How an Introvert Became the CPO of a $19BN Company | Inbal Shani (CPO, Twilio)

Inbal Shani dropped her PhD for a job offer she never expected to recieve, and it set off a career spanning Amazon, AWS, Microsoft, GitHub, and now Twilio, where she serves as CPO and Head of R&D. In this episode, Inbal explains how curiosity is really a leadership trait, why introverts can be the most connected leaders in the room, and how the future of product management is being rewritten.

References:

• AWS https://aws.amazon.com/
• Github: https://github.com/
• Inbal Shani: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inbalshani/
• Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/
• Technion: https://www.technion.ac.il/en/
• Tel Aviv University: https://english.tau.ac.il/
• Twilio: https://www.twilio.com/
• Uber: https://www.uber.com/

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

01:47 Inbal's childhood: introversion and learning to build

06:00 Being one of six women in aerospace engineering

07:06 Fostering a strong belief in yourself

09:36 Why Inbal dropped out of her PhD

13:27 Learning to lead others as an introvert

15:24 Why curiosity is a core leadership trait

16:45 Two books that shaped Inbal's career

18:27 What determines a great team member

22:40 Empathy is a prerequistie to success

26:36 How Inbal made her career choices

28:31 Advice to younger women navigating their career

31:14 Inbal's journey to CPO at Twilio

34:04 The future of product management

39:42 Could the app era be over already?