Insider strategies: Former VP, Product at Netflix + more

Howdy? Thank you so much for being here and reading my Newsletter. It means the world to me.

I’m Utkarsh, and I've been working with graduates and early professionals since 7 years, working with them on skills that universities don’t teach… No, God no, I’m not talking about neoclassical economics and complex algebra. I mean the things that actually matter beyond the campus bubble.

Stuff like personal branding, negotiation, job search, charisma, problem solving, and all the coolness in between.

So, what can you expect ? In this Newsletter, we’ll be doing a deep dive on the strategies that’ll help you excel at the biggest companies in the world. Actually, won’t it be better if I just show you instead?

Here’s what I’ve got this week:

• Playbook on how this guy became the VP of Product at Netflix, after a 2 year sabbatical 🤯 

• What does American Idol reveal about interview slot selection? 🧑‍🎤 

• Key to better decision making? Knowing how toilets work 🫡 

Again, thank you for joining me on this journey. Let’s roll.
- Utkarsh Manocha

Gibson started his job search in 2004, after a 2 year sabbatical. Within the next 5 months, he had seen it all… rejected for the Vice President Product Role at Planet Out ✅ … rejected for the Product leader role at Yahoo ✅… but wait for it…

Drumrolls please 🥁 

Successful for the Vice President, Product role at Netflix. Let's dig into how this incredible feat came to be. 

First things first, Gibson created a list of companies that interested him, and searched for themes within that list to identify his interests.

Within 2 months, Gibson was crystal clear on what he wanted:

Vice President Product role at an emerging, high-growth consumer internet company focused on entertainment, education, or productivity.

Now here’s the twist: Gibson rejected the conventional "apply and see what happens" approach to job hunting. Instead, he identified all the people he needed to meet in the next few weeks, then began the outreach to schedule meetings with them.

He gradually reached a pace where he was having 2 high quality conversations every day with recruiters, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and individuals connected to his target companies.

In these chats, he emphasised his job search focus and asked for recommendations to expand his network. Talk about playing the connections game like a pro, right?

Lastly and most importantly, he understood the importance of staying on people’s radar. Look, it doesn’t matter how great of a chat you’ve had with someone, they’ll forget you….. unless you don’t let them… and that’s exactly what he did.

He became the master of "tiny updates". Every 4–6 weeks, he'd share interesting articles or send congratulations, all while subtly reminding folks that he was on the hunt for a VP Product role.

Time to eat the cake 🍰 — After 5 months of relentless searching, a recruiter from Netflix reached out to one of Gibson’s acquaintances. She mentioned that Netflix was on the lookout for a new VP of Product. Of course Gibson’s acquaintance remembered him because one of his tiny updates, and you know how the story ends.

Lionel Page, a Behavioural Economist, conducted a fascinating study on the advantages of performing last, using data from American Idol.

What he found is too cool to be a co-incidence 😎 

Out of the first 111 American Idol episodes, the singer who performed last advanced to the next round 91 percent of the time.

Surprisingly, a similar pattern emerges in the realm of movies. Majority of Best Picture Winners are movies released between October and December.

So… does this principle extend to job interviews?

According to research by Adam Galinsky and Maurice Schweitzer, it depends on the number of candidates you’re competing against.

In a serial competition with numerous candidates, such as an assessment centre in graduate programs, it's recommended to go as late as possible, ideally being the last to showcase your skills.

When judges evaluate all candidates at the end of the competition, the memory of those who came earlier tends to fade away.

But what if there are only 2 candidates?

Go first! When people evaluate similar products, they choose the first option approximately 66% of the time. Applying this principle, being the first candidate can give you a significant advantage in a two-person scenario.

Ever thought you knew it all, only to realise you were in deep water?

Leonid Rozenblit and Frank Keil discovered this truth in a study at Yale. And guess where they started? Toilets!

→ It turns out we believe we know way more than we actually do.

Also while we are at it…. toilets are way more complicated than we think, #respect the toilets🫡

This phenomenon is called the Illusion of Explanatory Depth and it leads us to make decisions based on limited information.

At work, it’s most likely to trip us when we are required to explain concepts or justify our choices.

To overcome this fallacy and make better decisions:

1) Verbalise your thoughts and explanations aloud before forming strong opinions

2) Imagine the questions a 10-year-old would ask about each aspect of your presentation, and answer them aloud.

And also while you are at it, just explore the fascinating world of toilet mechanics… #respect the toilets🫡

I spend a lot of time on LinkedIn, but I often find it overwhelming with advice on what to do, without clear instructions on how to do it. Here are a few posts with actionable recommendations you can implement today that’ll help you step up your game at work.

How to get rid of distractions at work - Greg Smith

How to ask someone for a professional reference - Jack Kelly

How to reduce Zoom Fatigue - Ali Merchant

That’s all for our 1st edition, folks!

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