Episode · Lenny's Podcast · 2025-06-22
Lenny Rachitsky & Peter Deng: books mentioned on Lenny's Podcast
From ChatGPT to Instagram to Uber: The quiet architect behind the world’s most popular products | Peter Deng
Peter Deng has led product teams at OpenAI, Instagram, Uber, Facebook, Airtable, and Oculus and helped build products used by billions—including Facebook’s News Feed, the standalone Messenger app, Instagram filters, Uber Reserve, ChatGPT, and more. Currently he’s investing in early-stage founders at Felicis.
Peter Deng recommended Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, From Animals Into Gods by Yuval Noah Harari, The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman, and The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Sapiens
Recommended“Number one is Sapiens. Um, you if you're a product person, you have to understand uh our own humanity if you want to build products for people straight up. That's that's that's a beautiful book.”
Where to get it
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From Animals Into Gods
Recommended“I read it before it was called Sapiens. It was called uh from animals to gods uh and it was just republished a different name, but it has really stuck with me and I remember it's a very short easy read.”
Where to get it
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The Design of Everyday Things
Recommended“Uh the second book I think for product folks is is a classic one which is the design of everyday things by Don Norman. This may seem outdated and old but it's I promise you it's not.”
Where to get it
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The Silk Roads
Recommended“Third book is something I'm reading right now. It's recommended by a friend of mine and I can't put it down. It's called The Silk Roads um uh by Peter Franco and basically this is a recounting of history through the lens of the Silk Road”
Where to get it
