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Vlad Loktev spent 10 years at Airbnb, where he started as an IC PM and quickly advanced to lead the core Airbnb marketplace business and then GM the entire homes business, managing over 1,000 people and reporting directly to CEO Brian Chesky. He recently left Airbnb and joined Index Ventures as their newest partner. Vlad was my manager at Airbnb for many years, and is the person I credit most for teaching me how to be a great product manager. Prior to Airbnb, Vlad spent a year at Zynga, where he helped grow Words with Friends to over 14 million daily active users. In our conversation, Vlad shares:

\u2022 Insight into Brian Chesky\u2019s leadership style

\u2022 Why success as a PM is all about impact, impact, impact

\u2022 Why chaos can be good

\u2022 Why as a leader it\u2019s OK to let some fires burn

\u2022 Why you should learn to \u201cpoke the bear\u201d

\u2022 Balancing product release speed with quality

\u2022 Lessons on prioritization, decision-making, and organizational design

\u2022 Advice for founders on building company culture

\u2022 Much more

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Brought to you by:

\u2022 Pendo\u2014The only all-in-one product experience platform for any type of application

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\u2022 Eppo\u2014Run reliable, impactful experiments

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Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/impact-impact-impact-vlad-loktev

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Where to find Vlad Loktev:

\u2022 X: https://x.com/vladimirloktev

\u2022 LinkedIn:\xa0https://www.linkedin.com/in/vladimirloktev/

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Where to find Lenny:

\u2022 Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

\u2022 X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

\u2022 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Vlad\u2019s background

(02:54) Reflecting on transformative years at Airbnb

(04:28) Skills and mindsets for success

(11:03) Impact-driven mindset

(13:16) Saying no and inquiry before advocacy\xa0

(17:54) \u201cPoking the bear\u201d

(22:46) Psychological tools for leadership

(30:08) Building and scaling teams

(36:12) Letting fires burn

(47:34) Embracing chaos

(54:40) The unsell email strategy

(01:02:01) Finding your place in an organization

(01:05:38) The importance of company culture

(01:13:16) Airbnb\u2019s unique approach to product management

(01:26:41) Failure corner

(01:31:32) Lightning round and final thoughts

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.