High Leverage LLC

More than 1000 senior PMs & product leaders worldwide [1] have taken my weekend course on “Managing your Product career in 2023 & beyond”:
https://bit.ly/shreyas-course

Reviews are outstanding. You can check out the posts that many students have shared about their experience with the course.

[1] Just a sample of companies in the last cohort: Google, Meta, Stripe, Twitch, Amazon, Square, HashiCorp, Okta, Freshworks, Airbnb, PayPal, Slack, Walmart, Atlassian, Microsoft, Flipkart, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Shopify, Gojek, Nike, Uber, Wish, Reddit, Adobe, Plaid, Faire, Workday, Tripactions, Vimeo, Dell, Salesforce, VMWare, Goldman Sachs, Walgreens, General Electric, Wayfair, Splunk, Doordash, LinkedIn, Grammarly, Yelp

Coaching through Courses

InVideo

Advisor

Hyper

PopSQL

Chainlink Labs

Kalshi

Array

Lendflow

Various Startups

I advise fast-growing startups on strategy, scaling, and product management.

Product Advisor

Startups

Lucky to be an investor in some exciting start-ups. 

See more at http://angel.co/shreyasdoshi

Angel Investor

Led a couple of Stripe's most successful products from their very early days (Stripe Connect, Stripe Terminal). Built the PM function at Stripe, as one of the early members of the PM team and as Stripe's first PM Manager. Led & grew several products at Twitter, Google, Yahoo, including some products & features you probably use daily / weekly.

Now, I advise startup founders, coach executives, do occasional speaking engagements, and teach live courses (check out bit.ly/shreyas-course for more info).

Oh, and I also write about product management, leadership, org psychology, and strategy. >300k people have chosen to follow my writing across Twitter & LinkedIn. Deeply thankful for that.

Find more of my links here: linktr.ee/shreyasdoshi

Just a few notes to myself (a driven & ambitious person):

1) Kings are overrated and usually unhappy. It’s much better to be kingmaker.

2) Eventually, everyone realizes that they don’t want to be Elon Musk or Steve Jobs. How quickly do you want to get there?

3) Legacy is overrated. So is impact.

4) Learn from everyone & everything. Don’t view people as better or worse than you, worthy or unworthy of teaching you. And if something doesn’t fully resonate, don’t reject it wholesale. Try extracting the useful bits and learn from those. Wisdom is everywhere, if you can spot it.

5) When you find someone inspiring, try to separate their content and their charisma. And if it’s the charisma that inspires, be very careful.

6) The chief indicator of authentic confidence isn’t bravado. It’s the person’s openness to discovering why they’re wrong.

7) Whatever industry or domain you are in is probably smaller than you imagine it is. People talk. Don’t burn bridges over the small stuff.

8) When in doubt about where to take a job, pick the place with the better people. Even if it ends up being the wrong bet, you will still be more fulfilled with your work.

9) In the tech industry, things often change. Platforms change, technologies change, office signs change, employers change, centers of gravity change. The one thing that remains constant is the people. Always optimize for the people.

10) If you choose to understand just one cognitive bias, let it be the Fundamental Attribution Error. If you choose to understand one more cognitive bias, let it be Confirmation Bias.

Last but not least, very important note:
No rule is valid for every single situation in life. Except this rule.

Shreyas Doshi

I’ve been quietly following Shreyas Doshi on Twitter for about a year, and recently saw someone post a rave review about their experience in his course "Managing Your PM Career". As part of my 2023 intention to continue investing in myself, I took the plunge and joined the latest cohort last weekend. I came out of the course feeling “wow, that was intense”. And no, it wasn’t because of Zoom fatigue but because of the extraordinary number of lightbulb moments that helped me reflect on my career/life journey so far, and how I’ll direct my journey moving forward. Sign-ups for the next cohort are open here!

Led a couple of Stripe's most successful products from their very early days (Stripe Connect, Stripe Terminal). Helped build the PM function at Stripe as one of the early members of the team and as Stripe's first PM Manager. Led & grew several products at Twitter, Google, Yahoo, including some products & features you probably use daily / weekly.

