Podcast appearances and mentions of gokul rajaram

Dmitry Zlokazov is the head of product at Revolut, the $45 billion fintech giant operating in over 50 countries, serving more than 50 million customers, and producing some of the world's top product leaders. Dmitry shares his hard-won lessons, contrarian org design principles, and day-to-day practices that power Revolut's relentless shipping velocity, culture of ownership, and unparalleled “wow” product experience.What you'll learn:1. Revolut's unique organizational approach, where “product owners” manage cross-functional pods as “local CEOs,” with genuine end-to-end ownership and hiring/firing power2. How a radical, ultra-flat structure enables more than 150 product owners to maintain founder-level quality and velocity across dozens of parallel launches3. How Revolut maintains quality while shipping hundreds of features across over 50 countries4. Why Revolut favors “raw intellect and hunger” over experience, and how internal transfers (including ex-engineers and ops managers) become the company's most successful product leaders5. How Revolut's founders review every single UI shipped, and why this founder detail obsession scales rather than limits innovation6. Their framework for launching new products—from ideation, validation, and first user cohort to rapid “algorithmization” and scaling across countries7. The importance of treating products that are 99% done as closer to 0% done, vs. 100% done—This entire episode is brought to you by Stripe—Helping companies of all sizes grow revenue.—Where to find Dmitry Zlokazov:• X: https://x.com/Dzlokazov• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zlokazov/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Introduction to Dmitry and Revolut(03:41) Revolut's unique approach to product management(06:58) The role and responsibilities of product owners(09:28) Types of product owners at Revolut(15:50) Building “wow” products(25:00) Hiring practices(31:33) Managing teams and projects(41:07) Revolut's diverse product offerings(44:40) Scaling new products successfully(52:10) Attracting top talent(58:43) Failure corner(01:02:49) Lightning round and final thoughts—Referenced:• Revolut: https://www.revolut.com/• Intercom: https://www.intercom.com/• Palantir: https://www.palantir.com/• Which companies produce the best product managers: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/which-companies-produce-the-best• Which companies accelerate PM careers most: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/which-companies-accelerate-your-pm• Deliver WOW to our customers: https://www.revolut.com/blog/post/deliver-wow/• Nik Storonsky on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nstoronsky• Vlad Yatsenko on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yatsenko/• How Palantir built the ultimate founder factory | Nabeel S. Qureshi (entrepreneur and writer, ex-Palantir): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-palantir-nabeel-qureshi• Gokul Rajaram on designing your product development process, when and how to hire your first PM, a playbook for hiring leaders, getting ahead in you career, how to get started angel investing, more: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/gokul-rajaram-on-designing-your-product• Gokul Rajaram on X: https://x.com/gokulr• Brian Chesky's new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach• Schlep blindness: https://www.paulgraham.com/schlep.html• Revolut Launches RevPoints Loyalty Programme, Turning Daily Expenses into Exclusive Rewards: https://www.revolut.com/news/revolut_launches_revpoints_loyalty_programme_turning_daily_expenses_into_exclusive_rewards/• Gemini: https://gemini.google.com/• ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/• Figma: https://www.figma.com/• Oppenheimer: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15398776/• Manus: https://manus.im/• Eisenhower quote: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/11/18/planning/• Wealth protection: https://help.revolut.com/help/security-logging-in/wealth-protection/what-is-wealth-protection/—Recommended books:• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business when There Are No Easy Answers―Straight Talk on the Challenges of Entrepreneurship: https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Thing-About-Things-Building/dp/0062273205• Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making―Personal Journey from Product Designer to Mentor: https://www.amazon.com/Build-Unorthodox-Guide-Making-Things/dp/0063046067—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

hireEZ, has introduced Agentic AI, a new recruitment automation that balances AI-driven execution with oversight. As part of hireEZ's all-in-one recruiting platform, Agentic AI automates sourcing, screening, outreach, scheduling, and analytics, while keeping recruiters in control of strategic decisions and high-value interactions. isolved®, the most trusted human capital  management (HCM) partner, today announced a new wave of talent acquisition  advancements, reinforcing its continued investment in hiring solutions that prioritize long term fit—not just speed.  https://hrtechfeed.com/isolved-expands-hiring-features/ Tech Job board Dice announced the expansion of its Talent Solutions offering to include contract tech talent. In addition to supporting permanent hires, multiple hires and pipeline development, Dice now sources and screens candidates for organizations looking to quickly connect with highly skilled contract professionals in AI, cybersecurity, cloud computing and other high-demand fields. https://hrtechfeed.com/dice-expands-solutions-to-contract-tech-talent/ PALO ALTO, Calif. — Lumber, the AI-powered construction workforce management platform, announced a $15.5 million Series A funding round led by Foundation Capital, with participation from Tishman Speyer, Carbide Ventures, 8VC, Sure Ventures, and FirsthandVC.  https://hrtechfeed.com/construction-workforce-management-platform-secures-15-million/ NEW YORK — Jolly, a workforce optimization platform, today announced a $16.5M Series A fundraise which was led by Zach Kirkhorn, former CFO of Tesla. In addition to Kirkhorn, who will join the company's Board, the round included participation from angel investors Gokul Rajaram, Julien Codorniou, Steve Luczo, and David Marcus, and institutional support from Bullpen Capital, Dorm Room Fund, Eigen Ventures, among others. These funds will be used to expand Jolly's product suite and scale into new verticals. https://hrtechfeed.com/workforce-optimization-platform-lands-16-5m-series-a/  

Chapters:0:00 Intro1:50 Gokul Rajaram on Google and what makes a great CEO14:30 Ishan Mukherjee on the State of LLMs22:23 Mark Pincus on how to come up with good ideas and build great products33:12 Anil Varanasi on how to spot great talent36:18 Rio Ferdinand on Leadership and Young Prodigies41:33 Hudzah on using Claude LLM to build products quickly47:29 Mike Maples on patterns for successful startups56:00 Career and life advice by Aarthi and Sriram1:06:55 Aravind Srinivas on Google's Larry Page being his favourite entrepreneur1:10:50 Bryan Johnson's 7 simple hacks to live longer Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

