How do you lead a high-velocity engineering team—when everything about how we build is changing? How do you cultivate more of a product mindset in your engineering teams?

Loïc Houssier (VP Engineering @ Superhuman) shares his evolving playbook for driving velocity in eng orgs today, building product-minded teams, and cultivating product taste. We cover leading culture / mindset transformation, creating exceptional product experiences, operational excellence when product quality is increasingly subjective. Plus the evolution of productivity tools!

Loïc Houssier is an engineering executive with 20 years of leadership experience spanning startups, scale-ups, and global enterprises. He specializes in helping high-growth companies scale with speed and discipline, combining technical depth with a strong operational mindset.

He currently leads engineering at Superhuman, the most productive email app ever made, where he joined at a pivotal moment in the company’s growth. Loïc brought a new level of executional rigor — embedding a culture of speed not just in the product (where every interaction happens in under 100ms), but in how the team ships, scales, and makes decisions.

Previously, he held senior engineering roles at Productboard, Firstbase, and DocuSign, where he led global teams through platform expansion, org design, and M&A. With a background in cryptography and early experience as a security researcher, Loïc is also a frequent mentor and speaker on engineering leadership and building resilient, high-velocity teams.

• How Loïc built a reputation for building high-velocity engineering orgs (2:14)
• The underweighted value of board member continuity (4:58)
• Defining velocity in the AI age (6:23)
• Loïc’s evolving playbook that drives velocity (9:10)
• Implementing the velocity playbook @ Superhuman (11:04)
• An example of incorporating domain focus effectively within an eng team (12:49)
• Strategies for changing core principles / managing culture shock (16:17)
• Knowing when you made the correct change vs. signals it’s not working (19:06)
• Tools & tactics to promote a velocity mindset in engineering orgs (21:10)
• Build credibility with influential eng leaders in your org (23:37)
• Frameworks for cultivating product thinking within an eng org (27:03)
• How to cultivate great product taste inside engineering orgs (30:24)
• The importance of having a strong leader who sets the product taste standard (32:20)
• Key elements of exceptional product experiences @ Superhuman (34:34)
• Loïc’s perspective on navigating product complexity & quality expectations w/ AI (36:28)
• The future of productivity tools: paradigm shifts in AI & productivity (39:29)
• Rapid fire questions (41:20)

• Days at the Morisaki Bookshop - Satoshi Yagisawa’s moving international sensation about new beginnings, human connection, and the joy of reading.
• Zone to Win: Organizing to Compete in an Age of Disruption - Geoffrey A. Moore’s high-powered tool for driving your company above and beyond its limitations, its definitions of success, and ultimately, its competitors.

Patrick Gallagher - Producer & Co-Host

Jerry Li - Co-Host

Noah Olberding - Associate Producer, Audio & Video Editor https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-olberding/

Dan Overheim - Audio Engineer, Dan’s also an avid 3D printer - https://www.bnd3d.com/

Ellie Coggins Angus - Copywriter, Check out her other work at https://elliecoggins.com/about/

When Nissim Lehyani (VP of Product at Life360) used AI to build a math game for his son, he didn’t just prototype a game, he rewired how he thinks about product development and the relationship between engineering, product, and design. In this episode, Nissim shares how that personal “aha” moment sparked a shift in how his teams build, collaborate, and ship. We dive into how AI is accelerating product iteration from months to hours, why it’s time to drop the “M” from MVP, and how prototypes are replacing PRDs as the central artifact of product work. Plus how product rituals and building cadence are evolving, strategies for scaling a prototype-first workflow, and we deconstruct the “lightning pod” model and how it’s changing the dynamics of product building & EPD collaboration.

Nissim Lehyani is the Vice President of Product at Life360, where he leads product strategy for the family safety platform used by over 60 million users worldwide. With more than two decades of experience across startups, global tech companies, and entrepreneurial ventures, Nissim is known for scaling impactful products that blend technical depth with business strategy.

