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{ "episode": { "guest": "Ebi Atawodi", "expertise_tags": [ "Product Management", "Vision & Strategy", "Product Culture", "Craft of PM", "Leadership", "Creator Products", "Marketplace Products", "Fintech" ], "summary": "Ebi Atawodi, Director of Product Management at YouTube overseeing creator experience, shares tactical frameworks for developing and communicating product vision. Previously Director of PM at Netflix and head of product for Uber's Wallet, checkout, and payments products. The conversation covers Ebi's three-step approach to vision (empathize, create, evangelize), concrete methods for communicating vision including narrative frameworks and press release-style articles, the importance of clarity and conviction as core PM skills, and how company culture shapes product decisions. Ebi emphasizes that great PMs combine research and data with strong product sense and intuition, and discusses building strong team cultures rooted in genuine care for people.", "key_frameworks": [ "Vision Framework: Lofty, Realistic, Devoid of Technical Limitations, Grounded in Clear Problem", "Vision Communication: Mad Libs Narrative, Press Release/TechCrunch Article, Visual Mockups", "Three-Step Vision Development: Empathize, Create, Evangelize", "Top 10 Things You Should Know (Living Document)", "Three-Day Strategy Session: Insights Day, Strategy Day, Big Rocks Day", "Three Concentric Circles of Evangelization: Core Team, Stakeholders, Leadership", "Clarity and Conviction as Core PM Skills", "Insights-Strategy-Big Rocks Framework", "Product Sense: Feeling of What is Right Based on Exposure and Curiosity", "Culture Types: Monolithic (Uber 1.0), Intentionally Evolving (Netflix), Microcultures (Google)" ] }, "topics": [ { "id": "topic_1", "title": "Introduction and The Importance of Vision", "summary": "Ebi is introduced as Director of Product Management at YouTube. The conversation begins with the critical importance of every PM having a vision, regardless of level. Vision is compared to a pilot who can describe the destination clearly to passengers.", "timestamp_start": "00:00:00", "timestamp_end": "00:05:22", "line_start": 1, "line_end": 21 }, { "id": "topic_2", "title": "Four Elements of a Good Vision", "summary": "Ebi outlines the four key elements that make a vision effective: it must be lofty (exciting but not unrealistic), realistic and attainable, devoid of today's technical limitations, and grounded in a clear, potent user problem. Vision is distinguished from mission.", "timestamp_start": "00:05:22", "timestamp_end": "00:08:16", "line_start": 19, "line_end": 32 }, { "id": "topic_3", "title": "Real-World Vision Examples: Uber, Tesla, Microsoft", "summary": "Concrete examples of good and less effective visions are discussed. Uber's mission (reliable transportation everywhere) and vision (a world without parking) exemplify the framework. Tesla and Microsoft visions are compared. The distinction between lofty/inspiring visions and practical ones is explored.", "timestamp_start": "00:08:16", "timestamp_end": "00:11:22", "line_start": 31, "line_end": 50 }, { "id": "topic_4", "title": "Vision vs. Mission: The Analogy", "summary": "Ebi uses the Mount Everest analogy to distinguish vision from mission. Vision is the picture of what you'll see at the summit. Mission is the purpose and guiding principles for getting there. Vision is about the future state, mission is about why you exist.", "timestamp_start": "00:11:44", "timestamp_end": "00:13:55", "line_start": 52, "line_end": 68 }, { "id": "topic_5", "title": "Three Ways to Communicate Your Vision", "summary": "Ebi presents three practical methods for communicating vision to teams and stakeholders: (1) Mad Libs narrative framework (Once upon a time...), (2) TechCrunch-style article headline and full piece, and (3) Visual mockups or sketches. Each method has different fidelity levels and use cases.", "timestamp_start": "00:14:45", "timestamp_end": "00:21:08", "line_start": 76, "line_end": 125 }, { "id": "topic_6", "title": "The Narrative Mad Libs Framework Deep Dive", "summary": "The Mad Libs framework structure is detailed: 'Once upon a time [problem], [situation], one day [change], and because of that [outcome], and finally [lasting impact].' This framework forces clarity and is used at Google and YouTube to communicate vision to teams after product launches.", "timestamp_start": "00:15:07", "timestamp_end": "00:20:36", "line_start": 79, "line_end": 106 }, { "id": "topic_7", "title": "Press Release and Article Approach to Vision", "summary": "Ebi discusses using the press release or TechCrunch article format to clarify vision. She wrote articles about multimodal transportation and replacing Clipper cards with Uber Pay to force clarity on what success would look like. The headline technique forces you to articulate the actual outcome being solved.", "timestamp_start": "00:20:36", "timestamp_end": "00:24:22", "line_start": 101, "line_end": 132 }, { "id": "topic_8", "title": "Visual Storytelling and Design Collaboration", "summary": "Ebi shares experiences collaborating with designers to bring vision to life through sketches and mockups. The bodega payment example shows how a simple pencil sketch of the future sparked team excitement. At YouTube, she created