DeepSummary
In this podcast episode, host Lenny Rachitsky interviews Andrew 'Boz' Bosworth, the chief technology officer at Meta (formerly Facebook). Boz shares stories from the early days of Facebook, when he was one of the first 10 engineers hired. He discusses the sacrifices and intense work culture, including waking up every four hours to check for attacks on the site.
Boz talks about the importance of seeking help from managers and leveraging their expertise. He also delves into Meta's culture of transparency, where employees are encouraged to share ideas and information openly. The conversation touches on Boz's thoughts on the Apple Vision Pro headset compared to Meta's Quest 3, and he shares insights into Meta's recent downturn and turnaround.
Additionally, Boz emphasizes the significance of communication in leadership roles and explores the value of diverse experiences early in one's career. He reflects on personal failures and growth, highlighting the importance of curiosity and empathy in navigating challenging situations.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Seek help and guidance from managers and leaders more actively, as they can provide valuable expertise and support.
- Effective communication is the essence of leadership and influence, regardless of context or scale.
- Maintain a balance between conviction in your vision and openness to different perspectives through genuine curiosity.
- Early startup employees often make significant sacrifices that are overlooked in romanticized narratives.
- Diverse experiences early in one's career can provide valuable learning opportunities and growth.
- Self-awareness and acknowledgment of one's ego and biases are important for personal and professional growth.
- Organizational transparency can foster innovation and engagement by empowering employees with information.
- Maintain perspective and moderation when evaluating external narratives and opinions against your own expertise.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “I don't want to take away from the romanticism of it, it's just that it's most often we hear those romantic stories from the successes we so rarely hear somebody who went through really sacrificing a lot of my 20s from any kind of social or outgoing fun environment.“ by Andrew Bosworth
- “I watched it absolutely tear down walls between points of view. People felt immediately her genuine, heartfelt curiosity and would lean in and that would cause them to be open minded.“ by Andrew Bosworth
- “The advice I find I have to give more frequently than any other in my career as a manager, a board member, an advisor, and a furniture, is for people to more directly leverage their leaders.“ by Andrew Bosworth
- “I really shouldn't care as much. It's a little bit of my ego peeking through, which I should control and tamp down if I'm being responsible.“ by Andrew Bosworth
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Episode Information
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career
Lenny Rachitsky
3/3/24
Andrew Bosworth—or Boz, as most people know him—is the chief technology officer at Meta and head of Reality Labs, the company’s augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) organization, which he created in 2017. Boz joined Facebook in 2006 as their approximately 10th engineer, and in his 18-year tenure he built the original News Feed, Messenger, and Groups, as well as many early anti-abuse and infrastructure systems. At various times he has been the engineering director overseeing Events, Places, Photos, Videos, Timeline, Privacy, and more. Before Reality Labs, he ran the Ads and Business Platform product group, where he led engineering, product, research, analytics, and design, taking annual revenue from $4 billion to $40 billion in five years. Andrew currently leads Meta’s efforts in AR, VR, AI, and consumer hardware across Quest, Ray-Ban Meta glasses, and more. In our conversation, we discuss:
• Stories from the early days of Facebook
• Lessons from Meta’s downturn and recent turnaround
• Meta’s culture of transparency
• Boz’s thoughts on the Apple Vision Pro
• Why communication is the job
• Why you should regularly seek help from your manager
• Lessons in setting incentives and avoiding their misuse
• Why you should optimize for a variety in experience in your career
• The importance of trusting your own expertise and not being swayed by external opinions
• Stories of failures and personal growth
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Find the transcript for this episode and all past episodes at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/episodes/. Today’s transcript will be live by 8 a.m. PT.