Rohini Pandhi is a product leader at Mercury, and previously spent over seven years at Square/Block leading product work on Square payments, invoicing, and the Bitkey hardware Bitcoin wallet. She's also the co-founder of the startup bootcamp Transparent Collective and is an active angel investor. In our conversation, we discuss:• Key indicators that it's time to hire PMs• How to build your early PM team• Why founders should initially take on the product manager role themselves• How to attract top PM talent• What she's learned about going multi-product• A case for investing in quality• More—Skip the Mercury Personal waitlist: https://mercurytechnologies.typeform.com/lenny—Brought to you by:• Cloudinary—The foundational technology for all images and video on the internet• OneSchema—Import CSV data 10x faster• Airtable ProductCentral—Launch to new heights with a unified system for product development—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-build-your-product-team-from-scratch-rohini-pandhi—Where to find Rohini Pandhi:• X: https://x.com/rohinip• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohinipandhi—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Rohini's background(05:00) The role of product managers at Mercury(09:51) Key indicators that it's time to hire PMs(13:18) Building the product team at Mercury(19:53) Why you should avoid hiring PMs too early(22:26) The different flavors of product management(26:15) How to attract top talent(35:59) Advocating for quality in product development(44:10) Going multi-product(46:37) Organizational structure for multi-product success(50:57) Organizational culture for multi-product success(52:07) Customer obsession and product development(57:36) More lessons from going multi-product(01:05:57) Transparent Collective: supporting underrepresented founders(01:09:54) Lightning round—Referenced:• Immad Akhund on X: https://x.com/immad• Mercury: https://mercury.com• Square: https://squareup.com• Pioneers, Settlers, Town Planners [Wardley]: https://orghacking.com/pioneers-settlers-town-planners-wardley-9dcd3709cde7• Jason Zhang on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-zhang-5645a860• What is ‘Dogfooding'?: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/business/dogfooding.html• Mercury Bill Pay: https://mercury.com/bill-pay• Zip: https://zip.co• Jira: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira• The art and science of pricing | Madhavan Ramanujam (Monetizing Innovation, Simon-Kucher): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-art-and-science-of-pricing-madhavan• Gokul Rajaram on designing your product development process, when and how to hire your first PM, a playbook for hiring leaders, getting ahead in you career, how to get started angel investing, more: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/gokul-rajaram-on-designing-your-product• Gokul Rajaram on X: https://x.com/gokulr• Transparent Collective: https://www.transparentcollective.com• 16 Reading Tips from Naval Ravikant: https://alexandbooks.com/archive/16-reading-tips-from-naval-ravikant• Shrinking on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/shrinking• Bad Sisters on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/bad-sisters• Slow Horses on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/slow-horses• Severance on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/severance• Presumed Innocent on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/presumed-innocent• Waymo: https://waymo.com• Adam Robinson on X: https://x.com/IAmAdamRobinson• Cyan Banister—From Homeless and Broke to Top Angel Investor (Uber, SpaceX, and 100+ More): https://tim.blog/2024/11/28/cyan-banister• Bobby Matson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbymatson• Jobs at Mercury: https://mercury.com/jobs—Recommended books:• Vectors: Aphorisms & Ten-Second Essays: https://www.amazon.com/Vectors-Aphorisms-Ten-Second-James-Richardson/dp/0967266890• The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance: https://www.amazon.com/Inner-Game-Tennis-Classic-Performance/dp/0679778314• Pachinko: https://www.amazon.com/Pachinko-National-Book-Award-Finalist/dp/1455563927• Cutting for Stone: https://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Stone-Abraham-Verghese/dp/0375714367• The Song of Achilles: https://www.amazon.com/Song-Achilles-Novel-Madeline-Miller/dp/0062060627—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

In this episode, Gokul Rajaram illuminates how eng leaders can better impact business outcomes & become key players in business strategy! We also address strategies for better goal setting & decision making, shifting to a customer-centric structure, recommendations for building alignment between cross-functional groups, positive collaboration between product & engineering, and how to achieve greater productivity.ABOUT GOKUL RAJARAMGokul Rajaram is an investor and company helper. He serves on the boards on Coinbase, Pinterest and The Trade Desk. Most recently, he was an executive at DoorDash, a food ordering platform. Prior to DoorDash, he worked at Block as Product Engineering Lead, where he led several product development teams and served on Block's executive team. Prior to Block, he served as Product Director of Ads at Facebook, where he helped Facebook transition its advertising business to become mobile-first. Earlier in his career, Gokul served as a Product Management Director for Google AdSense, where he helped launch the product and grow it into a substantial portion of Google's business. Gokul is also on the board of The Trade Desk and Coinbase. Gokul holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur where he received the President's Gold Medal for being class valedictorian. He also holds an M.B.A. from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin, where he received the MCD University Fellowship.SHOW NOTES:Why it's critical for eng leaders to drive business outcomes (2:04)How to shift your leadership to impact organizational changes (4:18)Facilitating conversations around setting numerical / time-driven goals (6:56)Navigating the shift to a customer-centric structure & approach (9:18)Recommendations for building around this customer-oriented model (12:04)Decision-making strategies when approaching customer outcomes (13:25)Understand the role of confidence in the decision-making process (15:40)Challenges faced by eng leaders when making this customer-centric shift (18:06)How eng leaders can introduce / reinforce accountability in eng orgs (20:11)Bridging the gap between PMs & eng leaders (23:07)Challenges / dysfunctions that prevent product & engineering alignment (25:01)Establishing trust, open dialogue, and mutual respect from the get-go (26:39)Communication frameworks that increase alignment between product & eng (32:39)How eng leaders can better approach “move fast & break things” demand (35:37)Rapid fire questions (40:19)LINKS AND RESOURCESGokul's website - Contains a collection of Gokul's writing that covers a wide range of topics related to product development, hiring, strategy, leadership, and more!The Mistborn Saga - Brandon Sanderson's high fantasy saga which chronicles the efforts of a secret group of Allomancers who attempt to overthrow a dystopian empire and establish themselves in a world covered by ash.This episode wouldn't have been possible without the help of our incredible production team:Patrick Gallagher - Producer & Co-HostJerry Li - Co-HostNoah Olberding - Associate Producer, Audio & Video Editor https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-olberding/Dan Overheim - Audio Engineer, Dan's also an avid 3D printer - https://www.bnd3d.com/Ellie Coggins Angus - Copywriter, Check out her other work at https://elliecoggins.com/about/

 In the latest episode of our podcast, we sit down with Gokul Rajaram - a Product Leader, Operator and Board member who has helped build seven of the largest tech companies globally - Google, Facebook, Square, DoorDash, Coinbase, Pinterest and Trade Desk. He is popularly known as the 'Godfather of Google Adsense', here he grew it from zero to over $1 billion in revenue. Later, he founded an NLP company which was acquired by Facebook, where he then led the Ads Product team as Product Director, helping grow revenues from $0.75 billion to $6.5 billion, and helped Facebook transition its advertising business to become mobile-first. He helped Square, DoorDash and Coinbase go public (IPO) as management team and board member, additionally he is a prolific Angel Investor for 300+ startups including Airtable, Airtable, CRED, Curefit, Figma, Learneo, Pigment, Postman, Whatfix and more. In this episode, Gokul shares invaluable insights on how to grow from startup to scale-up quoting stories from his rich experience. He stresses the importance of product-market fit (PMF), exploring its critical link to monetization and sound unit economics.He also addresses the formidable challenges startups face in the fiercely competitive AI sector and how can young entrepreneurs build in this exciting sector. In this podcast, below are the topics covered:0:00 - Journey from India to Silicon Valley8:10 - Three Stages of a Company: Start-up, Early-Growth, Scale-up13:41 - Discovering Product Market Fit and Monetization23:23 - Challenges for Startups in AI28:20 - Vertical SaaS and Indian Tech InnovationGokul offers a masterclass in entrepreneurial excellence - his experiences and strategies provide a roadmap for navigating the complex and ever-evolving tech landscape, making this episode a must-listen for aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals alike.Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this.Follow Prime Venture Partners:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_inThis podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes.Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

Gokul Rajaram is an early stage technology investor. As a product leader, operator and board member, he's helped build seven generational technology companies, including Alphabet, Block, Coinbase, DoorDash, Meta, Pinterest, and The Trade Desk.We talk about lessons learned from Zuck, Sergey Brin, and Jack Dorsey, when big acquisitions can go well, how to define your ICP, why you should always size markets bottoms-up, having a fast response time, how seed investing has changed since 2007, and Gokul's hot takes on titles at a startup. Building an enterprise-ready SaaS app? WorkOS has got you covered with easy-to-integrate APIs for SAML, SCIM, and more. Start now at ⁠https://bit.ly/WorkOS-Turpentine-Network⁠. Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(02:14) Common thread of success between the founders of Google, DoorDash, Facebook, and Square(05:50) Gokul's first job in Silicon Valley(07:46) How Serendipity led to PMing Adsense, one of Google's biggest products(12:20) Lesson from Sergey Brin on reducing friction before a products magic moment(18:50) How Zuck used founder mode to beat Google Plus in 2011(22:51) When big acquisitions can go well(24:47) How Gokul switches from startup helper to public company board member(28:09) The evolution of Seed investing since 2007(33:27) How to have a fast response time(37:40) Lessons from Jack Dorsey always selling(39:54) How to define your ICP(42:40) Using bottoms-up to size a market(44:05) Why Director and VP titles are bad for startups Referenced:Who's Got the Monkey? https://hbr.org/1999/11/management-time-whos-got-the-monkey   Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280   How to Size a Market in 30 Minutes https://blog.blingcap.com/2023/02/13/How-to-Size-a-Market/ Follow Gokul:Twitter: https://x.com/gokulr  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gokulrajaram1 Follow Turner:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TurnerNovak  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/turnernovak Subscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/  

0:00 - Intro1:10 - Meet Gokul Rajaram, on the Mount Rushmore of Silicon Valley2:19 - Gokul's relationship with Aarthi and Sriram4:00 - What is Founder Mode? And Zuck's Micromanagement6:33 - Founder Mode Vs Management Mode8:26 - Why Gokul disagrees with Paul Graham10:56 - Learnings from Google's Larry and Sergey15:58 - What were early days at Google like?18:58 - What makes a great CEO?20: 42 - How to engage with high performing executives25:45 - Why Gokul left Google to launch his own startup28:53 - Chamath's Acquisition offer31:30 - Fundraising advice for founders34:13 - Gokul's HOT take on AI startups38:10 - The evolving consumer apps landscape40:55 - Career Advice for young people48:00 - When is the right time to start a company?52:17 - Why titles don't matter1:01: 45 - Why Gokul left Facebook to join Square1:06:46 - Regret Minimization Framework1:07:28 - Gokul's Best Bet - Doordash1:13:18 - Doordash's secret hiring process1:16:11 - Sriram's favorite interview question1:17:30 - Gokul's advice for first time founders1:20:10 - Final Thoughts Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

If you like Taking Inventory, do us a favor and give us a 5-star rating or review. It's the best way to help support the podcast.  ——— Gokul Rajaram has been an integral part of the digital ad ecosystem for more than 20 years. He was a product leader on Google's AdSense, product director of ads at Facebook, and is on the boards of The Trade Desk, Pinterest, and Coinbase among others.   Gokul now invests in early-stage technology startups and partners with founders to help them build enduring companies. As he puts it, he's “an investor and company helper”. This is one of the most thought provoking episodes of Taking Inventory. Hear Gokul talk about one of the biggest mistakes founders and early stage companies make, how the role of board members is changing, similarities among the great leaders he's worked with, and much more. ——— Connect with James and Daniel! LinkedIn: James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesborow/  Daniel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danieldruger/  Twitter:  James: https://twitter.com/jamesborow  Daniel: https://twitter.com/ddruger Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.takinginventorypod.com/ and follow Taking Inventory on LinkedIn and Twitter!

Gokul was the product lead on AdSense, the deal champion for buying DoubleClick, and the head of ad products for Facebook.For more in-depth discussion of these topics and links to the news we discuss, subscribe to the Marketecture newsletter at https://news.marketecture.tvCopyright (C) 2024 Marketecture Media, Inc.

In this Marketing Speak episode, pick the brain of a true tech titan! Our guest, Gokul Rajaram, who has steered companies like Facebook, Google, and Square, shares priceless insights on product engineering, software development, and harnessing the power of AI to supercharge your business.  Gokul Rajaram is a highly accomplished investor and entrepreneur known for his extensive work in the tech industry. Over the past 17 years, he has invested in over 300 companies, demonstrating his deep commitment and insight into the world of startups and innovation. Gokul is also known for developing the S.P.A.D.E framework to enhance transparency and decision-making within companies. With a robust background in internet technology and engineering, Gokul has influenced various fields, including marketing and software development. In this episode, you'll discover:

Dan is joined by NEA Partner Ann Bordetsky on this week's Okay, Computer. OpenAI unveils Chat-GPT4o as speculation around a deal with Apple swirls (3:00), did Apple go too far with it's latest iPad ad (14:30), Google I/O continues to embed AI everywhere it can (22:00), SoundHound AI and Perplexity Partner (24:00), thoughts on AI powered wearables (27:30). After the break, we bring you a conversation Dan had with Gokul Rajaram and Michael Gilroy at RBC Capital's Technology Private Company Conference (35:00). Advertising Memory Lane Apple's ‘1984' Commercial LG KC910 Renoir Advertisement — View our show notes here Learn more about Current: current.com Listen to 'Strategic Alternatives': https://www.rbccm.com/en/gib/ma-inflection-points Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow @dee_bosa on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page

Dan is joined by NEA Partner Ann Bordetsky on this week's Okay, Computer. OpenAI unveils Chat-GPT4o as speculation around a deal with Apple swirls (3:00), did Apple go too far with it's latest iPad ad (14:30), Google I/O continues to embed AI everywhere it can (22:00), SoundHound AI and Perplexity Partner (24:00), thoughts on AI powered wearables (27:30). After the break, we bring you a conversation Dan had with Gokul Rajaram and Michael Gilroy at RBC Capital's Technology Private Company Conference (35:00). Advertising Memory Lane Apple's ‘1984' Commercial LG KC910 Renoir Advertisement — View our show notes here Learn more about Current: current.com Listen to 'Strategic Alternatives': https://www.rbccm.com/en/gib/ma-inflection-points Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow @dee_bosa on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page

Anand Kannappan is the cofounder and CEO of Patronus AI, an automated AI evaluation and security company. They have raised funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Replit CEO Amjad Masad, Gokul Rajaram, and Fortune 500 executives. He was previously at Meta and Vertis. He was also the cofounder of Kyber Technologies, which was a service to systematically predict market events using AI and remote sensing data. It evolved into a futures quant hedge fund managing $15M for partners. Anand's favorite book: Harry Potter series (Author: JK Rowling)(00:00) Introduction and Common Failure Modes of Large Language Models(03:02) Challenges of Automated Evaluation in AI Models(06:08) The Importance of Fine-Tuning and Retrieval Augmented Generation(09:02) Addressing Copyright Detection in Language Models(11:51) The Liability of Companies Using AI Models(15:02) Advancements in Multimodal Models and State Space Models(20:48) The Role of Fine-Tuning in the Evolution of Language Models(23:51) The Significance of Adversarial Testing in AI(25:56) The Role of Retrieval Augmented Generation in AI(28:05) The Need for Continuous Function Optimization in Prompting(29:02) Rapid Fire Round--------Where to find Prateek Joshi: Newsletter: https://prateekjoshi.substack.com Website: https://prateekj.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prateek-joshi-91047b19 Twitter: https://twitter.com/prateekvjoshi 

In this episode of McKinsey on Building Products, join Rikki Singh as she gets to know the expertise of Gokul Rajaram, a seasoned product leader renowned for his impactful contributions at industry giants such as Facebook and DoorDash. Discover firsthand the strategies he employs, from understanding user needs to formulating effective product strategies. This conversation originally took place as part of the McKinsey Product Academy speaker series.See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Michael Cieri is the Chief Product Officer at Gusto, an HR and payroll platform used by more than 300,000 businesses. With a decade of experience, he has led successful SMB product development and scaled high-performing orgs. Before Gusto, Michael was also the Head of Product at Square, where he led a team of 15+ PMs responsible for $600m in annual revenue. Michael was also the VP of Product Management at Opendoor. — In today's episode, we discuss: Key product strategies used by Square and Gusto The pros and cons of building for SMBs How to build horizontal after creating a wedge The catch with building vertical SaaS How product teams can move faster Developing product sense and intuition — Referenced: Alyssa Henry: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyssa-henry-0905692/ Copilot: https://copilot.microsoft.com/ Gokul Rajaram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gokulrajaram1/ Gusto: https://gusto.com/ High Output Management: https://amazon.com/High-Output-Management-Andrew-Grove/dp/0679762884 Marty Cagan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cagan/ Opendoor: https://www.opendoor.com/ Silicon Valley Product Group: https://www.svpg.com/ Square: https://squareup.com/ The Three Horizons Model: https://www.mckinsey.com/enduring-ideas-the-three-horizons-of-growth Toast: https://pos.toasttab.com/ — Where to find Michael Cieri: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcieri/ — Where to find Brett Berson: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-berson-9986094/ Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/brettberson — Where to find First Round Capital: Website: https://firstround.com/ First Round Review: https://review.firstround.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/firstround YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FirstRoundCapital This podcast on all platforms: https://review.firstround.com/podcast — Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (02:41) Why SMBs require unique software solutions (05:58) The level of specificity required when building for SMBs (08:47) Finding Square's form-fitting solution (11:48) Building vertical versus horizontal SaaS (14:34) Inside Square and Gusto's decision making framework (16:15) How to build horizontally from a wedge product (23:00) Using the Three Horizons Model (25:29) How to craft a compelling vision for products (28:51) How to assess Horizon 3 bets (32:08) How to give employees the freedom to try things (34:24) Creating a risk-taking culture (37:27) Essential advice for new PMs (40:27) Common thread with bad product pitches (42:29) Applying the Horizon framework at Gusto (44:46) Developing good product sense (47:43) 5 signs of great product sense (49:03) Why product sense is like athletic ability (51:43) How to ship faster without increasing headcount (56:10) People who had an outsized impact on Michael

“The best product leaders coach people across the company, not just in their team, and help develop them into the future leaders of the company.” – Gokul Rajaram EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.outlieracademy.com/episode/102 CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to product management in small, speedy teams. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:26) – Gokul's background in product management (00:06:58) – Applying a computer science background to product management (00:10:26) – What great product vision looks like (00:16:32) – The product analyst role (00:23:11) – Focusing on controllable inputs (00:26:07) – Experiment design (00:34:54) – Editing vs. managing a product (00:42:50) – S.P.A.D.E. decision making (00:55:18) – Speed in product creation ABOUT GOKUL RAJARAM Gokul Rajaram is part of a new wave of solo capitalists, like Elad Gil and Lachy Groom, that play an outsized role in funding and helping many of the world's best startups. As Gokul says in this interview, his goal is for every founder he backs to say that he's the most helpful investor on the cap table. And if there is another thing that Gokul is known for, it's his expertise around product management and decision making, including the Spade framework he created at Square for making transparent decisions at the highest levels. Spade is now used by many of the world's best startups for large, important, and strategic decisions that need to be made transparently so the whole company understands why the decision was made. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“The best product leaders coach people across the company, not just in their team, and help develop them into the future leaders of the company.” – Gokul Rajaram EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.outlieracademy.com/episode/102 ABOUT GOKUL RAJARAM Gokul Rajaram is part of a new wave of solo capitalists, like Elad Gil and Lachy Groom, that play an outsized role in funding and helping many of the world's best startups. As Gokul says in this interview, his goal is for every founder he backs to say that he's the most helpful investor on the cap table. And if there is another thing that Gokul is known for, it's his expertise around product management and decision making, including the Spade framework he created at Square for making transparent decisions at the highest levels. Spade is now used by many of the world's best startups for large, important, and strategic decisions that need to be made transparently so the whole company understands why the decision was made. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brought to you by Attio—The powerful, flexible CRM for fast-growing startups | Coda—Meet the evolution of docs | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments—Sri Batchu currently leads growth at Ramp, the fastest-growing SaaS business (and fintech business) in history. Previously, he led growth strategy and operations at Instacart and was one of the first 50 employees at Opendoor, where he built, scaled, and managed a variety of business teams, including analytics, sales, and pricing. During his time there, the company grew from $100M to $5B+ in revenue and to 1,500+ people. In this episode, we discuss:• The surprising tactics behind Ramp's unprecedented early growth• A breakdown of Ramp's current growth org and growth channels• Why you need to be “failing conclusively”• Ramp's unique approach to metrics and measurement• Examples of Ramp's “secret sauce”: a data- and technology-driven approach to everything• Why Sri prioritizes employee autonomy and flexibility over hours worked• Why team structure is a red herring for growth teams, and what Sri focuses on instead• How to set good North Star metrics, and why you should have more than one• Why Sri prefers payback periods over CAC for measuring investment ROI—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/lessons-from-scaling-ramp-sri-batchu-ramp-instacart-opendoor/#transcript—Where to find Sri Batchu:• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sri_batchu• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sribatchu/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Sri's background(04:07) Stats surrounding Ramp's hypergrowth(06:20) How Ramp set the stage for their remarkable growth(09:19) New customers vs. customer expansion(10:20) How Ramp has prioritized data-driven decisions(12:12) Ramp's growth engineering team, and how it supports the sales team(13:41) The structure of the growth team at Ramp(14:36) The “skunk works” team(15:49) How Ramp maintains working at such high velocity(19:11) How Ramp boosts morale and keeps employees engaged and excited(21:45) How to promote hard work(25:10) Optimizing efficiency in your growth engine(27:28) Leveraging PR and fundraising(29:20) Traditional media vs. newsletters and podcasts(30:49) Building a repeatable and scalable growth process(32:28) Examples of good North Star metrics(37:09) Lower-level metrics(40:30) When it makes sense to use the North Star framework(42:03) Why Ramp doesn't allow signups through personal emails, and how to reach out if you're in that position(43:11) Efficiency metrics and volume metrics(46:49) Payback period vs. CAC for measuring ROI(48:55) Defining payback period and contribution margin(49:51) How to sequence growth tactics for B2B(52:18) Experimentation and the importance of failing conclusively(58:06) Ramp's tool stack(1:00:32) How to hire great people(1:03:21) The importance of compensating employees properly(1:06:28) The MECE framework(1:09:21) Lightning round—Referenced:• How Ramp builds product, in Lenny's Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-ramp-builds-product• Eight Sleep: https://www.eightsleep.com/• Keith Rabois on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith/• Packy McCormick's article on Ramp: https://www.notboring.co/p/ramps-double-unicorn-rounds-behind• Gibson Biddle's framework: https://gibsonbiddle.medium.com/9-the-gem-model-65c89face5de• DoorDash's business model: https://businessmodelanalyst.com/doordash-business-model/• Airtable: https://www.airtable.com/• Mutiny: https://www.mutinyhq.com/• Gokul Rajaram on Twitter: https://twitter.com/gokulr• Claire Hughes Johnson on Lenny's Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/lessons-from-scaling-stripe/• MECE principle: https://productfolio.com/mece-principal/• Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as If Your Life Depended on It: https://www.amazon.com/Never-Split-Difference-Negotiating-Depended/dp/0062407805• Stories of Your Life and Others: https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Your-Life-Others-Chiang/dp/1101972122/r• Everything Everywhere All at Once on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/movie/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-fa320000-8cf3-46fc-8c45-df5ec67b71f2• Fellow kettles: https://fellowproducts.com/—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Airplane, a San Francisco, CA-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) development platform, closed a $32 million Series B funding round led by Thrive Capital with participation from Benchmark, bringing the startup's total raised to $40.5 million. I interviewed Ravi Parikh, Co-Founder at Airplane. He is also the former co-founder of Heap. Ravi is on a mission to automate the harder part of admin tools in applications. This is the behind-the-scenes code necessary to run your applications. Airplane has a sales and PLG led motion. His former founder background helped with current capital raises. Segment co-founder Calvin French-Owen, Confluent co-founder Neha Narkhede, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch, Airtable co-founders Howie Liu and Andrew Ofstad, Allison Pickens from The New Normal Fund, Behance founder Scott Belsky, Jaren Glover, Gokul Rajaram, Liu Jiang, Comma Capital, and several others also participated in the round. The funds will be put toward growing Airplane's team while expanding its product to new markets. Founded in December 2020 Staff of 20 $40.5M Raised Sub 10M ARR SLG + PLG Developer Tools Ravi Parikh's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raviparikh2/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/airplane-raises-32-million-in-series-b Join my SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray

In Episode #105, we deconstruct Gokul Rajaram's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Gokul is an angel investor and Product and Business Helper at DoorDash. We cover crypto, international investing, and habits and routines. “I always believe the hierarchy of anyone, any individual should be health, then family, then work. Why not family before health? Because if you're not healthy, you become a burden to your family and you can't help them. So, your health is actually very, very important.” – Gokul Rajaram EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-gokul-rajaram-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-gokul-rajaram-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Gokul Rajaram peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:01:21) – The evolution of crypto (00:02:44) – Superpowers and struggles (00:06:08) – Inspirations and the importance of exercise (00:08:24) – Recommended books (00:10:19) – Tools and routines (00:12:26) – Defining success (00:14:32) – International investing ABOUT GOKUL RAJARAM Gokul Rajaram is a prolific angel investor in over 300 companies and counting, and an executive at DoorDash, which he joined after DoorDash acquired Caviar from Square in 2019. I was fortunate enough to get to work with Gokul at Square, and I am beyond thrilled to have him on the show today. In this episode, Gokul shares what he thinks his investing superpowers are, why he loved Marc Andreesen's interview on the Good Time Show, why he loves Andre Agassi's book, Open, and the advice he'd give his younger self if he could go back 20 years to the start of his career.

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow's 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring angel investor Gokul Rajaram. In it, Gokul shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“The best product leaders coach people across the company, not just in their team, and help develop them into the future leaders of the company.” – Gokul Rajaram EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-speed-small-teams-product-management-decision-making-gokul-rajaram-spotlight-show-notes FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-speed-small-teams-product-management-decision-making-gokul-rajaram-spotlight-transcript CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to product management in small, speedy teams. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:26) – Gokul's background in product management (00:06:58) – Applying a computer science background to product management (00:10:26) – What great product vision looks like (00:16:32) – The product analyst role (00:23:11) – Focusing on controllable inputs (00:26:07) – Experiment design (00:34:54) – Editing vs. managing a product (00:42:50) – S.P.A.D.E. decision making (00:55:18) – Speed in product creation ABOUT GOKUL RAJARAM Gokul Rajaram is part of a new wave of solo capitalists, like Elad Gil and Lachy Groom, that play an outsized role in funding and helping many of the world's best startups. As Gokul says in this interview, his goal is for every founder he backs to say that he's the most helpful investor on the cap table. And if there is another thing that Gokul is known for, it's his expertise around product management and decision making, including the Spade framework he created at Square for making transparent decisions at the highest levels. Spade is now used by many of the world's best startups for large, important, and strategic decisions that need to be made transparently so the whole company understands why the decision was made.

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow's Spotlight episode featuring Gokul Rajaram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ethan Smith is the CEO of Graphite, a boutique growth agency that's helped companies like MasterClass, Thumbtack, Robinhood, Medium, and Honey develop and execute their SEO strategies. SEO is one of the least-understood levers for growth, while also one with the biggest payoff. This episode is a true master class on all things SEO. Ethan shares a wealth of information, including when you should begin investing in SEO, how to build an SEO team, and the three main buckets of SEO. He explains the difference between topics and keywords, gives the exact heuristics and tools to help you be successful in developing and implementing your own SEO strategy, and also goes deep on how to deal with roadblocks and advocate for resources.—Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-seo-ethan-smith-graphite/#transcript—Where to find Ethan Smith:• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ethan_l_s• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanls/• Graphite: https://www.graphitehq.com/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:• Coda: https://coda.io/lenny• Mixpanel: https://mixpanel.com/startups• Lemon.io: https://lemon.io/lenny—Referenced:• Topical Authority Analysis: https://bit.ly/topical-authority-tool• SEO Link Analysis: https://bit.ly/diagnostic-internal-links• SEO Links API: https://bit.ly/graphite-internal-links-api• Screaming Frog: https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/• Brandon Lee of Power: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonhli• Similarweb traffic analysis: https://www.similarweb.com/• MasterClass: https://www.masterclass.com/• BetterUp: https://www.betterup.com/• NerdWallet: https://www.nerdwallet.com/• HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/• Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com/• Semrush: https://www.semrush.com/• Google Search Console: https://search.google.com/search-console/about• Clearscope: https://www.clearscope.io/• Yuriy Timen on Lenny's Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-grow-a-subscription-business-yuriy-timen-grammarly-canva-airtable/• Gokul Rajaram on Lenny's Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/gokul-rajaram-on-designing-your-product-development-process-when-and-how-to-hire-your-first-pm-a-playbook-for-hiring-leaders-getting-ahead-in-you-career-how-to-get-started-angel-investing-more/• Luc Levesque on Twitter: https://twitter.com/luclevesque• Search Off the Record: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/search-off-the-record/id1512522198• GPT-3: https://gpt3demo.com/apps/openai-gpt-3-playground—In this episode, we cover:(03:53) Ethan's background(07:53) Why technical audits are the biggest myth in SEO(10:05) When to invest in SEO(16:09) Heuristics to determine if SEO is worth it(18:36) The three buckets of SEO: programmatic, editorial, and technical(23:30) The process for creating an SEO strategy(27:00) Why you shouldn't be too formulaic (28:33) What is site engagement?(29:31) Which pages need to be indexed(31:49) Topics vs. keywords(36:33) How to mine competitors' sites for information(37:41) Useful tools for developing your SEO strategy(40:14) How long will it take to see results?(45:16) Factors to consider when looking to hire an SEO person(47:33) The functions of a programmatic SEO person(49:19) How to do testing(54:06) Editorial SEO strategy(57:14) How to scale based on the size of the site(59:51) Page types(1:01:53) How to win in a topic category(1:03:12) How to build solid hypotheses and test them (1:06:13) How to deal with roadblocks and advocate for resources(1:08:54) How topical and domain authority are determined(1:16:43) The power of internal links(1:24:32) Why AI is not usually useful for content creation(1:28:31) Final tips for getting started with SEO—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