Now, I advise startup founders, coach executives, do occasional speaking engagements, and teach live courses (check out bit.ly/shreyas-course for more info).

Oh, and I also write about product management, leadership, org psychology, and strategy. >300k people have chosen to follow my writing across Twitter & LinkedIn. Deeply thankful for that.

Find more of my links are here: linktr.ee/shreyasdoshi

Open article: Managing your Product Career in 2023 & beyond by maven.com

https://maven.com/shreyas-doshi/product-management-career

Apple Pie Position:
A statement that instantly elevates the person who is saying it and is simultaneously hard for anyone else to push back on, and so everyone avoids the personal risk and just nods “yes”, even though its actual value in this specific situation might be relatively low, zero, or even negative. Because everyone in the workplace wants to come across as smart & competent, especially during meetings, Apple Pie Positions end up being frequently employed by your colleagues.

Examples of Apple Pie Positions
(trigger warning: might feel too painful at times)

1) “We need to define the success metrics for <whatever is being discussed>”

Also seen in the wild as:
“How will you measure success here?”

2) “Do you have any data to back that up?”

(narrator: it is either impossible to get useful data in this situation or the effort to get useful data would be more than just doing it)

3) “We need more scalable team processes”

4) “We have too many meetings”

5) “We need to sync more often”

6) “This is a two-way door, so let’s just decide quickly”

(narrator: it was actually a one-way door, but we love quoting Bezos)

7) “We need a better go-to-market motion to improve product adoption”

(narrator: the problem is you’ve built the wrong product & no amount of GTM sorcery is going to fix that)

8) “We need better internal documentation!”

(narrator: yes we do. we also need 50 other things so let’s just finally admit that this ain’t happening. besides OpenAI will solve this for us in 2024, right?)

9) “Our current org structure doesn’t set us up for optimal execution of our strategic goals. That's why we are announcing a re-org”

10) “We must not slow down our shipping velocity”

(narrator: usually applied to push back against a fairly rational measure that will cause a minor delay in shipping the product but will prevent bigger problems for the customers or the company further down the road)

11) “We need to post-mortem this”

(narrator: next time, start with a pre-mortem)

12) “After 13 months as CxO, Bob has decided to leave for other personal pursuits. The company wouldn’t be the same without his contributions”

(narrator: this is not how it actually went down)

13) “We need an offsite so we can align our teams better on our strategic priorities”

(narrator: we said the same thing for the previous 6 offsites. it almost seems like we are doing offsites more than we are being onsites)

14) “Remember, we are a mission-driven company”

(narrator: particularly effective when justifying below-market salary / stock for current and prospective employees)

15) “We need to go on a customer listening tour to understand our customers better”

(narrator: you need to pay more attention to the customer research that’s already happened over the past 12 months that we haven’t done anything about. you need to then translate that into differentiated features instead of just building me-too tablestakes)

16) “We need more apple pie”

(narrator: 🥧 yum. yes we do)

A pretty large part of the PM leadership job is basically about good prioritization and explaining the rationale for that prioritization in a way that others understand.

Advanced principles for clear thinking:

Everything we create, everything we do, it all starts with our thinking. Clear thinking drastically improves odds of success in all departments of career & life. While clear thinking is quite rare, it can be developed with practice.

1) Essence first. Not story. Not analogy.
Most people get seduced by great analogies & exciting stories.

Clear thinkers don’t *form* their thinking via analogies. They identify the essence of the issue, in their specific context. Then, they use analogies as one of their inputs.

2) WAYRTTD.
“What Are You _Really_ Trying To Do” is a simple but powerful tool to make you pause & identify your real goal

Most people move too quickly to How & When to do a given task.  But the task isn’t the goal

Clear thinkers have built a habit of asking themselves WAYRTTD.

3) Message vs. Messenger.
Most people first evaluate the messenger & they don’t evaluate the message enough. The apparent superior/inferior status of the messenger clouds their thinking.

Clear thinkers practice their best to evaluate the message separately from the messenger.

4) Tough to communicate.
When dealing with close choices, most people pick the choice that is less stressful to communicate & reject the choice that will seemingly require a tough conversation.

Clear thinkers resist this bias & communicate the correct choice as kindly as possible.

5) Probabilistic thinking.
Most people think in terms of “X will happen” “Y will not happen”. They are forever locked in the jail of binary thinking.

Clear thinkers see the future as probabilistic. They think in terms of approximate probability that X will/won't happen & decide/act accordingly.

6) Metacognition.
Most people don’t understand much about why they think & feel what they think & feel. They are mere passengers on their own train of thought

Clear thinkers develop a habit of observing their own thinking, analyzing it with curiosity & adapting it accordingly

7) Opportunity cost.
Most people decide what to work on solely by ROI.

ROI = (Value created – Cost of your time) ÷ Cost of your time

For decisions that matter greatly, clear thinkers consider Opportunity Cost.

Opportunity Cost = Value of optimal option – Value of chosen option

8) Ownership mindset.
Most people’s thinking gets clouded by all sorts of noise & drama in their environment.

Clear thinkers approach whatever they choose to work on with an ownership mindset. So they are more focused on the greater goal and they adopt a collaborative approach.

9) Control over ego.
Most people attach their identity to their ideas & thinking. This makes it hard for them to adapt their thinking & see reality as it is.

Clear thinkers are not immune to the ego, but they are able to control it enough so they can iterate towards correctness.

10) Not perfect.
Finally, clear thinkers are aware that they are not perfect. It is often the recognition & reminder of this flaw that gives them greater clarity than others.

~

On Sunday March 5th my friend Shreyas Doshi... well he doesn't know we're friends but we talk all the time! Okay he talks all the time and I listen, so it feels like we're friends.  

Anyway, he held a special course covering his Advanced Time Management Principles for me... yes and 1,300+ Product Managers also joined. Really 4,000+ requested but apparently not everyone could find the time.  They really should look into this course. 😉 

My biggest takeaway? Shreyas is a big fan of Ryan Holiday. Seriously!  

Proof? He used a Ryan Holiday podcast interview of Matthew McConaughey as an example about focus and being clear on your priorities.

What's that? Not convinced? Sure, I get it. It's just one video.  Here's the real proof.  The first of what I imagine to be many many more dates for this course, was scheduled on March 5.  

So what you ask? Well get this! Ryan Holiday's book, The Daily Stoic, is laid out as daily meditations using quotes and interpretations to guide you on your quest.  Each month has a specific area of focus.

March is focused on Awareness, a fitting theme for Time Management wouldn't you say!? AND! March 5th is titled, 'Cutting Back on the Costly'.  

Ryan's comments for the day's quote speaks to a common theme I've seen in many of Shreyas' posts; understanding opportunity costs.  

Hmmmm, is this all just a coincidence! Look, I just present the facts, I'll let you decide!

Jokes aside, this was truly the lesson I learned:  

Brute Force will not support your PM career as your rank and scope increases.  Instead, using his LNO framework, Sr PM's should focus more on high "leverage" tasks that only they can perform,  then radically delegate everything else!  

The delegation contract and messaging to your team on the use of radical delegation is critical to your success, so don't neglect the rule of "over communicate".  Set expectations up front on how much time you will be engaged for the delegated task, frequency of needed updates, and your availability to support when needed. 

There is so much more presented in this course that I encourage you to check it out. The principles shared are intended to help you do more impactful work with your limited time, but as a nice side effect it can also create a better life balance as you start delivering more value with your time, not more outputs.  

With personal stories as the guide, Shreyas reminded me at the end: 

"Winning in your PM job but losing in life ain't worth it".  

