20Product: Why Product Memes Are More Important Than a Product Roadmap, Why Writing is the Essential Skill for Product People, How AI Changes The Role of Product, Big Mistakes Founders Make When Hiring Product Teams with Kevin Niparko, VP Product @ Twilio

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The Twenty Minute VC

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4.4 • 637 Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2023

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Kevin Niparko is the VP of Product @ Twilio. Kevin joined Twilio through the acquisition of Segment where he spent an incredible 8 years in numerous different roles including as Head of Product. Before entering the world of product, Kevin was a Management Associate at the world-renowned, Bridgewater Associates.

In Today's Episode with Kevin Niparko We Discuss:

1. From Bridgewater to Head of Product:

How Kevin made his way from the world of asset management and analytics to leading product teams?
What are 1-2 of Kevin's biggest takeaways from his time at Bridgewater with Ray Dalio?
How did the 8 year journey with Segment leading to their $3BN acquisition impact his approach to product?

2. What Makes a Great Product Person:

Does Kevin believe that product is more art or science? If he were to put a number on it? What would it be out of 100?
Why does Kevin believe that all product people should learn to write?
Why does Kevin believe that the best product people are generalists and not specialists?
Why does Kevin think that analytics is an insanely good start for product people?

3. How to Hire the Best Product People:

How does Kevin approach the hiring process for product hires today?
What are the non-obvious traits of hires he looks for? How does he test for them?
Does Kevin use case studies? Where do many fall down? What do the best do?

4. Product Reviews: Good vs Great:

How often does Kevin do product reviews? Who is invited?
How have product reviews changed in a world where the company is now fully remote?
What is the difference between good and great product reviews?
What is the single best product decision Kevin has made? What did he learn?
What is the worst product decision Kevin made? How did that change his approach?

Transcript

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0:00.0	The faster you ship, the faster you learn all of the ways in which you were wrong.
0:04.2	I think there are really two hiring mistakes when it comes to hiring product people.
0:09.1	I see writing as really this forcing function for thinking, for testing these ideas.
0:14.3	This is 20 Product with me, Harry Stebbings, and this is the monthly show where we sit down with the best product leaders in tech.
0:20.1	And I'm so thrilled to welcome to the Hotsie State, Kevin Naparko, VP of Product at Twilio.
0:25.2	Kevin joined Twilio through the acquisition of Segment, where he spent an incredible
0:28.8	eight years in numerous different roles, including his head of product.
0:32.3	Before entering the world of product, Kevin was a management associate at the world-renowned
0:36.4	Bridgewater Associates,
0:38.0	a discussion we have stay on his incredible lessons from there. But before we dive into the show today,
0:43.2	and speaking of tools we cannot live without, I need your input on the 20VC Mero board about new
0:48.3	guests we should feature for 20 BC in 2023. Just head on over to M mirror.com forward slash 20VC.
0:55.6	Mirror is a tool I consider to be truly game-changing. It's a visual collaboration tool
1:00.3	packed with the right tools, tech and templates to help you think of and create that dream
1:05.1	product. That means you can brainstorm the perfect product with your team, vote on the best
1:09.9	ones and explore with your
1:11.3	customer journey roadmap all on a Mero board. Whatever you need, Mero's infinite whiteboarding
1:16.2	capabilities help you get there. It asks your team's single source of truth and now I'm
1:21.4	using it to hear from you. Go ahead and add your suggestions for 20 VC guests on our Meroboard
1:26.7	at Mero.com forward slash 20VC.
1:30.0	And finally, you have to try Epo.
1:31.9	The next generation AB testing and feature management platform designed to help you run reliable,
	...

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