Aswath Krishnan

Many people lament about Elon Musk's outspoken views on government inefficiency and his plans for DOGE. They point to how government programs and regulations are helpful, and how his estimates for cost savings are overblown. They are technically right , but Elon is directionally right . It's more likely than not that the government has lots of wasteful spending and unnecessary bureaucracy. In closed systems — predictable and well-understood environments — being technically correct can lead to optimal outcomes. Precision matters when variables are limited and controllable, and the consequences are dire. Engineers designing a bridge, for example, must calculate loads and stresses with exactness to ensure safety. But most of the world is not a closed or critical system. It is an open, infinite, and inherently chaotic environment. Variables are countless, and conditions change rapidly and unpredictably. In such a world, you find answers and progress by doing stuff . Consider how su...

Many boo-ed and ridiculed Zuckerberg when he pivoted the company to VR and pummelled billions of dollars into it. The lukewarm reception of Oculus and Quest added fuel to their naysaying.  But that didn't stop Zuck. Today, after years of persistence, criticism, and perceived failures, Meta launched a product and form factor that is showing this vision has legs to be as ubiquitous as smartphones, and perhaps even more useful.  If you take a step back, the vision is easy to get behind - of course, it'd be much better to augment reality with digital artifacts instead of staring into 5-inch phones. Of course! And the company that invents it would herald a significant platform shift and can benefit immensely, as Apple has from smartphones. The challenges are mainly capital for R&D and technical feasibility, which Meta has realized through many iterations.  It is better to follow difficult but obviously true and impactful visions, than easy but low conviction and reward pro...

As a leader and manager, you have responsibilities to fulfill, outcomes to achieve, and personal boundaries to protect.   You can try to do that with obnoxious aggression. But it’s unkind and unpleasant, and people around you will leave you or never rise to their potential. You may be able to go fast, but you won’t go far.  If you swing the other way and be a nice pushover, you will not achieve your goals and be taken advantage of. The tolerance for mediocrity, lack of progress, and bottled-up frustration will eventually catch up to the people who work with you, your customers, your performance, and your business.  There's a better way - be firm on standards, but be fair, kind, and respectful. You can't fake this. You must authentically and deeply care for the mission, business, quality of work, and yourself, and for the well-being and success of the people you work with.  Appreciate and reward great work. Give everyone a fine reputation to live up to. Be straig...

In our recent renovation project, the contractor brought in a new tile guy they hadn’t worked with before. Unfortunately, the guy turned out to be a complete amateur and botched the job. This misstep was avoidable with some straightforward practices: Vetting thoroughly. Check their track record, skills, and references. A quick but deliberate evaluation can save a lot of headaches later. Clarifying expectations upfront. Make sure they understand the scope and standards of the work. A simple conversation about their approach can reveal a lot. Testing with small projects first. Start with low-stakes tasks to gauge their ability before handing them the keys to something bigger. Providing active oversight. Supervise early and often, especially at the beginning. Offer feedback and course corrections as they go. Here’s the key principle: When you delegate, you’re not off the hook. You’re still responsible for the outcome. If they underperform and you didn’t manage them effectively, the ri...

Someone on my team was facing a crisis and needed my help. I had room in my calendar, so I could spend a few hours to help them out.  Slack in my calendar also means that I can explore curiosities and opportunities that could turn into something meaningful and significant. I can have leisurely strolls, or brunches that turn into day-long adventures.  We are in a world obsessed with productivity and efficiency. Being busy with a packed calendar seems like the best way to succeed at work and in life. But high efficiency often means low resilience and innovation, because of low capacity to fight fires or uncover new possibilities. And not to mention, the risk of debilitating burnout.  Gaps in your days and weeks because they are essential - to survive and to provide fertile ground for growth. Create and guard them. 

You can make fully rational decisions in a small, closed, predictable universe.  But most situations aren't that. There are too many variables, unknowns, and unpredictability. The source and purpose of life itself are on shaky grounds, causing any rationality on top of it to be baseless outside a defined scope. Evolution through randomness, not logic, is the nature of our reality.  Most big and hard decisions are based on some rationality but largely by instinct or circumstances. When a decision succeeds, there's post hoc rationalization and further success. When it fails, as most do, they disappear and are forgotten. This gives an illusion of a rational and deterministic universe.  The best you can do is reason and decide on the high-order bits and then go with your gut for the rest. Make bets proportional to your risk tolerance and resources, make multiple bets, bias toward action, and course-correct along the way. As John Von Neumann said, "Truth…is much too complicate...

