Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

The rise of the professional vibe coder (a new AI-era job) | Lazar Jovanovic (Professional Vibe Coder)

Lazar Jovanovic is a full-time professional vibe coder at Lovable. His job is to build both internal tools and customer-facing products purely using AI, while not having a coding background. In this conversation, he breaks down the tactics, workflows, and framework that let him ship production-quality products using only AI. We discuss: 1. Why having no coding background can be an advantage when building with AI 2. Why most of your time should go to planning and chat mode, not prompting 3. What to do when you get stuck: his 4x4 debugging workflow 4. The PRD and Markdown file system that keeps AI agents aligned across complex builds 5. Why kicking off four or five parallel prototypes is the best way to clarify your thinking 6. Why design skills and taste are going to be the most important skills in the future 7. His “genie and three wishes” mental model for making the most of AI’s limitations 8. How product, engineering, and design roles are converging—and what that means for your career — Brought to you by: Strella [https://strella.io/lenny]—The AI-powered customer research platform: https://strella.io/lenny [https://strella.io/lenny] Samsara [https://samsara.com/lenny]—Saving lives with AI built for physical operations: https://samsara.com/lenny [https://samsara.com/lenny] WorkOS [https://workos.com/lenny]—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs: https://workos.com/lenny [https://workos.com/lenny] — Episode transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/getting-paid-to-vibe-code [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/getting-paid-to-vibe-code] — Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0 [https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0] — Where to find Lazar Jovanovic: • X: https://x.com/lakikentaki [https://x.com/lakikentaki] • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lazar-jovanovic [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lazar-jovanovic] • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@50in50challenge [https://www.youtube.com/@50in50challenge] • Starter Story course: https://build.starterstory.com/build/ai-build-accelerator?via=lazar [https://build.starterstory.com/build/ai-build-accelerator?via=lazar] (code LAZAR15 for 15% off) — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com] • X: https://twitter.com/lennysan [https://twitter.com/lennysan] • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/] — In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Introduction to Lazar and professional vibe coding (04:53) What a professional vibe coder actually does day-to-day (09:26) Why non-technical backgrounds can be an advantage (12:24) The importance of self-awareness (14:42) His “genie and three wishes” mental model (17:43) Developing taste and judgment in the age of AI (21:46) The parallel project approach for better outcomes (29:30) Creating dynamic context windows with PRDs (36:56) Why elite vibe coders focus on planning, not coding (44:43) Creating MD files to guide AI development (50:57) Why prototyping still matters (56:50) Why “good enough” is no longer good enough (01:00:53) The future of engineering in an AI world (01:05:14) What to do when you get stuck: his 4x4 debugging workflow (01:14:27) Helping agents learn from their mistakes (01:15:35) Why watching agent output is more important than code (01:19:08) The incredible pace of AI development (01:22:55) Why emotional intelligence will become more valuable (01:28:30) How to become a professional vibe coder (01:30:10) Why building in public is the fastest path to opportunities (01:37:03) Final thoughts on focusing on quality over tech stack — Referenced: • The new AI growth playbook for 2026: How Lovable hit $200M ARR in one year | Elena Verna (Head of Growth): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-new-ai-growth-playbook-for-2026-elena-verna [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-new-ai-growth-playbook-for-2026-elena-verna] • Elena Verna on how B2B growth is changing, product-led growth, product-led sales, why you should go freemium not trial, what features to make free, and much more: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/elena-verna-on-why-every-company [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/elena-verna-on-why-every-company] • The ultimate guide to product-led sales | Elena Verna: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-product-led [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-product-led] • 10 growth tactics that never work | Elena Verna (Amplitude, Miro, Dropbox, SurveyMonkey): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/10-growth-tactics-that-never-work-elena-verna [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/10-growth-tactics-that-never-work-elena-verna] • Lovable: https://lovable.dev [https://lovable.dev] • Lovable + Shopify: https://lovable.dev/shopify [https://lovable.dev/shopify] • Everyone’s an engineer now: Inside v0’s mission to create a hundred million builders | Guillermo Rauch (founder and CEO of Vercel, creators of v0 and Next.js): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/everyones-an-engineer-now-guillermo-rauch [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/everyones-an-engineer-now-guillermo-rauch] • Mobbin: https://mobbin.com [https://mobbin.com] • Dribbble: https://dribbble.com [https://dribbble.com] • 21st.dev [http://21st.dev]: https://21st.dev [https://21st.dev] • Lovable base prompt generator: https://chatgpt.com/g/g-67e1da2c9c988191b52b61084438e8ee-lovable-base-prompt [https://chatgpt.com/g/g-67e1da2c9c988191b52b61084438e8ee-lovable-base-prompt] • Lovable PRD generator: https://chatgpt.com/g/g-67e1e85fbeac8191a69b95c6d5c42ef6-lovable-prd-generator [https://chatgpt.com/g/g-67e1e85fbeac8191a69b95c6d5c42ef6-lovable-prd-generator] • Felix Haas’s newsletter: https://designplusai.com [https://designplusai.com] • Bauhaus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus] • Glassmorphism: https://www.figma.com/community/plugin/1197106608665398190/glassmorphism [https://www.figma.com/community/plugin/1197106608665398190/glassmorphism] • UI style guide: http://uistyle.lovable.app [http://uistyle.lovable.app] • Cloudflare: https://www.cloudflare.com [https://www.cloudflare.com] • Ben Tossell on X: https://x.com/bentossell [https://x.com/bentossell] • The rise of Cursor: The $300M ARR AI tool that engineers can’t stop using | Michael Truell (co-founder and CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-rise-of-cursor-michael-truell [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-rise-of-cursor-michael-truell] • Peter Thiel says AI will be ‘worse’ for math nerds than for writers: https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-ai-worse-for-math-professionals-than-writers-2024-4 [https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-ai-worse-for-math-professionals-than-writers-2024-4] • Andrej Karpathy on X: https://x.com/karpathy [https://x.com/karpathy] • The 100-person AI lab that became Anthropic and Google’s secret weapon | Edwin Chen (Surge AI): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/surge-ai-edwin-chen [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/surge-ai-edwin-chen] • Why experts writing AI evals is creating the fastest-growing companies in history | Brendan Foody (CEO of Mercor): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/experts-writing-ai-evals-brendan-foody [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/experts-writing-ai-evals-brendan-foody] • Slumdog Millionaire: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1010048 [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1010048] — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/ [https://penname.co/]. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com [podcast@lennyrachitsky.com]. — Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=show-notes-no-free-preview-language]

A child psychologist’s guide to working with difficult adults | Dr. Becky Kennedy

Dr. Becky Kennedy is a clinical psychologist, the bestselling author of Good Inside, and the founder of a parenting platform used by millions. Known for her practical, psychology-based approach to parenting, Dr. Becky shares how the same principles that help parents raise resilient children can make you a much more effective leader. In this conversation, she breaks down why all human systems—whether families or companies—operate on the same fundamental principles, and how understanding these dynamics can make you more effective in every relationship. We discuss: 1. Why repair—not perfection—defines strong leadership 2. Why you need to connect before you correct to build cooperation and trust 3. The “most generous interpretation” framework for handling difficult behaviors 4. How to correctly set boundaries (vs. making requests) 5. The power of “I believe you, and I believe in you” 6. What it looks like to be a “sturdy” leader — Brought to you by: Merge [https://merge.dev/lenny]—Fast, secure integrations for your products and agents: https://merge.dev/lenny [https://merge.dev/lenny] Metaview [https://metaview.ai/lenny]—The AI platform for recruiting: https://metaview.ai/lenny [https://metaview.ai/lenny] Framer [https://framer.com/lenny]—Builder better websites faster: https://framer.com/lenny [https://framer.com/lenny] — Episode transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/dr-becky-on-the-surprising-overlap [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/dr-becky-on-the-surprising-overlap] — Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0 [https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0] — Where to find Dr. Becky Kennedy: • X: https://x.com/GoodInside [https://x.com/GoodInside] • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drbecky [https://www.linkedin.com/in/drbecky] • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drbeckyatgoodinside [https://www.instagram.com/drbeckyatgoodinside] • TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drbeckyatgoodinside [https://www.tiktok.com/@drbeckyatgoodinside] • Website: https://www.goodinside.com [https://www.goodinside.com] — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com] • X: https://twitter.com/lennysan [https://twitter.com/lennysan] • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/] — In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Introduction to Dr. Becky Kennedy (05:14) Connecting parenting and leadership (08:40) The power of repair (11:05) Connecting before correcting (17:45) Good Inside framework at work (22:08) The most generous interpretation (MGI) (25:46) Curiosity over judgment (27:07) Understanding behavior change (31:08) What potty training can teach us about workplace behavior (34:40) Naming your intention (35:41) Sturdy leadership (40:52) How to set boundaries well (46:33) The role of leadership and consensus (50:50) The importance of being “locatable” (52:40) A powerful story of betrayal and realization (57:12) Building resilience over happiness (01:00:34) The power of the phrase “I believe you, and I believe in you.” (01:09:08) The Good Inside community and resources (01:16:22) AI corner (01:19:52) Good Inside’s mission (01:22:26) Lightning round and final thoughts — Referenced: • Shreyas Doshi on pre-mortems, the LNO framework, the three levels of product work, why most execution problems are strategy problems, and ROI vs. opportunity cost thinking: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/episode-3-shreyas-doshi [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/episode-3-shreyas-doshi] • Radical Candor: From theory to practice with author Kim Scott: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/radical-candor-from-theory-to-practice [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/radical-candor-from-theory-to-practice] • From ChatGPT to Instagram to Uber: The quiet architect behind the world’s most popular products | Peter Deng: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-quiet-architect-peter-deng [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-quiet-architect-peter-deng] • Punch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_(play) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_(play)] • Figma: https://www.figma.com [https://www.figma.com] • Andrew Hogan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahhogan [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahhogan] • Replit: https://replit.com [https://replit.com] • Behind the product: Replit | Amjad Masad (co-founder and CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-product-replit-amjad-masad [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-product-replit-amjad-masad] • Lovable: https://lovable.dev [https://lovable.dev] • Building Lovable: $10M ARR in 60 days with 15 people | Anton Osika (co-founder and CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-lovable-anton-osika [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-lovable-anton-osika] • Claude: https://claude.ai [https://claude.ai] • ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com [https://chatgpt.com] • Secrets We Keep on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81697668 [https://www.netflix.com/title/81697668] • K Pop Demon Hunters on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81498621 [https://www.netflix.com/title/81498621] • Liberty puzzles: https://libertypuzzles.com [https://libertypuzzles.com] — Recommended books: • Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity: https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Candor-Revised-Kick-Ass-Humanity/dp/1250235375 [https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Candor-Revised-Kick-Ass-Humanity/dp/1250235375] • Good Inside: A Practical Guide to Resilient Parenting Prioritizing Connection Over Correction: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Inside-Guide-Becoming-Parent/dp/0063159481 [https://www.amazon.com/Good-Inside-Guide-Becoming-Parent/dp/0063159481] • Leave Me Alone!: A Good Inside Story About Deeply Feeling Kids: https://www.amazon.com/Leave-Me-Alone-Inside-Feeling/dp/1250413117 [https://www.amazon.com/Leave-Me-Alone-Inside-Feeling/dp/1250413117] • The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Moments-Certain-Experiences-Extraordinary/dp/1501147765/ [https://www.amazon.com/Power-Moments-Certain-Experiences-Extraordinary/dp/1501147765/] • The Messy Middle: Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture: https://www.amazon.com/Messy-Middle-Finding-Through-Hardest/dp/0735218072 [https://www.amazon.com/Messy-Middle-Finding-Through-Hardest/dp/0735218072] • Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration: https://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Inc-Expanded-Overcoming-Inspiration/dp/0593594649 [https://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Inc-Expanded-Overcoming-Inspiration/dp/0593594649] — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/ [https://penname.co/]. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com [podcast@lennyrachitsky.com]. — Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=show-notes-no-free-preview-language]

Marc Andreessen: The real AI boom hasn’t even started yet

Marc Andreessen is a founder, investor, and co-founder of Netscape, as well as co-founder of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). In this conversation, we dig into why we’re living through a unique and one of the most incredible times in history, and what comes next. We discuss: 1. Why AI is arriving at the perfect moment to counter demographic collapse and declining productivity 2. How Marc has raised his 10-year-old kid to thrive in an AI-driven world 3. What’s actually going to happen with AI and jobs (spoiler: he thinks the panic is “totally off base”) 4. The “Mexican standoff” that’s happening between product managers, designers, and engineers 5. Why you should still learn to code (even with AI) 6. How to develop an “E-shaped” career that combines multiple skills, with AI as a force multiplier 7. The career advice he keeps coming back to (“Don’t be fungible”) 8. How AI can democratize one-on-one tutoring, potentially transforming education 9. His media diet: X and old books, nothing in between — Brought to you by: DX [https://getdx.com/lenny]—The developer intelligence platform designed by leading researchers Brex [https://www.brex.com/product/business-account?ref_code=bmk_dp_brand1H25_ln_new_fs]—The banking solution for startups Datadog [https://www.datadoghq.com/lenny]—Now home to Eppo, the leading experimentation and feature flagging platform — Episode transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/marc-andreessen-the-real-ai-boom [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/marc-andreessen-the-real-ai-boom] — Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0 [https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0] — Where to find Marc Andreessen: • X: https://x.com/pmarca [https://x.com/pmarca] • Substack: https://pmarca.substack.com [https://pmarca.substack.com] • Andreessen Horowitz’s website: https://a16z.com [https://a16z.com] • Andreessen Horowitz’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@a16z [https://www.youtube.com/@a16z] — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com] • X: https://twitter.com/lennysan [https://twitter.com/lennysan] • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/] — In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Introduction to Marc Andreessen (04:27) The historic moment we’re living in (06:52) The impact of AI on society (11:14) AI’s role in education and parenting (22:15) The future of jobs in an AI-driven world (30:15) Marc's past predictions (35:35) The Mexican standoff of tech roles (39:28) Adapting to changing job tasks (42:15) The shift to scripting languages (44:50) The importance of understanding code (51:37) The value of design in the AI era (53:30) The T-shaped skill strategy (01:02:05) AI’s impact on founders and companies (01:05:58) The concept of one-person billion-dollar companies (01:08:33) Debating AI moats and market dynamics (01:14:39) The rapid evolution of AI models (01:18:05) Indeterminate optimism in venture capital (01:22:17) The concept of AGI and its implications (01:30:00) Marc's media diet (01:36:18) Favorite movies and AI voice technology (01:39:24) Marc's product diet (01:43:16) Closing thoughts and recommendations — Referenced: • Linus Torvalds on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linustorvalds [https://www.linkedin.com/in/linustorvalds] • The philosopher’s stone: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopher%27s_stone [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopher%27s_stone] • Alexander the Great: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great] • Aristotle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle] • Bloom’s 2 sigma problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom%27s_2_sigma_problem [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom%27s_2_sigma_problem] • Alpha School: https://alpha.school [https://alpha.school] • In Tech We Trust? A Debate with Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen: https://a16z.com/in-tech-we-trust-a-debate-with-peter-thiel-and-marc-andreessen [https://a16z.com/in-tech-we-trust-a-debate-with-peter-thiel-and-marc-andreessen] • John Woo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Woo [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Woo] • Assembly: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_language [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_language] • C programming language: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_(programming_language) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_(programming_language)] • Python: https://www.python.org [https://www.python.org] • Netscape: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netscape [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netscape] • Perl: https://www.perl.org [https://www.perl.org] • Scott Adams: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Adams [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Adams] • Larry Summers’s website: https://larrysummers.com [https://larrysummers.com] • Nano Banana: https://gemini.google/overview/image-generation [https://gemini.google/overview/image-generation] • Bitcoin: https://bitcoin.org [https://bitcoin.org] • Ethereum: https://ethereum.org [https://ethereum.org] • Satoshi Nakamoto: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoshi_Nakamoto [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoshi_Nakamoto] • Inside ChatGPT: The fastest-growing product in history | Nick Turley (Head of ChatGPT at OpenAI): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-chatgpt-nick-turley [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-chatgpt-nick-turley] • Anthropic co-founder on quitting OpenAI, AGI predictions, $100M talent wars, 20% unemployment, and the nightmare scenarios keeping him up at night | Ben Mann: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/anthropic-co-founder-benjamin-mann [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/anthropic-co-founder-benjamin-mann] • Inside Google’s AI turnaround: The rise of AI Mode, strategy behind AI Overviews, and their vision for AI-powered search | Robby Stein (VP of Product, Google Search): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-google-built-ai-mode-in-under-a-year [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-google-built-ai-mode-in-under-a-year] • DeepSeek: https://www.deepseek.com [https://www.deepseek.com] • Cowork: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/13345190-getting-started-with-cowork [https://support.claude.com/en/articles/13345190-getting-started-with-cowork] • Definite vs. indefinite thinking: Notes from Zero to One by Peter Thiel: https://boxkitemachine.net/posts/zero-to-one-peter-thiel-definite-vs-indefinite-thinking [https://boxkitemachine.net/posts/zero-to-one-peter-thiel-definite-vs-indefinite-thinking] • Henry Ford: https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/stories-of-innovation/visionaries/henry-ford [https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/stories-of-innovation/visionaries/henry-ford] • Lex Fridman Podcast: https://lexfridman.com/podcast [https://lexfridman.com/podcast] • $46B of hard truths from Ben Horowitz: Why founders fail and why you need to run toward fear (a16z co-founder): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/46b-of-hard-truths-from-ben-horowitz [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/46b-of-hard-truths-from-ben-horowitz] • Eddington: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31176520 [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31176520] • Joaquin Phoenix: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaquin_Phoenix [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaquin_Phoenix] • Pedro Pascal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Pascal [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Pascal] • George Floyd: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd] • Replit: https://replit.com [https://replit.com] • Behind the product: Replit | Amjad Masad (co-founder and CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-product-replit-amjad-masad [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-product-replit-amjad-masad] • Grok Bad Rudi: https://grok.com/badrudi [https://grok.com/badrudi] • Wispr Flow: https://wisprflow.ai [https://wisprflow.ai] • Star Trek: The Next Generation: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092455 [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092455] • Star Trek: Starfleet Academy: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8622160 [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8622160] • a16z: The Power Brokers: https://www.notboring.co/p/a16z-the-power-brokers [https://www.notboring.co/p/a16z-the-power-brokers] — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/ [https://penname.co/]. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com [podcast@lennyrachitsky.com]. — Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=show-notes-no-free-preview-language]

5 questions to ask when your product stops growing | Jason Cohen (2x unicorn founder)

Jason Cohen is a four-time founder (including two unicorns, one being WP Engine) and an investor in over 60 startups, and has been sharing his lessons on company building at A Smart Bear for nearly 20 years. In this episode, Jason shares his methodical five-step framework for diagnosing stalled growth—a problem that faces almost every team. We discuss: 1. Jason’s five-step framework: logo retention, pricing, NRR, marketing channels, target market 2. A small tweak that’ll double response rates on your cancellation surveys 3. Why “it’s too expensive” is almost never the real reason customers cancel 4. The “elephant curve” of growth 5. How repositioning the same product can increase revenue 8x 6. When to reconsider if growth is even the right goal for your business — Brought to you by: 10Web [https://10web.io/lenny]—Vibe coding platform as an API Strella [https://strella.io/lenny]—The AI-powered customer research platform Brex [https://www.brex.com/product/business-account?ref_code=bmk_dp_brand1H25_ln_new_fs]—The banking solution for startups — Episode transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/why-your-product-stopped-growing [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/why-your-product-stopped-growing] — Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0 [https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0] — Where to find Jason Cohen: • Preorder Jason’s book: https://preorder.hiddenmultipliers.com/ [https://preorder.hiddenmultipliers.com/] • X: https://x.com/asmartbear [https://x.com/asmartbear] • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncohen [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncohen] • Blog: https://longform.asmartbear.com [https://longform.asmartbear.com] • Website: https://wpengine.com [https://wpengine.com] — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com] • X: https://twitter.com/lennysan [https://twitter.com/lennysan] • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/] — In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Introduction to Jason Cohen (05:19) Jason’s writing journey (08:25) Questions to ask when your product stops growing (18:17) Getting real customer feedback (20:27) Analyzing cancellation reasons (26:54) Onboarding and activation (29:35) Quick summary (35:46) Revisiting pricing strategies (41:46) Positioning strategies (47:52) Why pricing is inseparable from your strategy (52:06) The importance of net revenue retention (NRR) (01:00:25) Asking whether or not this is good for the customer (01:04:34) Leveraging existing customers (01:06:42) Are your acquisition channels saturated? The “elephant curve” (1:09:41) Why all marketing channels eventually decline (01:12:04) Direct vs. indirect marketing channels (1:13:36) Getting creative with new channels (01:19:04) Do you actually need to grow? (01:25:57) Deciding when to quit (01:29:27) Book announcement (01:33:21) AI corner (01:34:35) Contrarian corner (01:37:43) Lightning round and final thoughts — Referenced: • Tyler Cowen’s website: https://tylercowen.com [https://tylercowen.com] • How to Perform a Customer Churn Analysis (and Why You Should): https://www.groovehq.com/blog/learn-from-customer-churn [https://www.groovehq.com/blog/learn-from-customer-churn] • Linear: https://linear.app [https://linear.app] • Jira: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira [https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira] • Patrick Campbell’s post on X about pricing: https://x.com/Patticus/status/1702313260547006942 [https://x.com/Patticus/status/1702313260547006942] • The art and science of pricing | Madhavan Ramanujam (Monetizing Innovation, Simon-Kucher): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-art-and-science-of-pricing-madhavan [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-art-and-science-of-pricing-madhavan] • Pricing your AI product: Lessons from 400+ companies and 50 unicorns | Madhavan Ramanujam: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/pricing-and-scaling-your-ai-product-madhavan-ramanujam [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/pricing-and-scaling-your-ai-product-madhavan-ramanujam] • Pricing your SaaS product: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/saas-pricing-strategy [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/saas-pricing-strategy] • M&A, competition, pricing, and investing | Julia Schottenstein (dbt Labs): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/m-and-a-competition-pricing-and-investing [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/m-and-a-competition-pricing-and-investing] • “Sell the alpha, not the feature”: The enterprise sales playbook for $1M to $10M ARR | Jen Abel: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-enterprise-sales-playbook-1m-to-10m-arr [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-enterprise-sales-playbook-1m-to-10m-arr] • Buffer: https://buffer.com [https://buffer.com] • AG1: https://drinkag1.com [https://drinkag1.com] • How to find hidden growth opportunities in your product | Albert Cheng (Duolingo, Grammarly, Chess.com [http://Chess.com]): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-find-hidden-growth-opportunities-albert-cheng [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-find-hidden-growth-opportunities-albert-cheng] • How Duolingo reignited user growth: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-duolingo-reignited-user-growth [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-duolingo-reignited-user-growth] • The Elephant in the room: The myth of exponential hypergrowth: https://longform.asmartbear.com/exponential-growth [https://longform.asmartbear.com/exponential-growth] • HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com [https://www.hubspot.com] • Zigging vs. zagging: How HubSpot built a $30B company | Dharmesh Shah (co-founder/CTO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-30-years-of-building [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-30-years-of-building] • Adjacency Matrix: How to expand after PMF: https://longform.asmartbear.com/adjacency/ [https://longform.asmartbear.com/adjacency/] • Ecosystem is the next big growth channel: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ecosystem-is-the-next-big-growth [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ecosystem-is-the-next-big-growth] • ChatGPT apps are about to be the next big distribution channel: Here’s how to build one: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/chatgpt-apps-are-about-to-be-the [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/chatgpt-apps-are-about-to-be-the] • 10 contrarian leadership truths every leader needs to hear | Matt MacInnis (Rippling): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/10-contrarian-leadership-truths [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/10-contrarian-leadership-truths] • Breaking the rules of growth: Why Shopify bans KPIs, optimizes for churn, prioritizes intuition, and builds toward a 100-year vision | Archie Abrams (VP Product, Head of Growth at Shopify): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/shopifys-growth-archie-abrams [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/shopifys-growth-archie-abrams] • Geoffrey Moore on finding your beachhead, crossing the chasm, and dominating a market: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/geoffrey-moore-on-finding-your-beachhead [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/geoffrey-moore-on-finding-your-beachhead] • ER on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/ER-Season-1/dp/B0FWK5WJQ4 [https://www.amazon.com/ER-Season-1/dp/B0FWK5WJQ4] • The Pitt on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/The-Pitt-Season-1/dp/B0DNRR8QWD [https://www.amazon.com/The-Pitt-Season-1/dp/B0DNRR8QWD] • Wispr Flow: https://wisprflow.ai [https://wisprflow.ai] • Anker: https://www.anker.com [https://www.anker.com] — Recommended books: • Will: https://www.amazon.com/Will-Smith/dp/1984877925 [https://www.amazon.com/Will-Smith/dp/1984877925] • Monetizing Innovation: How Smart Companies Design the Product Around the Price: https://www.amazon.com/Monetizing-Innovation-Companies-Design-Product/dp/1119240867 [https://www.amazon.com/Monetizing-Innovation-Companies-Design-Product/dp/1119240867] • Hidden Multipliers: Small Things That Accelerate Growth: https://preorder.hiddenmultipliers.com [https://preorder.hiddenmultipliers.com] • On Writing Well: The Essential Guide to Mastering Nonfiction Writing and Effective Communication: https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-Classic-Guide-Nonfiction/dp/0060891548 [https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-Classic-Guide-Nonfiction/dp/0060891548] • Crossing the Chasm, 3rd Edition: The Updated Version of the Insightful Guide on Bringing Cutting-Edge Products to the Mainstream: https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-3rd-Disruptive-Mainstream/dp/0062292986 [https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-3rd-Disruptive-Mainstream/dp/0062292986] — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/ [https://penname.co/]. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com [podcast@lennyrachitsky.com]. — Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=show-notes-no-free-preview-language]

The non-technical PM’s guide to building with Cursor | Zevi Arnovitz (Meta)

Zevi Arnovitz is a product manager at Meta with no technical background who has figured out how to build and ship real products using AI. His engineering team at Meta asks him to teach them how he does what he does. In this episode, Zevi breaks down his complete AI workflow that allows non-technical people to build sophisticated products with Cursor. We discuss: 1. The complete AI workflow that lets non-technical people build real products in Cursor 2. How to use multiple AI models for different tasks (Claude for planning, Gemini for UI) 3. Using slash commands to automate prompts 4. Zevi’s “peer review” technique, which uses different AI models to review each other’s code 5. Why this might be the best time to be a junior in tech, despite the challenging job market 6. How Zevi used AI to prepare for his Meta PM interviews — Brought to you by: 10Web [https://10web.io/lenny]—Vibe coding platform as an API DX [https://getdx.com/lenny]—The developer intelligence platform designed by leading researchers Framer [https://framer.com/lenny]—Build better websites faster — Zevi's Slash Command Bank for Claude: ⁠ [https://zeviarnovitz.com/]https://zeviarnovitz.com/⁠ [https://zeviarnovitz.com/⁠] — Episode transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-non-technical-pms-guide-to-building-with-cursor [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-non-technical-pms-guide-to-building-with-cursor] — Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0 [https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0] — Where to find Zevi Arnovitz • X: https://x.com/ArnovitzZevi [https://x.com/ArnovitzZevi] • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zev-arnovitz [https://www.linkedin.com/in/zev-arnovitz] • Website: https://zeviarnovitz.com [https://zeviarnovitz.com] — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com] • X: https://twitter.com/lennysan [https://twitter.com/lennysan] • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/] — In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Introduction to Zevi Arnovitz (04:48) Zevi’s background and journey into AI (07:41) Overview of Zevi’s AI workflow (14:41) Screenshare: Exploring Zevi’s workflow in detail (17:18) Building a feature live: StudyMate app (30:52) Executing the plan with Cursor (38:32) Using multiple AI models for code review (40:40) Personifying AI models (43:37) Peer review process (45:40) The importance of postmortems (51:05) Integrating AI in large companies (53:42) How AI has impacted the PM role (57:02) How to improve AI outputs (58:15) AI-assisted job interviews (01:02:57) Failure corner (01:06:20) Lightning round and final thoughts — Referenced: • Becoming a super IC: Lessons from 12 years as a PM individual contributor | Tal Raviv (Product Lead at Riverside): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-super-ic-pm-tal-raviv [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-super-ic-pm-tal-raviv] • Wix: https://www.wix.com [https://www.wix.com] • Building AI Apps: From Idea to Viral in 30 Days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2w4y7pDi8w [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2w4y7pDi8w] • Riley Brown on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMcoud_ZW7cfxeIugBflSBw [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMcoud_ZW7cfxeIugBflSBw] • Greg Isenberg on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GregIsenberg [https://www.youtube.com/@GregIsenberg] • Bolt: https://bolt.new [https://bolt.new] • Inside Bolt: From near-death to ~$40m ARR in 5 months—one of the fastest-growing products in history | Eric Simons (founder and CEO of StackBlitz): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-bolt-eric-simons [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-bolt-eric-simons] • Lovable: https://lovable.dev [https://lovable.dev] • Building Lovable: $10M ARR in 60 days with 15 people | Anton