Product management

Sep 06, 2026

Why companies are becoming a series of loops | Anish Acharya (a16z)

Anish Acharya, a General Partner at a16z, shares profound insights into the AI era. He debunks fears of a "permanent underclass," arguing that AI amplifies human agency and ambition. Anish introduces the concept of company building as creating cascading "loops" across all functions, with human intuition crucial for overcoming local maxima. He identifies the biggest consumer opportunity as "/loop, make me happier," focusing AI on fundamental human needs like connection and fun. He also discusses the nuances of model specialization, how moats are discovered rather than designed, the rising importance of distribution, and the potential for "expensive consumer software," offering actionable advice for product builders to embrace AI.

Aug 30, 2026

AI’s third era: the rise of persistent AI coworkers | Tara Seshan (OpenAI’s product lead)

Tara Seshan, who leads product for Codex and ChatGPT Work at OpenAI, explores how AI is shifting knowledge work from rowing to steering, why ambition and human judgment are becoming key differentiators, how to build for models two to three months ahead, and how writing as thinking still matters. The conversation also covers OpenAI's founder-led culture, the design of Work mode, and practical uses like Sites and visualize.

Aug 27, 2026

How Anthropic Builds: Lessons from Labs — Mike Krieger, Anthropic

Mike Krieger, a former CPO at Anthropic, details his transition to an IC role to build directly with AI, advocating for "unreasonable" asks like porting entire codebases. He shares lessons from Instagram on scaling and highlights Anthropic's internal use of Claude as a proactive teammate, flexible lab structure, and critical insights on AI product design, vertical applications, and mental health in the fast-paced AI industry.

Aug 19, 2026

How to build an AI-Native Health Company — Dan Feng, Maven Clinic

Dan Feng outlines Maven Clinic's transformation into an AI-native company, driven by the realization that "building is cheap and arguing is expensive" in the AI era. This shift has reshaped planning to short, iterative sprints, revolutionized software development with AI coding tools, forced adaptive changes in code review processes, and necessitated a nuanced, multi-layered approach to ensuring reliability in generative AI systems.

Aug 02, 2026

This CPO regrets that product management exists | Tom Verrilli (CPO of Whatnot)

Tom Verrilli, CPO at Whatnot, discusses his controversial stance that "we regret product management exists," advocating for a leaner, more hands-on PM approach. He delves into how Whatnot structures its product team, its rigorous hiring process focused on deep systems thinking and IC work, and the transformative impact of AI on product and data science functions. Verrilli also shares mental models for balancing strategy and iteration, navigating the CPO-founder relationship, and key lessons from his time at Twitter, emphasizing the importance of core PM skills in an AI-driven world.

Jul 26, 2026

Anthropic’s first technical PM on token maxing, the jagged edge, and living in the future

Dianne Penn, Head of Product for Anthropic’s AI Research and Labs teams, discusses Anthropic's journey, the evolving AI landscape, and the changing role of product management. She highlights the importance of adaptability, 'evals as the new PRDs,' and how Anthropic's focus on alignment and safety makes Claude a more effective 'thinking partner' by enabling it to push back on user ideas.