Lessons Leading EPD: Mindset, decision-making, 80/20 product strategy & pivoting for leverage/speed w/ Farnaz Azmoodeh #219

Episode notes

When Farnaz Azmoodeh (CTO @ Linktree) stepped into her new role, she unexpectedly took on product & design just three months in - owning all of engineering, product, and design during a critical period of change. In this episode, Farnaz shares hard-won lessons from that transition, including the mindset shift from delivery to discovery, balancing data vs. intuition in decision-making, knowing when to pivot your product strategy, and building small / fast-moving cross-functional teams. We also cover applying the 80/20 rule to simplify complex product surfaces, her favorite frameworks for pattern recognition, and how to reset assumptions when pattern-matching can backfire. If you’re navigating ambiguity, expanding your scope, or evolving how your org builds product, this episode will help you lead with more clarity, speed, and strategic focus. ABOUT FARNAZ AZMOODEH Farnaz is the CTO at Linktree, the leading social platform for creators and small businesses. Linktree enables its users to unify, curate, and monetize their online presence. Farnaz started her career at Google, focusing on the ad tech space.

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