SK

Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

Dogfooding means using the products we ask our end users to use ourselves, which is crucial for understanding their experience.

SK

Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

I take five to ten Uber rides every week and place three Uber Eats orders weekly, especially when traveling with family.

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Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

To test the driver app, I drive and deliver in the Bay Area once or twice a month, dedicating half a day to this.

SK

Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

After each driving or delivery experience, I document my learnings, take screenshots, and share feedback with my team to improve our products.

SK

Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

I have completed around 700 to 800 driving and delivery trips since joining Uber, which helps me empathize with drivers.

SK

Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

It's important to create a culture where product managers actively dogfood their features to understand user pain points better.

SK

Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

The human interaction between drivers and passengers is often overlooked, but it significantly impacts the driver's experience.

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Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

I learned that drivers have expectations about their role, such as helping with luggage, which can lead to misunderstandings.

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Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

To foster a culture of dogfooding in non-consumer products, get as close to the customer as possible and observe their experience.

SK

Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

The motto 'ship, ship, ship' emphasizes the need to quickly deliver solutions to problems identified during dogfooding.

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Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

We need to minimize cycle time from identifying a problem to shipping a solution, as this impacts user experience.

SK

Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

Live demos are essential for product announcements because they create a sense of pride and accountability within the team.

SK

Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

Go to a job where you can ship multiple products as fast as possible to maximize your cycle time and experience.

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Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

A great product manager is defined not by a few strategic ideas but by the thousand micro decisions made throughout their career.

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Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

To develop an innate sense of judgment, increase your cycle time to make decisions faster and more intuitively over time.

SK

Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

Understanding what your end users want is the constant in product management, and it requires more effort than we often realize.

SK

Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

AI will speed up the process of understanding user needs, but the core challenge of grasping diverse user perspectives remains unchanged.

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Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

The importance of judgment and product sense will grow in the age of AI, necessitating faster cycle times to develop these skills.

SK

Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

I prefer engineers who can co-create and collaborate without needing a detailed PRD to start a project.

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Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

Uber's strategy involves building a hybrid network of human drivers and autonomous vehicles to optimize resource utilization based on demand.

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Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

The hybrid network allows us to balance supply and demand effectively, ensuring customer satisfaction and vehicle utilization.

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Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

Transitioning Uber's culture to focus on profitability involved removing inefficiencies and reinvesting savings back into the business.

SK

Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

To maintain morale while pursuing profitability, it's crucial to not lose sight of new growth opportunities and to balance core efficiency with innovation.

SK

Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

When making decisions, sometimes you have to trust your gut over the data, especially when you understand the end user's needs.

SK

Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

Focus on the inputs you can control in life and work, as you cannot directly control the outputs.

SK

Sachin Kansal

06/01/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

For food delivery, turning on the porch light at night helps delivery drivers find your house more easily and ensures a smoother experience.

Why Uber’s CPO delivers food on weekends | Sachin Kansal

Takeaways