Osika (co-founder and CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-lovable-anton-osika [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-lovable-anton-osika] • StudyMate: https://studymate.live [https://studymate.live] • Dibur2text: https://dibur2text.app [https://dibur2text.app] • Claude: https://claude.ai [https://claude.ai] • Everyone should be using Claude Code more: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/everyone-should-be-using-claude-code [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/everyone-should-be-using-claude-code] • Bun: https://bun.com [https://bun.com] • Zustand: https://zustand.docs.pmnd.rs/getting-started/introduction [https://zustand.docs.pmnd.rs/getting-started/introduction] • Cursor: https://cursor.com [https://cursor.com] • The rise of Cursor: The $300M ARR AI tool that engineers can’t stop using | Michael Truell (co-founder and CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-rise-of-cursor-michael-truell [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-rise-of-cursor-michael-truell] • Wispr Flow: https://wisprflow.ai [https://wisprflow.ai] • Linear: https://linear.app [https://linear.app] • Linear’s secret to building beloved B2B products | Nan Yu (Head of Product): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/linears-secret-to-building-beloved-b2b-products-nan-yu [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/linears-secret-to-building-beloved-b2b-products-nan-yu] • Cursor Composer: https://cursor.com/blog/composer [https://cursor.com/blog/composer] • Replit: https://replit.com [https://replit.com] • Behind the product: Replit | Amjad Masad (co-founder and CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-product-replit-amjad-masad [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-product-replit-amjad-masad] • Base44: https://base44.com [https://base44.com] • Solo founder, $80M exit, 6 months: The Base44 bootstrapped startup success story | Maor Shlomo: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-base44-bootstrapped-startup-success-story-maor-shlomo [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-base44-bootstrapped-startup-success-story-maor-shlomo] • v0: https://v0.app [https://v0.app] • Everyone’s an engineer now: Inside v0’s mission to create a hundred million builders | Guillermo Rauch (founder & CEO of Vercel, creators of v0 and Next.js): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/everyones-an-engineer-now-guillermo-rauch [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/everyones-an-engineer-now-guillermo-rauch] • Cursor Browser mode: https://cursor.com/docs/agent/browser [https://cursor.com/docs/agent/browser] • Google Antigravity: https://antigravity.google [https://antigravity.google] • Grok: https://grok.com [https://grok.com] • Zapier: https://zapier.com [https://zapier.com] • Airtable: https://www.airtable.com [https://www.airtable.com] • Build Your Personal PM Productivity System & AI Copilot: https://maven.com/tal-raviv/product-manager-productivity-system [https://maven.com/tal-raviv/product-manager-productivity-system] • The definitive guide to mastering analytical thinking interviews: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-definitive-guide-to-mastering-f81 [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-definitive-guide-to-mastering-f81] • AI tools are overdelivering: results from our large-scale AI productivity survey: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ai-tools-are-overdelivering-results-c08 [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ai-tools-are-overdelivering-results-c08] • Yaara Asaf on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaarasaf [https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaarasaf] • The Pitt on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/The-Pitt-Season-1/dp/B0DNRR8QWD [https://www.amazon.com/The-Pitt-Season-1/dp/B0DNRR8QWD] • Severance on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/severance/umc.cmc.1srk2goyh2q2zdxcx605w8vtx [https://tv.apple.com/us/show/severance/umc.cmc.1srk2goyh2q2zdxcx605w8vtx] • Loom: https://www.loom.com [https://www.loom.com] • Cap: https://cap.so [https://cap.so] • Supercut: https://supercut.ai [https://supercut.ai] ...References continued at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-non-technical-pms-guide-to-building-with-cursor [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-non-technical-pms-guide-to-building-with-cursor] — Recommended books: • The Fountainhead: https://www.amazon.com/Fountainhead-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451191153 [https://www.amazon.com/Fountainhead-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451191153] • Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike: https://www.amazon.com/Shoe-Dog-Memoir-Creator-Nike/dp/1501135910 [https://www.amazon.com/Shoe-Dog-Memoir-Creator-Nike/dp/1501135910] • Mindset: The New Psychology of Success: https://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Psychology-Carol-S-Dweck/dp/0345472322 [https://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Psychology-Carol-S-Dweck/dp/0345472322] — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/ [https://penname.co/]. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com [podcast@lennyrachitsky.com]. — Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=show-notes-no-free-preview-language]