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Where to find Andrew Bosworth:
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boz/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boztank/
• X: https://twitter.com/boztank
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-bosworth-8247a01/
• Website: https://boz.com/
• Photography website: https://wardenshortbow.com/
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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) Boz’s background
(04:48) Fun facts about him
(07:20) Early days at Facebook
(11:11) Advice for founders
(13:22) Leveraging leaders
(19:27) Tips for communicating with managers
(22:10) Transparency at Meta
(27:01) The importance of clear guidelines
(29:11) Involvement in the details
(33:15) Building the News Feed
(37:28) Passion and career growth
(40:25) Exploring new opportunities
(42:02) The value of variety in experience
(45:01) Giving and receiving feedback
(47:38) Boz’s tattoos
(51:30) Communication is the job
(01:00:47) Comparing VR headsets: Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro
(01:10:41) Meta’s downturn and turnaround
(01:16:10) Navigating org changes
(01:20:43) Lessons from failure
(01:26:33) Closing thoughts
(01:29:57) Lightning round
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Referenced:
• Reality Labs: https://about.meta.com/realitylabs/
• Quest: https://www.meta.com/quest/
• Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses: https://www.ray-ban.com/usa/ray-ban-meta-smart-glasses
• Taekwondo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taekwondo
• 4-H: https://4-h.org/
• David Copperfield’s website: https://www.davidcopperfield.com/html/
• MC Hammer on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mchammer/
• George W. Bush: https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/george-w-bush/
• Fry’s Electronics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fry%27s_Electronics
• Association for Computing Machinery: https://www.acm.org
• Get It Done: https://boz.com/articles/get-it-done
• Patrick Stewart on X: https://twitter.com/sirpatstew
• The FB Exec Practice That Changed the Way I Lead (about HPMs): https://livingos.substack.com/p/fb-exec-hpm
• Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zuck
• Chris Cox on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-cox-2896b841/
• Javier Olivan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javierolivan/
• Brian Chesky’s new playbook: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/brian-cheskys-new-playbook/
• Eye of Sauron: https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Eye_of_Sauron
• Ruchi Sanghvi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsanghvi/
• Eric Schmidt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-e-schmidt/
• Sheryl Sandberg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheryl-sandberg-5126652/
• Best Advice Sheryl Sandberg Received: If Offered a Seat on Rocket Ship, Get On: https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/newsmakers/best-advice-sheryl-sandberg-received-don-t-idiot-161459450.html
• Veritas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veritas
• Communication is The Job: https://boz.com/articles/communication-is-the-job
• Repetition does not spoil the prayer: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/repetition-does-spoil-prayer-constantine-constantinides-m-d-ph-d--1f/
• Janet Lansbury’s website: https://www.janetlansbury.com/
• Dr. Becky on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drbeckyatgoodinside
• Boz to the Future Episode 18: The Future According to Matthew Ball: https://www.meta.com/blog/quest/boz-to-the-future-episode-18-matthew-ball-metaverse-epyllion/
• Apple Vision Pro: https://www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro
• Quest 3 headset: https://www.meta.com/quest/quest-3/
• Virtual desktop: https://www.meta.com/experiences/2017050365004772/
• Meta Horizon Workrooms: https://www.meta.com/experiences/2514011888645651/
• After trying the Vision Pro, Mark Zuckerberg says Quest 3 ‘is the better product, period’: https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/13/24072413/mark-zuckerberg-apple-vision-pro-review-quest-3
• Lou Holtz on X: https://twitter.com/CoachLouHoltz88
• Gell-Mann amnesia effect: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Gell-Mann_Amnesia_effect
• “Wet streets cause rain”: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19026568
• Michael Crichton on X: https://twitter.com/CrichtonBooks
• AI research at Meta: https://ai.meta.com/research/
• Llama 2: https://llama.meta.com/
• Warren Buffett quote: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/warren_buffett_383933
• Mark Slee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mcslee/
• Dave Fetterman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davefetterman/
• Emacs and Vim: https://dev.to/george_udonte/emacs-and-vim-an-overview-for-beginners-2e65
• Ami Vora on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amvora/
• The Dream Machine: https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Machine-M-Mitchell-Waldrop/dp/1732265119
• Alan Turing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing
• Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Inside-Guide-Becoming-Parent/dp/B09Y4WG7RJ
• Dr. Becky’s website: https://www.goodinside.com/
• The Mandalorian on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/series/the-mandalorian/3jLIGMDYINqD
• Scott Trowbridge on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-trowbridge-b70866/
• Dave Filoni on X: https://twitter.com/dave_filoni
• Jon Favreau on X: https://twitter.com/jon_favreau
• Mercedes-Benz AMG EQS Sedan: https://www.mbusa.com/en/vehicles/model/eqs/sedan/amgeqsv4
• Tracey Emin “Trust Yourself”: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/tracey-emin-trust-yourself
• Tracey Emin on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/traceyeminstudio
• Rick Rubin: Protocols to Access Creative Energy and Process | Huberman Lab Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpgqXCkRO-w
• Ansel Adams: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_Adams
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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
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