Crafting a compelling product vision | Ebi Atawodi (YouTube, Netflix, Uber)
Ebi Atawodi is Director of Product Management for the Creator Experience at YouTube, former Head of Product at Uber, and a former Director of Product (Payments and EMEA) at Netflix. Known for crafting a strong, unified vision, Ebi empowers her teams to achieve outsized outcomes. In today’s episode, we go deep into vision and strategy, including:
- The four key elements of a good vision statement
- Three ways to determine your mission
- The four pillars of great product management
- How writing helps you gain clarity
- How culture influences product
- Tips on how to structure a strategy session
- Advice on building team culture and improving work relationships
- What’s coming soon at YouTube
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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/crafting-a-compelling-product-vision
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Where to find Ebi Atawodi:
- X: https://twitter.com/ebiatawodi
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ebiatawodi
- YouTube mixes: https://www.youtube.com/@EbiAtawodi/videos
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Where to find Lenny:
- Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
- X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Ebi’s background
(04:31) Four key elements of a product vision
(08:14) Examples of lofty but attainable visions
(11:43) Vision vs. mission
(13:23) Examples of visions and missions from notable companies
(15:00) A simple framework for outlining a vision
(20:51) Other methods for outlining a vision
(23:29) The impact of writing clear headlines
(26:41) Using mockups to frame your vision
(28:24) A step-by-step approach to developing a vision
(32:58) Ebi’s “10 Things” document
(37:47) A quick summary of Ebi’s tips
(40:56) How to use the “10 Things” doc in a strategy session
(43:11) The three concentric circles of evangelizing
(47:48) The cadence of developing a vision and bringing it to life
(49:26) Visions vs. micro visions
(52:58) First steps in developing a vision
(55:12) Infrastructure is the product
(56:39) Clarity and conviction, the main jobs of PMs
(59:58) Ebi’s narrative doc
(1:04:59) Conviction, its role in the job, and how to build it
(1:08:20) How to build company culture
(1:17:06) The monolithic culture at Uber
(1:19:09) The culture Ebi embeds in her teams
(1:23:58) How to evaluate your relationship with your engineering manager
(1:26:02) What’s new at YouTube
(1:29:22) Ebi’s closing thoughts
(1:30:45) Lightning round
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Referenced:
- Andre Albuquerque on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andre-albuquerque
- TED’s mission: https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization
- Stripe’s operating principles: https://stripe.com/jobs/culture
- Microsoft’s vision and mission: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/about
- Tesla’s mission statement: https://www.tesla.com/blog/mission-tesla
- Lyft’s mission on Comparably: https://www.comparably.com/companies/lyft/mission
- Ebi’s playbooks and templates: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tU3jpbq_xHcF4x1bdANCVBsO6rbQ8h1HqvdQfwGW4MA/edit
- Working Backwards Press Release Template and Example: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/working-backwards-press-release-template-example-ian-mcallister/
- Patrick Collison on X: https://twitter.com/patrickc
- Seinfeld meme: https://seinfeldmemes.com/you-know-how-to-take-the-reservation/
- Travis Kalanick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/traviskalanick/
- Wimdu: https://www.wimdu.com/
- Leaving big tech to build the #1 technology
