Gokul Rajaram

Gokul Rajaram is a product leader and prolific angel investor. Formerly at Google (founding team for Google AdSense), Facebook (ads), and Square (led Caviar acquisition). Currently leads significant product and business functions at DoorDash. Board member at Coinbase, Pinterest, and The Trade Desk. Known for extensive mentorship of founders and PMs; describes himself as a “startup helper.”

Key ideas

• Join winners, not top roles: the brand, talent, and learning at a #1 company in its space outweigh the benefit of a senior title at a tier-two company.
• Hire lieutenants: find the best-in-class company for any function, build their org chart on LinkedIn, and recruit the second-level operator — not the visible head.
• First PM from within: cultural assimilation matters more than functional credentials; the best first PM is an engineer, designer, or analyst already at the company.
• Delay VP/Director titles: these titles generate the most title-driven conflict and retention risk. “Head of” and “Lead” are more durable alternatives.
• Founder-centric investing: bet on founders, not markets; the biggest investing mistakes are sins of omission.

Appearances

See also

• Gokul Rajaram on Product and Hiring
• Christian Idiodi on Product Management
• Deb Liu on Career and Product
• Gibson Biddle on Product Strategy