app store mockup exercises where teams sketch proposed product screenshots to articulate vision.", "timestamp_start": "00:18:37", "timestamp_end": "00:26:41", "line_start": 89, "line_end": 156 }, { "id": "topic_9", "title": "Developing Vision: The Three-Step Process", "summary": "Ebi introduces her framework for developing vision: (1) Empathize with customers and problems, (2) Create the vision of what the world looks like when solved, (3) Evangelize to align teams. This structural approach ensures thoroughness in vision development.", "timestamp_start": "00:28:31", "timestamp_end": "00:30:08", "line_start": 166, "line_end": 179 }, { "id": "topic_10", "title": "Empathize Step: Understanding Work and Product Immersion", "summary": "The empathize phase involves deeply understanding customer problems through direct product usage (dogfooding), using competitive products (catfooding), and research. Ebi emphasizes PMs should use their own products end-to-end and observe how new features work without shortcuts.", "timestamp_start": "00:29:36", "timestamp_end": "00:32:44", "line_start": 173, "line_end": 189 }, { "id": "topic_11", "title": "Top 10 Things You Should Know: A Living Document", "summary": "Ebi's tactical contribution: a living document updated quarterly listing the 10 most important problems known to affect the product. These can be qualitative, quantitative, or technical debt. Created at Uber as 'More Money, More Problems,' this document serves as the foundation for vision and strategy work.", "timestamp_start": "00:32:44", "timestamp_end": "00:35:10", "line_start": 189, "line_end": 209 }, { "id": "topic_12", "title": "Product Sense vs. Research: Balancing Data and Intuition", "summary": "Ebi argues that PMs should trust their gut and product sense while using research to update their mental model of customers. She cautions against pure data-driven decisions and emphasizes the importance of curating problems based on experience and judgment, not just what research says.", "timestamp_start": "00:35:10", "timestamp_end": "00:37:48", "line_start": 211, "line_end": 227 }, { "id": "topic_13", "title": "Running a Three-Day Strategy Workshop", "summary": "Ebi details her methodology for strategy sessions: Day 1 focuses on insights and understanding work (using the Top 10 Things template), Day 2 on strategy/approach selection, Day 3 on identifying big rocks. Participants include PM, engineering, design, research, and sometimes data science leads.", "timestamp_start": "00:40:54", "timestamp_end": "00:43:11", "line_start": 247, "line_end": 272 }, { "id": "topic_14", "title": "Evangelizing Vision: Three Concentric Circles", "summary": "Vision evangelization happens in three layers: (1) Core team (PMs, engineers, designers) must be bought in first, (2) Stakeholders across company must understand rationale, (3) Leadership should be engaged as high as possible. Each layer provides feedback that refines the vision.", "timestamp_start": "00:43:50", "timestamp_end": "00:47:48", "line_start": 278, "line_end": 301 }, { "id": "topic_15", "title": "Creating Living Documents and Iterative Communication", "summary": "Ebi emphasizes creating living documents that are comment-open (not view-only) to allow friction and refinement. Vision documents are shared multiple times in multiple forums (studio leads, PM weekly) to allow percolation and stress-testing of ideas before final commitment.", "timestamp_start": "00:44:20", "timestamp_end": "00:46:05", "line_start": 280, "line_end": 291 }, { "id": "topic_16", "title": "Vision Lifecycle and Macro vs. Micro Visions", "summary": "Long-term visions (3-5 years) should not change yearly; shorter-term work should use micro-visions of what products look like in the next year. Ebi distinguishes between evergreen macro visions and shorter-term micro-visions tied to quarterly planning.", "timestamp_start": "00:48:05", "timestamp_end": "00:51:24", "line_start": 304, "line_end": 320 }, { "id": "topic_17", "title": "Clarity and Conviction: The Core of Product Management Craft", "summary": "Ebi defines product management craft as bringing clarity and conviction. Clarity means removing noise to illuminate the core problem and approach. Conviction is the feeling of what the right direction is. Together they enable PMs to influence and align teams without authority.", "timestamp_start": "00:57:00", "timestamp_end": "01:00:17", "line_start": 367, "line_end": 381 }, { "id": "topic_18", "title": "Insights-Strategy-Big Rocks: The Narrative Framework", "summary": "A two-to-four-page document format used to communicate strategy: Insights explain the problems and why they matter, Strategy/Approach describes how to address them, Big Rocks lists the 3-5 most important things to deliver. This is updated quarterly and serves as the narrative foundation for roadmapping.", "timestamp_start": "01:00:17", "timestamp_end": "01:03:05", "line_start": 379, "line_end": 391 }, { "id": "topic_19", "title": "Conviction: Choosing What to Build and Defending It", "summary": "Conviction requires picking one lane and defending it, not spreading resources thin across multiple priorities. When faced with options, PMs must do the work to achieve conviction in their choice, and then stand behind it. Uncertainty in conviction suggests more work is needed before