Product at Startups with Sequoia Capital

Panelists from left to right: Manie Schweigert, Program Director at Women in Product; Jess Lee [Moderator], Partner at Sequoia Capital; Clara Liang, Director of Product at Airbnb; Gloria Lin, Product at Stripe; Olivia Teich, Director of Product Management at Dropbox

On Thursday night, I attended an exclusive dinner hosted by Sequoia Capital with Women in Product for a panel discussion with top Bay Area women product leaders on Product at Startups.

The panel included product and technology leaders: Jess Lee, Partner at Sequoia Capital; Clara Liang, Director of Product at Airbnb; Gloria Lin, Product at Stripe; Olivia Teich, Director of Product Management at Dropbox.

Here I share my top takeaways from the panel. I hope these insights can help other women in product, and engage men, women and companies in solutions we can all build together:

What makes a great Product Manager?

• Make sure the value of everything you are doing for your role is clearly explained to your team.
• Great product managers unlock the very best in their team, are excellent at cross-functional collaboration, and always hold the user at the center.
• “Build things that create value in the world. Figure out how to help the people you work with do their best work.” — Olivia Teich, Director of Product Management at Dropbox
• Help build better products. Create processes to build products with excellent quality.
• “Be hungry, humble, and brilliant.” — Clara Liang, Director of Product at Airbnb

Product Managers at Large vs. Small Companies

• “Junior PMs articulate the solution to a problem. Senior PMs articulate the problem. Product VPs find the problem.” — Jess Lee, Partner at Sequoia Capital
• As your company grows keep your entrepreneurial spirit alive, continually challenging yourself, and never lose your fire or edge.
• At large companies, you learn how to be a PM, at startups you build the PM processes and are forced to take ownership.
• “At every doubling in company size is a good time to rethink your processes.” — Olivia Teich, Director of Product Management at Dropbox
• The PM role at startups can involve a learning curve that is extremely steep but great.
• “When it comes to organization design, change is the only constant.” — Gloria Lin, Product at Stripe

Tips for Maximizing Innovation and Communication

• Olivia Teich, Director of Product Management at Dropbox, recommends reading Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders by L. David Marquet to create a workplace where everyone takes responsibility for his or her actions, where followers grow to become leaders, and where happier teams drive dramatically better results.

Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders by L. David Marquet

• “Figure out what your core competency is. You must be out in the field talking to your customers — that never changes throughout your PM career. Communicate through written format. Written format forces you to think clearly.” — Gloria Lin, Product at Stripe
• “Don’t underestimate the value of a daily standup, at every level. In the past, a team of mine would create short 3 minute video clips to communicate with stakeholders. Over-communicate whenever possible.” — Clara Liang, Director of Product at Airbnb
• As your company grows, organize your teams around business goals so that there is cohesion and clear purpose.

Advice for Product Managers

• Think about every decision you make as either a one-way or two-way door. With two-way door decisions, such as changing the placement of a button, be as fast as possible because you can always reverse the decision if it goes poorly. One-way door decisions are much harder to change, such as a rebrand that is perceived as extremely offensive, and are difficult if not impossible to retract.
• “You can never be too good at communication.” — Gloria Lin, Product at Stripe
• Always be clear about what problem you’re trying to solve. This will save you so much pain down the road.
• “Ask the dumb question, and ask the dumb question sooner rather than later.” — Clara Liang, Director of Product at Airbnb

As extremely successful product leaders, why haven’t you taken the leap to entrepreneurship?

• “I am somewhat risk averse by nature. An idea has to hit the phase where I cannot stop thinking about it.” — Clara Liang, Director of Product at Airbnb
• Take that leap when your idea is something you must create.
• It’s always been tempting to start a company because the culture starts with the CEO and that is exciting.
• Surround yourself with a great ecosystem so that when you have that idea you can’t stop thinking about, you’re positioned for success.

How do you lead with influence as a Product Manager?

• Be empathetic, curious, and a great listener.
• Always be careful about what you say and how you present it.
• “How much weight your words carry as you progress in your career can really reflect on your team. Practice using your influence and always be mindful of it.” — Gloria Lin, Product at Stripe

What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful by Marshall Goldsmith

• Olivia Teich, Director of Product Management at Dropbox, recommends reading What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful by Marshall Goldsmith for straightforward, jargon-free advice to become a better leader.
• Trust gets forged when you prove to your team that you’ll roll up your sleeves and do anything to deliver a great product.
• Engineers really crave direction, so give them direction.
• Obtain knowledge about your customer that no one else on your team knows in order to gain respect and credibility.
• “You have to think of your role as manager as a coach and teacher.” — Clara Liang, Director of Product at Airbnb
• Bring data to the table and build a case to present to your team.
• “Earn your stripes. Pick the most annoying problems to help your team. This will prove your value. Make it fun. Be the mascot, and your team will appreciate it.” — Jess Lee, Partner at Sequoia Capital

This event was organized by Women In Product and Sequoia Capital. Women In Product is a highly-engaged community of women builders and leaders. Join our community or sign up for our newsletter for monthly events, networking opportunities, and much more! Please check out Women in Product website for a list of upcoming events.

Sequoia Capital helps a small number of daring founders build legendary companies. In aggregate, Sequoia-backed companies account for more than 20% of NASDAQ’s total value. The vast majority of money Sequoia invests is on behalf of non-profits and schools like the Ford Foundation, Mayo Clinic and MIT, which means that the returns generated from the incredible achievements of founders can make a massive difference.