Thank you Shreyas! 🙏 

Want to learn more, check out his original Twitter post. https://lnkd.in/gBShzg9N 

Now if I can learn this much from Shreyas in an hour, who knows how much I can learn from a course on Managing my PM Career! 
      👇 👇 👇 
https://lnkd.in/gzTuH68k

#productmanagement #focus #clarity #levelup

Yesterday I learnt a life transforming hack called LNO framework at a time management webinar hosted by Shreyas Doshi
Here is an illustration applied to my work week.

Important ideas on instinct:

1) Those who don’t understand the great value of instinct call it luck.

2) Product people who pooh-pooh instinct would experience extreme cognitive dissonance if they realized how many iconic products they use regularly were created with instinct.

3) Product operators who proudly pooh-pooh instinct & creativity (“it’s all about process & numbers!”) often don’t realize that they have that luxury precisely because of the instinct & creativity of those who built that product before them.

4) We need to stop pretending that *all* product decisions require mathematical proof.

Trust me, it's fine to use instinct for major product decisions.

And if you enjoy moving fast, it is sometimes required.

The trick here is when to do it, who does it, and how it gets done.

5) Tiny, but powerful vocabulary tweak, especially for leaders:

In product discussions, use the word “instinct” more

“what do you think about XYZ?” → “what is your instinct on XYZ?”

Benefits:
- Encourages use of instinct
- The word “instinct” makes people less attached to their ideas than the words “thoughts”, “opinion”, “advice”, etc. and allows them to share more freely
- Enables higher quality discussion


If they say everything is a P0 priority, say OK and ask them to please stack rank their P0s and all of a sudden they will see for themselves that in fact everything is not a P0 priority.

Yesterday I attended a webinar  - "Advanced Time Management for Product People", held by Shreyas Doshi.  
Initially, I was skeptical but just wanted to hear how time management for products differs from "usual". After all, time management is so easy 🤣 and understandable, take it and do it.  
Now, I think it is absolutely worth watching it. It has lots of useful insights based on Shreyas's rich experience.  More information is available in his course "Managing your PM Career in 2023 & beyond
".  https://lnkd.in/eJmi3wHN

The main ideas that I was able to grasp were:
1) Brut force stops working (and will never work again)
- in the early stages of your career, working more or on the weekends may help, but at some point, this method will stop working and will never work because the more "senior" the professional, the more meaningful tasks they have that require more than just their time
2)  All your tasks are not created equal.
-  divide tasks into three categories L, N and O, and treating each of them differently. The idea is not new, but the approach and examples were interesting.
3) Use "Radical Delegation"
-this framework is sort of an extension of the well-known Eisenhower matrix, with a focus on more senior specialists. I liked this part the most, I inserted a picture from there.
4) Beware of the "Proof of Worth" tasks
 -that tasks we often do to show our expertise, but it's often for useless and time-consuming.
5) Your calendar speaks greater truth than your to-do-list
-you can write to-do lists for the day all you want, but if your calendar doesn't have time for them, they won't get done.
6) Make time for insightful, creative work
-if you don't reserve that time, it will all be eaten up by routine 
7) Have clarity on your holistic life priorities
-about work-life balance and all that. 


#timemanagement #productmanagement 

With the astounding AI capabilities we are seeing (and will continue to see in this decade), Product Managers who genuinely value & are great at customer insight + product creativity + influential communication will be just fine. The PMs who don’t see the value in these skills and instead swear by the more mechanical aspects of the PM role will find it increasingly hard to differentiate themselves vs. AI.

I'm a firm believer of staying ready in season and out of season, so I've been taking part in a fair amount of workshops and seminars to discover new ideas and ways of working. A few weeks ago I took part in Shreyas Doshi's Time Management workshop and was blown away by the content. Here's a few of the major keys that resonated with me. 

🗝 Not all work is created equal. When it comes to low impact, aka low leverage tasks, just get it done. In fact, you should actively try to do a bad job because your perfectionism will recalibrate your efforts. (Use the search engine or your choice to learn more about his "LNO" framework if this sounds interesting to you)

🗝 When you delegate, expect the work to be done at the quality that is warranted for the task, based on your perception of it's impact. Do not expect it to be done as well as if you completed the task yourself. 

