Connecting the dots
Every role shaped how I think about building. I started at Pixar building physics simulations, then spent a decade as an operator at startups from pre-launch to public — Zynga, Runkeeper, Instacart, Slack. I ran product education at Reforge for tens of thousands of PMs. Now I invest at the earliest stage through a16z speedrun, connecting the dots across all of it.
What I invest in
People first. I look for founders with some track record of excellence — people who've done interesting, special things and have that quality of being unstoppable. The idea matters, but the founder matters more.
Most of the companies I work with are B2B and almost all are AI-native — not AI as a feature, but AI enabling a new class of company that couldn't have existed before. Small teams, capital efficient, building where AI fundamentally changes the cost structure.
Writing & teaching
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Product Strategy
The course I built with Casey Winters at Reforge. Tens of thousands of PMs have taken it.
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Unsolicited Feedback
Weekly podcast with Brian Balfour. We say what we actually think.
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Lenny's Podcast
On building trust, the four types of product work, and avoiding the manager death spiral.
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Crossing the Canyon
The hardest career transition in product — and how to survive it.
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14 Big Ideas for 2026
What we're watching and what we think is coming next.
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Advice for the Next Generation of Startup Founders
What we tell every founder who comes through speedrun.
Lovingly crafted with Claude Code.