Steven Sinofsky
Director, Product Hunt
Discussion
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Steven Sinofsky
@stevesi · a16z
Hi, I'm Steven Sinofsky, a director at Product Hunt. I work with a16z as a Board Partner on Product Hunt, Tanium, and Everlaw and also work with Box and many other companies. I worked on some PC products in a previous life. I ♥️ products and talking about making them; been known to write some blog posts. Super excited to be here! 🙏
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Corley
@corleyh · COO @ Product Hunt
Hi Steven! So many questions I could ask - what is one technological advancement (from the past) that you find particularly interesting and what about it fascinates you? And looking forward what is one technological problem that you are personally curious about and what about it makes it interesting to you?
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Steven Sinofsky
@stevesi · a16z
@corleyh Without giving a "tech trends" sort of answer, I am genuinely fascinated all the time with how every industry I interact with is being changed by software. Just a few minutes ago I was at a diner and the construction workers at the table next to me were (loudly) talking about social media and the way that people are tweeting/facebooking the project status to friends, family, and the regulators (!). I just love seeing how software impacts things. I takes me way back to when I used to get excited to just see someone on a plane using PowerPoint :-)
Chris
@coolbearcjs · CEO
Do you think the PH team has an unhealthy infatuation with cat related gifs and emojis? Is there a thought that medication or counseling should be used to improve production within the office? I will hang up and listen for your answer. 🙀🙀🙀😂😂😂
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Steven Sinofsky
@stevesi · a16z
@coolbearcjs You can have neither too many kittens nor too much emoji. 🍪🐱😎
Mike Coutermarsh
@mscccc · Code @ Product Hunt
Hi Steven :)
How do you get SO MUCH WORK DONE? What's the secret? 🙏
Erik Torenberg
@eriktorenberg · Former Product Hunt
Can you give us a story or an insight into what it was like working with Bill Gates?
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Steven Sinofsky
@stevesi · a16z
@eriktorenberg It was so long ago -- thats always the tough part of talking about it. We were kids so to speak (I was pretty much your age then). So anything I say sounds so weird when I think about it. But it was an amazing experience at an amazing time at the company. I do love to share this story even though it is first person to some extent because it has so much of what can be incredibly fun to be at the right place at the right time working for the right leader http://www.businessweek.com/1996...
Jeff Needles
@jsneedles · BI @ Meerkat & Maker of Things
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Steven Sinofsky
@stevesi · a16z
@jsneedles @mscccc I love Frogger which I think by modern standards counts as a board game. 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸
I have no ego, but many alternatives.
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
What does your day to day look like?
Would you ever consider using Snapchat like @msuster does? showing insights to the day and advice for startup folk?
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Steven Sinofsky
@stevesi · a16z
@bentossell @msuster I bookend my day with breakfast at one of my favorite diners when I read and write and tweet and then at the end of the day yoga. In the middle is all about meeting founders, working with the companies I am lucky enough to work with, and using new products.
I'd love to use snapchat but I can't figure out how to make it work being as I am Gen X and are super afraid of randomly broadcasting myself to the interwebs.
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
Hey Steven! Thanks for taking the time :)
What are some of your favourite questions to ask founders at the early stages?
From that, what questions do you like to see answered as a startup grows and what do you like to challenge the team on?
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Steven Sinofsky
@stevesi · a16z
@bentossell I really love to learn the path that founders took in life. I love to hear how they got started in technology, what jobs they had (paid or otherwise), what their family tech scene was like, how cofounders met and more. I think I naturally do this with people I meet anyway but it is especially fun when connecting a story like that to the creation of a product and company.
The most interesting questions are always about scale and growth—there are no easy answers. Well really a better way to say that are answers are everywhere, but picking the best answer is where all the fun and challenges can be.
Andreas Klinger
@andreasklinger · Tech at Product Hunt 💃
What traits/skills makes an ideal product manager?
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Steven Sinofsky
@stevesi · a16z
@andreasklinger Here's my best attempt at product manager JD. It does seem like every one has a favorite. PM is very contextual and so I always would say first is to know who is your boss, your engineering manager, your design manager, and your QA manager. Only then can you figure out what you should do as a PM and what the ideal PM should be. PS: At Microsoft product manager is in marketing (demand generation, promotion, pricing) and Program Management is what SV calls product management. that's a lot of confusion https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com...
Andreas Klinger
@andreasklinger · Tech at Product Hunt 💃
@stevesi thanks for your pov. 100% agree - PM is one of the fuzziest roles we have in tech. especially the market/marketing pov comes often too short.
Gloria Lombardi
@lombardi_gloria · Founder and Publisher of MARGINALIA
Hi Steven,
What are the key leadership traits a founder should have to grow the business? And, based on your experience, what are the challenges in developing/ owning those traits?
Many thanks!
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Steven Sinofsky
@stevesi · a16z
@lombardi_gloria There are as many types of founders and traits as there are companies and so I would always say there are characteristics that matter to success but these are just what you'd generally expect -- curiosity, drive, passion, etc. It is super tough to answer in a specific way because you see so many attributes and want to be careful about causal v. correlation v. circumstantial. Business is definitely a social science!
Gloria Lombardi
@lombardi_gloria · Founder and Publisher of MARGINALIA
@stevesi Many thanks. Agree, business is definitely a social science!