Feb. 28, 2023

Learnings as Head of Product at Instagram, Airbnb & Coinbase; product strategy, leading product teams & scaling - Sanchan Saxena.

Learnings as Head of Product at Instagram, Airbnb & Coinbase; product strategy, leading product teams & scaling - Sanchan Saxena.

Sanchan Saxena was one of the first employees at Instagram, then led product management at Airbnb, and then was responsible for everything consumer at Coinbase.

What you'll learn:

How do the product strategies of Kevin Systrom (Instagram), Brian Chesky (Airbnb), and Brian Armstrong (Coinbase) differ?

What qualities do I look for in product management?

How do I test a senior executive in product management?

What skills does a good product team need and how do I select the right people for it?

Do products always have to be developed in combination with customer feedback or is the intuition of the founders enough?


ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY:

https://zez.am/unicornbakery


(00:01:14) What excites you about product management?

(00:03:19) What does good product management mean?

(00:08:07) What are the biggest mistakes and misconceptions of product management that you have encountered in your career?

(00:10:44) Balancing data and intuition in product development.

(00:12:37) How do the product strategies of Kevin Systrom (Instagram), Brian Chesky (Airbnb), and Brian Armstrong (Coinbase) differ?

(00:19:01) Are there only the two options: Either total product management nerd or very aten-driven?

(00:22:48) Which metrics should I measure in product management, which ones shouldn't I, and how do I build meaningful structures for that?

(00:27:24) How do I best prepare my product for scaling?

(00:30:51) How do I manage a product team properly?

(00:35:29) What qualities make up a strong product team?

(00:40:38) How do I decide whether to hire a senior or someone who prefers to get their hands dirty and really get involved?

(00:42:48) Best practices in hiring product teams.

(00:47:03) What are the biggest challenges when I want to scale a product-based business?

(00:52:29) How do you find the right pace to embrace growth, challenges, and opportunities without going under?

(00:59:46) Of all the people you've met over the years, who have inspired you the most? Did you have a mentor?

Sanchan Saxena

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanchans