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Shreyas Doshi Profile picture
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12 Jul, 7 tweets, 2 min read
The MSN list is a simple & powerful format for hiring managers to create clarity on what they are looking for when hiring for a given role

It cuts through the noise of typical JDs & forces you to focus on what really matters for *this* role.

The MSN list, explained in 6 tweets:
Here’s the format of the MSN list

Must
• ...
• ...
• ...

Should
• ...
• ...
• ...

Nice
• ...
• ...
• ...

(told ya, simple!)

The rules are also simple

-Max 3 bullets each for M/S/N

-Each bullet is an atomic attribute

-You can evaluate each in the hiring process
A real-ish example for a specific senior PM role 👇🏾
Must:
• Strong product sense
• Highly influential comms
• Can work with highly empowered team

Should:
• Experience building mobile apps
• Able to create new xfn processes
• Founded/started things

Nice:
• Worked on a top 50 app
• PM mgmt skills
• Strong analytical sense
Note:
You should list attributes that are specific to this particular role. There are a number of tablestakes you’d look for in *any* role. Those can usually be skipped here e.g. since you look for High Agency & Integrity in every single hire, you can skip those on the MSN list.
Tips on using MSN lists

-First create the MSN—then write the external JD

-Make sure your manager agrees

-Discuss & share with your recruiting partner (IME they love this type of clarity)

-Review the role's MSN list with the interview panel e.g. at the Candidate Review Meeting
I’ve used MSN lists for many PM roles & they’ve helped create greater clarity & objectivity at multiple stages: candidate sourcing, early evaluation, candidate review & decision.

So if typical JDs aren’t creating the clarity you need, give MSN lists a try.

All the best to you👍🏾

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More from @shreyas

Shreyas Doshi Profile picture
8 Jul
Clear product thinking is essentially about telling the proxy for a thing apart from the thing itself.

Remind yourself & your team this:
The proxy is just a proxy. It is not the thing itself, it is not the end goal

By all means *measure* the proxy, but don’t *manage* the proxy.
Here are some examples:
[proxy] – [the thing]

Metrics – Mission
On-time launch – Team execution
MAUs – User appeal
DAU:MAU – User value
NPS – Customer satisfaction
MoM Growth – Sustainable traction
Exec feedback – Quality of insight
Q3 execution – Q3 results
Launches – Impact
What gets measured gets managed, and therein lies the problem.
Read 6 tweets
Shreyas Doshi Profile picture
7 Jul
Your company might have a subtle culture problem when:
1/
The CEO regularly spends more time at all-hands criticizing competitors than on your company’s mission, customers, strategy, and goals
2/
OKRs & targets are viewed as a valid reason not to do something that is otherwise agreed as clearly the right thing to do for customers and for the company
Read 10 tweets
Shreyas Doshi Profile picture
6 Jul
🗓️Recap of June 2021 content (top 10)

Impact vs. Recognition
Incentives
ROI vs. Opportunity Cost mindset
Product Sense teardown
Context
Radical Delegation
Amateur / Pro product leaders
Recommendations
Scaling, for Visionary founders
Courage

Thread👇🏾
1/
 Things that make an impact vs. things that get you recognized
2/
 Incentives speak more truth than plans
Read 16 tweets
Shreyas Doshi Profile picture
3 Jul
How can you evaluate the caliber of people at a company before joining it?

Here are 10 tips:
1/
Quality of their interview questions. Pay particular attention to their follow up questions. The quality of an interviewer’s follow up questions is a good indicator of rigorous thinking. Did they just ask obvious follow up Qs or insightful ones? Did they make you think?
2/
Overall rigor of the hiring process. If they aren’t rigorous when hiring you, if the process to get an offer seems “too easy”, they will do the same for future hires, leading to a progressive lowering of the talent bar. A very onerous hiring process isn't a good sign either.
Read 16 tweets
Shreyas Doshi Profile picture
2 Jul
Over the past 10 years, I’ve had more than 500 chats with talented tech folks about their job change decisions: should I leave my well-paid FAMG job? should I join Stripe, Facebook or Airbnb? how to evaluate this offer? etc

A thread with 8 ideas I’ve often shared in these chats:
Note:

Each of us has different aspirations, skills & values. No thread can definitively cover everyone’s situation while still offering a new & useful perspective. This stuff likely won’t apply outside tech/startups & won’t apply worldwide.

Take what resonates, ignore the rest.
I highly recommend working at a fast-growth company at least once in one’s career.

(doing it more than once might not hurt either :) )

I’ve seen that even smart & talented people struggle with how to create their shortlist of fast-growing companies.

Here’s what I tell them:
Read 34 tweets
Shreyas Doshi Profile picture
29 Jun
When in a high leverage role:

Stop doing work that simply provides a positive return on investment.

Start focusing on work that minimizes opportunity cost.
In a high leverage role:

100s of things will provide a positive ROI (i.e. the value created is greater than the cost of your time)

You should not be doing most of those things

When your goal is to minimize opportunity cost, you are forced to focus on the highest leverage work.
ROI = (Value created — Cost of your time) ÷ Cost of your time

So if your goal is to get high ROI in your work, you can do two things:

Increase Value i.e. work on higher value things

Decrease Cost i.e. work on things that take less time
Read 11 tweets

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