Becoming more strategic, navigating difficult colleagues, harnessing founder mode, and more | Anneka Gupta (Chief Product Officer at Rubrik)

Anneka Gupta is the Chief Product Officer at Rubrik, a leading B2B cybersecurity company. She previously spent 11 years at LiveRamp, where she was the President and Head of Product and Platforms leading product development and go-to-market operations and strategy. Anneka also sits on the board of directors for Tinuiti and teaches product management at Stanford University. In our conversation, we discuss: • Navigating “founder mode” dynamics in organizations • Navigating difficult personalities and aligning teams • The PM skill of summarization • Giving and receiving hard feedback effectively • The value of a positive mindset • Tips for breaking into product management • Much more — Brought to you by: • The Enterprise Ready Conference — For B2B leaders building enterprise SaaS • Command AI — AI-powered user assistance for modern products and impatient users • Eppo — Run reliable, impactful experiments — Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/becoming-more-strategic-anneka-gupta — Where to find Anneka Gupta: • X: https://x.com/annekagupta • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annekagupta — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • X: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ — In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Introduction to Anneka Gupta (01:43) Key mindsets for success (05:30) Managing energy for optimal performance (09:05) Founder mode (18:26) Becoming more strategic (27:54) The importance of decision-making (37:18) Navigating difficult personalities (41:38) Techniques for giving and receiving feedback (51:01) Transitioning into product management (54:56) Advice for aspiring product managers (59:39) Leveraging AI tools in product management (01:01:27) The power of a positive mindset (01:04:30) Lightning round — Referenced: • Founder Mode: https://paulgraham.com/foundermode.html • Building a long and meaningful career | Nikhyl Singhal (Meta, Google): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-a-long-and-meaningful-career • The Skip community: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skip-community/ • Rubrik: https://www.rubrik.com/ • 5 essential questions to craft a winning strategy | Roger Martin (author, advisor, speaker): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-strategy-roger-martin • Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works : https://www.amazon.com/Playing-Win-Strategy-Really-Works/dp/142218739X • Thinking like a gardener not a builder, organizing teams like slime mold, the adjacent possible, and other unconventional product advice | Alex Komoroske: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/unconventional-product-advice-alex-komoroske • Acquired podcast interviews Zuckerberg in San Francisco: https://transistor.fm/acquired-live/ • Hema Mohan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hemamohan/ • Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity : https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Candor-Kick-Ass-Without-Humanity/dp/1250103509 • Radical Candor: From theory to practice with author Kim Scott: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/radical-candor-from-theory-to-practice • LiveRamp: https://liveramp.com/ • Product Management class at Stanford: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/experience/learning/experiential-learning/action-learning-program/product-management • Figma: https://www.figma.com/ • Dovetail: https://try.dovetail.com/ • The Remarkable Advantage of Abundant Thinking : https://review.firstround.com/the-remarkable-advantage-of-abundant-thinking/ • The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers : https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Thing-About-Things-Building/dp/0062273205 • Brandon Sanderson’s books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Brandon-Sanderson/author/B001IGFHW6 • Fallout on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CN4HV16N • Thunderbolt 4 ( 3-meter cable): https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MW5H3AM/A/thunderbolt-4-usb%E2%80%91c-pro-cable-3-m • Isaac Asimov: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov • The complete Foundation series: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Asimovs-Foundation-Foundations-Prelude/dp/B01EFDEMS8 — 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. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe