Lenny's Reads

If you’re a premium subscriber, add the private feed to your podcast app at add.lennysreads.comIn this episode, Amir Klein, from monday.com, shares a practical, battle-tested system for building a PM “second brain”. In this episode, Amir explains exactly how to set up a ChatGPT Project with a clear personality, feed it the messy context scattered across your tools, and then put it to work—drafting sign-up forms, spinning up prototypes, and tailoring comms for every audience.Listen now: YouTube | Apple | SpotifyIn this episode, you’ll learn:• Why context is the PM’s heaviest mental load• How to build a second brain that challenges you and mirrors your taste• The wealth of information your second brain can absorb• A simple loop to keep your second brain fresh• Three end-to-end use case examplesReferences• Amir Klein• Build your personal AI copilot• ChatGPT• Claude• Figma• Gemini• Google Docs• Lovable• monday.com• Notion• Reddit• SlackRead the newsletterhttps://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-build-your-pm-second-brainSubscribe to Lenny’s Newsletterhttps://www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribeSubscribe• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lennysreads• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lennys-reads/id1810314693• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0IIunA06qMtrcQLfypTooj• Substack: https://lennysreads.com/Follow Lenny• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/• Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@lennyspodcastAboutWelcome to Lenny's Reads, where every week you’ll find a fresh audio version of my newsletter about building product, driving growth, and accelerating your career, read to you by the soothing voice of Lennybot. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

If you’re a premium subscriber, add the private feed to your podcast app at add.lennysreads.comHow do certain early employees keep picking generational companies—again and again—before the rest of the world catches on? In this episode, we distill lessons from five such super-spotters whose resumes include Palantir, OpenAI, Facebook, Stripe, Linear, Figma, Notion, Slack, Box, Spotify, and Dropbox. You’ll learn the three rare traits they all look for, and how you can apply these signals to your own career and company-building.In this episode, you’ll learn:• How “ludicrous” ambition shows up• The underrated signs of founder greatness• How to evaluate an early product• What a “Jurassic Park” moment in startups means• How to think about risk as an early employee• Tactics to “optimize for serendipity” when breaking into rocket shipsReferences:• Alex Karp: https://x.com/PalantirTech• Bob McGrew: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobmcgrew/• Box: https://www.box.com/• Christina Cordova: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristinajcordova/• Daniel Ek: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-ek-1b52093a/• Dylan Field: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanfield/• Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/• Figma: https://www.figma.com/• Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/• Ivan Zhao: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivanhzhao/• Linear: https://linear.app/• Meter: https://www.meter.com/• Notion: https://www.notion.so/• OpenAI: https://openai.com/• Palantir: https://www.palantir.com/• Patrick Collison: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcollison/• PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/• Rasmus Andersson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rasmusandersson/• Sean Rose: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-a-rose/• Slack: https://slack.com/• Soleio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soleio/• Spotify: https://www.spotify.com/• Stewart Butterfield: https://www.linkedin.com/in/butterfield/• Stripe: https://stripe.com/• Terrence Rohan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terrencerohan/Read the newsletter:• https://open.substack.com/pub/lenny/p/how-to-spot-a-top-1-startup-earlySubscribe to Lenny’s Newsletter:• https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribeSubscribe:• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lennysreads• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lennys-reads/id1810314693• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0IIunA06qMtrcQLfypTooj• Substack: https://lennysreads.com/Follow Lenny:• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/• Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@lennyspodcastAbout:Welcome to Lenny's Reads, where every week you’ll find a fresh audio version of my newsletter about building product, driving growth, and accelerating your career, read to you by the soothing voice of Lennybot. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

AI gave everyone speed - but that same speed flooded every distribution channel. Search traffic's down, inboxes are overrun, and even virality is harder when everyone's shipping quickly.In this episode, Emily Kramer reveals the strategy behind today's breakout companies: ecosystem. Instead of going direct, win through partners, creators, communities, and integrations that already have your audience's trust. If you're still relying on the old playbook in an AI-saturated world, this episode will help you rewire your strategy.In this episode, you’ll learn:• Why classic inbound, outbound, virality, events, and lifecycle are weakening in the AI era• What an ecosystem flywheel is and how it compounds credibility and distribution• The six most common ecosystem motions• How fast-growing teams such as Supabase, Clay, Lovable, and more are using an ecosystem strategy• How to pick partners using “coverage” and “composition” instead of vanity reach• What a win-win-win relationship looks like in an ecosystem• How to start an ecosystem strategy, prove it, then expand without diluting the signalReferences:• Aaron Cort: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaroncort/• AirOps: https://www.airops.com/• Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/• Arrows: https://www.arrows.to/• Astro: https://www.astro.build/• Baseten: https://www.baseten.co/• Carta: https://carta.com/• Clay: https://www.clay.com/• Clio: https://www.clio.com/• Craft Ventures: https://www.craftventures.com/• Daniel Zarick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielzarick/• Elena Verna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elenaverna/• ElevenLabs: https://elevenlabs.io/• Emily Kramer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilykramer/• Emily Kramer's newsletter: https://newsletter.mkt1.co/• Ethan Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanls/• Gamma: https://gamma.app/• GC AI: https://gc.ai/• Graphite: https://graphite.dev/• Grant Lee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantslee/• HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/• Lenny's Product Pass: https://lennysproductpass.com/• Lovable: https://lovable.dev/• Mercury: https://mercury.com/• Midjourney: https://www.midjourney.com/• Navattic: https://www.navattic.com/• Supabase: https://supabase.com/• “The ultimate guide to AEO” Lenny’s Podcast episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT7kq-R3Gjc• Tom Orbach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomorbach/• Tracksuit: https://www.tracksuit.com/• Upstart: https://www.upstart.com/• Vanta: https://www.vanta.com/• Vercel: https://vercel.com/• Wiz: https://www.wiz.io/Read the newsletterhttps://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ecosystem-is-the-next-big-growthSubscribe to Lenny’s Newsletterhttps://www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribeSubscribe• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lennysreads• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lennys-reads/id1810314693• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0IIunA06qMtrcQLfypTooj• Substack: https://lennysreads.com/Follow Lenny• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/• Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@lennyspodcastAboutWelcome to Lenny's Reads, where every week you’ll find a fresh audio version of my newsletter about building product, driving growth, and accelerating your career, read to you by the soothing voice of Lennybot. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

If you’re a premium subscriber, add the private feed to your podcast app at add.lennysreads.comYour product builder’s starter pack keeps getting better. In this episode, we continue the guide to getting maximum value from the Product Pass, with seven tools that have reshaped how I prototype, research, take notes, manage email, and move faster every single day.There’s also a new perk for Insiders: 40% off Stripe Atlas to go from idea to incorporated startup without the tax/legal slog.In this episode, you’ll learn• Why Lovable has become my go-to for vibe-coding apps and prototypes• How Bolt plugs into frontier coding agents so you can keep your favorite setup and still ship fast• How Granola quietly