Eilon Reshef is the co-founder and chief product officer at Gong, one of the most ubiquitous B2B products in the world. In our conversation, we discuss:
• Gong’s unique approach to working with design partners
• Their unique pod model
• Why Eilon makes big decisions quickly
• Lessons learned from being early in AI
• The power of extreme focus
• His “spiral method” for learning complex topics quickly
• How to maintain quality while optimizing for speed
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• WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs: https://workos.com/lenny
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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-gong-eilon-reshef
Where to find Eilon Reshef:
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eilonreshef
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) Eilon’s background
(04:20) The pod model
(06:33) Working with design partners
(09:13) Finding and coordinating design partners
(13:12) Balancing customer feedback and vision
(15:10) Gong’s 95% feature adoption
(17:05) The importance of autonomy and trust
(23:30) How to implement this unique way of working
(27:15) Speed and decision-making
(31:47) Early AI adoption and lessons learned
(35:50) Building effective AI teams
(38:16) The spiral method for learning
(41:36) Narrowing down the initial customer profile
(44:24) Failure corner
(46:35) Lightning round
Referenced:
• Gong: https://www.gong.io
• Cisco: https://www.cisco.com/
• How Gong builds product: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-gong-builds-product
• What is Montessori education?: https://amshq.org/About-Montessori/What-Is-Montessori
• Isaac Asimov: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov
• Amit Bendov on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitbendov/
• 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.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-scaling-spotify-the
• Nvidia: https://www.nvidia.com
• Figma: https://www.figma.com
• The Spiral Method: https://www.gong.io/blog/using-the-spiral-method/
• Webex: https://www.webex.com/
• L’Oréal: https://www.lorealparisusa.com/
• American Express: https://www.americanexpress.com/
• Slow Horses on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/slow-horses/umc.cmc.2szz3fdt71tl1ulnbp8utgq5o
• Dishwasher basket: https://www.amazon.com/Munchkin-High-Capacity-Dishwasher-Basket/dp/B07ZPMYKKS/
• What most people miss about marketing | Rory Sutherland (Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, author): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/what-most-people-miss-about-marketing
• Occam’s razor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor
• Hanlon’s razor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor
• Sabich: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabich#Ingredients_and_description
• Careers at Gong: https://www.gong.io/careers
Recommended books:
• Marty Cagan’s books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marty-Cagan/author/B00J21JTNM
• “The Machine That Won the War”: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18402398-the-machine-that-won-the-war
• Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers: https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-3rd-Disruptive-Mainstream/dp/0062292986
• The Ideal Executive: https://www.amazon.com/Ideal-Executive-Ichak-Kalderon-Adizes/dp/0937120030/
• Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking when Stakes Are High: https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Conversations-Tools-Talking-Stakes/dp/1260474186/
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.