We are remodeling our bathroom and I have to ensure that the work is done right and within a reasonable time and cost. But I have zero experience in construction! So how can I do this well?! This is the predicament of product managers and leaders as well - they are responsible for product outcomes and quality, without having the functional expertise in engineering, design, or GTM. Here’s what helped me with remodeling and product management - 1. You can be the curator and editor, even if you aren't the artist. You can bring an eye and taste for great work and craft; not just the end deliverables, but also how the sausage is made. You develop this through curiosity and interest, and by working with amazing people who can show you what's possible. 2. Make the goals, vision, and milestones crystal clear for everyone involved, and be an effective communication bridge. This will help the team avoid wastage and frustration because of miscommunication and misunderstanding.  3. Help yo...

The CEO of Coinbase shared this advice to pre-PM fit startup founders and it really resonated:  https://twitter.com/StartupArchive_/status/1738905209093468459 Low certainty pursuits and decisions, like your life purpose or philosophy, career or startup idea to pursue, who’d be an ideal life partner, where would you like to live, etc. are often the most impactful and the most challenging aspects of our lives.  They are unique in the sense you don’t have enough information to make a rational choice. The options and their outcomes are unknowns. So we can get stuck in analysis-paralysis trying to figure them out intellectually. But that doesn’t solve the core problem - the lack of information and certainty. The way to get more information is to act - go explore, ask around, and try things out. Keep an open mind, your cycles fast and, learn from them.  The best way to see through the fog is to take a few steps forward into the unknown. 

In a recent team meeting, someone announced we wouldn't be able to meet a project deadline and we'll have to move it to later. Not wanting to be pushy or unreasonable, I accepted and updated the date. But another colleague interjected and held the bar. He pointed out that we had slipped a few times already and rallied the team to figure out options to meet the date.  Oftentimes, we avoid hard things  and uncomfortable conversations, and try to be "naively nice". This leads to a slippery slope that snowballs into low accountability, performance, quality, outcomes, morale, and pent-up frustration. I say naively nice because ultimately this turns out to be not very nice to the team, stakeholders, managers, business, and customers.  The nicer way is to set clear and reasonable expectations, hold and raise the bar, provide direct and timely feedback, identify and fix the problems, and work together compassionately and collaboratively to make it happen.  Notes:  1. Am...

The world always has a lot more skeptics than innovators. *** Skeptics question any change. While blindly accepting the status quo and all its flaws.  They are limited by their own fears, lack of vision, beliefs, and capabilities. They choose the easy path of nay-saying and changing nothing.  Innovators question the status quo.  They see a better way. They are eager to invent and try new things. They are bold, creative, capable, and action-oriented. They are choosing the hard path of solving problems and creating change. *** Every innovator is met with skeptics who try to douse their spirit. If you are trying to be an innovator, surround yourself with other innovators who energize you and help you figure out a way.  Notes:  1. Yes, there are thoughtful skeptics and clueless or evil innovators. 

We are in the midst of a relentless wave of layoffs.  It's really sad how normal and mechanical it is becoming to business leaders, investors, and all of us.  Sudden job loss is among the top 5 most traumatic events in one’s life and compared similarly to the death of a loved one, major illness, or divorce.  That might be hard for most folks to viscerally comprehend. But I know it and believe it as I experienced this firsthand and I have talked to 100+ people who were laid off recently. It’s heartbreaking to see the level of suffering and the emotional cocktail of shock, anxiety, shame, guilt, resentment, sadness, uncertainty, and loss of identity and community, that most people cycle through day after day, over a long time.  This may be an unfortunate reality of our corporate and market system, but we can do better. If you were laid off -  This is extremely hard, and everything you are feeling and going through is valid and rough. So please take care and give ...

It's now somewhat common best practice (inconsistently practiced though) for Product Managers to talk to customers and use the product regularly. The reasoning is pretty straightforward - if you aren't really understanding what customers need and experience, then how can you successfully prioritize what to build and build it well? But product leaders (PM Manager) can feel a push away from talking to customers directly or using the products as they take on more team management and strategy tasks (based on my true story). I'd posit that's going to hurt your effectiveness, especially if you are new to the domain or company. How are you going to set or vet the right team strategy, provide feedback, or take bold bets/changes if you aren't familiar with customers? How can you stop falling for availability bias (over-index on a limited set of user insights presented to you to develop an incorrect or incomplete model)? How are you going to stay connected to the ground reali...

Jeff Bezos announced that he will be stepping down as CEO of Amazon. What an incredible run he's had as an entrepreneur! From quitting a lucrative job as a trader to starting an online company during the early days of the internet to the world's largest company that spans multiple business lines and geographies. Love him or hate him, there's no denying that he's one of the most accomplished and capable business leaders of our generation.  I have enjoyed and learned a lot from JeffB's shareholder letters and interviews. Here are some of my main lessons:  1) Culture I joke, only half in jest, that all of Amazon's leadership team and tenured employees are Jeff Bezos clones. Jeff Bezos's biggest achievement is not any product that Amazon has built. It is the living, breathing, and evolving high-functioning and entrepreneurial culture that continues to be effective over many decades and even as the company has scaled to over 1 million employees and multiple busin...

