Brandon Chu on building product at Shopify, how writing changed the trajectory of his career, the habits that make you a great PM, pros and cons of being a platform PM, how Shopify got through Covid

Brandon Chu is VP of Product at Shopify, where he leads the app platform ecosystem, new initiatives group, and M&A investments. Brandon helped scale Shopify’s PM team from five to hundreds, and worked his way up from an IC Senior PM. Prior to Shopify, he was a Director of PM at FreshBooks and, before that, a founder. Brandon might be best known for his writing on the art and science of product management as part of a collection on Medium he calls “The Black Box of Product Management.”—Thank you to our sponsors for making this episode possible:• Stytch: https://stytch.com/• Persona: https://withpersona.com/lenny• PostHog: https://posthog.com/lenny—In this episode, we cover:1) Brandon’s path to VP of Product at Shopify.2) What has Brandon found to be the most important skill set for super-successful PMs?3) What is it like to build product at Shopify?4) How did Shopify adjust after the shock to e-commerce during Covid?5) How did Shopify build a one-click team offsite flight/hotel/activity booking platform?6) How did Brandon motivate himself to start, and keep, writing?7) As a PM, why is writing one of the highest-ROI uses of your time?8) What’s Brandon’s favorite piece of writing?9) What are the biggest surprises, pros, and cons about being a platform PM?—Where to find Brandon:• Twitter: https://twitter.com/brandonmchu• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonmchu/• Brandon’s writing: https://blackboxofpm.com/• Making Good Decisions as a Product Manager: https://blackboxofpm.com/making-good-decisions-as-a-product-manager-c66ddacc9e2b Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe