← search

Lenny's Podcast

Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover concrete, actionable, and tactical advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.

This CPO regrets that product management exists | Tom Verrilli (CPO of Whatnot)
Aug 2026 · 3 books
0:00 / 84:58
Cover of The Hard Thing About Hard Things
The Hard Thing About Hard Things
Ben Horowitz
not to be cliched but the hard thing about hard things i still think is the best book written about product management ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Purpose-Driven Church
The Purpose-Driven Church
Rick Warren
the best book anyone's ever recommended to me to read which i now recommend to others um is the purpose driven church by apostle rick warren ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Babel, or the Necessity of Violence
Babel, or the Necessity of Violence
R.F. Kuang
and the last one is if you're looking for kind of like uh fiction or fantasy which is where i tend to go in the evening ▶ tap to play from here
Anthropic’s first technical PM on token maxing, the jagged edge, and living in the future | Dianne Penn
Jul 2026 · 1 book
0:00 / 93:50
Cover of How to Raise an Adult
How to Raise an Adult
Julie Lythcott-Haims
one personal one i really like how to raise an adult so i i'm a mom i think a lot about what is a things that i want to instill in in in my kids and that book is really helpful for describing we're not trying to raise children we're trying to raise adults ▶ tap to play from here
Netflix CPTO on AI and the future of product and tech roles | Elizabeth Stone
Jul 2026 · 4 books
0:00 / 72:07
Cover of Thinking in Systems: A Primer
Thinking in Systems: A Primer
Donella Meadows
i think of this book that uh everyone always references with the slinky on the front speaking in systems yeah ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Into Thin Air
Into Thin Air
Jon Krakauer
into thin air john crackauer ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Liar's Poker
Liar's Poker
Michael Lewis
and myers poker michael lewis ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Remarkably Bright Creatures
Remarkably Bright Creatures
Shelby Van Pelt
remarkably bright creatures after a recommendation from my mom ▶ tap to play from here
How tech workers actually feel about AI in 2026 | Annual AI sentiment survey (Noam Segal)
Jul 2026
0:00 / 96:29
Adam Mosseri: AI is a tailwind for authenticity
Jul 2026
0:00 / 68:29
OpenAI Codex lead on the new shape of product work | Andrew Ambrosino
Jun 2026 · 2 books
0:00 / 69:56
Cover of The Gruffalo
The Gruffalo
Julia Donaldson
there's one called the gruffalo i use my kids i oh my god our kid just got obsessed with the gruffalo yes uh we have like a a bedtime chart yeah and now it's like pajamas brushed teeth books gruffalo ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Big Orange Splot
The Big Orange Splot
Daniel Manus Pinkwater
my favorite children's book ever is a very old one and it's called the big orange spots or some something along those lines look it up it's great go get it ▶ tap to play from here
What happens after coding is solved? | Fiona Fung (Manager of the Claude Code and Cowork Teams)
Jun 2026 · 2 books
0:00 / 98:45
Cover of The Little Prince
The Little Prince
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
the little prince i like i i think i'm i'm sure we probably all read it at at some point in our lives but i think it's a i i read it at least once a year ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Hayao Miyazaki
one is another ghibli film um nusica valley of the wind and uh i i think about this one quite a bit because if anyone ▶ tap to play from here
The hidden pattern behind successful products | Mark Pincus (founder of Zynga)
Jun 2026 · 1 book
0:00 / 99:23
Cover of Life at the Speed of Play
Life at the Speed of Play
Mark Pincus
over the past five years he has been working on a book that synthesizes all of the things that he's learned about building successful consumer products it's called life at the speed of play ▶ tap to play from here
Father of the iPod and iPhone on building taste, judgment, and creativity in the AI era | Tony Fadell
Jun 2026 · 4 books
0:00 / 95:07
Cover of Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making
Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making
Tony Fadell
he also wrote one of the most important and valuable and inspiring books for builders called build ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Crossing the Chasm
Crossing the Chasm
Geoffrey A. Moore
i also updated the cross the chasm uh you know crossing the chasm graphic um in the book ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon
Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon
Colin Bryar and Bill Carr
there's a whole book on working backwards that goes really deep on this approach ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Bible
The Bible
Various Authors - Compiled by Mark T
that i think applies to you it's a bi go from the bible ▶ tap to play from here
A rational conversation on where AI is actually going | Benedict Evans
May 2026 · 3 books
0:00 / 79:50
Cover of Three Men in a Boat
Three Men in a Boat
Jerome K. Jerome
i sometimes often joke that the the the classic british comedy from the late nineteenth century called three men in a boat which is like my i ching ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West
Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West
William Cronon
there's a book by i think william cronin about the economic history of chicago which is fascinating and actually very relevant to technology ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R. Tolkien
please read something other than lord of the rings ▶ tap to play from here
The AI paradox: More automation, more humans, more work | Dan Shipper
May 2026 · 4 books
0:00 / 94:06
Cover of The Writing Life
The Writing Life
Annie Dillard
you only have to read the last chapter though i think the last chapter is incredible ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Second World War
The Second World War
Winston Churchill
churchill is a really good writer and he has a whole history of world war two that he wrote and it's like a combination of history and memoir ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Rigor of Angels: Borges, Heisenberg, Kant, and the Ultimate Nature of Reality
The Rigor of Angels: Borges, Heisenberg, Kant, and the Ultimate Nature of Reality
William Egginton
there's this book called the rigor of angels that i just finished which is um it's like a it's a history of ideas that relates uh heisenberg who has the his uncertainty principle ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Power Broker
The Power Broker
Robert Caro
my current obsession is the power broker i don't i think we talked about it when i was visiting you it's just so good ▶ tap to play from here
Why we’re at the beginning of the AI hardware boom | Caitlin Kalinowski (ex–OpenAI, Meta, Apple)
May 2026 · 5 books
0:00 / 99:10
Cover of The Book of the New Sun
The Book of the New Sun
Gene Wolfe
book of the new sun is a great fiction book which i really recommend ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Mrs. Dalloway
Mrs. Dalloway
Virginia Woolf
i love mrs dalloway actually i think it's a very interesting book about transitions and it was a post war book um by virginia wolf ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Histories
Histories
Herodotus
i think herodotus histories is pretty incredible he's wrong a lot but he's also it's the first history book ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Old Testament
The Old Testament
Unknown
it's like the old testament gilgamesh and then all the way down through ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Epic of Gilgamesh
Epic of Gilgamesh
Unknown
it's like the old testament gilgamesh and then all the way down through ▶ tap to play from here
How to build a company that withstands any era | Eric Ries, Lean Startup author
May 2026 · 3 books
0:00 / 99:22
Cover of The Lean Startup
The Lean Startup
Eric Ries
today my guest is eric reese author of the most influential and impactful book in startup history the lean startup ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad and How Great Companies Stay Great
Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad and How Great Companies Stay Great
Eric Ries
today he is back with a new book fifteen years later called incorruptible why good companies go bad and how great companies stay great ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Principles of Scientific Management
The Principles of Scientific Management
Frederick Winslow Taylor
he wrote the principles of scientific management in nineteen eleven ▶ tap to play from here
Why cultivating agency matters more than cultivating skills in the AI era | Max Schoening (Head of Product, Notion)
May 2026 · 6 books
0:00 / 87:22
Cover of The Timeless Way of Building
The Timeless Way of Building
Christopher Alexander
the timeless way of building and stuart brand's uh sort of uh how buildings learn ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built
How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built
Stewart Brand
stuart brand's uh sort of uh how buildings learn i think idea is also that it's very likely that the best homes for you are not actually built by an architect ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software
Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software
Charles Petzold
i would say so code uh by uh charles pitzold which is uh the secret language of hardware and software ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Tools for Conviviality
Tools for Conviviality
Ivan Illich
i have a weird one uh which is tools of conviviality by ivan illich ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Seeing Like a State
Seeing Like a State
James C. Scott
last one that i give mostly to executives uh that i think are creating a lot of systems uh is uh seeing like a state ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Project Hail Mary
Project Hail Mary
Andy Weir
i liked the book and i think the adaptation was was was really good ▶ tap to play from here
Snapchat CEO: Why distribution has become the most important moat | Evan Spiegel
Apr 2026 · 2 books
0:00 / 70:24
Cover of Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries
Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries
Safi Bahcall
the best sort of like academic overview or summary i think comes from a guy safi bakal who wrote a book called loon shots really worth reading ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The End of the World Is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization
The End of the World Is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization
Peter Zeihan
there's a g a great book maybe relevant for this particular moment called the end of the world is just the beginning ▶ tap to play from here
How Anthropic’s product team moves faster than anyone else | Cat Wu (Head of Product, Claude Code)
Apr 2026 · 3 books
0:00 / 85:34
Cover of How Asia Works
How Asia Works
Joe Studwell
i really like how asia works um it's a story about economic development and what are the like the policies and uh governments that make long lasting successful economies ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Technology Trap: Capital, Labor, and Power in the Age of Automation
The Technology Trap: Capital, Labor, and Power in the Age of Automation
Carl Benedikt Frey
the other books that i'm really into are the technology trap so this is actually about the past few technology revolution ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
Ken Liu
and um maybe on like a fun note i really like paper menagerie um it's just like a book of short stories about like coming of age and a i and um just like self discovery ▶ tap to play from here
Why half of product managers are in trouble | Nikhyl Singhal (Meta, Google)
Apr 2026 · 2 books
0:00 / 95:11
Cover of James
James
Percival Everett
i read this book called james which james is um the story of huckleberry fenn told from ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain
the story of huckleberry fenn told from uh jim's point of view i thought that was ▶ tap to play from here
Hard truths about building in the AI era | Keith Rabois (Khosla Ventures)
Apr 2026 · 3 books
0:00 / 82:39
Cover of Creativity, Inc.
Creativity, Inc.
Ed Catmull
there's also this concept of the ugly baby in creativity inc i don't know if you read that book ed catmall ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Jordan Rules
The Jordan Rules
Sam Smith
for those who want to you know a good book that's off central casting for you is uh read jordan rules ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Upside of Stress
The Upside of Stress
Kelly McGonigal
the number one one is called the upside of stress um by kelly mcgougles frostwick stanford ▶ tap to play from here
Head of Growth (Anthropic): “Claude is growing itself at this point” | Amol Avasare
Apr 2026 · 1 book
0:00 / 112:49
Cover of Thinking in Bets
Thinking in Bets
Annie Duke
and then the third one is more relevant to to product in many ways is thinking in bets by annie duke ▶ tap to play from here
An AI state of the union: We’ve passed the inflection point, dark factories are coming, and automation timelines | Simon Willison
Apr 2026
0:00 / 99:51
Loading more episodes…
tap a book moment
0:00
0:00