth and the best meme creator in the product space. Companies are fighting for a chance to work with her, because she’s known for her ability to show up and produce results literally anywhere. For me, her emphasis on raising the bar and expectations for product managers has been a thing that really pulls me into her content. She pushes for product managers/leaders to take more responsibility over the marketing, sales, and general success of the product. It’s a standard I hold myself and my team(s) to.
Elena’s take on interim and fractional roles versus full-time commitments adds a fresh perspective to the field. Dive deeper into Elena’s expertise by visiting her LinkedIn profile and exploring her in-depth Substack/blog.
Oji Udezue: Oji’s core concepts of solving sharp problems and the “zone of value” have helped me feel sane when it felt like everyone else was saying “this is good enough,” and I was saying “It’s definitely not.”
He advocates for spending time with the customers in order to understand the sharpest and most meaningful problems they need solved, and lets those insights shape the product roadmap. To learn more about Oji Udezue, I encourage you to visit his LinkedIn profile or grab this PLG worksheet from his upcoming book here.
Lane Shackelton from Coda: Lane stands out for his expertise in how product teams function and how to empower them effectively. His insights come from building for and talking to hundreds of product teams, many of which use Coda to operate. Check out their product team handbook to get a sense of how well they “get it” when it comes to what product teams need and/or take a look at the onboarding breakdown I did.
You can find more about Lane Shackelton on his LinkedIn profile, and I highly recommend exploring his Substack for deeper insights.
Nikhyl Singhal: Nikhyl’s expertise in building a successful product career and his intriguing concept of “super powers and shadows” have made a profound impact on me. They gave me some common language to talk about my strengths in product, and also helped me identify skills/talents that I didn’t recognize on my own. I mean, who knew navigating organizationally complex projects was a skill people look for?!
To learn more about Nikhyl Singhal, check out his LinkedIn profile and explore his thought-provoking ideas on his Podcast/Newsletter.
Casey Winters: Casey Winters possesses a deep understanding of the mechanics of products, particularly in the realms of growth and network effects. I haven’t heard anyone explain some of the complexities and “science” of product as clearly as he can. His insights have been invaluable in shaping my perspective on product strategy — particularly in adoption and activation. For a deeper dive into Casey’s expertise, you can explore his LinkedIn profile or checkout his blog.
Throughout the year, I’ve also referenced other remarkable product leaders in my blog posts. You can find these references and explore their insights on my blog. These leaders have collectively contributed to my growth and understanding of product management, and I’m excited to continue learning from them in the coming year.
Eyes and Ears open in 2024
Here are some of the leaders I’m tuning into this year to expand my thinking
Tyler Denk from Beehiiv – this team ships good product faster than any I’ve seen and Tyler’s interactions with his team on Linkedin are pure comedy.
Peter Yang from Roblox – Peter has a lot of really great insights and a good perspective on interactive product. I’d like to see him differentiate from Lenny a bit more but he’s a smart guy worth listening to.
Kieran Flanagan from Zapier – Ok, he’s a CMO but he gets product and product marketing AND I think these are skills every product leader should have.