AI is a crystal ball into your codebase
Ryan is joined by Kayvon Beykpour, CEO and founder of Microscope, to dive into AI-powered code review’s potential for managing large codebases, the need for humans-in-the-loop for reviewing PRs so AI tools can efficiently and effectively debug, and how AI can increase visibility through summarization at the abstract syntax tree level and high signal-to-noise ratio code reviews.
Episode notes:
Macroscope helps you understand your code through AI-powered code review, automated PR descriptions, and real-time status reports
Connect with Kayvon on Twitter and LinkedIn.
This week’s shoutout goes to user Jesper Grann Laursen for winning a Populist badge on their answer to Exclude Table during pg_restore.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Twitter’s former Head of Product opens up: being fired, meeting Elon, changing stagnant culture, building consumer product, more | Kayvon Beykpour
Kayvon Beykpour was the longest-serving head of product at Twitter and was GM of Twitter’s consumer division until the platform was acquired by Elon Musk. He originally joined Twitter in 2015 through the acquisition of his company, Periscope, the largest live video streaming platform at the time. Periscope pioneered technology that inspired Instagram Live, TikTok Live, Facebook Live, and other social networks’ expansion into video streaming. In our conversation, we discuss:
• The story of being let go from Twitter after Elon’s acquisition
• How he turned Twitter’s stagnant culture around
• Kayvon’s thoughts on the limitations of frameworks like Jobs to Be Done
• Why Periscope failed
• Advice for building consumer products
• When to copy, when to innovate
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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/twitters-former-head-of-product-kayvon-beykpour
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Where to find Kayvon Beykpour:
• X: https://twitter.com/kayvz
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayvz/
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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) Kayvon’s background
(04:31) Getting Elon up to speed at Twitter
(11:34) The story of being let go from Twitter after Elon’s acquisition
(21:09) Changing the product culture at Twitter
(29:44) Building the “hide replies” feature
(32:02) Sacred crows, taking bold bets, and reigniting growth
(34:28) Aquihires and their impact
(42:40) Tips for successful acquisitions and staffing
(47:00) The limitations of frameworks like JTBD
(53:20) Signs you’ve gone too far with a framework
(57:44) Lessons from building Periscope
(01:00:41) Reasons why Periscope failed
(01:07:24) The challenges of implementing video at Twitter
(01:12:05) Copying ideas in good taste
(01:17:58) How to get better at building consumer products
(01:19:51) What Kayvon is building
(01:20:31) Lightning round
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Referenced:
• Lessons on building product sense, navigating AI, optimizing the first mile, and making it through the messy middle | Scott Belsky (Adobe, Behance): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/lessons-on-building-product-sense-navigating-ai-optimizing-the-first-mile-and-making-it-through-t/
• What it’s like to sell your startup for ~$120 million before it’s even launched: Meet Twitter’s new prized possession, Periscope: https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-periscope-and-why-twitter-bought-it-2015-3
• Walter Isaacson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walter-isaacson-b8b81520/
• Elon Musk on X: https://twitter.com/elonmusk
• Parag Agrawal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parag-agrawal-5a14742a/
• Jack Dorsey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-dorsey-a43b07242/
• Blackboard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackboard_Inc.
• Keith Coleman on X: https://twitter.com/kcoleman
• Esther Crawford on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esthercrawford/
• Twitter acquires Chroma Labs: https://tech.hindustantimes.com/tech/news/twitter-acquires-chroma-labs-story-aqvcRPAoYXqXJuAbefA6cN.html
• John Barnett on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbarnettt/
• Jobs to Be Done framework: https://jobs-to-be-done.com/jobs-to-be-done-a-framework-for-customer-needs-c883cbf61c90
• Hot takes and techno-optimism from tech’s top power couple: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/hot-takes-and-techno-optimism-from-techs-top-power-couple-sriram-and-aarthi/
• Nike Is Unveiling the Kobe 11 Tomorrow Using Periscope: https://sneakernews.com/2015/12/13/nike-is-unveiling-the-kobe-11-tomorrow-using-periscope/
• Chris Sacca’s website: https://chrissacca.com/
• Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/formedia/tools/facebook-live
• Kevin Hart on X: https://twitter.com/KevinHart4real
• Clubhouse: https://www.clubhouse.com/
• Vine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vine_(service)
• Paul Davison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davison/
• Rohan Seth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohanseth/
• Cryptonomicon: https://www.amazon.com/Cryptonomicon-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0380788624
• Reamde: https://www.amazon.com/Reamde-Novel-Neal-Stephenson-ebook/dp/B004XVN0WW
• The Name of the Wind: https://www.amazon.com/Name-Wind-Kingkiller-Chronicle-Book-ebook/dp/B0010SKUYM
• Star Trek official site: https://www.startrek.com/
• Dune: part 2: https://www.dunemovie.com/
• Oppenheimer on Peacock: https://www.peacocktv.com/stream-movies/oppenheimer
• Tokyo Vice on Max: https://www.max.com/shows/tokyo-vice/e7d93204-7f98-4e62-ab52-6c1da053f942
• Devs on Hulu: https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/devs
• Nick Offerman on X: https://twitter.com/nick_offerman
• 3 Body Problem on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81024821
• Perplexity AI: https://www.perplexity.ai/
• Particle: https://www.particle.news/
• Crokinole board game: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/521/crokinole
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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.
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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
20 Product: The Ultimate Guide to Product Reviews: What Makes the Best vs the Worst | How Often Should They Be | Who Should Be Invited | Who Sets The Agenda | How to do Follow-Ups Post Product Reviews
Scott Belsky is an entrepreneur, master of product reviews, author, investor, and currently serves as Adobe's Chief Product Officer and Executive Vice President, Creative Cloud.