In der Rubrik “Investments & Exits” begrüßen wir heute Paula Hübner, Principal bei La FamigliaDas in San Francisco ansässige Startup Speak hat im Rahmen einer Series-B-Finanzierungsrunde 27 Millionen US-Dollar erhalten. Die Lösung von Speak ist eine Sammlung interaktiver Spracherfahrungen, die es Lernenden ermöglichen, sich auf Englisch zu unterhalten. Über die Plattform können die Nutzer offene Gespräche mit einem "KI-Tutor" über eine Reihe von Themen führen und dabei Feedback zu ihrer Aussprache, Grammatik und ihrem Wortschatz erhalten. Die Runde wurde vom OpenAI Startup Fund geleitet mit Unterstützung von Lachy Groom, Josh Buckley, Justin Mateen, Gokul Rajaram und Founders Fund. Die Teilnehmer des OpenAI Startup Fund erhalten zusätzlich zum Kapital einen frühen Zugang zu neuen OpenAI-Systemen und Azure-Ressourcen von Microsoft. Weitere Teilnehmer des Fonds sind Descript und Mem. Speak wurde 2016 von Connor Zwick und Andrew Hsu gegründet.

In Episode #105, we deconstruct Gokul Rajaram's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Gokul is an angel investor and Product and Business Helper at DoorDash. We cover crypto, international investing, and habits and routines. “I always believe the hierarchy of anyone, any individual should be health, then family, then work. Why not family before health? Because if you're not healthy, you become a burden to your family and you can't help them. So, your health is actually very, very important.” – Gokul Rajaram EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-gokul-rajaram-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-gokul-rajaram-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Gokul Rajaram peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:01:21) – The evolution of crypto (00:02:44) – Superpowers and struggles (00:06:08) – Inspirations and the importance of exercise (00:08:24) – Recommended books (00:10:19) – Tools and routines (00:12:26) – Defining success (00:14:32) – International investing ABOUT GOKUL RAJARAM Gokul Rajaram is a prolific angel investor in over 300 companies and counting, and an executive at DoorDash, which he joined after DoorDash acquired Caviar from Square in 2019. I was fortunate enough to get to work with Gokul at Square, and I am beyond thrilled to have him on the show today. In this episode, Gokul shares what he thinks his investing superpowers are, why he loved Marc Andreesen's interview on the Good Time Show, why he loves Andre Agassi's book, Open, and the advice he'd give his younger self if he could go back 20 years to the start of his career.

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow's 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring angel investor Gokul Rajaram. In it, Gokul shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Fast Frontiers! In the Season 6 premiere, Gokul Rajaram talks with host Tim Schigel about working as an investor and "company helper." Gokul does a deep dive into his SPADE decision-making framework, about creating compelling products that solve real-world issues, and the rise in product analytics as a function of business.Key Takeaways: [01:20] Introduction to Gokul[02:33] Being exposed to high-caliber people[03:47] Keep learning and stay humble[04:54] Investing and having fun building businesses, making connections[07:44] Cold-calling and indulging curiosity as a great "party trick"[09:15] The SPADE decision-making framework[11:07] Transparency in business operations and decision-making[12:58] Diving into SPADE[16:18] This framework should not be used for day-to-day reversible decisions[19:15] How Gokul sees organizations do a good job of staying focused on the problem and not the product[23:05] Evaluating the company mission and making a compelling product that solves problems[26:41] The rise of product analytics as a function[29:05] Feature launch is not a goal, feature launch is not an outcome. It is an experiment[29:47] Technologies Gokul is interested in investing in[29:47] Words of wisdom on solving problems and setting goals

Gokul Rajaram serves on the executive team at DoorDash, where he leads the Caviar product line. Previously he worked at Square, where he was also on the executive team and led a number of key product lines, and as a product director at Facebook, where he helped the company transition its advertising business to become mobile-first. Earlier in his career, Gokul was a product director for Google AdSense, where he helped launch the product and grow it into a substantial portion of Google’s business. Gokul also serves on the boards of Coinbase, Pinterest, and The Trade Desk and is a prolific angel investor, having invested in companies like Airtable, Khatabook, and 100+ more.In this episode, you will learn:1. How to navigate your next career - What should you focus on in order to improve your optionality?- What should you consider as you look for your next career adventure?- Why join winners in a space?- Why should people entering the workforce join mid-stage companies?- Why there are many paths to success.2. How to build a product development process at early-stage companies- What does the best product development process typically look like at different company stages? - What are some common pitfalls when building these processes?3. Hiring PMs- When should you hire your first PM? What should you look for?- When should you wait longer to hire a PM?- What’s the number one secret for hiring a product leader, regardless of industry? - How much time should you allocate for hiring as a founder?- How might job titles impact your company’s work culture?4. How to start angel investing - How did Gokul start investing in startups? What would he have done differently?- What does he look for in a startup pitch? - How much time should you spend as a part-time investor? - How do you find deals as a new investor?Where to find Gokul:- Twitter: https://twitter.com/gokulr References:- Gokul’s current favorite app, Coinbase Wallet: https://www.coinbase.com/wallet - Favorite book, Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works: https://rogerlmartin.com/lets-read/playing-to-win - TED talk: TEDxConcordia - Lenny Rachitsky - Losing Serendipity Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Gokul Rajaram has worked as an executive at some of the biggest tech companies: Google, Facebook, Square, etc. He is currently the Caviar Lead at Doordash and advises different tech startups in his free time. I came across Gojul's articles on Medium, and they are REALLY good.  I started implementing many of his advice at my own company such as sending out a weekly CEO e-mail, and how to run a better meeting. https://okdork.com/podcast/251 Get the BEST daily deals on software at: https://appsumo.com/noah

On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Gokul Rajaram, CxO at DoorDash, Board member at Coinbase and Pinterest, and an angel investor in over 100 companies with more than 40 exits and unicorns.   With massive shifts and uncertainty in the markets right now, the default for most companies is to work on a defensive plan to get through it all. Whilst defensive strategies might help a company survive, thriving is a different matter.   To exit this current climate in a stronger, more competitive position, and to be a market leader, you need to play offense.    In this session, Gokul covers:   3:13 - The habit of paying it forward 8:14 - What's happening in VC right now 14:51 - What good growth rate looks like 19:07 - Good offensive strategies 25:26 - Where to double down on investments and where to pull back 37:57 - Top metrics driving board conversations 42:23 - A CEO's most important operational responsibility in these times 49:29 - Key drivers of company culture 55:00 - How to know when a startup can become a billion-dollar business   Learn more at https://tractionconf.io   Connect with Gokul Rajaram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gokulrajaram1/   This episode is brought to you by:   Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don't get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.   Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca    Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com

