20Product: Loom CPO Janie Lee on Three Core Skills that Make the Best PMs, How to Find, Pick and Train the Best PM Talent and Lessons from OpenDoor and Rippling on Product Breadth, Pricing and Talent Density

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

Janie Lee is the Head of Product and the owner of the Self-Serve business at Loom. Janie previously worked at Rippling, leading the Identity Management and Hardware teams. Prior to that, she worked at Opendoor launching markets and developing pricing algorithms. During this time, Opendoor scaled from 2 to 20+ markets, $5B+ revenue, and 1500+ employees.

In Today's Episode with Janie Lee We Discuss:

1. Inside the Product Building Machine of Rippling and Opendoor:

• What are Janie's single biggest product lessons from Rippling? How do they build so much product so fast? Can you have breadth and high quality?
• What are Janie's biggest lessons from Opendoor on talent and pricing?
• What does Janie know now that she wishes she had known when she started her product career?

2. What Makes a Truly Great PM:

• What core skills do the best PMs have? What is the difference between good vs great?
• Writing: What are Janie's biggest pieces of advice to PMs who want to write better?
• Communicate: How do the best PMs and product leaders communicate with their teams?
• Question Asking: How do the best PMs ask questions of their team and other orgs?

3. How to Find and Pick the Best PMs:

• How does Janie structure the interview process when hiring new PMs?
• What questions should one ask in every interview with a PM?
• Does Janie do a case study? What is she looking to achieve from it? How do the best do?
• What are Janie's biggest mistakes in hiring PMs? How did she change from it?

4. Onboarding PMs and Crushing Product Reviews:

• What do the first 30 days look like for new PMs?
• What are the biggest signs that a new PM is not going to work out?
• How does the product review process work at Loom?
• How does Janie prioritise when there is so much volume and data?
• How has AI changed the way Loom builds products today?