Peter Sellis was the first product manager at Snapchat, where he spent seven years building one of the most beloved consumer products in history. He went on to serve as Head of Product at Discord, where he helped drive some of the fastest user growth the platform had seen. Having left his role at Discord, he gets to be especially real and unfiltered — nothing to promote, no PR, no comms team.

In our in-depth conversation, we discuss:

1. Why Peter designs teams like . . . terrorist organizations

2. What it was really like to manage Nikita Bier

3. Why the median PM is so bad

4. Why Snapchat’s ads business never reached its potential

5. Why growth almost always comes from the core product

6. Peter’s three “oxymorons” of great product management

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Where to find Peter Sellis:

• X: https://x.com/petersellis

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

• Website: https://pjs.lol

Referenced:

• Discord: https://discord.com

• Snap: https://www.snap.com

• Nikita Bier on X: https://x.com/nikitabier

• How to consistently go viral: Nikita Bier’s playbook for winning at consumer apps (co-founder of TBH, Gas, advisor, investor): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-consistently-go-viral-nikita-bier

• Liam Neeson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_Neeson

• Phil Jackson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Jackson

• This CPO regrets that product management exists | Tom Verrilli (CPO of Whatnot): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/this-cpo-regrets-that-product-management

• Why Netflix is betting on systems thinkers—not specialists—in the AI era | Elizabeth Stone (CPTO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/netflix-cpto-on-ai-and-the-future

• Five whys: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_whys

• Jay Wright Forrester: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Wright_Forrester

• System dynamics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_dynamics

• Adam Mosseri: AI is a tailwind for authenticity: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/adam-mosseri-ai-is-a-tailwind-for

• Eric Seufert on X: https://x.com/eric_seufert

• Vickrey–Clarke–Groves mechanism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickrey%E2%80%93Clarke%E2%80%93Groves_mechanism

• Peter principle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle

• Midjourney: https://www.midjourney.com

• SpaceX: https://www.spacex.com

• Elon Musk on X: https://x.com/elonmusk

• Nassim Taleb’s “turkey problem”: https://nassimtaleb.org/2013/09/turkey-problem/

• Neuralink: https://neuralink.com

• The Boring Company: https://www.boringcompany.com

• Tesla: https://www.tesla.com

• AI’s third era: the rise of persistent AI coworkers | Tara Seshan (OpenAI’s product lead): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ais-third-era-the-rise-of-persistent

• Why half of product managers are in trouble | Nikhyl Singhal (Meta, Google): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/why-half-of-product-managers-are-in-trouble

• Building a long and meaningful career | Nikhyl Singhal (Meta, Google): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-a-long-and-meaningful-career

• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: https://www.expedition33.com

• Hex: https://hex.tech

• John Steinbeck quote from East of Eden: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/175715-time-interval-is-a-strange-and-contradictory-matter-in-the

• Ustream: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Cloud_Video

• Justin.tv: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin.tv

• Justin Kan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinkan

• Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv

• Josh Elman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshe

• Matt Schlicht on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattschlicht

• Moltbook: https://www.moltbook.com

• Meta: https://www.meta.com

• Jason Calacanis on X: https://x.com/Jason

• This Week in Startups: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinStartups

Recommended books:

• Thinking in Systems: A Primer: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Systems-Primer-New/dp/B0161N8KQA

• The Innovator’s Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062060244

• How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1594632332

• When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management: https://www.amazon.com/When-Genius-Failed-Long-Term-Management/dp/0375758259

• Einstein’s Dreams: https://www.amazon.com/Einsteins-Dreams-Alan-Lightman/dp/140007780X

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

My biggest takeaways from this conversation:...