Linktree

Jiaona "JZ" Zhang is the Chief Product Officer at Linktree, the world's leading link-in-bio platform empowering 45M+ creators, brands and SMBs. JZ joined Linktree from Webflow, where she served as SVP of Product. Before that, she spent four years at Airbnb where she built and led numerous teams on the host side. JZ's also held leadership roles at the likes of Wework, Dropbox and teaches at Stanford University and Reforge. In Today's Episode with Jiaona Zhang We Discuss: Entry into the World of Product How did JZ first fall in love with product? Why does JZ believe the best PMs have experience in the gaming industry? Does JZ think Linktree could be a $100BN business? How could Linktree become a $100BN business? Mastering Product Metrics Why does JZ think product is the most chameleon role? Where does product start & end? Why does JZ think every function should have tension with product? What is a KPI tree? How does JZ branch business & product metrics? When does JZ think startups should set up a metric infrastructure? What are the three levers of product? How does JZ determine which ones to trade off? How to Run Product: Planning, Strategy, & Rituals Why does JZ think planning should not exist? What are strategy and rituals? When should founders do either? What are JZ's three core rituals? What is the scorecard method? How do they help team transparency? What are product jams? When does it work? When does it not work? Product Career Advice When does JZ think founders hire a product person? What are the most common mistakes early stage founders make when hiring for product? Does JZ think domain expertise is important? What does she look for in product hires? What is JZ's advice to PMs who want to get promoted today? What is JZ's advice to young people who want to get into product?

Jiaona Zhang

SVP of Product

WebflowLinktree

Brought to you by Brave Search API—An independent, global search index you can use to power your search or AI app | Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life | Superhuman—The fastest email experience ever made — Jiaona Zhang (JZ) is a product leader with a strong background in consumer products and extensive hiring and management experience. She is currently SVP of Product at Webflow as well as a lecturer at Stanford, where she teaches a graduate-level course on product management. Before Webflow, JZ was Head of Product for the Homes Platform at Airbnb and has also led product teams at Airbnb, WeWork, and Dropbox. In today’s episode, we discuss: • Building a “minimum lovable product” rather than a minimum viable product • How to create better roadmaps through storytelling • Top lessons from Dropbox, Airbnb, WeWork, and Webflow • The importance of setting ambitious OKRs • JZ’s first 90 days playbook: how to succeed in a new role • Advice for early-career PMs — Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-minimum-lovable-products — Where to find Jiaona Zhang: • Reforge: https://www.reforge.com/managing-your-pm-career • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jiaona/ • Website: https://www.jiaonazhang.com/ — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ — In this episode, we cover: (00:00) JZ’s background (04:22) Common mistakes new PMs make (06:44) Why Airbnb Plus didn’t work out, and takeaways from that experience (10:51) Executing big dreams step-by-step (13:45) The right way to push back against founders (16:54) Minimum lovable product vs. minimum viable product (20:53) What makes a product lovable (22:20) Advice on roadmapping and prioritization (28:04) Tips for new PMs to accelerate their career (29:16) JZ’s top skills and how they have evolved over her career (31:37) Designing crisp OKRs (36:09) Lessons from WeWork (43:01) Winning the first 90 days at a new company (48:34) Why trust is crucial (51:48) High-level lessons from Dropbox, Airbnb, WeWork, and Webflow (56:38) The one piece of advice that transformed JZ’s career (58:39) Lightning round — Referenced: • Mike Lewis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikelewis/ • “What working at Figma taught me about customer obsession,” VP of Product Sho Kuwamoto: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/what-working-at-figma-taught-me-about • WeWork: https://www.wework.com/ • WeCrashed on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/wecrashed/umc.cmc.6qw605uv2rwbzutk2p2fsgvq9 • Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days: https://www.amazon.com/Sprint-Solve-Problems-Test-Ideas/dp/150112174X • The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Manager-What-Everyone-Looks/dp/0735219567 • Tress of the Emerald Sea: A Cosmere Novel: https://www.amazon.com/Tress-Emerald-Sea-Brandon-Sanderson/dp/1250899656/ • Arcane on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81435684 • Snoo: https://www.happiestbaby.com/ • Midjourney: https://www.midjourney.com/ — 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

Jiaona Zhang

SVP of Product

WebflowLinktree