Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

Inside Gong: How teams work with design partners, their pod structure, autonomy, trust, and more | Eilon Reshef (co-founder and CPO)

02 Jan 2025

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Eilon Reshef is the co-founder and chief product officer at Gong, one of the most ubiquitous B2B products in the world. In our conversation, we discuss:• Gong’s unique approach to working with design partners• Their unique pod model• Why Eilon makes big decisions quickly• Lessons learned from being early in AI• The power of extreme focus• His “spiral method” for learning complex topics quickly• How to maintain quality while optimizing for speed—Brought to you by:• WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs• Think Fast Talk Smart—Tools and techniques to help you communicate more effectively• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-gong-eilon-reshef—Where to find Eilon Reshef:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eilonreshef—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) Eilon’s background(04:20) The pod model(06:33) Working with design partners(09:13) Finding and coordinating design partners(13:12) Balancing customer feedback and vision(15:10) Gong's 95% feature adoption(17:05) The importance of autonomy and trust(23:30) How to implement this unique way of working(27:15) Speed and decision-making(31:47) Early AI adoption and lessons learned(35:50) Building effective AI teams(38:16) The spiral method for learning(41:36) Narrowing down the initial customer profile(44:24) Failure corner(46:35) Lightning round—Referenced:• Gong: https://www.gong.io• Cisco: https://www.cisco.com/• How Gong builds product: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-gong-builds-product• What is Montessori education?: https://amshq.org/About-Montessori/What-Is-Montessori• Isaac Asimov: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov• Amit Bendov on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitbendov/• Lessons from scaling Spotify: The science of product, taking risky bets, and how AI is already impacting the future of music | Gustav Söderström (Co-President, CPO, and CTO at Spotify): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-scaling-spotify-the• Nvidia: https://www.nvidia.com• Figma: https://www.figma.com• The Spiral Method: https://www.gong.io/blog/using-the-spiral-method/• Webex: https://www.webex.com/• L’Oréal: https://www.lorealparisusa.com/• American Express: https://www.americanexpress.com/• Slow Horses on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/slow-horses/umc.cmc.2szz3fdt71tl1ulnbp8utgq5o• Dishwasher basket: https://www.amazon.com/Munchkin-High-Capacity-Dishwasher-Basket/dp/B07ZPMYKKS/• What most people miss about marketing | Rory Sutherland (Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, author): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/what-most-people-miss-about-marketing• Occam’s razor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor• Hanlon’s razor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor• Sabich: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabich#Ingredients_and_description• Careers at Gong: https://www.gong.io/careers—Recommended books:• Marty Cagan’s books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marty-Cagan/author/B00J21JTNM• “The Machine That Won the War”: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18402398-the-machine-that-won-the-war• Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers: https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-3rd-Disruptive-Mainstream/dp/0062292986• The Ideal Executive: https://www.amazon.com/Ideal-Executive-Ichak-Kalderon-Adizes/dp/0937120030/• Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking when Stakes Are High: https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Conversations-Tools-Talking-Stakes/dp/1260474186/—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].—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

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3ª PARTE | 17 DIC 2025 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

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Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

Inside Gong: How teams work with design partners, their pod structure, autonomy, trust, and more | Eilon Reshef (co-founder and CPO)

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Other recent transcribed episodes

3ª PARTE | 17 DIC 2025 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

13:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

12:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

10:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

13:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

12:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

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