Anneka Gupta is the Chief Product Officer at Rubrik, a leading B2B cybersecurity company. She previously spent 11 years at LiveRamp, where she was the President and Head of Product and Platforms leading product development and go-to-market operations and strategy. Anneka also sits on the board of directors for Tinuiti and teaches product management at Stanford University. In our conversation, we discuss:
• Navigating “founder mode” dynamics in organizations
• Navigating difficult personalities and aligning teams
• The PM skill of summarization
• Giving and receiving hard feedback effectively
• The value of a positive mindset
• Tips for breaking into product management
• Much more

—

Brought to you by:
• The Enterprise Ready Conference — For B2B leaders building enterprise SaaS: https://www.enterprise-ready.com/
• Command AI — AI-powered user assistance for modern products and impatient users: https://www.command.ai/lenny
• Eppo — Run reliable, impactful experiments: https://www.geteppo.com/

Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/be...

Where to find Anneka Gupta:
• X: https://x.com/annekagupta
• LinkedIn:   / annekagupta  

Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X:   / lennysan  
• LinkedIn:   / lennyrachitsky  

In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction to Anneka Gupta
(01:43) Key mindsets for success
(05:30) Managing energy for optimal performance
(09:05) Founder mode
(18:26) Becoming more strategic
(27:54) The importance of decision-making
(37:18) Navigating difficult personalities
(41:38) Techniques for giving and receiving feedback
(51:01) Transitioning into product management
(54:56) Advice for aspiring product managers
(59:39) Leveraging AI tools in product management
(01:01:27) The power of a positive mindset
(01:04:30) Lightning round

Referenced:
• Founder Mode: https://paulgraham.com/foundermode.html
• Building a long and meaningful career | Nikhyl Singhal (Meta, Google): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/bu...
• The Skip community:   / skip-community  
• Rubrik: https://www.rubrik.com/
• 5 essential questions to craft a winning strategy | Roger Martin (author, advisor, speaker): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/th...
• Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works: https://www.amazon.com/Playing-Win-St...
• Thinking like a gardener not a builder, organizing teams like slime mold, the adjacent possible, and other unconventional product advice | Alex Komoroske: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/un...
• Acquired podcast interviews Zuckerberg in San Francisco: https://transistor.fm/acquired-live/
• Hema Mohan on LinkedIn:   / hemamohan  
• Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity: https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Candor...
• Radical Candor: From theory to practice with author Kim Scott: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ra...
• LiveRamp: https://liveramp.com/
• Product Management class at Stanford: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/experien...
• Figma: https://www.figma.com/
• Dovetail: https://try.dovetail.com/
• The Remarkable Advantage of Abundant Thinking: https://review.firstround.com/the-rem...
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers: https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Thing-Abo...
• Brandon Sanderson’s books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Brandon...
• Fallout on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CN4HV16N
• Thunderbolt 4 ( 3-meter cable): https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MW...
• Isaac Asimov: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_A...
• The complete Foundation series: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Asimo...

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.