Faire

Brought to You By: • Statsig — ⁠ The unified platform for flags, analytics, experiments, and more. • Sonar – The makers of SonarQube, the industry standard for automated code review • WorkOS – Everything you need to make your app enterprise ready. — Thuan Pham was Uber's first and longest-serving CTO, and today he’s the CTO of Faire, a B2B wholesale platform. Back when Thuan joined Uber, it had around 40 engineers and 30,000 rides per day, and the system crashed multiple times a week. Over seven years, he helped rebuild the system, move it from a monolith to microservices, and scaled the engineering organization behind it. I had the privilege of working with Thuan for four of those seven years. Later, the very first issue of The Pragmatic Engineer newsletter was a deepdive into Uber’s Program and Platform split. This episode of the podcast contains a nice “full circle” moment, where Thuan shares even more details about why Uber chose to embrace that structure. We discuss what it takes to operate and build in that kind of environment. Thuan explains how he divided his time at Uber into three “tours of duty,” from stabilizing a fragile system, to re-architecting it, and scaling the org. We go deep into the platform-and-program split, the Helix app rewrite, and what it took to launch Uber in China in just five months (the original estimate was 18 months). We also cover Uber’s in-house tools and explain why they were necessary to support rapid growth. Finally, we discuss his role today as CTO of Faire, how the company is using AI, and how he sees AI changing software engineering. — Timestamps (00:00) Intro (05:32) Getting into tech (16:09) The dot-com bust (20:42) VMware (26:29) Getting hired by Travis at Uber (33:22) Early days at Uber and scaling challenges (40:57) Uber’s China launch (47:12) The platform and program split (50:26) From monolith to microservices  (53:38) Internal tools at Uber  (57:05) Helix: Uber’s mobile app rewrite (59:55) Thuan’s email about naming (1:02:03) Org structure changes under (1:06:34) Thuan’s work philosophy  (1:12:23) The “three tours of duty” at Uber (1:15:37) Why Thuan left Uber  (1:17:34) Coupang and Nubank (1:21:59) Faire (1:25:31) How Faire uses AI (1:28:24) AI’s impact on software engineering  (1:31:09) The role of the CTO  (1:35:13) Career advice — The Pragmatic Engineer deepdives relevant for this episode: • How Uber uses AI for development: inside look • The Platform and Program split at Uber • How Uber is measuring engineering productivity • Inside Uber’s move to the cloud • Uber's crazy YOLO app rewrite, from the front seat • How Uber built its observability platform • Developer experience at Uber with Gautam Korlam • Uber’s engineering level changes — Production and marketing by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://penname.co/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@pragmaticengineer.com. Get full access to The Pragmatic Engineer at newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/subscribe

