Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

Nickey Skarstad (Airbnb, Etsy, Shopify, Duolingo) on translating vision into goals, operationalizing product quality, second-order decisions, brainstorming, influence, and much more

18 Jul 2022

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Nickey Skarstad is a Director of Product Management at Duolingo, where she is leading a stealth 0 → 1 product. Prior to Duolingo, she was VP of Product at The Wing, Product Lead at Airbnb, where she led much of the Experiences product team, Product Lead at Shopify, and Director of Product Management at Etsy.—Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:• Mixpanel: https://mixpanel.com/startups• Dovetail: https://dovetailapp.com/lenny• Unit: https://unit.co/lenny—In this episode:[3:32] An overview of Nickey’s career[7:39] What she learned from building product at Airbnb[8:42] How to maintain and operationalize product quality[9:44] Metrics that help you maintain quality[20:08] Which company has most informed her product development approach[21:57] How to structure your product org[24:47] Should you go GM vs. functional[27:18] How you set vision, translate that into goals, and then execute on it[32:30] Brainstorming advice[35:04] How to use OKRs effectively[37:57] How to get better at influence as a PM[41:23] How to know if a decision is a one-way or two-way door[42:29] Second-order decisions, and second-order thinking[46:35] Operationalizing principles[47:17] Getting your team on board with your strategy[49:39] Designing a product review meeting[54:08] Tips for working remotely as a PM[56:44] Lightning round—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/nickey-skarstad-airbnb-etsy-shopify—Where to find Nickey:• Newsletter: https://nickey.substack.com/• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nickeyskarstad• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickeyskarstad/• Twitter: https://twitter.com/NickeySkarstad—Referenced:• Thinking in Systems by Donella H. Meadows• Anne Helen Petersen• Superhuman• Loom 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

01 Jan 1970

El Partidazo de COPE

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

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

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

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

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

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

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

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

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

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

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Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

Nickey Skarstad (Airbnb, Etsy, Shopify, Duolingo) on translating vision into goals, operationalizing product quality, second-order decisions, brainstorming, influence, and much more

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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