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Manik Gupta

Corporate Vice President, Consumer at Microsoft

Manik Gupta is CVP at Microsoft leading consumer efforts, formerly CPO at Uber and Director of Product for Google Maps, with deep experience building category-defining consumer products.

Dimension Profile

Strategic Vision 85%
Execution & Craft 75%
Data & Experimentation 50%
Growth & Distribution 60%
Team & Leadership 80%
User Empathy & Research 70%

Key Themes

consumer product building the consumer stack concept company-market fit vs product-market fit path to CPO surrounding yourself with excellence luck and risk in careers

Episode Summary

Manik Gupta draws on his experience leading Google Maps and serving as CPO at Uber to discuss building successful consumer products and the path to becoming a CPO. He introduces the concept of the 'consumer stack,' distinguishes company-market fit from product-market fit, and emphasizes that surrounding yourself with excellent people is the most reliable career strategy.

Leadership Principles

  • Surround yourself with the best people you can find — just hang around superstars
  • Company-market fit matters as much as product-market fit
  • The most important career skill is creating opportunities through great people

Notable Quotes

"What's the secret? Well just hang around superstars. That's what Steve Kerr said, and that's exactly what it is."

— On the most important career advice — surround yourself with great people

"When you look at individuals and think about what made them successful, we tend to put greater emphasis on effort and less on luck and risk."

— Referencing Morgan Housel's Psychology of Money on career humility

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