Billion dollar failures, and billion dollar success | Tom Conrad (Quibi, Pandora, Pets.com, Zero)

• Lessons learned from the successes of Apple, Pandora, and Snap
• Advice on choosing where to work
• Understanding the math formula of a business
• How to avoid burnout
• Why Tom says not everyone needs to be a founder
• What he’s building now
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Where to find Tom Conrad:

Where to find Lenny:

In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Tom’s background
(04:40) Landing a gig at Apple
(07:41) Pioneering the blinking folder design on iOS
(11:04) Advice on choosing where to work
(12:43) The importance of trusting your gut when it comes to people
(14:05) Lessons from failed ventures
(18:30) How Tom’s experience at Quibi renewed his passion for building
(28:48) Takeaways from Quibi and why it ultimately failed
(31:42) Failing is okay
(35:04) Tom’s career at Apple
(39:11) Lessons from You Don’t Know Jack
(40:24) Lessons from building Pandora
(48:24) Looking back at Pandora and what could have been done differently
(55:17) How Tom became VP of Product at Snapchat
(1:01:31) Tom’s philosophy on being involved as CEO
(1:05:51) Tom’s current role as CEO of Zero, and what he’s learned along the way
(1:10:37) How Zero builds product
(1:18:33) Advice on work-life balance
(1:27:22) Contrarian corner: why not everyone needs to be a founder
(1:30:08) Lightning round

Referenced:

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

[niten.k]

Brilliant interview. Thanks, Lenny and Tom, for doing this and sharing so many valuable stories and lessons.

[Sakura-zurz]

I am absolutely obsessed with you videos, They are like a burst of motivation and positively that keeps me going. From your awesome Vlogs to those satisfying organizing videos, I cannot get enough. Your content seriously inspires me to stay focused and chase after my dreams.

[bmejia]

Exceptional interview. Tom has an inspiring career span. This conversation makes me hopeful for the future. Thank you Lenny!

[Entrepreneur_in_progress]

Great podcast, as usual
Tom made an interesting point on the difference between product metrics and company metrics.
Product people most time are interested in type-1 metrics (revenue, LTV, etc.) which lead to type-2 metrics unit economics, EBITDA, etc.
There are actually two type-2 metrics that really matter:
1, unit economics: are you creating value on a transaction level after distribution from the product that you build?
2, Free cashflow: unit economics x scale - OPEX - CAPEX, are you creating economic value on a company level?

[BretGregory]

@lenny, this is my new favorite podcast interview! As a founder I could relate to everything Tom was saying. I just downloaded Zero and I'd love to get them to my companies 600k health consumer audience. How do I connect? By the way, Hyperion is my all time favorite book. Its the only book I've ever read twice and it's crazy long.