20Product: Why Process is Killing Your Product Team and How to Remove it | Three Product Decisions Every Team Needs to Make | Why the Best Companies Build Movements and Lessons from Shopify and Atlassian on How to Do It Right with Jean-Michel Lemieux

Jean-Michel Lemieux is one of the OGs of engineering and product having been the CTO at Shopify and the VP Engineering at Atlassian. Jean-Michel helped grow both Shopify and Atlassian from single-product to multi-product companies and led the building of their platforms. In Today’s Episode with Jean-Michel Lemieux We Discuss: 1.

From band class to Shopify CTO 2. •

How did Jean-Michel make his way into the world of product? • •

What were Jean-Michel’s biggest lessons from his time at Atlassian & Shopify? • •

How are Shopify & Atlassian the same? How are they different? • •

Why does Jean-Michel think Shopify could have been 10x bigger? • 1.

Building the Perfect Product 2. •

How does Atlassian & Shopify build movements instead of product? • •

What does Jean-Michel know now that he wishes he had known before he joined Atlassian & Shopify? • •

How does Jean-Michel balance between shipping speed vs. quality? • •

Why does JM think scrums and TDDs are BS? How did his last year at Shopify change his approach in product development? • •

What is a time horizon friction? And how does it impact teams? • 1.

How to Lead a Product Team: 2. •

What is micro alignment, and why does Jean-Michel think it is so important? • •

What 3 types of decisions every team makes? • •

What does Jean-Michel think are the most common reasons teams become average? How does he prevent it? • •

What do Jean-Michel think are the most common mistakes CEOs make today? • 1.

Hiring the Best Product Team: 2. •

How does Jean-Michel structure the interview process for new product hires? • •

What signals does Jean-Michel look out for when hiring? Why does he believe experience does not matter? • •

What are Jean-Michel’s biggest hiring mistakes? What were his lessons? • •

What are 2 of the most common mistakes founders make when hiring a product team? •