committing.", "timestamp_start": "01:06:09", "timestamp_end": "01:08:20", "line_start": 412, "line_end": 423 }, { "id": "topic_20", "title": "Company Culture Shapes Product: Uber's Monolithic Culture", "summary": "Ebi analyzes how Uber's culture of autonomy, principle of confrontation, and city-first approach shaped products. Values like 'celebrate cities' and 'customer obsessed' allowed regional customization. The culture enabled products like cash payments despite leadership skepticism because it valued testing and data.", "timestamp_start": "01:08:43", "timestamp_end": "01:12:06", "line_start": 427, "line_end": 434 }, { "id": "topic_21", "title": "Netflix Culture: Intentional Evolution and Responsible Freedom", "summary": "Netflix's culture evolved intentionally from a near-death experience. The 'no rules rules' framework of responsible freedom and loosely coupled teams allowed debate on fundamental questions like subscription-only vs. advertising model. Leadership made final calls but teams did rigorous work to build conviction.", "timestamp_start": "01:12:06", "timestamp_end": "01:14:47", "line_start": 434, "line_end": 446 }, { "id": "topic_22", "title": "Google Culture: Microcultures Within Macro Guidelines", "summary": "Google's culture allows microcultures to flourish within loose macro principles (respect user, respect opportunity, respect each other). YouTube's culture differs from Search differs from Cloud, allowing different product philosophies. This flexibility enables diversity of product approaches across the company.", "timestamp_start": "01:15:01", "timestamp_end": "01:17:04", "line_start": 448, "line_end": 459 }, { "id": "topic_23", "title": "Building Strong Team Culture: Care, Vulnerability, and Love", "summary": "Ebi emphasizes that great team culture comes from genuine care for people. She believes in vulnerability as strength and defines love as 'the choice to extend yourself for the spiritual growth of oneself or another.' Hard conversations rooted in care are more important than being liked, creating psychological safety and trust.", "timestamp_start": "01:19:16", "timestamp_end": "01:23:58", "line_start": 481, "line_end": 509 }, { "id": "topic_24", "title": "Getting to Know Your Team: The Birthday Question", "summary": "Ebi shares a simple but powerful question: 'Do you know your engineering manager's birthday?' This leads to understanding what motivates each team member, their career goals, and creating human connections. These relationships transform partnerships from transactional to genuine collaboration.", "timestamp_start": "01:24:09", "timestamp_end": "01:25:33", "line_start": 514, "line_end": 522 }, { "id": "topic_25", "title": "YouTube Features: AI Inspiration and Thumbnail Testing", "summary": "Ebi describes two new YouTube creator features in development: (1) AI Inspiration that generates video ideas based on community viewing patterns and trending topics, launching next year; (2) Thumbnail Test and Compare, recently launched, allowing creators to A/B test thumbnails to find the best performing version.", "timestamp_start": "01:26:15", "timestamp_end": "01:29:04", "line_start": 538, "line_end": 554 }, { "id": "topic_26", "title": "Becoming a PM: Preparation Meets Opportunity", "summary": "Ebi's advice for aspiring PMs: start doing product management before you have the title. Analyze your favorite apps, identify top 10 problems, design solutions, build your product sense through constant practice. The concept of 10,000 hours of deliberate practice applies to developing PM skills.", "timestamp_start": "01:29:26", "timestamp_end": "01:30:31", "line_start": 556, "line_end": 561 }, { "id": "topic_27", "title": "Recommended Books: 48 Laws of Power, The God of Small Things, Outliers", "summary": "In the lightning round, Ebi recommends three formative books: 48 Laws of Power for understanding influence and dynamics, The God of Small Things for beautiful writing and humanity, and Outliers for understanding patterns and success. She describes herself as a voracious reader.", "timestamp_start": "01:30:55", "timestamp_end": "01:31:43", "line_start": 577, "line_end": 579 }, { "id": "topic_28", "title": "Favorite Show: The Bear and Parallels to Product Management", "summary": "Ebi recommends the Hulu series The Bear as capturing the feeling of being a PM—the heat, stress, and coordination required. She notes how the show's pace changes when the restaurant closes, demonstrating excellent cinematography and narrative structure.", "timestamp_start": "01:31:48", "timestamp_end": "01:32:47", "line_start": 583, "line_end": 621 }, { "id": "topic_29", "title": "Interview Questions: Leadership Philosophy and Product Passion", "summary": "Ebi's favorite interview questions are: (1) For managers: 'What is your leadership philosophy?' (2) For PMs: 'Tell me your favorite product and why, and how would you improve it?' She looks for candidates who can tell compelling stories that start with problem identification.", "timestamp_start": "01:33:06", "timestamp_end": "01:33:42", "line_start": 625, "line_end": 627 }, { "id": "topic_30", "title": "Favorite Product Discovery: Sleep Cycle App", "summary": "Ebi shares her recent discovery of Sleep Cycle, an app that uses progressive alarm sounds to wake gently and tracks sleep quality via microphone. She finds it valuable for understanding sleep patterns across different locations and countries.", "timestamp_start": "01:33:51", "timestamp_end": "01:34:52", "line_start": 631, "line_end": 636 }, { "id": "topic_31", "title": "Life Motto: Invictus Poem and Personal Responsibility", "summary": "Ebi's guiding motto comes from the poem Invictus: 'I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.' This reflects her belief in personal agency and responsibility for outcomes, even when circumstances are difficult. It embodies the 'freedom or responsibility' principle she values.", "timestamp_start": "01:34:52", "timestamp_end": "01:36:07", "line_start": 637, "line_end": 644 }, { "id": "topic_32", "title": "DJing as a Side Passion: Learning from YouTube Creators", "summary": "Ebi shares that she DJs as a hobby after learning through YouTube creator tutorials. She produces mixtapes named after sauces (Sriracha, Mango Chutney, Jerk) and recommends others use affordable controllers or even iPad apps to practice the skill of DJing through 10,000 hours of deliberate practice.", "timestamp_start": "01:36:30", "timestamp_end": "01:38:24", "line_start": 649, "line_end": 660 } ], "insights": [ { "id": "insight_1", "text": "Vision is a picture of the destination, not instructions for getting there. It's about describing what you'll see when you arrive, not the steps to get there.", "context": "Ebi uses the plane analogy—a pilot describing Miami and 24-degree weather at arrival creates clarity. Vision is distinct from mission which is the purpose.", "topic_id": "topic_2", "line_start": 19, "line_end": 26 }, { "id": "insight_2", "text": "A good vision must be lofty and exciting but not so pie-in-the-sky that it feels unreachable. It should scare you in an exciting way while remaining within grasp.", "context": "Ebi contrasts realistic visions with Elon Musk's Mars goal, noting that most people need visions that feel within reach while still being ambitious.", "topic_id": "topic_2", "line_start": 22, "line_end": 24 }, { "id": "insight_3", "text": "Vision must be devoid of today's technical limitations because the point is to ask 'what do we need to fix today to get there tomorrow,' not to accept current constraints as permanent.", "context": "Ebi explains that visions should time-travel to the future and work backward, not be constrained by what's possible with today's technology.", "topic_id": "topic_2", "line_start": 25, "line_end": 26 }, { "id": "insight_4", "text": "Product management is fundamentally about clarity and conviction. Clarity is removing noise to illuminate the core problem. Conviction is the feeling of what's right.", "context": "This is Ebi's definition of what great PMs do—they bring transparency and simplicity to complex situations, then commit to a direction.", "topic_id": "topic_17", "line_start": 371, "line_end": 372 }, { "id": "insight_5", "text": "Product sense is not product logic. It's a feeling of what is right, developed through exposure to products and curiosity. It can be refined and trained over time.", "context": "Ebi distinguishes product sense from pure logic, emphasizing it's an intuition built through deliberate observation of products and user experiences.", "topic_id": "topic_12", "line_start": 221, "line_end": 224 }, { "id": "insight_6", "text": "Infrastructure is not just tech debt—it is the product. You cannot build a skyscraper on a shaky foundation, so infrastructure problems are as much a PM responsibility as feature problems.", "context": "Ebi challenges the notion that infrastructure is separate from product. It's foundational and directly impacts what products can be built.", "topic_id": "topic_10", "line_start": 352, "line_end": 353 }, { "id": "insight_7", "text": "If you can put all research into AI and get a PRD output, you haven't done your job as a PM. Your value is curating research through judgment and product sense into a coherent direction.", "context": "Ebi's challenge to her team about generative AI: the core PM skill is synthesizing information into strategic choices, not just collecting information.", "topic_id": "topic_12", "line_start": 220, "line_end": 221 }, { "id": "insight_8", "text": "Writing forces clarity. A two-page document with insights, strategy, and big rocks is more powerful than beautiful decks. The constraint of writing crystallizes fuzzy thinking.", "context": "Ebi requires her PMs to write because the act of writing requires choices and clarity that design presentations can obscure.", "topic_id": "topic_17", "line_start": 371, "line_end": 372 }, { "id": "insight_9", "text": "Big rocks should be 3-5 things maximum. If you can't remember your priorities, you don't have priorities. More than that and you're spreading resources thin across a laundry list.", "context": "Ebi uses the cocktail metaphor—ice first, then drink, not both at once. Too many priorities create mess. Only the essential rocks matter.", "topic_id": "topic_17", "line_start": 374, "line_end": 375 }, { "id": "insight_10", "text": "If you have conviction and it's not clear, you don't actually have conviction. Conviction without clarity is just hesitation masquerading as conviction.", "context": "Ebi stress-tests conviction by asking 'if you only had 5 engineers, which one thing would you build?' If there's not