In most discussions, debates, and decisions, the most important point is way more important than the second one.  The power law of communication is simply saying the most important thing. Say it powerfully and clearly. Completely cut or deprioritize everything else until the most important thing is understood and resolved. 

1. Attitude and values  Are they rational, authentic, and honest? Are they curious and enthusiastic? Are they optimistic and cheerful? Do they take pride in their work, being good at their craft, and having an impact? Do they have a growth mindset?  Are they low-ego, respectful, win-win, and collaborative? If a person has a misaligned attitude or values, it's better to say no, even if they have high capability and interest.  2. Capability Do they have the raw smarts and foundations to learn and grow? Do they have the required functional skills at the right level of the job? Do they complement the team's skills and bring something new? Can they communicate and collaborate well? Do they have a similar previous experience with good work and insights? (less important if the above are strong) 3. Interest Deep interest is a multiplier for both attitude and capability.  Are they interested in the mission and domain? Are they interested in the customers? Are they interested ...

A super power for both life and career is to be able to both zoom out to think of the full and big picture, and to zoom in to define and execute on concrete details.  During annual plannings at my previous companies, teams defined and shared high level strategy and key goals/results (OKRs) for the year. At my current company, we go a step further and define specific projects, timelines and staffing gantt chart. It takes more effort and feels "non-agile" to plan that far ahead, but after the initial skepticism, I find this exercise immensely useful as it forces me and my team to think of details and come up with a practical plan.  In my personal life, I am guilty of spending way more time overthinking, contemplating 10,000 ft philosophies and frameworks on life and career. But what actually creates tangible positive change are light thinking, followed by simple, concrete plans and decisive execution. For e.g.: If you want to improve your health, spending a day researching on e...

Every time I browse Twitter or Reddit, it feels like the most popular sport of the day is mudslinging. People are mean, angry and ruthlessly judge, ridicule and deflate others. Social mobs are ready to get cancel hashtags trending for anything or anyone who doesn't meet their finicky standard of perfection that they can neither articulate or pass themselves. These attitudes have also inevitably crept from online to in-person interactions as well.  We have become less tolerant of differences, innocent mistakes or unfortunate circumstances of colleagues or friends, we shit talk about other people more, and we take more glee at other people's fall. Kindness and acceptance have become rare.  When we draw more lines between us and "others" and when we judge and hate, we box and limit our own experience of friendship, love and happiness. Hate, anger, judgement and tribalism take as much or more away from us as they do to the person they are directed at. These attitudes are ...

Many years ago, I was trying to pick between a couple of jobs. This was my first job change and I was very confused and anxious. So I asked a few friends for their advice.  Most friends jumped to tell me to pick Job A or B because they have heard such and such about Company A or something bad about Company B etc. They didn't even ask me about the roles or offer package.  One friend, on the other hand, just asked me questions - what's different between the roles, the companies, the pros/cons that I see, what I value in my career and in my next job etc. Whenever I didn't have a clear answer, he asked more questions to help me clarify or shared some opinions. He succinctly and clearly summarized and played back my answers. He later checked in with me as well to see how I was leaning and why. He refused to give me an answer on A vs B, even when I asked for it, because he felt that it was my decision to make and his opinion may not fit my situation or goals.  The first flavor ...

Product Strategy is one of my favorite aspects of Product Management. As a Product lead at Lyft, Quizlet and Opower, I have started and led teams on several new product areas. When starting on a new product area, one of my main priorities is to "Map out the space" and figure out our path (The other priority is to bond with the team and understand team dynamics). I aim to share the strategy with my team and execs within 3 months of starting as it informs the roadmap, helps me ramp up and demonstrate product leadership.  Repeat practice and feedback have helped me become better and quicker at defining strategy. I have tried to distill my approach into these discrete steps.  What is strategy? Strategy is an optimal path to achieving a goal - which can be either solving a problem or realizing an opportunity. Good strategy is usually simple and clear, ambitious but achievable, long-term and durable, leverages core strengths and mitigates risks. Good strategy also explicitly identi...

Leading people can be joyful and fulfilling as it enables you to broaden and achieve your purpose, and because you can enable your team to experience that same joy too.  It's a magical feeling when a team works well together and makes great things happen.  It is not an easy to be an effective leader and I'm keeping an ongoing list of what it takes here: 1) Bring clarity around what the organization does and why (mission) .  You don't have to come up with these answers by yourself, but it is your responsibility to consolidate, edit, and develop a deep shared understanding.  If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. 2) Establish and embody how to work together, treat customers/partners, make decisions (values and culture).  Establish and embody a culture where everyone can do their best work towards the mission - a culture of high integrity, c...