Lenny'sLens
← All topics

Prioritization

7 claims3 moments2 on the cutting room floor
Product ManagementLeadershipStartup BuildingGrowthCareerAi ToolsGo To MarketMetricsProductivityProduct DesignEngineeringB2bAi ProductHiringRetentionFeedbackManagementSalesVibe CodingPrototypingProduct StrategyEvalsCareer GrowthMarketplaceCompensationProduct Market FitHealthStartup StrategyCommunicationGrowth StrategyPricingNamingCareer DevelopmentStartupsDecision MakingOrganizational DesignMarketplacesCompany CultureFocusProduct Led GrowthInnovationProduct DevelopmentStorytellingCompetitive AdvantagePrioritizationStrategyFrameworksB2b GrowthLearningExperimentationUser ExperienceExecutionPaid MarketingSelf AwarenessAiProduct BuildingGamificationAngel InvestingUser ResearchDistributionDesignViralityAirbnbTeam ManagementWord Of MouthGrowth TeamsProduct LeadershipCareer AdviceInterviewingProduct QualityFundraisingCompetitive StrategyCreator EconomyContent StrategyEarly StageTime ManagementConversion OptimizationCareer Planning

Lenny's Written Position

The single goal of an early-stage pre-PMF startup should be to make 10 customers very happy, and everything prioritized should serve this goal.

Consensusframework3 connections
3 supports

Startups should not build everything users ask for but instead focus on understanding user pain points and independently designing the best solutions.

Consensusrecommendation3 connections
1 support2 extends

To protect long-term big-bet projects at large companies, spend 80% of team time on short-term incremental wins and 20% on high-risk long-term bets to create 'cover fire' of consistent results.

Originalframework0 connections

Consistently shipping small wins builds trust, earns the right to take bigger bets, and prevents your team from becoming a target when new fires arise and leaders look for non-essential projects to cut.

Originalobservation0 connections

When asked to take on new work, you should reprioritize against existing work and share updated priorities with your manager rather than just absorbing the new task.

Originalrecommendation0 connections

When asked to take on more work, the best response is to prioritize the new ask among existing work and communicate that prioritization back to your manager rather than saying yes or no.

Synthesisframework2 connections
1 support1 extend

To balance outcome-thinking with engineering and design needs, extend your outcome thinking further into the future by evaluating how much the technical work would benefit your outcome 1+ years out.

Originalframework0 connections

Podcast Moments

Shweta Shrivastava00:27:42
“It's also very important to know what you're not building. And this one is not only in big companies, I would say even in startups, it's extremely important to know what you're not building because you could very easily get swayed by customer X telling you to do this, customer Y telling you to do that. And a product that tries to be all things to all people usually doesn't end up going anywhere.”

Product lessons from Waymo | Shweta Shrivastava (Waymo, Amazon, Cisco) · Shweta Shriva

Emily Kramer00:00:28
“And the question is, where do you have the biggest challenge right now? Or where do you think if you did more, you would grow faster? Is it on fuel side or is on the engine side?”

How to build a powerful marketing machine | Emily Kramer (Asana, Carta, MKT1) · Emily Kramer

Shishir Mehrotra01:27:43
“You've been hired by a competitor to design a me too version of product. What is the bare minimum of what you need to build? And then, you ran out of resources. You get a quarter of the time and a quarter of the team. What do you actually build? And then, you've decided you can differentiate in only one place. What do you do to differentiate?”

The rituals of great teams | Shishir Mehrotra of Coda, YouTube, Microsoft · Shishir Mehrotra

Cutting Room Floor

Guest insights on this topic that Lenny hasn't (yet) written about in his newsletters. Potential material for future posts.

Emily KramerUnsynthesized
“And the question is, where do you have the biggest challenge right now? Or where do you think if you did more, you would grow faster? Is it on fuel side or is on the engine side?”

How to build a powerful marketing machine | Emily Kramer (Asana, Carta, MKT1) · Emily Kramer

Shishir MehrotraUnsynthesized
“You've been hired by a competitor to design a me too version of product. What is the bare minimum of what you need to build? And then, you ran out of resources. You get a quarter of the time and a quarter of the team. What do you actually build? And then, you've decided you can differentiate in only one place. What do you do to differentiate?”

The rituals of great teams | Shishir Mehrotra of Coda, YouTube, Microsoft · Shishir Mehrotra