Thuan Pham

CTO

Faire

Ami Vora is the Chief Product Officer of Faire, which connects independent retailers and brands around the world. Before Faire, Ami spent over 15 years at Meta, including as VP of Product and Design for WhatsApp (2B+ users), VP of Product for Facebook’s ads system (now $130B of annual revenue), and director at Instagram. She began her career working on developer tools at Microsoft. In our conversation, we discuss: • Why execution eats strategy for breakfast • Using metaphor to rally teams around one shared goal • How to build cross-functional relationships • “Dinosaur brain,” “Toddler soccer,” and the “hill climbing” metaphors • A tactic for handling disagreement • Tips for working well with product-minded founders as a product leader • The story of Ami’s incredible 15-year journey from temp to VP at Meta • Much more — Brought to you by: • Sidebar—Accelerate your career by surrounding yourself with extraordinary peers. • Anvil—The fastest way to build software for documents. • User Testing—Human understanding. Human experiences. — Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/authenticity-and-curiosity-ami-vora — Where to find Ami Vora: • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amvora/ • Substack: https://amivora.substack.com/ — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • X: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ — In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Ami’s background (02:00) The myth of perfection in success (07:55) Emotionally connecting with the job (09:55) Embracing curiosity in moments of challenge (13:16) Thinking in feedback loops (17:17) The “dinosaur brain” metaphor in product reviews (20:20) Strategies for conducting effective product reviews (26:33) Using metaphors and imagery to communicate your vision (29:35) The power of having a shared narrative (31:55) WhatsApp: an example of metaphor in action (34:44) Emulating people that inspire you (36:19) WhatsApp video calling (37:35) Why execution is greater than strategy (41:36) Time allotment for strategy vs. execution (45:10) How to become a better strategic thinker (47:59) The intricacies of implementing feedback (51:53) Being a female leader in tech (55:13) Advice for young women in tech (56:07) Setting goals and aligning incentives (01:01:40) Acknowledging hard truths (01:05:46) Lessons from transitioning to Faire (01:08:40) The importance of a good CPO/CEO relationship (01:11:17) Vetting heads of product and maintaining customer focus (01:12:40) How Ami went from intern to leading major products at Meta (01:14:53) The one thing you should do to be successful in product (01:17:25) Lightning round — Referenced: • Faire: https://www.faire.com/ • Making Meta | Andrew “Boz” Bosworth (CTO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/making-meta-andrew-boz-bosworth-cto •  Community Wisdom: AMA with Dan Hockenmaier + Facilitating a roadmap session, structuring product teams, navigating an acquisition, companies not needing PMs anymore, and much more: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/making-meta-andrew-boz-bosworth-cto • Developing a growth model + marketplace growth strategy | Dan Hockenmaier (Faire, Thumbtack, Reforge): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/developing-a-growth-model-marketplace • Dan Hockenmaier’s website: https://www.danhock.com/ • On Reviews: https://boz.com/articles/reviews • Finding a global optimum always feels like a hill climb: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/amvora_finding-a-global-optimum-always-feels-like-activity-7074776143882588161-jhyy/ • Dolores Park: https://sfrecpark.org/892/Mission-Dolores-Park • Rob Goldman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robgoldman/ • Execution eats strategy for breakfast, but execution without strategy leads to burnout: https://rationalpm.substack.com/p/execution-eats-strategy-for-breakfast • The goal of a “strategy” is to change our own team’s behavior: https://amivora.substack.com/p/the-goal-of-a-strategy-is-to-change • The paths to power: How to grow your influence and advance your career | Jeffrey Pfeffer (author of 7 Rules of Power, professor at Stanford GSB): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-paths-to-power-jeffrey-pfeffer • Path to Power course outline: https://jeffreypfeffer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Pfeffer-OB377-Course-Outline-2018.pdf • Management Time: Who’s Got the Monkey?: https://hbr.org/1999/11/management-time-whos-got-the-monkey • Max Rhodes on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/max-rhodes/ • Coupa Coffee: https://www.coupacafe.com/ • Brandee Barker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandeedbarker/ • Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person: https://www.amazon.com/Year-Yes-Dance-Stand-Person/dp/1476777128  • How to tell better stories | Matthew Dicks (Storyworthy): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-tell-better-stories-matthew-dicks-storyworthy/ • A life of yes: Matthew Dicks at TEDxSomerville: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3TaQFcaMk4 • The Office on Peacock: https://www.peacocktv.com/stream-tv/the-office • 30 Rock on Peacock: https://www.peacocktv.com/watch-online/tv/30-rock/6240863759978157112 • Dall-E-2: https://openai.com/index/dall-e-2/ • ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com • Fellow kettles: https://fellowproducts.com/products/stagg-ekg-electric-pour-over-kettle • TikTok’s “Roman Empire” Meme, Explained: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2023/09/21/tiktoks-roman-empire-meme-explained/ — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. — Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Ami Vora

Chief Product Officer

Faire

Small, independent store owners have been perpetually hit by waves of disruption: from malls to big box stores to e-commerce giants. But Max Rhodes, co-founder and CEO of the $12 billion online wholesale marketplace Faire, argues that Main Street retailers are actually better positioned right now to navigate today’s stormy shopping landscape than the competition. Max digs into how Faire is using technology and data to help stores maximize their advantages — nimbleness, adaptability, and smaller inventories — and combine them with the scale benefits enjoyed by the likes of Amazon and Target. Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.com Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Max Rhodes

Co-Founder and CEO

Faire

Dan Hockenmaier is an expert on marketplace strategy and growth. He was previously the Director of Growth at Thumbtack as well as a partner at Reforge, where he co-created the monetization track. Currently, he is the Head of Strategy and Analytics at Faire. In today’s episode, Dan shares the building blocks of a growth model, important considerations when building your growth model, and how to get started. We also chat about retention best practices, the complexity of building a marketplace, the future of marketplaces, and when it makes sense to add a SaaS business to a marketplace, and vice versa. — Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/developing-a-growth-model-marketplace — Where to find Dan Hockenmaier: • Twitter: https://twitter.com/danhockenmaier • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-hock/ • Website: https://www.danhock.com/ — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ — Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible: • Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/ • Flatfile: https://www.flatfile.com/lenny • Eppo: https://www.geteppo.com/ — Referenced: • Reforge: https://www.reforge.com/ • Casey Winters on Lenny’s Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-sell-your-ideas-and-rise-within-your-company • Faire: https://www.faire.com/ • Dan’s blog post on the future of marketplaces: https://www.danhock.com/posts/the-future-of-marketplaces • Careers at Faire: https://www.faire.com/careers — In this episode, we cover: (00:43) Dan’s background (04:01) What is a growth model? (07:20) The building blocks of a growth model for your own business (10:22) The value in building your own model (11:12) The importance of retention over growth  (14:49) Getting started building your model (19:18) The growth model at Thumbtack (20:36) The importance of the early user experience for retention (25:02) Why is a marketplace a good business? (28:23) Health metrics for marketplaces (33:47) Supply and demand, and why you shouldn’t neglect demand (36:23) The role of ROI equations and how to use them (39:16) Why you should tread lightly when working with marketplaces (42:43) Expanding marketplaces (46:50) How marketplaces can add a SaaS offering, and why adding a marketplace to a SaaS business is trickier (49:47) When is there an opportunity to unbundle? (54:43) B2B marketplaces  (56:36) What is fragmentation? (58:46) The future of marketplaces — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Dan Hockenmaier

Head of Strategy and Analytics

Faire

Max Rhodes is the Co-Founder and CEO @ Faire, the online marketplace where retailers discover their next bestsellers from independent brands across the globe. To date, Max has raised over $1.1BN with Faire from some of the best including Sequoia, Founders Fund, DST, Forerunner, Lightspeed and many more. Prior to starting Faire, Max spent close to 5 years at Square in numerous different roles including Director of Consumer Product at Caviar. In Today's Episode with Max Rhodes You Will Learn: 1.) The Founding Story: How Max made his way into the world of startups with his joining an early Square team? How did his 5 years at Square impact how he approaches company building with Faire? How did Square's approach to product and mission impact Max's thinking? 2.) How To Hire Effectively: How does Max construct the hiring process? Where do many founders make mistakes? What does Max mean by "deep behavioural interview"? What questions does he ask? What are the signals of 10/10 candidates? What are red flags he looks for? How does Max determine capability? What literal tests can be done to test for this? 3.) How To Reference People: How does Max approach the referencing process when hiring people? How does Max make the other side feel comfortable, so they will open up and share everything? What have been some of Max's biggest lessons on what it takes to do referencing well? Where do many make mistakes with referencing? How does Max use an "out of 10" system to determine the quality of the candidate? 4.) How to Strategise: How does Max use strategy docs to orient the direction of the company? How often does Max write them? How long do they take to write? What are the core components of the strategy docs? Who else is involved in their writing? Once written, what is the right format to discuss with the team? How does Max approach how rigid he is to the strategies outlined? How does he determine whether he should change strategy or stick to plan? Item's Mentioned In Today's Episode with Max Rhodes Max's Favourite Book: Good Strategy Bad Strategy, Who: The A Method for Hiring

Max Rhodes

Co-Founder and CEO

Faire