The Hard Parts of Growth

I lead Product at WhatsApp, the largest messaging app in the world.  Over the past 20 years, as an early employee at Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, I’ve built large and small teams, created 0-1 products, scaled multi-billion dollar businesses, and worked in roles from PR to Marketing to running a small VC fund.  

Throughout my career, I’ve stumbled – a lot.  I had to learn through trial and error, from how to build products for different audiences, to how to scale teams, to how to create resilient cultures.  

This series is a summary of what I’ve learned so far – about product, management, leadership, and all the hard things no one tells you about when you’re lucky enough to hit hypergrowth.  

It’s a playbook for the hard parts of growth.

I’m sharing it in the hopes that it saves you time and angst.  It can feel lonely to deal with these problems, especially if you don’t already have a network of people who have dealt with them before.  But all of these problems are normal and universal - and all of us can lead through them.

Every week, I’ll publish one more note in the playbook (and maybe a doodle or two that helped me sort things out).  If you have a specific problem you’d like another take on, please send it!