Embracing chaos, inquiry over advocacy, poking the bear, and “impact, impact, impact” | Vlad Loktev

Vlad Loktev spent 10 years at Airbnb, where he started as an IC PM and quickly advanced to lead the core Airbnb marketplace business and then GM the entire homes business, managing over 1,000 people and reporting directly to CEO Brian Chesky. He recently left Airbnb and joined Index Ventures as their newest partner. Vlad was my manager at Airbnb for many years, and is the person I credit most for teaching me how to be a great product manager. Prior to Airbnb, Vlad spent a year at Zynga, where he helped grow Words with Friends to over 14 million daily active users. In our conversation, Vlad shares:
• Insight into Brian Chesky’s leadership style
• Why success as a PM is all about impact, impact, impact
• Why chaos can be good
• Why as a leader it’s OK to let some fires burn
• Why you should learn to “poke the bear”
• Balancing product release speed with quality
• Lessons on prioritization, decision-making, and organizational design
• Advice for founders on building company culture
• Much more

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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/im...

Where to find Vlad Loktev:
• X: https://x.com/vladimirloktev
• LinkedIn:   / vladimirloktev  

Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X:   / lennysan  
• LinkedIn:   / lennyrachitsky  

In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Vlad’s background
(02:54) Reflecting on transformative years at Airbnb
(04:28) Skills and mindsets for success
(11:03) Impact-driven mindset
(13:16) Saying no and inquiry before advocacy
(17:54) “Poking the bear”
(22:46) Psychological tools for leadership
(30:08) Building and scaling teams
(36:12) Letting fires burn
(47:34) Embracing chaos
(54:40) The unsell email strategy
(01:02:01) Finding your place in an organization
(01:05:38) The importance of company culture
(01:13:16) Airbnb’s unique approach to product management
(01:26:41) Failure corner
(01:31:32) Lightning round and final thoughts

Referenced:
• Inquiry vs. Advocacy framework: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/vladim...
• Making an impact through authenticity and curiosity | Ami Vora (CPO at Faire, ex-WhatsApp, FB, IG): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/au...
• Serenity prayer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenit...
• Index Ventures: https://www.indexventures.com/
• Unorthodox PM wisdom: Automating user insights, unselling job candidates, logging every decision, more | Kevin Yien (Stripe, Square, Mutiny): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/un...
• The Unsell Email: https://kevinyien.com/blog/unsell.html
• What Seven Years at Airbnb Taught Me About Building a Business:   / what-seven-years-at-airbnb-taught-me-about...  
• Life at Airbnb: https://careers.airbnb.com/life-at-ai...
• Brian Chesky’s new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/br...
• Making Meta | Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth (CTO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ma...
• The growing importance of software product marketing managers: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/t...
• Red Rising: https://www.amazon.com/Red-Rising-Pie...
• Silo series: https://www.amazon.com/Silo-Saga-Wool...
• Silo on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/silo/umc...
• Survivor on CBS: https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/
• Discord: https://discord.com/
• Gobblet Gobblers: https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Orange-10...

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.