Learnings as Head of Product at Instagram, Airbnb & Coinbase: Product Strategy, Leading Product Teams & Scaling – Sanchan Saxena

Sanchan Saxena is one of Silicon Valley's most experienced product managers. As one of Instagram's first employees, later Head of Product at Airbnb, and responsible for all consumer products at Coinbase, he witnessed three of the most influential tech companies of the past decade from the inside. In conversation with Unicorn Bakery, he shares his key insights on product strategy, team leadership, and scaling.

What makes good product management?

For Saxena, the core of successful product management lies in balancing data and intuition. During his time at the three companies, he experienced completely different approaches: Instagram's Kevin Systrom relied heavily on design and intuition, Airbnb's Brian Chesky combined creative vision with data-driven decisions, and Coinbase's Brian Armstrong focused primarily on metrics and systematic analysis.

"There's no single right way," Saxena explains. "What matters is that the product strategy fits the company culture and specific market conditions."

The biggest mistakes in product management

From his years of experience, Saxena identifies several critical misconceptions that product teams regularly make:

• –Over-weighting customer feedback: Not all customer feedback should influence product decisions. Founders must distinguish between constructive insights and noise.
• –Wrong metrics: Many teams measure the wrong KPIs or interpret data without sufficient context.
• –Lack of scaling preparation: Products are often not designed for growth from the start.

Building and leading product teams properly

When assembling product teams, Saxena looks for a balanced mix of different qualities. A strong product team needs both strategic thinkers and hands-on practitioners who aren't afraid to roll up their sleeves.

Hiring best practices for product teams:

• –Senior vs. junior balance: The decision between senior hires and developable talent depends on the current company phase
• –Practical testing: Senior executives should be tested through concrete product scenarios, not just theoretical conversations
• –Cultural fit assessment: Technical skills can be developed, but work style must fit the team

Scaling without quality loss

One of the biggest challenges in scaling product-based companies is balancing speed and quality. Saxena recommends creating structures early that function even during rapid growth:

"Finding the right pace is crucial. You need to seize growth opportunities without your team or product suffering."

Metrics and data structures

When selecting the right metrics, Saxena distinguishes between vanity metrics and actionable insights. The key is establishing metrics that actually enable actionable recommendations, not just ones that look good.

Meaningful structures for product metrics should:

• –Be clearly linked to business objectives
• –Be regularly reviewed for relevance
• –Cover different levels of abstraction

Learnings from three tech giants

The different product philosophies of Instagram, Airbnb, and Coinbase show that there's no universal approach to product management. Each company developed a strategy that fit its vision and market.

What all three had in common: A clear product vision, strong leadership, and the ability to respond quickly to market changes.

Saxena's experiences show that successful product management is defined less by individual techniques and more by the right combination of vision, execution, and team leadership.