Airbnb’s Vlad Loktev on embracing chaos, inquiry over advocacy, poking the bear, and “impact, impact, impact” (Partner at Index Ventures, Airbnb GM/VP Product)
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | GrowthSummary
Vlad, a former product leader at Airbnb, shares insights from his extensive career in product management and leadership. He emphasizes the importance of prioritizing impact above all else, urging professionals to align their work with the company's top priorities. Vlad advocates for a mindset of inquiry over advocacy, encouraging leaders to ask questions and understand different perspectives before making decisions. He also discusses the necessity of saying no to distractions that do not contribute to impactful work.
Vlad reflects on the challenges of managing teams during rapid growth, highlighting the emotional toll of losing friends and relationships as companies scale. He stresses the importance of maintaining a balanced life outside of work to enhance effectiveness as a leader. Additionally, he shares lessons learned from Airbnb's transition to a more top-down approach in product management, noting that while this can streamline decision-making, it requires leaders to be deeply informed and engaged with the details of their business.
In a broader context, Vlad discusses the significance of company culture and core values, advocating for intentionality in hiring and team dynamics. He believes that a strong mission can drive success, and that leaders should focus on building diverse teams with complementary skills. Ultimately, he encourages aspiring leaders to embrace challenges, remain adaptable, and prioritize their well-being to foster a fulfilling career.
Show Notes
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 — Brought to you by: • Pendo—The only all-in-one product experience platform for any type of application • Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security • Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments — Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/impact-impact-impact-vlad-loktev — Where to find Vlad Loktev: • X: https://x.com/vladimirloktev • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vladimirloktev/ — 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) 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 — 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.
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