Benjamin Lauzier has been building and scaling marketplaces for almost 15 years. He was the VP of product and growth at Thumbtack, where he rebuilt the product team and Thumbtack’s growth levers, re-architected their revenue model, and helped double the company’s growth within three years. Prior to Thumbtack, Ben was at Lyft for six years, where he led the supply side of the product organization to a point where 1% of U.S. workers were driving for Lyft every month. Currently, he advises marketplace teams and founders, teaches a Reforge course on marketplace growth, and has recently launched a health tech company called Nurra, which connects users with care advocates to navigate the health-care system. In our conversation, we cover:

• What defines a marketplace business

• Strategies for growing supply and demand in the early stages

• How to measure liquidity and other marketplace health metrics

• How to evaluate if a marketplace model is right for your idea

• Lessons from Lyft, Thumbtack, and other successful marketplaces

• The differences between product management in the U.S. and Europe

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Brought to you by:

• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments

• Paragon—Ship every SaaS integration your customers want

• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security

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Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-marketplaces-win-benjamin-lauzier

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Where to find Benjamin Lauzier:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminlauzier/

• Ben’s Reforge course: https://www.reforge.com/courses/marketplace-growth/details

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Ben’s background

(02:24) Defining a marketplace

(07:52) Challenges in building a marketplace

(13:28) Methods for growing supply

(15:57) Understanding marketplace liquidity

(21:36) Identifying product-market fit in marketplaces

(24:10) Evaluating marketplace business models

(27:20) Common pitfalls and failures in marketplaces

(36:23) Managed marketplaces and quality control

(42:26) Lyft’s rental car initiative

(46:35) Mentorship and ambassador programs

(51:21) Driver recruitment strategies

(54:12) Lyft vs. Uber: a strategic analysis

(59:24) Cultural differences in tech: Europe vs. U.S.

(01:10:30) Building a health advocacy platform

(01:16:52) Lightning round and final thoughts

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Production and marketing by https://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.

Tamar Yehoshua is the president of product and technology at Glean. Prior to joining Glean, Tamar was chief product officer at Slack, where she led product, design, and research as the company scaled, including a 10x increase in revenue, its public listing, and an acquisition by Salesforce. She also led product and engineering teams at Google, working on search, identity, and privacy, and at A9.com, an Amazon company. Tamar has served on the board of directors for RetailMeNot, ServiceNow, Snyk, and Yext. In our conversation, we discuss:

• Why you don’t need to be a well-run company to win

• The impact of AI on product management and the future of work

• How to build strong cross-functional relationships, especially with engineers

• Lessons learned from working with leaders like Jeff Bezos and Stewart Butterfield

• Strategies for staying ahead in a rapidly evolving tech landscape

• Much more

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Brought to you by:

• Explo—Embed customer-facing analytics in your product

• Sprig⁠⁠—Build products for people, not data points

• Sidebar—Accelerate your career by surrounding yourself with extraordinary peers

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Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/you-dont-need-to-be-a-well-run-company-to-win-tamar-yehoshua

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Where to find Tamar Yehoshua:

• X: https://x.com/TYehoshua

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamar-yehoshua-886217/

• Newsletter: https://tamaryehoshua.substack.com/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Tamar’s background

(02:09) Key advice for career success

(06:54) Understanding people and motivations

(09:33) The importance of impact

(11:20) Navigating company chaos

(18:40) Career planning: a different perspective

(26:22) Lessons from industry leaders

(37:59) Building stronger cross-functional relationships

(42:00) Streamlining OKR reviews with async methods

(45:26) Why you shouldn’t worry so much about making users unhappy

(47:50) The power of listening in leadership

(52:34) How to leverage AI so you don’t fall behind

(01:06:39) Closing thoughts and lightning round

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Production and marketing by https://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.

Tal Raviv is a product manager at Riverside, where he joined as its first PM. Over his 12-year career as an individual contributor, Tal has been an early PM at Patreon, AppsFlyer, and Wix, working in consumer growth, developer API platforms, and pricing. He started his career by co-founding a profitable SaaS company and also volunteers as a surf instructor for people with disabilities. In our conversation, Tal shares:

• Why he has chosen to stay an individual contributor rather than moving into management

• The rise of “super ICs” and how companies can support this career path

• Advice for succeeding as a long-term IC product manager

• How he uses AI to enhance his productivity

• How to build self-reliant teams and make yourself redundant

• Lessons from failures

• Much more

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Brought to you by:

• Gamma—A new way to present, powered by AI

• WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs

• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments

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Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-super-ic-pm-tal-raviv

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Where to find Tal Raviv:

• X: https://x.com/talraviv

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/talsraviv/

• Maven course: https://maven.com/tal-raviv/product-manager-productivity-system/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Tal’s background

(02:24) Choosing to stay an IC product manager

(07:05) The value of IC roles

(08:31) Compensation and career path

(12:37) Advice for companies on creating space for ICs

(14:33) Leveraging AI for productivity

(22:44) Build your personal PM productivity system

(37:39) Contrarian opinions and insights

(44:32) Book smart vs. street smart decision-making

(51:51) There’s no one right way to get things done

(57:03) Failure corner

(01:19:04) Lightning round

(01:26:50) Living through conflict

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Production and marketing by https://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.