🗝 Placebo Productivity. If you have a looming high leverage tasks on the horizons and are prone to procrastinate, then block out some time at the end of the week, and get yourself into the groove by knocking out a series of modest and low leverage tasks from Mon-Thurs. 

#productivity #work #management 

Doing a quick 1 week trip to Bangalore and 2-3 days in Mumbai, later this month. Am not planning any public talks this time. Might do a couple of talks at companies.

Will definitely be going back to Rameshwaram Cafe in Indiranagar for their Ghee Pudi Idli. More recs welcome 😋

Past your mid-30s, it is useful to periodically reflect on how much you are learning from people who are less successful than you, less known than you, not as wealthy as you, have fewer followers than you, are a lot younger than you. Such reflection will say a lot, if you listen.

I highly recommend the "Managing Your PM Career in 2023 & Beyond" seminar led by Shreyas Doshi for mid to senior level PM leaders. 

The two-day event was filled with valuable insights and sharp wisdom. It offered a unique perspective drawn from real-life experiences, no bullshit, and deep introspection. I found the experience transformative. It has undoubtedly helped me grow as a leader. I'm excited to continue connecting with the driven community of leaders who participated going forward. 🚀  

Special thanks to Remo Meyer and Roxana Dobrescu for the learning support, and I would rate the seminar 11 out of 10! 

Link in comments or DM me for info.

#professionaldevelopment #productmanagement #productleadership

So I've been struggling with putting together what I wanted to share about a two-day Product Management workshop led by Shreyas Doshi that I attended a few weeks ago, and was reminded of something I learned that weekend - the SFD, or "shitty first draft"

With "influencers" and "content creators" curating the "perfect" post these days, I thought I'd go against the grain and share the "shitty first draft" of my thoughts:

- Raw and unfiltered - Shreyas shares the brutal (but honest) truth of being a product manager today
- Inspiring - not every single tidbit that was shared over the weekend had resonated with me, but the vast majority of it did
- Challenging - not gonna lie, some of the exercises had me thinking "WTF?!?" but mostly in a good way...

Last of all, it was worth it - I'm not talking about the financial cost, but in terms of time.  It's hard to commit to something for a good chunk of the weekend these days, especially for those of us with families and kids.  Seasoned product managers should be well familiar with taking both hard costs and opportunity costs into consideration, and I felt this was indeed time well spent.

Open article: Managing your PM Career in 2023 & beyond by Shreyas Doshi on Maven by maven.com

Shreyas Doshi covered many "advanced" topics I've only previously gleaned 1:1 from seasoned leaders. Goldmine for both authentically reflecting on your own goals but also tactical tips in job search. Highly recommend it for mid/late career pm's.

https://lnkd.in/gAZpTpTj


Open article: Managing your PM career in 2023 & beyond by maven.com

When two teams are not working well with each other, often the elephant in the room is that the PM / EM of one team does not get along with / is envious of / is intensely competitive with the PM / EM of the other team.

When this is the case, you must recognize the elephant. No amount of process or OKR alignment will fix the issue.

“Where your fear is, there is your task”
— Carl Jung

Such a wonderful, deep observation for what to take on.

I recently had the opportunity to attend a course by Shreyas Doshi on "Managing your Product Career,"  and it was a fantastic experience. Shreyas is a well-known product leader with years of experience in the industry, and his insights and advice on product management are invaluable.

The course was very well-structured and covered a wide range of topics related to managing your product career. Shreyas shared many frameworks, tactics, and templates that I found very useful in planning and developing my own PM career. The course included many interactive activities that encouraged active participation and helped us learn from one another.

Overall, I highly recommend Shreyas's "Managing your Product Career" course to PM leaders or anyone aspiring to be one. You will undoubtedly learn a lot from Shreyas and come away with practical tools and strategies to manage your product management career.

Thank you, Shreyas, for such a fantastic course!
https://lnkd.in/gZ_5KSEH

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