Product lessons from Waymo | Shweta Shrivastava (Waymo, Amazon, Cisco)

Brought to you by Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security | Public—Invest in stocks, treasuries, crypto, and more | LMNT—Zero-sugar hydration—Shweta Shrivastava is a Senior Product Leader at Waymo, an autonomous driving technology company backed by Alphabet. Prior to joining Waymo, she was the CPO of Nauto, where she also worked on AI-assisted driver tools. Shweta has worked in product for over 15 years in senior roles at several companies, including Amazon and Cisco. In today’s episode, we discuss:• How Waymo builds trust with riders• Product management at Waymo vs software-only products• The state of self-driving technology• The importance of being a disruptor and why large companies need to disrupt more• Underrated product management skills—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/product-lessons-from-waymo-shweta-shrivastava-waymo-amazon-cisco/#transcript—Where to find Shweta Shriva• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shshrivastava/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Shweta’s background(03:47) What Shweta and her team are responsible for at Waymo(05:30) About the autonomous driving vehicle hardware, software, and simulation tools (08:14) Differences in working at Waymo vs. a more traditional software company(11:02) How Waymo builds trust with riders and the difference between driver assist and fully autonomous(13:57) An example of how Waymo builds trust with riders(15:55) The commercial, operational, and system behavior metrics Waymo uses (20:38) What are L5 autonomous vehicles and why Shweta thinks L4 vehicles are good enough(22:53) How to keep investors enthusiastic when it’s a long-term investment(25:24) Building successful teams and successful products(26:39) Determining what you’re not building, especially before product-market-fit(27:49) Why large companies need to disrupt their own models (29:33) The most underrated product management skills(33:07) Tips for getting promoted(35:19) Where is Waymo and how to try it out(36:46) Lightning round—Referenced:• Waymo: https://waymo.com/• Nauto: https://www.nauto.com/• Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Working-Backwards-Insights-Stories-Secrets/dp/1250267595• Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers: https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-3rd-Disruptive-Mainstream/dp/0062292986• The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail: https://www.amazon.com/Innovators-Dilemma-Technologies-Management-Innovation/dp/1633691780• Top Gun: Maverick on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Top-Gun-Maverick-Tom-Cruise/dp/B0B18G8R9B—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe