Crafting A Compelling Product Vision (Ebi Atawodi) | Lenny & Friends Summit 2024
Executive Summary
Lenny and Friends Summit 2024 talk in which Ebi Atawodi, a Director of Product at YouTube, explains how to craft a compelling product vision, drawing on her work on YouTube Studio. She says a quote about a life without purpose during the pandemic led to her why of helping people harness storytelling. She says leaders should not assume they have the answers, and describes starting with a list of 10 things I should know from many teammates, then locking a team in a room to write a vision called expression meets connection. She says strategy is saying yes to some great ideas and no to others, shares a three pillar strategy of reach, refine and sustain a creator's voice, and a playbook of empathize, envision and evangelize shown through three senior product managers. The talk was recorded live in San Francisco on October 24. PARTIAL COVERAGE: the captions cover roughly the first 15 minutes of the 22 minute talk, so the later evangelize section and the close are not fully summarized. All claims are the speaker's own and are not independently checked. Nothing here is legal, financial or medical advice.
Key Takeaways
Purpose first
Ebi says a quote about a life without purpose led her to her why of helping people harness storytelling.
No one has all the answers
She says thinking you have the answers is the biggest mistake, so she starts with conversations that lead to conviction.
10 things I should know
She says asking teammates for ten things she should know forced them to rank what mattered and fed the vision.
Expression meets connection
She says the YouTube Studio vision was to let people express themselves and connect, grounded in the product as a creative partner.
Strategy is saying no
She says strategy is saying no to a bunch of great ideas, and her team's strategy was reach, refine and sustain.
Visions need only three days
She says you only need three days and a bunch of passionate people to create a vision.
Empathize, envision, evangelize
She says the playbook has three parts, and that half the time goes to empathize and envision rather than evangelizing.
The Conversation Breakdown
Purpose first
⏱ Untimed topicEbi says a quote about a life without purpose led her to her why of helping people harness storytelling.
No one has all the answers
⏱ Untimed topicShe says thinking you have the answers is the biggest mistake, so she starts with conversations that lead to conviction.
10 things I should know
⏱ Untimed topicShe says asking teammates for ten things she should know forced them to rank what mattered and fed the vision.
Expression meets connection
⏱ Untimed topicShe says the YouTube Studio vision was to let people express themselves and connect, grounded in the product as a creative partner.
Strategy is saying no
⏱ Untimed topicShe says strategy is saying no to a bunch of great ideas, and her team's strategy was reach, refine and sustain.
Visions need only three days
⏱ Untimed topicShe says you only need three days and a bunch of passionate people to create a vision.
Empathize, envision, evangelize
⏱ Untimed topicShe says the playbook has three parts, and that half the time goes to empathize and envision rather than evangelizing.
Core Frameworks & Ideas
10 things I should know - Ebi's day one hack
Ask many teammates for ten things and rank them.
Four elements of a vision - Ebi's definition
Imaginative yet realistic, lofty and constraint free, and long term.
Empathize, envision, evangelize - Ebi's playbook
Use a data headline and the Frankenstein of bad experience to build empathy.
Actionable Next Steps
- ✓Ask five teammates for ten things you should know.
- ✓Book three days with passionate people to draft a vision.
- ✓Find one data headline that frames the problem for everyone.
- ✓Treat Ebi's YouTube examples as her account, not independent facts.
Notable Quotes
“you don't have the answers in fact thinking you do is the biggest mistake”
“strategy is literally saying yet no to a bunch of things that are great ideas”
“you cannot and you should not do this alone”
The One Thing to Remember
Ebi Atawodi says a product vision needs three days and passionate people, starts from empathy and a single data headline, and works only if it is shared widely.