Prior to Life360, he was Senior Director of Product at Indeed, where he oversaw a portfolio of 13 consumer products reaching 300M+ monthly users, and led a team of 40+ product managers across global markets. Nissim previously held leadership roles at GoDaddy, where he helped 18M+ SMBs grow their businesses through strategic partnerships with Facebook, Yelp, and Google.

As a founder, he built and led two ventures: Shopial (acquired by Magento) and Urban Place, raising millions to support small businesses and entrepreneurs. He also brings deep technical roots from his engineering leadership at Cisco and early career in Israeli Military Intelligence.

Nissim is a 2024 Product Leader Award winner and active mentor in the startup ecosystem through roles at Mixpanel and SV101 by ICON. He’s passionate about user-centric innovation, data-driven growth, and the intersection of AI, engineering, and product management.

• How Nissin & Patrick got connected (2:19)
• Nissin’s light bulb AI moment (4:03)
• Building first & defining later (5:33)
• How AI accelerates product iteration from months to hours & fills skill gaps (6:49)
• Recognizing your AI aha moment (9:44)
• Why it’s time to drop the “M” from MVP (11:21)
• New expectations for the first iteration of a product (13:37)
• Nissim’s #1 product principle (15:56)
• Why prototyping is replacing PRDs (17:57)
• Strategies for socializing a prototype-first workflow in your org (19:54)
• Tactics for inspiring AI adoption: find one annoying thing & show vs. tell (22:22)
• Rethinking product cadence and how product rituals are evolving (24:08)
• Defining the “lightning pod” model (25:29)
• How “lightning pods” change the dynamic between engineering, product & design (27:20)
• A live AI product demo: recreating Nissim’s original aha moment (29:10)
• Iterating product in real-time (31:06)
• How Nissim evaluates code & product outcomes (33:38)
• Rapid fire questions (34:15)

Patrick Gallagher - Producer & Co-Host

Jerry Li - Co-Host

Noah Olberding - Associate Producer, Audio & Video Editor https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-olberding/

Dan Overheim - Audio Engineer, Dan’s also an avid 3D printer - https://www.bnd3d.com/

Ellie Coggins Angus - Copywriter, Check out her other work at https://elliecoggins.com/about/

We just launched the ELC Forum — a new space for engineering leaders to dive deeper into real challenges and get peer support It’s a discussion board (like Reddit) but focused on eng leadership. We’re sharing takeaways from recent episodes and kicking off new discussions. Plus, AMAs with guests are coming soon. See you in the Forum!

Click here to explore the forum, ask questions, & share insights and takeaways!

https://elc.community/home/forum

Prashant is a hands-on technology executive with extensive experience in software engineering, leading large organizations, specializing in AI / ML, and large-scale systems architecture. With advanced degrees in computer science and engineering leadership, he excels at defining technical strategies that align with business goals, delivering results, and fostering high-performing, cross-functional teams. He cares about engineering excellence, leveraging cutting-edge technology to solve complex problems and scale operations for long-term growth. He has a lifelong passion for learning and looks for opportunities to challenge the status quo to drive change. He loves the outdoors and is a self-proclaimed podaholic - going on long hikes in Bay Area while listening to his podcasts is one of his favorite activities.

For over 30 years, Side has helped create unforgettable user experiences—from indies to AAA blockbusters like Silent Hill 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3.

