a16z Podcast

a16z Podcast: How Founders Hire a VP of Product

Vijay Balasubramaniyan, Shishir Mehrotra, Gokul Rajaram, Alan Schaaf, and Martin Casado

Posted November 10, 2017

Hiring a VP of Product — especially as the founder of the company — can almost feel like handing over your baby to someone else to hold, observes a16z executive talent team partner Caroline Horn, who hosted an event on this topic earlier this year (which this podcast is based on). Featuring Vijay Balasubramaniyan, founder/CEO of Pindrop; Shishir Mehrotra, founder and CEO of Coda; Gokul Rajaram, Production Engineering Lead at Square; and Alan Schaaf, founder/CEO of Imgur — and moderated by general partner Martin Casado — the discussion covers everything from what the VP of Product role really is to how to hire and integrate it into your company.

Because if you’re going to be handing your “baby” over… how can you avoid common pitfalls? And know that you pick the right person for the job?

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The a16z Podcast discusses the most important ideas within technology with the people building it. Each episode aims to put listeners ahead of the curve, covering topics like AI, energy, genomics, space, and more.

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