Linear’s secret to building beloved B2B products | Nan Yu (Head of Product)

Nan Yu is the head of product at Linear, one of the most beloved and fastest-growing B2B SaaS products out there today, and the gold standard for high-performing tech teams. In our conversation, we discuss:

• Why speed and quality aren’t actually at odds

• Linear’s unique approach to product development

• Nan’s systematic approach to creativity

• Linear’s philosophy on deadlines

• The “double triangle” framework for product management

• Nan’s approach to landing his dream product roles

• Much more

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Find the transcript at: www.lennysnewsletter.com

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Where to find Nan Yu:

• X: x.com

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: twitter.com

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Introduction to Nan Yu and Linear

(04:54) Survey insights: Linear vs. Jira

(07:51) The speed vs. quality myth

(09:24) Building and iterating quickly

(15:31) Avoiding bloat in enterprise software

(23:57) Understanding user needs deeply

(30:09) How to approach customer calls

(34:10) Creating strong emotional hooks

(40:31) Managing the product backlog

(44:46) Systemizing creativity

(48:16) Demo: Saving drafts in Linear

(51:38) Breaking constraints and building at extremes

(54:15) Adopting new tools

(58:22) The “double triangle” framework for product management

(01:04:23) Effective job-hunting strategies for PMs

(01:09:15) Thoughts on deadlines

(01:14:15) Lightning round

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Referenced:

• Jira: www.atlassian.com

• Linear: linear.app

• Patrick Collison’s post on X: x.com

• Magnus Carlsen on X: x.com

• Hikaru Nakamura on X: x.com

• Geoffrey Moore on finding your beachhead, crossing the chasm, and dominating a market: www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Customer Request feature on Linear: linear.app

• Everlane: www.everlane.com

• Schlep Blindness: paulgraham.com

• Linear’s triage tool: linear.app

• Patrick Collison’s post about mental models on X: x.com

• Brian Chesky’s new playbook: www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Unpacking Amazon’s unique ways of working | Bill Carr (author of Working Backwards): www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Mode: mode.com

• The Diplomat on Netflix: www.netflix.com

• Sakura Micron pens: www.amazon.com

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Recommended books:

• Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers: www.amazon.com

• The Design of Everyday Things: www.amazon.com

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Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.