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
—
Brought to you by:
• Gamma—A new way to present, powered by AI
• WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs
• Merge—A single API to add hundreds of integrations into your app
—
Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-linkedin-became-interesting-tomer-cohen
—
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
—
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) 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
—
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.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!