tl;dr:“When Tim and I first started PostHog in 2020, I was adamant we would never hire a product manager. I wanted engineers to wrestle with hard product problems. Product managers, I believed, would just get in the way. Four years on, I admit I was (partially) wrong. We need product managers. But I was right about one thing: there is a better way. Over the past two years, we've redefined how PMs and engineers work together, and optimized everything we do for speed and autonomy. Here's our exact playbook.”
tl;dr:"Creating an Ideal Customer Profile is one of the most important things we've ever done." James shows how this is reflected in the companies revenue. It enabled the company to make important decisions - they were better placed to describe what the company does, what the site looks and feels like, pricing model, and more. James also describes how the company approached creating this profile.
tl;dr:James covers topics around how to: (1) Avoid context overload. (2) Share financial performance. (3) Build product openly. (4) Share strategy. (5) Be open around people topics, such as pay structure, hiring and firing decisions. And more.
tl;dr:"It's normal for candidates not to ask harder questions about our company, so they usually miss out on a chance to (1) de-risk our company's performance and (2) increase the chances they'll like working here." James gives several examples of interview questions candidates can ask about product-market fit, financial runway and more.
tl;dr:"YC is seen as the world's best, and most prolific, three-month accelerator program. Upwards of 7,000 founders have taken part. Yet, no one really talks about what happens afterwards." James discusses the network, database of investor reviews, office hours, fundraising, and more.
tl;dr:Changing your pricing has a real chance to grow twice as fast with just a few hours of work. "Here is a breakdown of the counterintuitive lesson I've learned as a cofounder."
tl;dr:James' company grew rapidly by assembling a small product team and following 6 steps, including: (1) Hiring product managers who can code, and who were "scrappy, anti-plan type folk." (2) Focus on optimizing leading indicator metrics as high up the funnel as possible, for a faster feedback loop. (3) Structuring the company for autonomy. And more.