“I always believe the hierarchy of anyone, any individual should be health, then family, then work. Why not family before health? Because if you're not healthy, you become a burden to your family and you can't help them. So, your health is actually very, very important.” – Gokul Rajaram Gokul Rajaram (@gokulr) is an angel investor and Product and Business Helper at DoorDash. He started his career as a Technical Lead at Juno, and has since led product development at Google, Facebook, and Square. He is an investor and advisor in many companies, and is an active member of several Boards, including Coinbase, Pinterest, and The Trade Desk. Show notes with links, quotes, and a transcript of the episode: https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-gokul-rajaram-playbook-show-notes Topics discussed with Gokul Rajaram 00:01:21 – The evolution of crypto 00:02:44 – Superpowers and struggles 00:06:08 – Inspirations and the importance of exercise 00:08:24 – Recommended books 00:10:19 – Tools and routines 00:12:26 – Defining success 00:14:32 – International investing Sign up here for Outlier Debrief, our weekly newsletter that highlights the latest episode, expands on important business and investing concepts, and contains the best of what we read each week. Follow Outlier Academy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/outlieracademy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next Playbook episode featuring prolific angel investor Gokul Rajaram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“The best product leaders coach people across the company, not just in their team, and help develop them into the future leaders of the company.” – Gokul Rajaram Gokul Rajaram (@gokulr) is an angel investor and Product and Business Helper at DoorDash. He started his career as a Technical Lead at Juno, and has since led product development at Google, Facebook, and Square. He is an investor and advisor in many companies, and is an active member of several Boards, including Coinbase, Pinterest, and The Trade Desk. Show notes with links, quotes, and a transcript of the episode: https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-speed-small-teams-product-management-decision-making-gokul-rajaram-spotlight-show-notes Topics discussed with Gokul Rajaram 00:02:26 – Gokul's background in product management 00:06:58 – Applying a computer science background to product management 00:10:26 – What great product vision looks like 00:16:32 – The product analyst role 00:23:11 – Focusing on controllable inputs 00:26:07 – Experiment design 00:34:54 – Editing vs. managing a product 00:42:50 – SPADE decision making 00:55:18 – Speed in product creation Sign up here for Outlier Debrief, our weekly newsletter that highlights the latest episode, expands on important business and investing concepts, and contains the best of what we read each week. Follow Outlier Academy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/outlieracademy. If you loved this episode, please share a quick review on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next Spotlight episode featuring Gokul Rajaram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Parallel Systems, a company founded by former SpaceX engineers to reimagine the railroad system, has raised $49.55 million in Series A funds to build autonomous battery-electric rail vehicles that move freight, the company said in a press release yesterday; Meanwhile GM said it is expanding its hydrogen fuel cells beyond vehicles to power homes, offices and malls. Former SpaceX engineers' startup out of stealth with electric rail Parallel Systems, a company founded by former SpaceX engineers to reimagine the railroad system, has raised $49.55 million in Series A funds to build autonomous battery-electric rail vehicles that move freight, the company said in a press release yesterday. The round is led by Anthos Capital and includes investments from Congruent Ventures, Riot Ventures, Embark Ventures, and others. The funds will be used to build a fleet of rail vehicles, execute advanced testing programmes and grow the team. The company, which came out of stealth mode yesterday, has raised $53.15 million to date, including $3.6 million in seed funds. “We founded Parallel to allow railroads to open new markets, increase infrastructure utilisation, and improve service to accelerate freight decarbonisation,” said Matt Soule, Co-founder and CEO, Parallel Systems. His co-founders are John Howard and Ben Stabler. GM to expand hydrogen tech beyond EVs General Motors, yesterday, announced new commercial applications of its HYDROTEC fuel cell technology. HYDROTEC projects, which are currently in development, from heavy-duty trucks to aerospace and locomotives, are being planned for use beyond vehicles, for power generation, the company said in a press release. GM is planning multiple HYDROTEC-based power generators, all powered by GM's Generation 2 HYDROTEC fuel cell ‘power cubes,' including a mobile power generator to provide a fast-charge capability for EVs without installing permanent charge points; a rapid charger, brand named EMPOWER, to help retail fuel stations add affordable DC fast charging without expanding the grid; and a palletised mobile power generator to quietly and efficiently power military camps and installations. These generators could ultimately replace gas and diesel-burning generators with fewer emissions at locations such as worksites, buildings, movie sets, data centres, outdoor concerts and festivals. They could also back up or temporarily replace grid-sourced electricity for residential and small commercial enterprises at times of power disruption, the company said. SaaS Labs, Rocketlane raise funding SaaS Labs, which builds business automation tools for sales and support teams, has raised $42 million in Series B funding led by Sequoia Capital India with participation from existing investors, Base 10 Partners and Eight Roads Ventures, the company said in a press release. The company plans to use the funds raised on R&D, to develop new products for its global users, as well as to scale newly-launched products. Rocketlane, a purpose-built customer onboarding platform, has closed an $18 million Series A funding round, the startup said in a press release. The investment is being led by previous Asana investors, 8VC, with participation from Nexus Venture Partners, Matrix Partners India, and prominent angel investor, Gokul Rajaram. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds

In der Mittagsfolge begrüßen wir heute Sven Lackinger, Co-Founder von Sastrify. Nur 5 Monate nach seiner Seed-Runde, gibt das Startup die neue Series A-Finanzierung in Höhe von 15 Millionen US-Dollar (ca. 13 Millionen Euro) bekannt. Sastrify ist einer der führenden Anbieter für Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Procurement in Europa und wurde im Sommer 2020 von den Serienunternehmern Maximilian Messing und Sven Lackinger in Köln gegründet. Durch die Software des Startups können Tech-, Finance- und Procurement-Teams ihre Software-Subscriptions in einer zentralen Plattform verwalten. Weniger als ein Jahr nach dem Markteintritt unterstützt Sastrify nach eigenen Angaben bereits mehr als 100 Kunden beim Softwareeinkauf, darunter zahlreiche Unicorns wie Gorillas, Pleo oder Scalable Capital. Zudem ist das Unternehmen offizieller Partner von mehr als 50 SaaS-Anbietern wie Google, Miro und 1Password. Erst im August diesen Jahres führte HV Capital die Seed-Finanzierungsrunde in Höhe von 7 Millionen US-Dollar an. Nun verkündet Sastrify seine Series-A-Finanzierung durch den US-Fonds FirstMark Capital (Investor von Branchenführern wie z.B. Shopify, Pinterest und AirBnB). Somit schließt sich FirstMark dem bestehenden Investor HV Capital sowie verschiedenen Angel Investoren inklusive Gokul Rajaram von DoorDash, Jeff Titterton von Zendesk sowie den Gründern des bekannten ScaleUps Billie und des Sastrify Unicorn-Kunden Sennder an. Mit dem neuen Kapital wird die internationale Expansion in den USA, Asien und Europa fortgesetzt. One more thing wird präsentiert von OMR Reviews – Finde die richtige Software für Dein Business. Wenn auch Du Dein Lieblingstool bewerten willst, schreibe eine Review auf OMR Reviews unter https://moin.omr.com/insider. Dafür erhältst du einen 20€ Amazon Gutschein.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has acquired Zerto in a $374 million all-cash deal, expected to close by the end of HPE's fourth quarter. The move is aimed at expanding HPE GreenLake cloud services.Hypersonix, an enterprise AI platform for commerce, has announced that it has raised $35 million at a valuation of $200 million in a Series B funding round led by B Capital Group. Other participants include Intel Capital, Firebolt Ventures, Magicus Ventures, and Gokul Rajaram, among others.   Monisnap, a remittance fintech company, has raised $11.8 million in a fresh round of funding. The funds will be used to expand the company's global client base, quadruple its technical staff, strengthen its B2B service, and improve its mobile money product. Currently, the Monisnap platform is used by over 200,000 people to send money to developing countries through over 100,000 local partners in over 100 countries.Codat gets $40 million in a Series B financing round led by Tiger Global. Codat intends to utilize the cash to expand in the United States, provide more data products to its API, recruit faster, and onboard more clients. Codat's goal is to assist small businesses by allowing suppliers to interact with all software packages that SMEs use using a single standardized API. Montreal-based Paper, a software provider of high-dosage tutoring, has announced its Series C fundraise of $100 million in a round led by Institutional Venture Partners (IVP). The company said in a press release that it would use the proceeds from the fund to scale its business and increase investments in its Educational Support Systems (ESS). Online-learning SaaS provider Articulate Global has raised $1.5 billion in a Series A funding round at a valuation of $3.75 billion. Bootstrapped since its inception, this round marks Articulate's first-ever fundraise, led by General Atlantic with participation from Blackstone Growth (BXG) and ICONIQ Growth.Nowports has raised $16M in Series A funding from Mouro Capital and plans to streamline its process, solidify important routes and expand its logistics and financial operations, adding value as a digital freight forwarder for Latin American Companies.Karat Financial, a black card and financial services platform specifically tailored for digital creators has announced $26 million in funding, including $15 million in a debt financing round and $11 million in Series A. The funding round was led by Union Square Ventures, with participation from GGV Capital and SignalFire.zip24 has recently raised $1.2M in a pre-series round to fund its expansion in tech, product and operations teams. It aspires to strengthen operations by deploying direct sales and support personnel in Dubai, UAE expand to the UK in this year's second half.Barracuda Networks has signed a definitive agreement to acquire SKOUT Cybersecurity. With the close of the deal (in July), Barracuda would enter the extended detection and response (XDR) platform and offer proactive real-time continuous security monitoring and response services.Desana, a hybrid workplace platform, raised $4M in a seed round headed by PropTech1 Ventures and Techstart Ventures. The firm plans to expand quickly with additional investment due to the high demand for its hybrid workplace solution. In a seed round led by AdvantEdge Founders, TyrePlex, an aftermarket tyre B2B eCommerce firm, earned an undisclosed sum. TyrePlex has over 1,700 dealers onboarded over 600+ locations and is quickly expanding at a rate of 30% month over month. A venture capital firm, Inflexor Ventures, has announced the closure of its second fund, which is valued at about USD 80.2 million. The tech fund will primarily invest in B2B/enterprise companies that use deeptech, technical IP, and innovation. The fund would invest in pre-Series A through Series B rounds, with initial investments ranging from $ 0.6 million to $ 2.6 million and follow-on rounds dependent on the performance of portfolio companies and their fundraising stage.

Gokul Rajaram serves on the executive board at Doordash and is also a Board Member of Coinbase, Pinterest, Trade Desk and others. Gokul's career has spanned multiple iconic companies including Facebook, Square, and Google, where he helped build Google AdSense from the ground up. Gokul is viewed by many in his network as the most helpful and humble person they've worked with, traits that shone through in our conversation with him. In this episode we spoke with Gokul about the following: His belief in generously offering help, and why it's actually “selfish to be selfless” Shifting from a paradigm of solving problems to one of identifying the right problems to solve Why all good leaders need to be both “in the clouds and in the dirt”, and how his life experiences impacted this view ------------------------------- Episode resources: Gokul's Twitter: https://twitter.com/gokulr Gokul's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gokulrajaram1/ ------------------------------- If you enjoyed today's conversation about the intersection of work and Asian American identity, please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review to spread the word. We'd really appreciate it! Learn more about the show at acrossthelinespodcast.com and follow us @acrossthelinespodcast to get the latest updates.

BukuKas, a startup focused on digitizing Indonesia's small businesses, raises $50 million in Series B funding. The round included participation from Gokul Rajaram, the DoorDash executive, and Taavet Hinrikus, co-founder and CEO of Transfer-Wise. BukuKas, the digital bookkeeping application, will use its Series B, to hire for its engineering, and product teams in Jakarta and Bangalore, and launch new services for merchants. Singapore-based Thunes, a fintech, focused on making cross-border money transfers easier, announced today it raises $60 million in a growth round led by Insight Partners. The round included participation from existing shareholders. Founded in 2016, Thunes' customers include Grab, PayPal, MPesa, the Commercial Bank of Dubai, Western Union, Remitly, and the Singaporean insurance firm, NTUC Income. Fintech startup, StudentFinance, which allows educational institutions to offer success-based financing for students, raises a $5.3 million seed round, co-led by Giant Ventures, and Armilar Venture Partners. The startup, which launched at the beginning of 2020, provides the tech back end for institutions, to offer flexible payment plans, in the form of income-share agreements. It's now raised $6.6 million total, to date. Styra, the startup behind Open Policy Agent, has picked up $40 million in a Series B round of funding, led by Battery Ventures. Styra will use the funding, to continue evolving its product, specifically by creating better, and more efficient ways to apply authorization policies, by way of code; and by bringing in more partners to expand the scope, of what can be covered by its technology. Google Cloud announced Vertex AI, a new managed machine learning platform, that is meant to make it easier for developers, to deploy and maintain their AI models. The focus of Vertex is on mobile and web developers. The service is also integrated with Vizier, Google's AI optimizer that can automatically tune hyper-parameters in machine learning models. Artificial, which has built a software platform for laboratories to assist with, or in some cases fully automate, research and development work, raises $21.5 million. It plans to use the funding, to continue building out its software and its capabilities, to hire more people, and for business development, Artificial's technology can both orchestrate, and manage robotic machines that labs might be using to handle some work; and help assist scientists when they are carrying out the work themselves.

Gokul Rajaram shares specific characteristics he looks for in entrepreneurs who range from former coworkers to founders he never met in-person. He describes his unique journey in the Silicon Valley leading product development at Juno, Google, Facebook, Square and Doordash. Highlights: The determination to move heaven and earth to solve a problem is an important quality in entrepreneurs.Founders have unique non-obvious insights about the market.Customer love for a product convinces angel investors more than charisma during a pitch.Angels want to give back to the community and learn from entrepreneurs.Non-profit: Second Harvest Food BankMore details at https://podcast.sure.ventures

Hiring a VP of Product -- especially as the founder of the company -- can almost feel like handing over your baby to someone else to hold, observes a16z executive talent team partner Caroline Horn, who hosted an event on this topic earlier this year (which this podcast is based on). Featuring Vijay Balasubramaniyan, founder/CEO of Pindrop; Shishir Mehrotra, founder and CEO of Coda; Gokul Rajaram, Production Engineering Lead at Square; and Alan Schaaf, founder/CEO of Imgur -- and moderated by general partner Martin Casado -- the discussion covers everything from what the VP of Product role really is to how to hire and integrate it into your company. Because if you're going to be handing your "baby" over... how can you avoid common pitfalls? And know that you pick the right person for the job?

What do you learn after four IPOs held in very different business cycles — and what if you're still trying to raise money privately? Gokul Rajaram, product engineering lead at Square, participated in that firm's IPO roadshow late last year. Previously he was product director for ads at Facebook, and a product director for AdSense at Google. He talks to USA TODAY's Laura Mandaro and Array Ventures' Shruti Gandhi about these questions, his blue shoes and the "Kombucha rule".