The inside story behind LinkedIn’s transformation | Tomer Cohen (CPO at LinkedIn)

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Tomer Cohen is the chief product officer at LinkedIn, responsible for setting the company’s product strategy, leading product development, user experience design, business development, content creation, and customer operations. He also hosts the Building One podcast, where he interviews exceptional builders across various disciplines. In our conversation, we discuss:

• How LinkedIn transformed its feed into an engaging content and social platform

• Tomer’s famous “We might be wrong, but we are not confused” mantra

• The importance of conviction and passion in product leadership

• LinkedIn’s approach to experimenting with and implementing AI features

• Lessons from Tomer’s rapid career progression at LinkedIn

• Strategies for embracing AI in product development

Some takeaways:

1. It’s OK to be wrong, but it’s not OK to be confused. If your team isn’t all pulling in the same direction, you’ll definitely fail. When everyone is pulling in the same direction, it doesn’t guarantee success, but it does give you a chance. Everyone needs to be aligned on where you’re going, how you’re getting there, and why.

2. Strong product moves start with strong visions. Form a vision by first asking: “What could be?” What change would happen in the world if I’m successful?” “What are my strongest beliefs?” Answer from a place of excitement and inspiration, not from a place of constraints or by merely projecting the present forward. To analogize to a mountain trek, it’s sufficient to have a great image of what the peak looks like, and how you’ll get to base camp and start. It’s OK if you have only a rough image of the path in between those points.

3. Strong product discussions start with clear opinions that “have teeth” and take a stance on specific tradeoffs. For example, “We should make the product simple” fails this standard because everyone would like their products to be simpler, assuming there are no tradeoffs involved. This opinion can be made meaningful by unpacking what you’re willing to sacrifice for simplicity, and why.

4. Your resource allocation should reflect your priorities. Often leaders will claim a particular initiative is a priority, while allocating most of their engineering and design talent to something else. If you’re not resourcing an initiative, it’s not really your priority.

5. When looking for opportunities to leverage AI, ground your approach in what your business and users need. It’s tempting to ground your approach in what the technology can do and to get caught up in what seems “cool,” but that is a recipe for building things that don’t deliver value. Instead, define your objectives clearly and ask: “How might AI help us achieve this objective better?”

6. When evaluating career opportunities, prioritize the potential impact of your work over the prestige of the company or the title you hold. Measure your success by the tangible results you achieve and the contributions you make to the product or company.

Where to find Tomer Cohen:

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

• Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/building-one-with-tomer-cohen/id1726672498

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Introduction to Tomer Cohen and his role at LinkedIn

(02:28) The mantra “We might be wrong, but we are not confused”

(06:45) Clarity of thought and focus

(13:03) Setting ambitious goals and overdelivering

(16:18) Transforming LinkedIn’s feed: strategy and execution

(22:03) Running experiments at scale

(26:24) Goal setting and identifying opportunities 

(30:58) AI’s role in LinkedIn’s evolution

(35:38) The AI-first mindset at LinkedIn

(35:38) Developing an AI-first mindset

(44:49) Letting go of your roadmaps and allowing room for exploration

(49:12) Career growth and personal insights

(55:01) Takeaways 

(56:39) Lightning round and final thoughts

Referenced:

• Joff Redfern on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mejoff/

• Airbnb’s Vlad Loktev on embracing chaos, inquiry over advocacy, poking the bear, and “impact, impact, impact” (Partner at Index Ventures, Airbnb GM/VP Product): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/impact-impact-impact-vlad-loktev

• Vlad Loktev on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vladimirloktev/

• Jeff Weiner on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffweiner08/

• LinkedIn AI Academy: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/linkedin-ai-academy-ai-100-3-scaling-ai-at-linkedin

• Shira Gasarch on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiragasarch/

• Brian Chesky’s new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach

• Deep Nishar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepnishar/

• Steve Jobs: https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1451648537

• Ed Catmull on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwincatmull/

• Canva: https://www.canva.com/

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/

• Roblox: https://www.roblox.com/

• Dan Barber on X: https://x.com/DanBarber

• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success: https://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Psychology-Carol-S-Dweck/dp/0345472322

• Thinking Fast and Slow: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp/0374533555/

• High Output Management: https://www.amazon.com/High-Output-Management-Andrew-Grove/dp/0679762884/

• Bluey on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/series/bluey/1xy9TAOQ0M3r

• Spark amp: https://www.positivegrid.com/products/spark

• Pink Floyd’s website: https://www.pinkfloyd.com/

• Metallica’s website: https://www.metallica.com/

• Nirvana’s website: https://www.nirvana.com/#/

• David Bowie’s website: https://www.davidbowie.com/

• Carol Dweck’s quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7017039-becoming-is-better-than-being-the-fixed-mindset-does-not

• Never Search Alone: The Job Seeker’s Playbook: https://www.amazon.com/Never-Search-Alone-Seekers-Playbook/dp/B0B9Q9YDQ5

• Nomophobia: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/nomophobia

• Friend.com: https://www.friend.com/

• Becoming an AI-First Product Leader course on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/becoming-an-ai-first-product-leader

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.