Episode · Lenny's Podcast · 2026-07-26
Lenny Rachitsky & Dianne Penn: books mentioned on Lenny's Podcast
Anthropic’s first technical PM on token maxing, the jagged edge, and living in the future | Dianne Penn
Dianne Penn is Head of Product for Anthropic’s AI Research and Labs teams.
Dianne Penn recommended Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson and others, How to raise an adult by Julie Lythcott-Haims, and Incorruptible by Eric Ries.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
-
Crucial Conversations
Recommended“I used it a lot and actually like prepping for how to have better conversations um in the moment during like crucial conversations. So I love that book and so I actually have a skill that helps me figure out am I having am I going in the right level of detail”
Where to get it
-
How to raise an adult
Recommended“One personal one I really like how to raise an adult. So uh I'm a mom. So just the framing of what does that mean and what does it mean? What are the characteristics that we want to hone and like harness and foster in our kids?”
Where to get it
-
Incorruptible
Recommended“The other book that I uh was listening to on Audible recently is Incorable by Eric Reese. So the Incorruptible Incorruptible Yes. And I I I just I think the question of how to build great companies is important.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
Passing Incorruptible
“And his book just came out. Incorruptible. Yes. And I think it was like a New York Times bestseller. Like it's actually doing incredibly well, which I was really happy to see.”