Preston Smalley

Product & Tech Leader with background in digital TV entertainment, two-sided marketplaces and mobile apps used everyday by millions of people.

[Lenny Rachitsky @lennysan]

The most female-led product org in tech right now:

Chief Product Officer: Ami Vora
Claude Code/Cowork Head of Product: Cat Wu
Claude Code/Cowork Head of Eng: Fiona Fung
Claude Platform Head of Product: Angela Jiang
Claude Platform Head of Eng: Katelyn Lesse
Research Head of Product: Dianne Penn
President: Daniela Amodei

(Also, the fastest-growing company in history)

[Preston Smalley @prestons]

So proud of these girls! Cheering for Grace and all our cougars again today as they play now for the NorCal State Championship! 🤽🏆

[USA Water Polo @USAWP]

Congratulations to the @CIFNCS Girls High School Water Polo Champions!

Open: Carondelet
D1: San Ramon Valley
D2: Amador Valley

#highschool #waterpolo

[Roku @Roku]

Say “Howdy” to almost everything you want to watch at an unbeatable price. Commercial-free TV is now just $2.99 a month.

[Sachin Rekhi @sachinrekhi]

Most companies prioritize features based on customer problems alone. But the best product companies—Apple, Amazon, Stripe, and others—do something fundamentally different.

They practice "product shaping."

The traditional approach: Identify customer problems → Prioritize by importance → Build solutions → Hope they work well

The shaping approach: Identify customer problems → Prototype rough solutions → Prioritize based on both problem importance AND solution quality

This changes everything. Instead of betting your roadmap on abstract problems, you're betting on concrete solutions you can actually evaluate.

Take Apple's famous multi-touch story: Jony Ive's team spent years prototyping a touch interface for tablets in the lab. When Steve Jobs saw it, he realized it would be better for phones. They shelved the tablet, prioritized the iPhone, and changed the world.

That's product shaping at its finest.

So why doesn't everyone do this?

Simple: Running a prototyping lab that builds dozens of concepts that never ship is expensive. Most companies can't justify the cost.

But AI prototyping is changing the game completely.

What once required months of engineering time and significant budget can now be explored in hours or days. Teams can rapidly shape solutions, test concepts, and make roadmap decisions based on real prototypes instead of wishful thinking.

The barrier to product shaping is disappearing. And the companies that embrace this shift will build better products, faster than ever before.

Are you shaping solutions before you prioritize them?

[Ethan Evans @EthanEvansVP]

I made it to Amazon VP because my managers fought for my promotions. They fought for my promotions because I met the 3 criteria that a manager needs to risk their reputation on you:

[Preston Smalley @prestons]

I'm interested in what @perplexity_ai's new agentic browser, Comet will be like. Joined the waitlist here: https://t.co/XMGKCSmDtf

[Teresa Torres @ttorres]

Worthy Read: AI Can Synthesize Data for You—But Should It? by Christina Wodtke

"When AI does the synthesis, you skip an essential part of the process. You don't inhabit the data." 🤖

Want to build better product intuition? It's not about AI-generated reports—it's about getting your hands dirty with the data. This article explores why physically engaging with information helps you develop deeper understanding and better gut instincts.

What you'll learn:
🧠 How "inhabiting the data" rewires your brain
📝 Why Post-its remain powerful thinking tools
🔍 The role of physical interaction in processing information
⚡ How to use AI as a tool without sacrificing deep understanding

Key practices for building product intuition:
🔮 Watch people interact with products
👀 Notice where users hesitate or smile
✏️ Take notes and draw diagrams
🔄 Move ideas around physically

Read the article: https://t.co/0P6fp887WI

💭 When was the last time you felt the difference between just seeing an insight versus truly feeling it? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

[Preston Smalley @prestons]

@SpotifyCares my 13-year old son loves music and his older siblings all do too. He has a family setup Apple Watch and has saved his money for air pods but now has come to learn he cannot use Spotify on his watch as hoped. We don’t wish for him to have a phone for a year or two. Is this something you’re working on fixing?

[Preston Smalley @prestons]

@kevinrose @mozilla @Pocket @digg @peterrojas +1 would love for you to adopt pocket which I’ve used for years!

[hbo max fka @hbomax]

Knew he could revive us.

[Daniel Pink @DanielPink]

You’re exhausted.

You want to quit.

Instead, say these two words to yourself: “Five more.”

Here’s the reason it keeps you going…

[Preston Smalley @prestons]

@PCMtnAlert @PCski Avoid King Con - it’s an hour plus line not the “3min” the app says. So misleading.

[Lenny Rachitsky @lennysan]

I've always wanted to know which companies create the best product managers. I finally have answers.

