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Jules Walter

Episode #158

Product Lead, YouTube (formerly Slack)

YouTube / Google

🚀Career & Leadership

📝Full Transcript

13,633 words
Jules Walter (00:00:00): If you give me feedback, I'll be like, "Hey, thank you so much. This is super helpful," because people are like, "Oh, he actually likes the feedback." Now, inside my heart might be melting. I'm like, "Oh, I thought I got better at this." You know what I mean? Lenny (00:00:14): Yeah. Jules Walter (00:00:14): But externally, I'm like, "Hey, thank you," and I mean it. I think that's the key that most people don't focus on. And if you get more feedback, then you'll just get better at the things. Lenny (00:00:26): Welcome to Lenny's Podcast. I'm Lenny and my goal here is to help you get better at the craft of building and growing products. Today, my guest is Jules Walter. Jules is a product leader at YouTube. Before that, he spent four and a half years at Slack, where he was their first growth PM and then went on to lead their monetization teams and also their mobile team. He's also the co-founder and a board member of the Black Product Managers Network and CodePath, both of which are nonprofits that aim to increase diversity within tech. Jules and I have collaborated on a number of projects over the years, including a killer guest post on building product sense that continues to be one of the most shared and beloved posts in my newsletter. (00:01:04): In our conversation, we focus on what skills matter most in advancing a PM's career, and more importantly, all the ways Jules has found to build those skills. We also go deep on mentorship, how to find a mentor, what to look for in a mentor, how to get someone to agree to be a mentor, and a lot more. I super enjoyed this conversation, which I'm sure you can tell. Jules is such a gem of a human. I can't wait for you to hear this episode. With that, I bring you Jules Walter after a short word from our sponsors. (00:01:36): This episode is brought to you by Vanta, helping you streamline your security compliance to accelerate growth. If your business stores any data in the cloud, then you've li...

💡 Key Takeaways

  • 1Early career PM success relies on IQ skills (execution, product sense), while leadership requires EQ skills (communication, influence).
  • 2To learn a new domain, define a specific business outcome first, then work backward to identify the necessary questions and mentors.
  • 3When seeking mentorship, start with a 'low friction' specific question via email rather than asking for a generic coffee chat.
  • 4The key to maintaining mentors is 'closing the loop': always report back on how you applied their advice and the results achieved.
  • 5Identify your superpowers by asking: 'What do people compliment me on that I feel is easy or obvious?'
  • 6Every strength has a 'shadow side'—a context where it becomes a weakness (e.g., curiosity can look like lack of knowledge without context).

📚Methodologies (3)

🚀 Career & Leadership

Instead of passively reading content, set a specific business metric or outcome you want to drive. Use this goal as a forcing function to identify knowledge gaps, ask targeted questions to experts, and validate learning through execution results.

Core Principles

  • 1.Define the Outcome: Set a concrete goal (e.g., improve activation by X%) to prove skill mastery.
  • 2.Reverse Engineer: Identify specific frameworks and questions needed to achieve that outcome.
  • 3.Targeted Mentorship: Find experts solely to answer those specific questions.
  • +1 more...

"If I drive this outcome, it will be proof that I'm better at this thing."

#outcome-based#skill#acquisition
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🚀 Career & Leadership

Build relationships through specific, low-effort interactions rather than asking for 'mentorship'. Validate the mentor's time by applying their advice and reporting back, transforming a transactional interaction into a relationship.

Core Principles

  • 1.The 2-Minute Ask: Send an email with a specific question that can be answered in two minutes.
  • 2.Apply Immediately: Use the advice in your work context.
  • 3.Close the Loop: Contact them again specifically to share the impact of their advice (Gratitude + Result).
  • +1 more...

"You have to show the person that you're going to make really good use of their time."

#'small#mentorship#career
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🚀 Career & Leadership

Identify strengths by looking for things you find easy but others find hard. Then, analyze the 'shadow side'—contexts where that strength becomes a liability—to manage your behavior without suppressing your natural talent.

Core Principles

  • 1.The Fish Test: Identify strengths by asking 'What do I do naturally that receives praise?' (Like a fish swimming).
  • 2.Identify the Resource: Determine the underlying trait driving the strength (e.g., Curiosity).
  • 3.Map the Shadow: Identify contexts where this trait is perceived negatively (e.g., Curiosity -> Asking basic questions -> Appearing Junior).
  • +1 more...

"Strength and weakness, it's not a binary thing. It's like the same thing, but it's a dial."

#strength#shadow#analysis
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