Building Anchor, selling to Spotify, and lessons learned | Maya Prohovnik (Spotify’s Head of Podcast Product)

Brought to you by Sidebar—Catalyze your career with a Personal Board of Directors | Wix Studio—The web creation platform built for agencies | LinkedIn Ads—Reach professionals and drive results for your business—Maya Prohovnik is currently Spotify’s Head of Podcast Product. She was employee #1 at Anchor, which was acquired by Spotify in 2019 and now powers more than 80% of all new podcasts created in the world. In 2023, Maya was named one of the Most Important People in Podcasting by The Hollywood Reporter. In today’s episode, we discuss:• How Maya operationalizes “dogfooding”• How to balance data-driven decision-making and intuition• Strategies for preserving startup culture in a large organization• Tactical tips to improve at public speaking• How Radical Candor and the Eisenhower matrix transformed her approach to managing people• What’s next at Spotify for Podcasters—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-anchor-selling-to-spotify—Where to find Maya Prohovnik:• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@mayafish• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayaprohovnik/—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) Maya’s background(04:34) Spotify’s podcasting platform(06:24) Maya’s personal podcasts(11:36) The importance of “dogfooding” (13:24) How Maya operationalizes dogfooding(16:31) How to balance data-driven decision-making and trusting your gut(21:38) Building Anchor 2.0(26:24) The beginning of Anchor’s hockey stick growth(28:08) How Anchor utilized interns to make the Apple Podcasts integration “magical”(35:36) Anchor and Spotify’s successful integration(37:50) Maintaining a startup culture within a large organization(39:20) Transitioning from a startup to a large company(42:02) Challenges brought on by the acquisition(48:49) How Maya’s leadership approach is guided by Radical Candor(51:53) The Eisenhower matrix for prioritization and task management(52:46) Productivity tips(55:10) How to get better at public speaking(59:38) The future of Spotify for Podcasters(1:00:58) Lightning round—Referenced:• What is “Dogfooding”?: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/business/dogfooding.html• The Derry Connection: A Stephen King Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ixSiYlj3A9NqEXZDBgycf• Blood on Their Hands: A Big Brother Fancast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4VP16lTL8sUniQXCFeBInv• Time Share: A Children of Time Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/38yhl2lNOUajccfsdluh5j• The End of the World as We Know It: A First-Time Parenting Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TUr0LxcueYo2nvnyR5rML• Forgotify (stream Spotify songs that have never been played): https://forgotify.com/ • Michael Mignano on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mignano/• Lessons from scaling Spotify: The science of product, taking risky bets, and how AI is already impacting the future of music | Gustav Söderström (Co-President, CPO, and CTO at Spotify): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/lessons-from-scaling-spotify-the-science-of-product-taking-risky-bets-and-how-ai-is-already-impacting-the-future-of-music-gustav-soderstrom-co-president-cpo-and-cto-at-spotify/• Radical Candor: https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Candor-Revised-Kick-Ass-Humanity/dp/1250235375• What is the Eisenhower matrix?: https://www.figma.com/resource-library/what-is-the-eisenhower-matrix/• Todoist: https://todoist.com/• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity: https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0143126563/• Spotify for Podcasters: https://podcasters.spotify.com/• Children of Time: https://www.amazon.com/Children-Time-Adrian-Tchaikovsky/dp/0316452505• It: https://www.amazon.com/Novel-Stephen-King/dp/1982127791/• Poker Face on Peacock: https://www.peacocktv.com/stream-tv/poker-face• Barbie on Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Barbie-Margot-Robbie/dp/B0CB1TMKR6• Deadly Games: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096741/• 1-800 Contacts: https://www.1800contacts.com/• Lovevery: https://lovevery.com/• CoopCrate: https://www.coopcratechickens.com/—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe