Succeeding as an introvert, building zero-to-one, and why you should PM your career like you PM your product | Deb Liu (CEO of Ancestry, ex-Facebook, PayPal, eBay)

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Lenny Rachitsky

Technology, Business, Entrepreneurship

5 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 22 August 2024

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Deb Liu is the CEO of Ancestry and former longtime VP of Product at Facebook. At Facebook, Deb led the creation of Facebook Marketplace, developed the first mobile ad product for apps, built the company’s games business, and launched Facebook Pay. She’s also held leadership roles at PayPal and eBay, serves on the board of Intuit, and is the author of Take Back Your Power. In our conversation, we discuss:

• Why you should PM your career like you PM your product

• Strategies for incubating new products within large companies

• Creating a successful 30-60-90-day plan when starting a new job

• The pitfalls of perfectionism

• The challenges introverts face in the workplace and how to overcome them

• The value of resilience and turning failures into stepping stones

• How to leverage coaching in your career development

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Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/succeeding-as-an-introvert-deb-liu

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Where to find Deb Liu:

• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@debliu

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahliu

• Substack: https://debliu.substack.com/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Introduction to Deb Liu

(02:18) Deb’s career journey and key advice

(09:45) Navigating new roles and challenges

(11:27) Overcoming adversity and failure

(15:07) Building billion-dollar businesses at Facebook

(19:33) Strategies for zero-to-one innovation

(23:40) PM your career like a product

(33:53) Challenges and strategies for introverts in business

(39:19) Reframing self-promotion

(42:25) The power of accountability

(46:15) Growth: a game of inches

(50:52) The 30-60-90-day plan

(56:52) Contrarian corner: career and marriage

(58:57) Final nuggets of wisdom

(01:03:09) How to find a coach

(01:04:47) Lightning round

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're a VP of product at Facebook, you're a director at eBay and PayPal. You're on the board of
0:04.6	into it. You've been the sea of ancestry now for the past three and a half years.
0:08.8	This is a career path that a lot of people dream of.
0:11.1	You know, some of the best PMs I have ever worked with are terrible p.
0:15.2	They just drift from job to job. Hey should I take this role or this fall like how do I
0:19.2	think about this? But if I said you had to write a spec for your fear what
0:22.0	a success look like?
0:23.0	How are you going to get there?
0:24.2	You're with this awesome post about introverts
0:26.1	and how hard it is to be successful as an introvert.
0:28.6	The workplace is really favored people who can speak up.
0:31.8	It looks like self-promotion. I wouldn't want to do that because it's
0:34.4	self-promotion. But instead, what if I called it educating about all the great work your team has been doing? Helping people see why your
0:41.7	team should get more resources. You have to actually
0:44.2	share what you do. Is there something that you believe that you think most other
0:47.9	people don't believe? The most important career decision you make is who you
0:51.1	marry. Is this person lifting you up or pushing you back?
0:54.1	You will have a much more successful career if your home life is in balance.
0:57.8	It's like a yin and a yang. Today my guest is Deb Lou.
1:05.0	Deb was VP of product at Facebook where she spent over 11 years and while they're created and led Facebook
1:11.0	Facebook Marketplace which is now used by every 1 billion people monthly.
1:14.4	She also led the development of Facebook's first mobile ad product for apps and its mobile ad network.
	...

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