Podcasts Technology Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career Bending the universe in your favor | Claire Vo (LaunchDarkly, Color, Optimizely, ChatPRD)

Bending the universe in your favor | Claire Vo (LaunchDarkly, Color, Optimizely, ChatPRD)

Published: April 7, 2024, 11:01 a.m.

Claire Vo is the chief product officer at LaunchDarkly and the founder of ChatPRD, likely the most popular PM-specific AI product out there. Before LaunchDarkly, she was a longtime chief product officer at Color and Optimizely. Claire has founded and managed two other companies, Pretty HQ and Experiment Engine, the latter of which Optimizely acquired in 2017. In our conversation, we discuss:

\u2022 Knowing what you want in your career and being clear about it

\u2022 Finding your zone of genius and how to operate within it

\u2022 How to maintain a fast pace in larger companies

\u2022 How to make it easy for your boss to help you achieve your goals

\u2022 Advice for navigating the tech industry as a woman

\u2022 The role of a CPTO and the benefits it brings to organizations

\u2022 Why she built ChatPRD

\u2022 Tips for building your own AI tools

\u2022 The impact of AI on product management and what skills will continue to be important

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Brought to you by:

\u2022 Orb\u2014The flexible billing engine for modern pricing

\u2022 Dovetail\u2014Bring your customer into every decision

\u2022 Vanta\u2014Automate compliance. Simplify security

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/bending-the-universe-in-your-favor

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Where to find Claire Vo:

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

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

\u2022 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chiefproductofficer

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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) Claire\u2019s background

(04:50) How to achieve career progression

(10:11) Avoiding promotion obsession

(13:50) How Claire stepped into leadership roles

(17:24) Operating in your zone of genius

(23:03) How to maintain a fast pace

(27:46) Setting a high bar for quality and talent

(29:54) Normalizing feedback

(33:09) Being a woman in tech

(47:09) The role of a CPTO

(54:19) Building ChatPRD

(59:39) Tips for building a GPT

(01:02:27) The impact of AI on product management

(01:08:08) How AI is changing the product management role

(01:14:36) Efficiency gains with ChatPRD

(01:16:39) Contrarian corner: sales-led product organizations

(01:20:11) Lightning round

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Referenced:

\u2022 LaunchDarkly: https://launchdarkly.com/

\u2022 Define your zone of genius: Laura Garnett at TEDxMillRiver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ7_r2oWlrw

\u2022 Energy Audit: https://beta.mocharymethod.com/blog-post/energy-audit

\u2022 How to fire people with grace, work through fear, and nurture innovation | Matt Mochary: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/videos/how-to-fire-people-with-grace-work-through-fear-and-nurture-innovation-matt-mochary/

\u2022 Radical Candor: From theory to practice with author Kim Scott: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/radical-candor-from-theory-to-practice-with-author-kim-scott/

\u2022 Optimizely: https://www.optimizely.com/

\u2022 GitLab: https://about.gitlab.com/

\u2022 ChatPRD: https://www.chatprd.ai/

\u2022 You should be playing with GPTs at work: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/you-should-be-playing-with-gpts-at

\u2022 SpaceX\u2019s Starship: https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

\u2022 GitHub Copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot

\u2022 Product management theater | Marty Cagan (Silicon Valley Product Group): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/product-management-theater-marty-cagan-silicon-valley-product-group/

\u2022 High Growth Handbook: Scaling Startups from 10 to 10,000 People: https://www.amazon.com/High-Growth-Handbook-Elad-Gil/dp/1732265100

\u2022 Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building: https://www.amazon.com/Scaling-People-Tactics-Management-Building/dp/1953953212

\u2022 Stripe Press: https://press.stripe.com/

\u2022 Circe: https://www.amazon.com/Circe-Madeline-Miller/dp/0316556327

\u2022 Poor Things: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14230458/

\u2022 Mythic Quest on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/mythic-quest/umc.cmc.1nfdfd5zlk05fo1bwwetzldy3

\u2022 Silicon Valley on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/silicon-valley

\u2022 Chrysler Pacifica: https://www.chrysler.com/pacifica.html

\u2022 Waymo: https://waymo.com/

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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.



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