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Defining Product Design: A Dispatch from Airbnb's Design Chief
Design

Defining Product Design: A Dispatch from Airbnb's Design Chief

Airbnb VP of Design Alex Schleifer shares how design can become a more intentional, integrated discipline — and why it must be in order to better build products.
To Build Great Products, Build This Strong, Scalable System First
Product

To Build Great Products, Build This Strong, Scalable System First

As Co-VPs of Product at Reddit, Alex Le and Kavin Stewart manage a large team with multiple competing goals. Here's what they've learned about building effective product pipelines.
The New 'Must Haves' for Mobile Apps to Succeed Today
Product

The New 'Must Haves' for Mobile Apps to Succeed Today

Sophie-Charlotte Moatti has built mobile products at one flagship name after another — including running notifications for Facebook. Here are her must haves for mobile apps.
The Goldilocks Effect and How to Harness Social Influence
People & Culture

The Goldilocks Effect and How to Harness Social Influence

Wharton professor and bestselling author Jonah Berger shines a light on the hidden forces that shape our behavior. Here he explains why it's best to influence — and be influenced — by increment.
The Pivotal Stories Every Startup Leader Should Be Able to Tell
Management

The Pivotal Stories Every Startup Leader Should Be Able to Tell

Since starting his career as a U.S. Marine, Don Faul has led operations at Facebook, Pinterest and now Athos. Here are the stories he tells to rally big teams to do their best work.
How A/B Testing at LinkedIn, Wealthfront and eBay Made Me a Better Manager
Management

How A/B Testing at LinkedIn, Wealthfront and eBay Made Me a Better Manager

Instacart VP of Product Elliot Shmukler shares how he uses A/B testing as a management framework to not only accelerate product decisions, but also empower product teams.
Summer Book Recommendations from the Smartest People We Know
People & Culture

Summer Book Recommendations from the Smartest People We Know

Introducing a new annual feature on First Round Review: The Summer Reading List. All year, we bring you advice from the best in tech. Here, they recommend the books that expanded their minds in 2016.
The Recursive Product Strategy That Musk Used To Build An Empire
Product

The Recursive Product Strategy That Musk Used To Build An Empire

Serial entrepreneur and Civic Co-founder and CEO Vinny Lingham shares what it actually means to build a company for the long term.
The Three Frameworks You Need to Kick-start Sales
Sales

The Three Frameworks You Need to Kick-start Sales

TalentIQ VP of Sales Whitney Sales offers three indispensable exercises for startups seeking to build their early sales function and tally their first deals.
The Principles of Quantum Team Management
Management

The Principles of Quantum Team Management

Instagram Head of Engineering James Everingham walks us through a different approach to management, drawing on science and machine-building.
Adam Grant On Interviewing to Hire Trailblazers, Nonconformists and Originals
Management

Adam Grant On Interviewing to Hire Trailblazers, Nonconformists and Originals

Bestselling author Adam Grant follows up on his highly acclaimed book Originals with a set of interview questions needed to surface and select originals for your startup. Here's what to ask and how to find the nonconformists that will help propel your company forward.
The Fundraising Wisdom That Helped Our Founders Raise Billions in Follow-On Capital
Fundraising

The Fundraising Wisdom That Helped Our Founders Raise Billions in Follow-On Capital

First Round launched its Pitch Assist program to help founders raise follow-on capital. Here are the most important fundraising lessons we share.
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For the founder's notepad:
"If you personally want to grow as fast as your company, you have to give away your job every couple months." – Molly Graham
“Asking ‘Why can't this be done sooner?’ methodically, reliably and habitually can have a profound impact on the speed of your organization.” – Dave Girouard
“End every meeting or conversation with the feeling and optimism you’d like to have at the start of your next conversation with the person.” – Chris Fralic
“Focus is doing things with a clear intention. It doesn’t mean you charge single-minded toward a goal. It means you pay rapt and incremental attention to how you need to turn the rudder on a project.” – Fidji Simo
“It’s essential to grow with the company — rather than having the company grow around you.” – Cristina Cordova 
“You have to be impatient with shipping, but patient with your career.” – James Everingham
“‘I trust you, make the call’ might be the six most powerful words you can hear from a manager.” – Sean Twersky
“Your job as a CEO is to build fire departments, not put out fires.” – Sam Corcos 
“Can you say with confidence that each report would want to be on your team again? If you aren’t sure that the answer is yes, it’s probably no — much like how if you have to ask, ‘Am I in love?’ you’re probably not.” – Julie Zhuo 
“People can get addicted to yak shaving. An effective engineering generalist knows when to move on. Pay attention to whether they used their time wisely, not just the results.” – Mike Krieger 
“It sounds so simple to say that bosses need to tell employees when they're screwing up. But it very rarely happens.” – Kim Scott
“You’ll know you understand the customer problem enough when you can predict 75% of what a customer tells you. Keep having these conversations until three-quarters of it is stuff you already know.” – Christina Cacioppo
“I have a rule: no company swag until the business has at least $250K of revenue or 250k users. Until then, you don’t get to “feel” the benefits of having started a company.” – Gagan Biyani
“The business model ends up becoming the business. It’s equally important as the market you’re going after and the product that you build.” – Jay Simons 
“If speed is the yin, the yang is prioritization. You can’t be fast if you don’t know what’s important.” – Jaleh Rezaei
“If you treat your connections as a kind of personal ATM you use for frequent withdrawals, you’ll quickly be disappointed (and overdrawn).” – Karen Wickre 
“Delighting the customer always yields better returns than countering or copying a competitor. It’s just a lot harder to do.” – Andy Rachleff 
“When you’re a founder, every moment you’re not writing code or getting users, you need to be making a conscious choice: Is whatever you’re doing worth your time?” – Alexis Ohanian
“‘Why would a customer not want this?’ is often a far more interesting question than why they would.” – Rick Song
“When you leave the planning process wondering if you put too many resources behind a single bet, that’s the bet that ends up succeeding. Bold ideas need bold resourcing.” – Lenny Rachitsky and Nels Gilbreth
“Treat customer development as a one-on-one with a direct report — you just want to ask the hard questions.” – Ryan Glasgow
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