• Behind Prashant’s rapid leadership evolution (3:26)
• Transitioning from IC to management: early steps and surprises (5:51)
• Navigating the mindset shifts from tech expert to people leader (7:31)
• Friction points in moving from informal to formal leadership (11:00)
• Skills for communicating with less technical audiences (13:46)
• Learning to talk with GMs & other non-technical leaders (16:32)
• Frameworks for effective meeting planning (19:03)
• Examples of communicating technical work to execs (20:08)
• Learning the impact of the “observer effect” (21:59)
• Incorporating feedback gathered by observing (27:03)
• Strategies for maintaining technical credibility as a senior leader (29:29)
• Why personal projects and experimentation matter for leadership growth (32:21)
• How Prashant’s personal projects enhance technical credibility & leadership skills (36:59)
• Rapid fire questions (37:57)

Patrick Gallagher - Producer & Co-Host

Jerry Li - Co-Host

Noah Olberding - Associate Producer, Audio & Video Editor https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-olberding/

Dan Overheim - Audio Engineer, Dan’s also an avid 3D printer - https://www.bnd3d.com/

Ellie Coggins Angus - Copywriter, Check out her other work at https://elliecoggins.com/about/

AI is reshaping the fundamental economics of startups—lowering product development costs, compressing GTM cycles, and rewriting the rules of competition. In this episode, Craig McLuckie (Co-Founder & CEO @ Stacklok, co-creator of Kubernetes) unpacks “the epoch of the startup,” a moment of massive disruption where fast-moving founders have a unique edge over incumbents. We explore how Craig is navigating this new era from rethinking cost structure, value capture, and defensibility to leveraging open-source, community, and asymmetric advantages as core pillars of Stacklok’s strategy. Craig shares lessons from pivotal product shifts, frameworks for identifying moats, and the broader societal implications of AI-driven disruption. Whether you’re leading a startup, pivoting in the face of AI, or thinking about your next big move, this conversation offers a strategic playbook for thriving in today’s shifting landscape.

Craig is the CEO and co-founder of Stacklok, where his team is working to tip AI code generation on its side, from vertical, closed solutions to horizontal, aligned systems. Craig was previously CEO and co-founder of Heptio, which was acquired by VMware in 2018; he has also led product and engineering teams at Google and Microsoft. Craig is a co-creator of Kubernetes and he bootstrapped and chaired the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. x

For over 30 years, Side has helped create unforgettable user experiences—from indies to AAA blockbusters like Silent Hill 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3.

• Why this moment is “the epoch of the startup” (2:03)
• How AI shifts startup economics: from cost structures to value capture (4:18)
• Why incumbents struggle during disruption—and how startups can win (8:17)
• The origin story behind Stacklok & lessons from Craig’s pivot (11:04)
• Frameworks for identifying asymmetric advantages as a founder (14:48)
• How to map your unique asymmetric advantages to new opportunities and secure stakeholder buy-in (16:34)
• Rethinking defensibility & value capture in the AI era (16:29)
• How Craig applied cost, GTM & product perspectives to strategic pivots @ Stacklok (18:07)
• Building investment theses: Aligning cultural strengths & asymmetric advantages with evolving opportunities (20:05)
• Determining your startup’s investment themes (22:53)
• Structuring experiments & validating opportunities (24:15)
• Defensibility & building community-driven moats in early ideation phases (26:54)
• Signals of early community-product alignment (31:24)
• Conversation frameworks to assess asymmetric advantages (32:22)
• Societal implications of AI disruption & the “startup epoch” (35:14)
• Rapid fire questions (38:12)

Patrick Gallagher - Producer & Co-Host

Jerry Li - Co-Host

Noah Olberding - Associate Producer, Audio & Video Editor https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-olberding/

Dan Overheim - Audio Engineer, Dan’s also an avid 3D printer - https://www.bnd3d.com/

Ellie Coggins Angus - Copywriter, Check out her other work at https://elliecoggins.com/about/

Farnaz is the CTO at Linktree, the leading social platform for creators and small businesses. Linktree enables its users to unify, curate, and monetize their online presence. Farnaz started her career at Google, focusing on the ad tech space. Farnaz then joined Snap, leading Snap's AR monetization team before scaling to run Snap's Platform and product engineering. Farnaz earned her bachelor's degree in computer science from Sharif University of Technology before moving to the U.S. to pursue a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Southern California. After fulfilling the credits for a master’s degree, she decided to enter the tech industry where she could contribute to human progress by bringing products to millions of users.