Tony Fadell, often referred to as the father of the iPod is one of the leading product thinkers of the last 30 years as one of the makers of some of the most game-changing products in society from the iPhone and iPod to more recently founding Nest.
Lenny Rachitsky is one of the OGs of product, having spent over 7 years at Airbnb as a product lead he left to start his newsletter, find it here.
Kayvon Beykpour is one of the most prominent product leaders of the last decade. For the last 7 years, Kayvon has been at Twitter where he led all of the teams across Product, Engineering, Design, Research and Customer Service & Operations.
Aparna Chennapragada is Chief Product Officer @ Robinhood, the company revolutionising consumer finance with commission-free investing.
In Today's Episode Breaking Down Product Reviews We Discuss:
1.) What makes a truly great product review?
2.) What are the biggest mistakes that product leaders make when leading product reviews?
3.) Who should be invited to the product review? How does this change with scale? How does this change in a world of remote work and Zoom?
4.) Who should set the agenda for the product review?
5.) How can leaders assign accountability and ensure that the follow-ups from product reviews are executed on?
6.) How can leaders ensure that they do not dominate product reviews with the weight of their words? How can they give designers and devs the space to share their thoughts without being judged?
20 Product: Twitter's Former Head of Product, Kayvon Beykpour on How to Structure and Manage the Best Product Reviews, The Core Set of Questions to Ask All Potential Product Hires and When To Continue vs Quit on New Products
Kayvon Beykpour is one of the most prominent product leaders of the last decade. For the last 7 years, Kayvon has been at Twitter where he led all of the teams across Product, Engineering, Design, Research and Customer Service & Operations. Kayvon came to Twitter through Periscope, the live broadcasting app that raised from GV, Bessemer, Scott Belsky and was ultimately acquired by Twitter in 2015. If that was not enough, Kayvon is also an active angel investor today.
In Today's Episode with Kayvon Beykpour You Will Learn:
1.) Entry into Product:
How did Kayvon make his way into the world of tech and come to be Head of Consumer Product @ Twitter?
What were some of Kayvon's biggest lessons from the journey with Periscope?
What were some of Kayvon's biggest takeaways from working closely with Scott Belsky?
2.) Building Your Product Team:
How does Kayvon advise on your first product hires? Should it be Head of Product or more junior product team members?
When is the right time for the founder to hand off some core product decisions to these hires?
What are the core traits and characteristics of some of the best first product hires?
3.) Perfecting the Hiring Process for Product Teams:
How does Kayvon approach the hiring process for all new product team members?
What are the stages? What does he look to learn at each stage?
What questions reveal the most in product candidates? How do the best respond?
How does Kayvon use case studies and product demos in the process?
4.) Building Product: 101:
How does Kayvon approach product reviews? Who is invited? Who sets the agenda? How often?
What have been Kayvon's biggest lessons about what leaders need to do to get the most from their product teams? How do they communicate?
What has been one of Kayvon's biggest product mistakes? What did he learn?
How does Kayvon advise founders on when to give up on a new product vs when to iterate and persist?
(TWTR SPC) An Interview With @kayvz, Who Is Leading The Twitter Product Revolution
Chris and I thought we had not guests lined up this week so we were going to just potpourri some topics. But then Keyvon Beykpour, who is heading the Twitter project revolution came on and talked to us longer than we had any right to ask for. It was a great conversation.
Sponsor:
Otter.ai, code RIDE
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Launching Twitter Blue with Twitter’s Head of Product Kayvon Beykpour | E1225
Kayvon Beykpour, Twitter's Head of Product shares the strategy behind Twitter's recent feature releases, what structural changes enabled Twitter to increase product velocity, how they segment composers & consumers, the Twitter blue launch & more!
Twitter Product Head Kayvon Beykpour On The Story Behind Twitter’s Revival
Kayvon Beykpour is one of Silicon Valley’s busiest product executives. As Twitter’s head of product, he’s survived for years in a formerly-cursed role that seemed to turn over every few months. Now, Beykpour’s team is shipping. Twitter just released a Clubhouse clone, called Spaces. It bought Revue, a newsletter platform. And it just announced Super Follow, a feature that wraps it all together by letting you pay for added access and content from people you follow on Twitter. This is new territory for Twitter, which spent the past few years
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How Twitter is building its future, with Kayvon Beykpour
Nilay talks with Twitter’s Head of Consumer Product, Keyvon Beykpour about what it took to reset the team towards growth, how he decides what to prioritize, and what the timelines for success look like on different projects. They also talk about moderation, of course.
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Twitter's Kayvon Beykpour on product features Twitter is prioritizing
Twitter’s head of product Kayvon Beykpour sits down with Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel and Silicon Valley editor Casey Newton to talk about how Twitter juggles its policy with trust and safety, the state of verification, the future of video in your feed, and how tweets can become more ephemeral.
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Recode Decode: Twitter's Vijaya Gadde and Kayvon Beykpour (Live at Code 2019)
Vijaya Gadde, who leads the legal and trust and safety teams at Twitter, and Periscope co-founder Kayvon Beykpour, who's now the company's head of product, talk with Recode's Kara Swisher and Peter Kafka at the 2019 Code Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz.
In this episode: Twitter’s meeting with President Trump; CEO Jack Dorsey's level of contact with the policy team; cleaning the Twitter “cesspool”; could it operate without letting everyone speak?; its new policies around elections and anti-vaxxers; how its responses to abuse compare to Facebook’s and Google’s; does de-platforming people like Alex Jones reduce their influence?; does Twitter radicalize people?; how Twitter is trying to get rid of white supremacists; and false equivalency in content moderation.
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