a clear answer, the conviction isn't real.", "topic_id": "topic_19", "line_start": 412, "line_end": 413 }, { "id": "insight_11", "text": "When presenting strategy decisions to leadership, force yourself to decide which option you actually believe in rather than presenting pros/cons and asking them to choose. Doing the work is how you become a better PM.", "context": "Ebi refuses to let PMs come to her with two equally-presented options. She demands they take a position and defend it, which builds conviction.", "topic_id": "topic_19", "line_start": 413, "line_end": 416 }, { "id": "insight_12", "text": "Culture is not static. If you don't intentionally evolve the culture, it will evolve without you in ways you may not want. Culture is always changing because it's made of human norms and beliefs.", "context": "Ebi reflects on how Uber's culture shifted over time without being actively managed, leading to public perception problems. Intentional culture management matters.", "topic_id": "topic_20", "line_start": 431, "line_end": 432 }, { "id": "insight_13", "text": "The principle of confrontation—where junior people can challenge leaders because it's best for the business—requires both cultural support and mechanisms like data/testing to validate challenges.", "context": "Ebi gives the example of Travis Kalanick opposing cash payments, but the culture's principle of confrontation allowed testing it anyway. Data validated the challenge.", "topic_id": "topic_20", "line_start": 434, "line_end": 435 }, { "id": "insight_14", "text": "When the buck stops with one person for decisions, it's actually liberating not chaotic. People do more methodical work when they know they can't hide behind consensus.", "context": "Ebi describes Netflix's model where one person owns each decision. Rather than creating chaos, it made people more rigorous in building conviction.", "topic_id": "topic_21", "line_start": 443, "line_end": 444 }, { "id": "insight_15", "text": "Love is the choice to extend yourself for the spiritual growth of oneself or another. In leadership, this means hard conversations rooted in care are more valuable than being liked.", "context": "Ebi's definition of love as applied to leadership: your job is growth, not niceness. People feel cared for when feedback is honest and motivated by their development.", "topic_id": "topic_23", "line_start": 500, "line_end": 504 }, { "id": "insight_16", "text": "Create psychological safety by showing you genuinely care about people as humans. When they know you care about them behind the role, they can receive raw feedback as the gift it is.", "context": "Ebi's approach to hard feedback: establish genuine care first so people interpret feedback as being in their best interest, not as criticism.", "topic_id": "topic_23", "line_start": 503, "line_end": 504 }, { "id": "insight_17", "text": "Knowing your team members' birthdays, work anniversaries, and career goals is foundational to strong partnerships. This human knowledge precedes and enables good working relationships.", "context": "Ebi's relationship with her engineering manager started with hatred but transformed through genuine human connection. These basics matter more than formal alignment.", "topic_id": "topic_24", "line_start": 515, "line_end": 522 }, { "id": "insight_18", "text": "The most powerful narrative for vision is starting with a problem and showing how solving it creates a different world. People connect with stories that illuminate transformation.", "context": "In interviews, Ebi looks for candidates who tell product stories starting with 'I noticed this problem, this solution exists, but I'd improve it by...' Problem first, solution second.", "topic_id": "topic_8", "line_start": 89, "line_end": 92 }, { "id": "insight_19", "text": "Headlines force clarity. When you must summarize your entire vision in a headline and subtitle, you discover whether you actually know what you're building and why it matters.", "context": "Ebi uses the press release/TechCrunch headline exercise to stress-test clarity. If you can't headline it, you can't vision it.", "topic_id": "topic_7", "line_start": 115, "line_end": 131 }, { "id": "insight_20", "text": "Storytelling is more powerful than data alone. Stories alone beat numbers alone, but stories combined with numbers is not as powerful as pure story with embedded data.", "context": "Ebi emphasizes that generation after generation passes on stories, not statistics. Pure narrative is more memorable and motivating than adding metrics.", "topic_id": "topic_5", "line_start": 80, "line_end": 81 }, { "id": "insight_21", "text": "Evergreen living documents are more powerful than annual reset documents. A doc that persists and evolves becomes embedded in team knowledge and decision-making.", "context": "Ebi uses docs like 'Studio Vision' that live in everyone's shortcuts. Annual reset documents are less effective than continuously refined documents.", "topic_id": "topic_16", "line_start": 307, "line_end": 309 }, { "id": "insight_22", "text": "The power of the 10,000 hours principle applies to product management. Immerse yourself in products, analyze them, design improvements, build your intuition before the title.", "context": "Ebi's advice to aspiring PMs: you don't need an MBA or consulting background. Start practicing product