Thinking like a gardener not a builder, organizing teams like slime mold, the adjacent possible, and other unconventional product advice | Alex Komoroske (Stripe, Google)Alex Komoroske, ex-Google and Stripe, now co-founds a startup to reimagine the web with AI. Discover his views on product, strategy, and organizational growth.
Listen now on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. Brought to you by: • Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments — Alex Komoroske is a strategic leader who merges the practice, theory, and mindset necessary to tackle complex problems. He spent 13 years at Google, where he worked on Search and DoubleClick and led Chrome’s Open Web Platform. He also spearheaded Augmented Reality in Google Maps and developed toolkits to align companywide strategy from the ground up. After serving as Head of Corporate Strategy at Stripe, he is now co-founding a startup aimed at reimagining the web for the AI era. Alex created the popular “Slime Molds” deck, which offers fresh insights into organizational dynamics. He is also the author of the widely read “Bits and Bobs,” a collection of thought-provoking reflections.
 Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/unconventional-product-advice-alex-komoroske Some takeaways:
Where to find Alex Komoroske: • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-komoroske-6597336/ • Website: https://www.komoroske.com/ 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 Alex (01:53) Alex’s Bits and Bobs document (06:20) The Compendium and note-taking process (10:10) The impact of AI and LLMs on product development (14:24) Skills to lean into as a product manager (19:02) How AI makes us better as individuals (23:04) Organizational kayfabe (31:48) Gardening vs. building (34:46) Emergence-oriented thinking (41:55) Slime molds and organizational structure (45:15) Identifying resonant ideas (47:05) The power of metaphors (48:02) Strategy salons and nerd clubs (52:30) Building and sustaining communities (55:59) Productivity hacks and self-control (01:01:04) Life philosophy and personal insights (01:07:52) The adjacent possible (01:15:56) Lightning round Referenced: • Bits and Bobs Google Doc: https://groups.google.com/g/komoroske-updates/c/2rPJ9EyKVYY?pli=1 • The Compendium: https://thecompendium.cards/ • WebSim: https://websim.ai/ • Dylan Field live at Config: Intuition, simplicity, and the future of design: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/dylan-field-live-at-config • Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/ • Claude: https://claude.ai • Steve Jobs on Why Computers Are Like a Bicycle for the Mind (1990): https://www.themarginalian.org/2011/12/21/steve-jobs-bicycle-for-the-mind-1990/ • Kayfabe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayfabe • Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration: https://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Inc-Overcoming-Unseen-Inspiration/dp/0812993012 • How Perplexity builds product: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-perplexity-builds-product • Slime Molds: https://komoroske.com/slime-mold/ • Ken Stanley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenneth-stanley-3a159b/ • Evolution through the Search for Novelty Alone: https://www.cs.swarthmore.edu/~meeden/DevelopmentalRobotics/lehman_ecj11.pdf • Tim Urban’s X post on “idea lab” culture: https://x.com/waitbutwhy/status/1639003239801602049 • For self-control, “always” rules are better than “sometimes” rules: https://medium.com/@komorama/for-self-control-always-rules-are-better-than-sometimes-rules-4c38be32f318 • How to Stop Procrastinating on Your Goals by Using the “Seinfeld Strategy”: https://jamesclear.com/stop-procrastinating-seinfeld-strategy • The Iterative Adjacent Possible: https://medium.com/@komorama/the-iterative-adjacent-possible-af3e7038357d • “The Hallmark Card Fallacy” on Infinite Loops: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7IgApdfBjNI • Tim Urban’s website: https://waitbutwhy.com/ • Adnan Ahmad Sheikh’s post on LinkedIn: Happiness = Reality - Expectations (by Tim Urban): https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/happiness-reality-expectations-tim-urban-adnan-ahmad/ • The Origin of Wealth: The Radical Remaking of Economics and What It Means for Business and Society: https://www.amazon.com/Origin-Wealth-Remaking-Economics-Business/dp/1422121038 • Thinking in Systems: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Systems-Donella-H-Meadows/dp/1603580557 • The Green Knight on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Green-Knight-Dev-Patel/dp/B09CP1FMJK • OpenAI Just Released Its Long-Awaited “Strawberry” Model: https://futurism.com/openai-released-strawberry-o1-preview-model 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. You're currently a free subscriber to Lenny's Newsletter. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
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Thinking like a gardener not a builder, organizing teams like slime mold, the adjacent possible, and other unconve…
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