captures meetings from your device audio and turns notes into shareable, searchable summaries• What makes ChatPRD a PM-native copilot for specs, templates, and Linear workflows• Five Superhuman power moves beyond inbox zero• Everyday Raycast workflows that make it an instant Spotlight replacement• Why Perplexity’s Comet browser became my default for deep research and agentic browsing• Plus a bunch of practical examples that you can copyReferences:• Anton Osika: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonosika/• Bolt: https://bolt.new/• “Building Lovable” podcast episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZtGxNs9AVg• ChatGPT: https://openai.com/• ChatPRD: https://www.chatprd.ai/lenny• Claire Vo: https://clairevo.com/• Claude Code: https://www.claude.com/product/claude-code• Comet: https://www.perplexity.ai/comet• Cursor: https://cursor.com/• Eric Simons: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-simons-a464a664/• Gamma: https://gamma.app/• GitHub: https://github.com/• Granola: https://www.granola.ai/• “Inside Bolt” podcast episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L22DtAHLmzs• Intercom: https://www.intercom.com/• Linear: https://linear.app/• Lovable: https://lovable.dev/• Magic Patterns: https://www.magicpatterns.com/• Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai/• Rahul Vohra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulvohra/• Raycast: https://www.raycast.com/• Stripe Atlas: https://stripe.com/atlas• Superhuman: https://superhuman.com/• “Superhuman’s secret to success” podcast episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0igjSRZyX-w• Tailor Labs: https://www.tailoredlabsai.com/• Read the newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/part-2-of-how-to-get-the-most-outSubscribe• Lenny’s Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lennysreads• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lennys-reads/id1810314693• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0IIunA06qMtrcQLfypTooj• Substack: https://lennysreads.com/Follow Lenny• X/Twitter: https://x.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/• Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@lennyspodcastAboutWelcome to Lenny's Reads, where every week you’ll find a fresh audio version of my newsletter about building product, driving growth, and accelerating your career, read to you by the soothing voice of Lennybot. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

If you’re a premium subscriber, add the private feed to your podcast app at add.lennysreads.comIf you’re trying to feel better, build longer, and avoid quietly poisoning yourself along the way, this episode’s for you.After a run of injuries, weird labs, and a “half-man/half-plastic” toxin screen, I went deep on cleaning up my life. Enter: Justin Mares, founder/operator (Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, Surely, Truemed), and meticulous health nerd who has spent hundreds of hours testing what’s actually worth buying.In this episode, we walk through Justin’s guide for safer, higher-quality living so you can stay healthy, perform your best, and continue to build amazing products.In this episode, you’ll learn:• The 80/20 of great sleep (and why temperature control and magnesium often matter most)• What to wear (and avoid) to reduce PFAS, phthalates, and dye exposure on skin• A sourcing playbook for nutrient-dense, low-toxin food• Supplements that you actually need and why• Practical toxin-mitigation at home: air, water, lighting, EMFs, kitchens, and cleaning• Low-effort swaps for everyday products (deodorant, soaps, skincare, blue-light blockers)References:• Andrew Huberman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-huberman/• Bryan Johnson: https://x.com/bryan_johnson• Chemicals in Textiles: https://www.kemi.se/en/publications/reports/2014/report-6-14-chemicals-in-textiles• How to Prevent & Treat Colds & Flu: https://www.hubermanlab.com/episode/how-to-prevent-treat-colds-flu• Justin Mares: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinmares/• Levels: https://www.levelshealth.com/• Rhonda Patrick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickrhonda/• Surely: https://drinksurely.com/• The Great American Poisoning: https://justinmares.substack.com/p/the-great-american-poisoning• Tim Ferriss: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timferriss/• Truemed: https://www.truemed.com/• What are EMFs?: https://andybromberg.com/rational-guide-to-emfsSleep:• Avocado mattress: https://www.avocadogreenmattress.com/• Coyuchi sheets: https://www.coyuchi.com/collections/sheet-sets• Eight Sleep: https://www.eightsleep.com/• Essentia mattress: https://myessentia.com/• Hästens: https://hastens.com/us/• Naturepedic mattress: https://www.naturepedic.com/• Woolshire pillow: https://thewoolshire.com/products/wool-pillowClothing:• Caraway: https://www.carawayhome.com/• Faherty: https://fahertybrand.com/• Industry of All Nations: https://industryofallnations.com/collections/underwear• Nads: https://nadsunder.com/• Pact: https://wearpact.com/• Paka: https://www.pakaapparel.com/• Wax London: https://waxlondon.com/collections/organic-cottonFood:• Beeswax wraps: https://www.amazon.com/Bees-Wrap-Assorted-Sustainable-Alternative/dp/B0126LMDFK• Force of Nature beef: https://forceofnature.com/products/regenerative-beef-ancestral-blend• Groundwork coffee: https://www.groundworkcoffee.com/collections/regenerative-organic-certified• Jacob protein bar: https://eatjacob.com/• Kettle & Fire bone broth: http://kettleandfire.com/• Maui Nui meat sticks: https://mauinuivenison.com/products/snack-membership• Maui Nui Organ Blend: https://mauinuivenison.com/products/organ-blend-supplement• Radius: https://www.eatradius.com/• White Oak Pastures meats: https://whiteoakpastures.com/Supplements:• AHCC: https://www.amazon.com/Premium-Kinoko-Platinum-AHCC-Supplement/dp/B00HG0YZMG/ref=sr_1_6_pp• Astaxanthin: https://www.amazon.com/Pure-Synergy-SuperPure%C2%AE-Astaxanthin-Antioxidant/dp/B07KX3NZJ5/• Equip protein: https://equipfoods.com/• Lineage: https://lineageprovisions.com/products/creatine-monohydrate• Momentous creatine: https://www.livemomentous.com/products/creatine-monohydrate• Momentous magnesium L-threonate: https://www.livemomentous.com/products/magnesium-threonate• Orgain: https://www.orgain.com/• Perfect Keto: https://shop.perfectketo.com/products/grass-fed-collagen-with-mct• Thorne B complex: https://www.amazon.com/Thorne-Methyl-Guard-Plus-methylation-homocysteine/dp/B00O5AHC4S/• Toku: https://tokuhealth.com/• Viraldine: https://www.amazon.com/VIRALDINE-Povidone-Iodine-Designed-Congestion-applications/dp/B0CTWWS1DKToxin mitigation:• Aquasana: https://www.aquasana.com/• Circadian bulbs: https://thehealthyhome.shop/collections/lights• Inuspheresis: https://www.inuspheresis.com/• Jaspr: https://jaspr.co/• Lightwork: https://lightworkhome.com/• Ophora: https://www.ophorawater.com/whole-home/• PowerScale: https://www.amazon.com/Powerscale-Generator-Vegetable-Multipurpose-Pesticides/dp/B0D8DM18HV/ref=sr_1_17• Proxima: https://www.proxima.health/• PuroAir: https://getpuroair.com/?utm_source=shop_truemed• Renovera: https://www.amazon.com/Renovera-Vegetable-Infant-Friendly-Powdered-Produce/dp/B07R3W8H41/• Rorra: https://rorra.com/products/countertop-system?utm_source=shop_truemed• Smart plug: https://www.amazon.com/Govee-WiFi-Outlet/dp/B08731J1L4/ref=sr_1_6• Teakhaus: https://teakhaus.com/collections/cutting-boardsEveryday items:• Alitura Meteorite scrub: https://alitura.com/collections/skincare/products/the-meteorite-facial-scrub?selling_plan=4148527355• Alitura Pearl cleanser: https://alitura.com/collections/skincare/products/alitura-pearl-cleanser• Branch Basics: https://branchbasics.com/• Chroma blue-light glasses: https://getchroma.co/collections/blue-light-blocking-glasses• Dr Bronner's soaps: https://www.drbronner.com/• Kari Gran sunscreen: https://karigran.com/products/essential-spf• Mirror Skin serum: https://mymirrorskin.com/• Native deodorant: https://www.nativecos.com/• Primally Pure deodorant: https://primallypure.com/collections/deodorant• Ra Optics blue-light glasses: https://raoptics.com/• Shwally tallow balm: https://www.shwallyhome.com/collections/our-balms/products/shwally-face-and-body-balm• Read the newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/a-builders-guide-to-living-a-long: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/a-builders-guide-to-living-a-longSubscribe• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lennysreads• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lennys-reads/id1810314693• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0IIunA06qMtrcQLfypTooj• Substack: https://lennysreads.com/Follow Lenny• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/• Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@lennyspodcastAboutWelcome to Lenny's Reads, where every week you’ll find a fresh audio version of my newsletter about building product, driving growth, and accelerating your career, read to you by the soothing voice of Lennybot. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com