Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

Building a meaningful career | Jason Shah (Airbnb, Amazon, Microsoft, Alchemy)

September 18, 2022

AI Summary

5 min read

Jason Shah shares lessons from his product career across startups, Yammer/Microsoft, Amazon, Airbnb, and now Alchemy in Web3, emphasizing solving meaningful problems through unique approaches, precise thinking, and adaptive leadership.

Web3 Realities and Product Evolution

Shah views Web3 as maturing despite market downturns, with record developer activity, new infrastructure like Layer 2s, and scaling products. Progress drives morale during cycles, as seen at Alchemy with launches like Solana support amid crypto winter—echoing Airbnb's revenue drop recovery through customer focus. Early Web3 succeeded without traditional PMs (e.g., Uniswap's volume rivaling Coinbase), but maturation demands them for prioritization amid competition; teams now hire experienced PMs from Meta/Gemini, blending community management with strategy.

Amazon's Working Backwards and Precise Communication

Amazon shaped Shah's product-business integration via "working backwards": draft a PR/FAQ simulating launch (intro, problem, solution, customer/leadership quotes, call-to-action). This enforces concrete language—avoid "great," use metrics like "saves 20 minutes daily"—and customer obsession, iterating de-risks like "dogs not barking." Precision clarifies thought, reveals tradeoffs, and applies beyond products to emails/docs, fostering intentional decisions.

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What you'll learn

1 `* (00:53) **Guest intro and career overview**`
2 `* (08:20) **Web3 state, morale, and PM evolution**`
3 `* (18:39) **Amazon's biggest influence on product approach**`
4 `* (22:14) **Amazon's Working Backwards process**`
5 `* (29:18) **Traits of great leaders**`
6 `* (38:27) **Effective pushback (reframing disagreement)**`
7 `* (46:16) **Ladder vs. Map career framework**`

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Jason Shah has led product teams at Amazon, Airbnb, Microsoft, and Yammer and currently leads the product team at Alchemy (one of the most important web3 infrastructure companies). In addition, he’s an advisor, investor, and two-time founder. In today’s episode, Jason discusses what it’s like to be a PM in web3, why his role at Amazon made such a big impact on his life and career, what makes a great leader, and how to hire well. He also shares his unique perspective on building a meaningful career and life.

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Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-a-meaningful-career-jason

—Where to find Jason Shah:• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jasonyogeshshah• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonyogeshshah/• Website: https://www.jasonshah.me/—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:• Whimsical: https://whimsical.com/lenny• Coda: http://coda.io/lenny• Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/—Referenced:• Creative Selection: Inside Apple’s Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs: https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Selection-Inside-Apples-Process/dp/1250194466• Casey Winters on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-sell-your-ideas-and-rise-within#details• Jason Shah in Lenny’s newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/a-product-managers-guide-to-web3• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers: https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Thing-About-Things-Building/dp/0062273205• Polygon: https://polygon.technology/• Solana: https://solana.com/• MoonPay: https://www.moonpay.com/• The Vietnam War series by