management now by analyzing and improving products you love.", "topic_id": "topic_26", "line_start": 557, "line_end": 560 }, { "id": "insight_23", "text": "People want to know they were heard. Evangelizing a vision becomes easier when you reference how stakeholder input shaped the final strategy, creating ownership in the outcome.", "context": "Ebi brings stakeholders into the strategy process early, asks for their 10 things to know, then references how their input influenced final choices. This creates buy-in.", "topic_id": "topic_14", "line_start": 271, "line_end": 272 }, { "id": "insight_24", "text": "Friction in document review (comments-enabled, not view-only) is good. Like rocks in a washing machine polishing each other, comments refine and improve strategy.", "context": "Ebi creates documents explicitly for feedback. She doesn't resolve every comment but allows the friction of debate to polish the vision until it's strong.", "topic_id": "topic_15", "line_start": 287, "line_end": 290 }, { "id": "insight_25", "text": "In a multi-modal trip or product future, infrastructure PMs have outsized importance. They must envision futures they don't know are coming and build platforms that can support them.", "context": "Ebi describes platform PMs needing to be 'an order of magnitude stronger at vision setting' because they're building foundations for unknown products.", "topic_id": "topic_9", "line_start": 115, "line_end": 120 } ], "examples": [ { "id": "example_1", "explicit_text": "When I was at Uber, our vision was a world where you get a continuous trip so you don't need parking. Cities are 25% parking spaces.", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi at Uber", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "Uber", "Vision", "Urban Planning", "Parking Optimization", "Marketplace", "Transportation", "Long-term Strategic Vision", "Behavioral Change", "City-scale Impact" ], "lesson": "Great visions combine lofty thinking with practical grounding. The parking-free city is imaginable but transformational, and it guided product decisions like Uber Pool.", "topic_id": "topic_3", "line_start": 40, "line_end": 42 }, { "id": "example_2", "explicit_text": "One of our visions at Uber was multimodal trip where I could ride a bicycle or scooter, get to a train station, buy my ticket, scan in, take an Uber, and get a scooter on the other end.", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi at Uber", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "Uber", "Vision", "Multimodal Transportation", "Platform PM", "Infrastructure", "Connected Journey", "Future-focused Strategy", "Interoperability" ], "lesson": "Platform PMs must envision futures that don't exist yet and build infrastructure to support them, even if the specific products aren't known.", "topic_id": "topic_9", "line_start": 115, "line_end": 120 }, { "id": "example_3", "explicit_text": "At Uber, I wrote a headline about replacing your Clipper card with your Uber phone. I wanted San Francisco buddies to relate to the idea that Uber could be your payment method for all transport.", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi at Uber", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "Uber", "Payments", "Vision Communication", "Article Framework", "Commerce", "Digital Payments", "San Francisco", "Press Release" ], "lesson": "When communicating vision about new capabilities, use familiar local references to make the future concrete and relatable. This predated actual Uber Pay features.", "topic_id": "topic_7", "line_start": 115, "line_end": 125 }, { "id": "example_4", "explicit_text": "At Uber, we built the commerce and payments infrastructure. I worked with a designer who drew a future where someone could walk into any bodega or mom-and-pop shop and top up their Uber balance with cash.", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi at Uber, Payments/Commerce PM", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "Uber", "Payments", "Fintech", "Cash Handling", "Global Expansion", "Emerging Markets", "Design Collaboration", "Inclusion", "Long-term Product" ], "lesson": "A simple sketch of the future (person with cash getting a receipt at a bodega kiosk) excited teams about what's possible. This product took four years to build because vision provided long-term direction.", "topic_id": "topic_8", "line_start": 88, "line_end": 93 }, { "id": "example_5", "explicit_text": "The YouTube Shorts team's vision: Once upon a time YouTube was fun with cat videos. Then it became polished hour-long content. People felt they couldn't create. Then we launched shorts, and anyone can express themselves again.", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi at YouTube, using the narrative framework", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "YouTube", "Shorts", "Vision", "Creator Enablement", "Content Democratization", "Format Innovation", "Narrative Framework", "Emotional Arc" ], "lesson": "The Mad Libs narrative structure naturally captures the transformation your product enables. Problem → blocker → solution → emotional outcome.", "topic_id": "topic_6", "line_start": 83, "line_end": 87 }, { "id": "example_6", "explicit_text": "At Uber, I challenged the cash payment idea to Travis Kalanick who was against it. But the culture of principle of confrontation let us test it. Data showed it worked, so cash exists on Uber now.", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi at Uber, challenging Travis Kalanick on cash payments", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "Uber", "Travis Kalanick", "Cash Payments", "Culture of Confrontation", "Data-driven Decision", "Executive Leadership", "Principle of Confrontation", "Testing Culture" ], "lesson": "A strong culture that rewards principled disagreement and data-backed testing allows junior people to challenge leadership assumptions and influence major decisions.", "topic_id": "topic_20", "line_start": 434, "line_end": 435 }, { "id": "example_7", "explicit_text": "When I started at Uber as a GM, there were seven cars on the road in a country with no reliable water, and drivers didn't have mobile phones. We had to figure out how to create reliable transport anyway.", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi at Uber, General Manager role in Nigeria", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "Uber", "Nigeria", "General Manager", "Emerging Markets", "Operational Constraints", "Creative Problem Solving", "Infrastructure Limitations", "Scrappy Startup Phase" ], "lesson": "Operating in constrained environments (poor infrastructure, no smartphones) forces innovation and cultural values that become core to how the company works.", "topic_id": "topic_20", "line_start": 428, "line_end": 429 }, { "id": "example_8", "explicit_text": "At Netflix, there was a strong belief that the product would never have advertising—subscription only. But over time through structured debates, the company evolved and added advertising.", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi at Netflix", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "Netflix", "Advertising", "Subscription Model", "Culture of Debate", "Product Strategy", "Business Model Evolution", "Strategic Pivot" ], "lesson": "Netflix's culture allowed fundamental product tenets to be revisited through structured argument. The company evolved its belief system as context changed.", "topic_id": "topic_21", "line_start": 440, "line_end": 446 }, { "id": "example_9", "explicit_text": "At YouTube, I created an exercise where we printed Google Play Store screenshots with blank rectangles and asked everyone: if we solve these problems, what would be the hero screenshots?", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi at YouTube", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "YouTube", "Vision Communication", "Visual Mockups", "Low-fidelity Prototyping", "Strategy Workshop", "App Store Optimization", "Team Alignment" ], "lesson": "Forcing people to visualize success (even with low-fidelity sketches) clarifies what actually matters. Teams will converge on 2-3 core changes when vision is clear.", "topic_id": "topic_8", "line_start": 136, "line_end": 140 }, { "id": "example_10", "explicit_text": "I hated my engineering manager, Gergely Orosz, when we first worked together. Then we bonded by doing things together—shows, lunches. He's now a good friend and wrote Pragmatic Engineer.", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi with Gergely Orosz (now The Pragmatic Engineer)", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "Gergely Orosz", "Engineering Manager", "Relationship Building", "Human Connection", "The Pragmatic Engineer", "Transformation Through Care", "Peer Influence" ], "lesson": "Investing in genuine human relationships with collaborators transforms working partnerships from difficult to joyful and creates mutual influence.", "topic_id": "topic_24", "line_start": 524, "line_end": 530 }, { "id": "example_11", "explicit_text": "When I created a Netflix culture within my Uber team, I carried values like freedom and responsibility forward. My engineering partner Brian and I created BEM culture with our VP partner Matilde.", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi at Uber, creating internal team culture inspired by Netflix", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "Uber", "Netflix", "Team Culture", "Freedom and Responsibility", "Leadership Trio", "Culture Design", "Values Alignment" ], "lesson": "You can create subcultures within your team that differ from broader company culture. Intentional culture design with your leadership triad matters more than top-down culture.", "topic_id": "topic_23", "line_start": 482, "line_end": 486 }, { "id": "example_12", "explicit_text": "At Uber, we called our living document of problems 'More Money, More Problems' because we believe in bringing joy into everything. We had PMs, data scientists, UX researchers, and engineers collaboratively identify the top 10.", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi at Uber, Money team", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "Uber", "Money team", "Top 10 Problems Document", "Cross-functional", "Problem Identification", "Data-driven", "Fun Culture" ], "lesson": "A collaboratively-maintained document of known problems becomes the foundation for strategy. Making it fun to work on ensures people engage seriously.", "topic_id": "topic_11", "line_start": 203, "line_end": 207 }, { "id": "example_13", "explicit_text": "At YouTube, I created Vision 2026. A year and a half later, we're now at the stage where it's going into