This article was written by Ken Leaver who comes from a product & commercial background. He has founded multiple companies and held senior product positions at SEA tech companies like Lazada and Pomelo Fashion.
Ken runs his own agency that helps early stage companies execute faster and cheaper. Check out his linkedin at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenleaver/
Guest Author: Ken Leaver
Podcasts have helped pull Silicon Valley down off their pedestal
So this was a topic I was chatting with a friend about recently and I thought it was worth sharing the thought.
I watch Lenny’s Podcast pretty religiously for well over a year now. Perhaps even closer to 2-3 years. And I really love it.
He interviews product and tech leaders from some of the world’s most renowned tech companies. Particulary from the Silicon Valley area as that is where he is located and has a strong network.
And you absolutely learn a ton from watching these interviews. You learn how other product leaders think, what problems they are facing, how they are organized, etc.
But also one of the biggest things i’ve walked away with is how they are more or less doing the same stuff.
It’s not like watching Michael Jordan sail through the air and dunk a ball and thinking “wow… that is amazing. I could never do that.”
Rather it’s more like… “Ok.. I see what they’re doing. They’re a little bit different, but not much.”
And I actually think this has helped change the way people view ‘Silicon Valley’.
Whereas years before you used to think of it as this kind of holy land where they had the best people and the best tricks of the trade…
… now if you’re a PM in SE Asia working for some tech startup you’re probably just as likely to think “Oh ok… that’s all they got. I can play at that level.”
