LinkedIn’s product evolution and the art of building complex systems | Hari Srinivasan (LinkedIn)
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career ✓ Claim Key Takeaways LinkedIn strives to connect people with economic opportunities by connecting people with people, and by connecting content with peopleContent with knowledge and/or advice works best on LinkedIn If you do not have the functional experience for a given role, focus on how your industry experience makes you a strong candidate The skills needed to manage a complex ecosystem are different than the skills needed to design a complex ecosystem Recruiters look for two things: 1) skills and capabilities and 2) intent and interest in the role RAPID: Recommender, Agree, Perform, Input, DecideAccording to Hari Srinivasan, you need three skills to be a great product manager: 1. Be a Steven Spielberg-type creator 2. Skills around data science (to recognize patterns & see the future) 3. General management skills Working on a product that people genuinely love reveals how rewarding this role can beOwn your product and speak up about where you want to drive it Favorite interview question: “What is the most complex thing you have ever built?”Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgBrought to you by Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life | Brave Search API—An independent, global search index you can use to power your search or AI app | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments—Hari Srinivasan is VP of Product at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, where he oversees LinkedIn Recruiter, LinkedIn Jobs, and LinkedIn Learning. He’s also a frequent guest lecturer at Stanford University. Previously, he served as the CEO and founder of We Created It, which was acquired by LinkedIn in 2014. Hari has a passion for building products, with experience ranging from creating the first U.S. hybrid SUV to developing a No. 1 app and writing a beloved children’s book. In today’s episode, we discuss:• LinkedIn’s unique business model and org structure• How to optimize your LinkedIn experience and improve your chances of getting a PM role• How to adapt to a skills-first talent market• The story of Hari’s failed first product review, and how he pivoted for success• Strategies for building and maintaining complex systems• How to get into product management—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/linkedins-product-evolution-and-the-art-of-building-complex-systems-hari-srinivasan-linkedin/#transcript—Where to find Hari Srinivasan:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hsrinivasan1/• Website: https://www.mindofhari.com/—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) Hari’s background(05:04) How Twitter brought Lenny and Hari together(06:32) LinkedIn’s positive evolution, and what they did right(10:14) Specific changes that made LinkedIn’s feed more interesting(11:12) Understanding the algorithm and what kinds of content perform best(12:21) The talent solution product(15:46) The shift to skills-first hiring, and how LinkedIn changed their approach(20:24) The open-to-work signal, and the newly released open-to-internal-work signal(22:13) The PM talent landscape, and tips for landing a PM role(24:55) How to optimize your LinkedIn profile to get noticed by recruiters(28:38) Hari’s first product review at LinkedIn(30:38) LinkedIn’s North Star, and how to operationalize the North Star at any company(33:24) LinkedIn’s members-first value(35:32) Building and maintaining complex systems(38:09) The RAPID framework and the Five-Day Alignment framework(39:51) What LinkedIn looks for in new hires(40:51) The latest innovations at LinkedIn(43:16) LinkedIn Learning(45:00) Hari’s product management course(48:19) Advice for people hoping to get into product management(50:40) How to level up your PM skills(51:57) Hari’s creative side projects (55:02) Lightning round—Referenced:• Tweet from TheCuriousPM: https://twitter.com/zatin_jatin/status/1658616200560254978?s=20• The Curious PM on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zatin_jatin• Decision-making at LinkedIn: https://engineering.linkedin.com/blog/2018/03/scaling-decision-making-across-teams-within-linkedin-engineering• LinkedIn Learning: https://www.linkedin.com/learning• Thinking in Systems: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Systems-Donella-H-Meadows/dp/1603580557• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow: https://www.amazon.com/Tomorrow-novel-Gabrielle-Zevin/dp/0593321200• An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us: https://www.amazon.com/Immense-World-Animal-Senses-Reveal/dp/0593133234• Star Wars on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/brand/star-wars• Case 63 on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4c9ZKaFtEKweSYOlYvxfvp• E.T. on Tubi: https://tubitv.com/movies/607451/e-t-the-extra-terrestrial• BriteBrush: https://www.amazon.com/BriteBrush-Interactive-Smart-Toothbrush-featuring/dp/B07VLL8QH4—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