How Uber’s CPO Sachin Kansal Drives Product Innovation Through Dogfooding, Rapid Shipping, and Hybrid Autonomy
Leadership Through Dogfooding
Sachin Kansal, Uber’s Chief Product Officer, exemplifies dogfooding by personally completing over 700 Uber trips to identify friction points. He documents issues in detail, tags responsible teams, and ensures fixes are implemented. This practice is scaled company-wide with dedicated dogfooding weeks and measurable OKRs focused on continuous improvement.
“Ship, Ship, Ship”: Accelerating Product Iteration
Uber fosters a culture of rapid iteration with daily stand-ups and quick decision-making frameworks. Kansal’s mantra, “ship, ship, ship,” encourages cutting down decision latency and prioritizing speed, while balancing thoroughness. He occasionally crafts comprehensive product documents rapidly to unblock teams but stresses this is an exception.
Focus on Inputs Over Outputs
Emphasizing controllable inputs rather than just outputs, Kansal teaches that metrics like retention or weight loss improve by optimizing daily habits and processes. This philosophy is ingrained personally and professionally to build sustainable results.
Uber’s Hybrid Marketplace Model for Autonomy
Uber has transitioned to a hybrid network combining human drivers with autonomous vehicles (AVs) by partnering with over 15 AV companies instead of in-house development. This approach balances supply and demand efficiently, with humans handling peak times and AVs maintaining activity off-peak. Sidewalk delivery robots follow a similar model.
Driving Profitability Through Efficiency
Post-Covid, Uber sharpened its focus on profitability by cutting unprofitable initiatives, batching deliveries, optimizing promotional spend, and reducing operational costs. This disciplined approach enables funding new ventures without compromising margins.
Career Advice for Product Managers
- Maximize shipping velocity early in your career to gain valuable product judgment.
- Rapid product cycles accelerate learning through countless micro-decisions.
- Use AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini for research, drafting, and summarization to free up time for strategic thinking.
Empathy and User Experience
Kansal stresses that users spend only minutes in a product, so delighting users quickly matters more than demanding prolonged attention. Small empathy-driven details can significantly improve user satisfaction.
Practical Uber Etiquette Tips
- Riders: Always ask before taking calls and avoid slamming doors.
- Eats Customers: Turn on porch lights to help couriers find you easily.
Source: Lenny’s Newsletter. Read original.
