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Building Anchor, selling to Spotify, and lessons learned | Maya Prohovnik (Spotify’s Head of Podcast Product)
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Maya Prohovnik is currently Spotify’s Head of Podcast Product. She was employee #1 at Anchor, which was acquired by Spotify in 2019 and now powers more than 80% of all new podcasts created in the world. In 2023, Maya was named one of the Most Important People in Podcasting by The Hollywood Reporter. In today’s episode, we discuss:• How Maya operationalizes “dogfooding”• How to balance data-driven decision-making and intuition• Strategies for preserving startup culture in a large organization• Tactical tips to improve at public speaking• How Radical Candor and the Eisenhower matrix transformed her approach to managing people• What’s next at Spotify for Podcasters
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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-anchor-selling-to-spotify
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Where to find Maya Prohovnik:
• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@mayafish
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayaprohovnik/
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Maya’s background
(04:34) Spotify’s podcasting platform
(06:24) Maya’s personal podcasts
(11:36) The importance of “dogfooding”
(13:24) How Maya operationalizes dogfooding
(16:31) How to balance data-driven decision-making and trusting your gut
(21:38) Building Anchor 2.0
(26:24) The beginning of Anchor’s hockey stick growth
(28:08) How Anchor utilized interns to make the Apple Podcasts integration “magical”
(35:36) Anchor and Spotify’s successful integration
(37:50) Maintaining a startup culture within a large organization
(39:20) Transitioning from a startup to a large company
(42:02) Challenges brought on by the acquisition
(48:49) How Maya’s leadership approach is guided by Radical Candor
(51:53) The Eisenhower matrix for prioritization and task management
(52:46) Productivity tips
(55:10) How to get better at public speaking
(59:38) The future of Spotify for Podcasters
(1:00:58) Lightning round
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Referenced:
• What is “Dogfooding”?: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/business/dogfooding.html
• The Derry Connection: A Stephen King Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ixSiYlj3A9NqEXZDBgycf
• Blood on Their Hands: A Big Brother Fancast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4VP16lTL8sUniQXCFeBInv
• Time Share: A Children of Time Podcast: https://open.spoti
Published on 2 years, 3 months ago