I teamed up with @GotLiveData to see which companies’ PM alumni go on to see:
1. The most promotions
2. The fastest immediate promotion
3. The fastest rise to leadership roles (e.g. to VP, CPO, Head of Product)
4. The highest rate of becoming CPOs and Heads of Product
5. The highest rate of becoming the first PM at another company
6. The highest rate of becoming founders

Out of this, we triangulated a list of top 10 companies that create the biggest inflections in the careers of their PM alumni. Here's the list:
1. @RevolutApp
2. @n26
3. @eBay
4. @Plaid
5. @Intercom
6. @Intuit
7. @LinkedIn
8. @PalantirTech
9. @Deel
10. @Discord

Here's the full post with all of the data and analysis: https://t.co/BJVB3gVlFK

My biggest surprises and takeaways:
1. The top two companies are based in Europe! One in London, one in Berlin. Go Europe!

2. Fintech is dominant—5 out of the top 10 companies! Did not expect that. It’s probably no coincidence that the PayPal mafia has been so successful. One explanation, shared by my buddy Dennis Yang (PM at Chime), is that fintech nurtures strong product leaders because fintech work is on hard mode—lots of risk/fraud vectors, difficult stakeholders (e.g. compliance, regulations), and endless complicated tradeoffs. Another explanation could be that fintech PMs leave to join other fintech companies or start fintech startups, and since they know that space well, they’re more likely to thrive.

3. We have a new set of startup mafias: Palantir, Plaid, N26, Ramp, Intercom, Revolut, Duolingo, Uber, Notion, and Coinbase. The standout company is Palantir, where almost a quarter of Palantir PMs went on to start their own company. Almost a fifth of Plaid PM alumni went on to start a company, which is also incredible. Of older and larger companies, LinkedIn, Google, Intuit, and eBay made it into the top 15. Impressive! Props to LinkedIn for being the most founder-friendly big company.

4. FAANG companies lag behind. eBay, Intuit, and LinkedIn are far ahead of companies like Microsoft, Google, Apple, Meta, and Amazon in these lists. One explanation is that PMs at FAANG companies learn how to operate well within that specific company and are less successful elsewhere. Another explanation is that the best PMs at FAANG companies are happy and don’t leave, and so we don’t see their trajectories in the data.

5. There are an equal number of B2B and B2C in the top 10. You can do great no matter which direction your career goes.

Notable mentions:
1. @TryRamp (~800 employees, founded 2019): Particularly strong at creating founders—which is extra impressive since it’s so young.
- Ranked 3rd at founder rate
- Ranked 5th at first PM rate
- Ranked 10th at time-to-next-promotion after leaving

2. @Nubank (~7,000 employees, founded 2013): Strong all around but not ranked highest on any specific dimension.
- Ranked 6th at Head of Product rate
- Ranked 7th at first PM rate
- Ranked 8th at fastest risers
- Ranked 9th at fastest promotion

3. @NotionHQ (~500 employees, founded 2013): Especially strong at creating first PMs at other companies.
- Ranked 2nd at first PM
- Ranked 4th at CPO rate

Don't miss the full post with tons more: https://t.co/BJVB3gVlFK

[Shreyas Doshi @shreyas]

If you want to consistently underpromise & overdeliver externally, you’d be smart to foster a culture that makes it okay for your team to overpromise & underdeliver internally. Most likely your competitor thinks this is a preposterous idea. Therein lies your advantage.

[Roku @Roku]

New Roku features are on the way. 👇
https://t.co/s3lKeefz8w

[Roku @Roku]

The choices are endless.

And the Backdrops are yours. 🖼️

[John Ourand @Ourand_Puck]

Roku's MLB deal is now official. It will carry Sunday morning games, starting this Sunday with Red Sox-Cardinals.

Multi-year deal also includes nightly clips delivered as VOD and available in MLB Zone/Sports Zone plus an MLB FAST channel.

[Preston Smalley @prestons]

@lucas__crespo Good question why all TV Remotes aren’t rechargeable.
https://t.co/Kc1pEIOaN1

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

Here's the secret of the most charismatic people in the world...

The 3 Levels of Listening:

[Preston Smalley @prestons]

To learn more...

RELEASE: https://t.co/YqmzhtTHhE

CNET: https://t.co/t0fcOds9jK

VERGE: https://t.co/hoslPT5iWi

[Preston Smalley @prestons]

Thrilled to share Roku's latest this week: our new Pro-series TV that raises the bar, an enhanced backlit voice remote, and software enhancements for everyone—featuring Backdrops, streamlined browsing both on TV and through our mobile app, plus a fun ride around Roku City. 🚗👍

But more than these achievements, I'm honored to collaborate with such an incredible team. Their dedication and creativity inspire me every day. 👏