the planning cycle. Patience is required because visions take time to manifest.", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi at YouTube", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "YouTube", "Vision 2026", "Long-term Planning", "Patience", "Strategic Patience", "Multi-year Execution", "Leadership Stamina" ], "lesson": "Visions that matter take 3-5 years to manifest. You need patience and conviction to maintain the vision through doubt and obstacles.", "topic_id": "topic_14", "line_start": 175, "line_end": 177 }, { "id": "example_14", "explicit_text": "At YouTube, I presented AI Inspiration: a feature that generates video ideas based on what your community is watching. It's using AI to help creators with research—the hardest part of their creative process.", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi at YouTube", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "YouTube", "AI", "Creator Tools", "AI Inspiration", "Creative Support", "Product Features", "Future Feature" ], "lesson": "The best creator tools solve the hardest parts of their work. AI Inspiration addresses research, which creators spend significant time on.", "topic_id": "topic_25", "line_start": 545, "line_end": 548 }, { "id": "example_15", "explicit_text": "At YouTube, we launched Thumbnail Test and Compare, allowing creators to A/B test thumbnails. Instead of guessing, creators can see which thumbnail drives more views.", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi at YouTube", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "YouTube", "Thumbnail Testing", "A/B Testing", "Creator Tools", "Product Feature", "Experimentation", "Success Metrics" ], "lesson": "Democratizing A/B testing to creators (who previously had to use hacky workarounds) is a powerful empowerment feature that improves content quality.", "topic_id": "topic_25", "line_start": 551, "line_end": 552 }, { "id": "example_16", "explicit_text": "I'm a Nigerian woman without an MBA, didn't work in consulting, and I'm a Director at YouTube. Some of the best PMs come from something else because you have empathy for the other side.", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi, trajectory from non-traditional PM backgrounds", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "Nigeria", "Non-traditional PM Path", "Diversity in Product", "Career Progression", "YouTube", "Representation", "Empathy" ], "lesson": "The best PM paths aren't always traditional (MBA, consulting). Different backgrounds bring unique perspectives and empathy that pure consulting backgrounds can miss.", "topic_id": "topic_26", "line_start": 557, "line_end": 560 }, { "id": "example_17", "explicit_text": "I DJ mixtapes and name them after sauces: Sriracha, Mango Chutney, Jerk. I learned DJing through YouTube creators and practice on iPad apps like DJ Pro AI for $30.", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi as a DJ hobbyist", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "Ebi Atawodi", "DJing", "Creative Hobbies", "Learning from YouTube", "Accessible Tools", "10,000 Hours Practice", "Creativity Outside Work" ], "lesson": "The same 10,000-hour principle applies to non-work skills. YouTube democratizes learning and cheap tools make practice accessible.", "topic_id": "topic_32", "line_start": 649, "line_end": 660 }, { "id": "example_18", "explicit_text": "When Uber's culture wasn't managed intentionally, it evolved in ways we didn't want. The company went from Uber 1.0 to something that lost conviction. That's when I looked to Netflix's culture.", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi at Uber, observing culture drift", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "Uber", "Company Culture", "Culture Drift", "Culture Evolution", "Values Erosion", "Unintentional Culture Change" ], "lesson": "Unmanaged culture evolution is real. Without intentional effort, company cultures drift from their origins in ways that weaken them.", "topic_id": "topic_20", "line_start": 482, "line_end": 486 }, { "id": "example_19", "explicit_text": "I use interviews to ask candidates about their favorite product and why. The best answers start with a problem they noticed, not features they like.", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi, interview methodology", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "Recruiting", "Interview Technique", "PM Hiring", "Product Sense", "Problem-first Thinking", "Storytelling" ], "lesson": "How candidates talk about products reveals whether they think problem-first or feature-first. Problem-first is the better signal.", "topic_id": "topic_29", "line_start": 625, "line_end": 627 }, { "id": "example_20", "explicit_text": "Google's culture allows YouTube to build 'give everyone a voice, tell your story however you want' while Search builds 'deliver these metrics reliably.' Microcultures within macro culture.", "inferred_identity": "Ebi Atawodi at Google/YouTube", "confidence": 100, "tags": [ "Google", "YouTube", "Organizational Culture", "Microcultures", "Decentralized Culture", "Product Differentiation", "Culture Flexibility" ], "lesson": "Large companies can maintain multiple subcultures that reflect different product philosophies, enabling diverse product strategies.", "topic_id": "topic_22", "line_start": 449, "line_end": 453 } ] }