ElevenLabs is the leading Voice AI platform for developers with thousands of ultra-realistic, human-like voices across 32 languages.

Developers use ElevenLabs to build life-like, conversational AI voice agents to handle customer support queries, appointment scheduling, and even offer personalized 1-1 tutoring.

• Taking on product & design 3 months into a new role (3:01)
• Going from delivery to discovery: mindset shifts for eng leaders (5:58)
• Identifying the current state of engineering, product & design (10:59)
• Decision-making based on anecdotes vs. data (12:50)
• Pivoting strategies to optimize for small, fast teams to improve cross-functional collaboration (15:04)
• Signals to pivot your product approach & ****make different bets (16:59)
• Complementary skill sets for rapid iteration (19:14)
• How to avoid silencing critical input & transform team frustration into product insight (20:41)
• Applying the 80/20 rule to complex product surfaces (23:46)
• Case Study: Reprioritizing the LinkTree product w/ 80/20 approach (25:46)
• Bringing on a strategic product partner & kicking off org change (27:28)
• Be honest about your knowledge gaps (29:09)
• How Farnaz’s experiences at Snap inform her leadership as CTO (33:21)
• When pattern matching fails: frameworks for checking assumptions (35:22)
• Where EPD Is headed: cross-functional evolution in the age of AI (38:10)
• Rapid fire questions (38:58)

Patrick Gallagher - Producer & Co-Host

Jerry Li - Co-Host

Noah Olberding - Associate Producer, Audio & Video Editor https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-olberding/

Dan Overheim - Audio Engineer, Dan’s also an avid 3D printer - https://www.bnd3d.com/

Ellie Coggins Angus - Copywriter, Check out her other work at https://elliecoggins.com/about/

Wade Chambers will be leading Engineering at Amplitude. Amplitude is the leading digital analytics platform that helps companies unlock the power of their products. Wade has over 25 years of engineering leadership experience, both advising companies and being hands-on in key leadership positions at companies such as Included Health, Twitter, TellApart, Proofpoint, Yahoo, and Opsware. He is a deep technical expert with a proven track record of scaling teams, leaders, market-defining technology innovations, and business growth.

ElevenLabs is the leading Voice AI platform for developers with thousands of ultra-realistic, human-like voices across 32 languages.

Developers use ElevenLabs to build life-like, conversational AI voice agents to handle customer support queries, appointment scheduling, and even offer personalized 1-1 tutoring.

• Why empowering engineering teams to own their mission matters (3:16)
• Common traps that prevent eng leaders from empowering teams (5:15)
• Understanding the “why” behind ownership & systemizing individual ownership (7:09)
• Systems change for empowerment: Aligning company vision, outcomes, competencies & behaviors (9:48)
• How to bring someone from low ownership back to high ownership (13:49)
• Developing trust & having tough conversations around ownership (15:17)
• Nonobvious factors to that erode ownership over time (17:42)
• Empowering teams through meaningful missions, clear expectations, defining success, & ongoing check-ins (20:55)
• Identifying engineers w/ competencies & behaviors that align w/ your org’s vision & goals (24:00)
• When having too much ownership becomes a problem (27:22)
• Wade’s process for officially transferring ownership (28:47)
• Coaching and navigating conversations around ownership (32:01)
• Impactful questions to ask during the coaching / check in process (34:08)
• Closing gaps in leadership competencies & behaviors (37:27)
• Coaching leaders to align personal growth with org goals (39:25)
• Rapid fire questions (41:34)

Patrick Gallagher - Producer & Co-Host

Jerry Li - Co-Host

Noah Olberding - Associate Producer, Audio & Video Editor https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-olberding/

Dan Overheim - Audio Engineer, Dan’s also an avid 3D printer - https://www.bnd3d.com/

Ellie Coggins Angus - Copywriter, Check out her other work at https://elliecoggins.com/about/