Sequoia's Chief Product Officer, @jesskah, won't hire well-rounded people. She looks for a "spikes" in 1 of 4 traits that predict success: • EQ: One-on-one people skills • IQ: Raw intellectual horsepower • PQ: Ability to navigate politics/systems • JQ: Judgment on decisions that matter In this week's episode of The Library of Minds, we went deep on how this framework shaped her journey from Google PM to Polyvore CEO to Sequoia’s Chief Product Officer. Jess explains why velocity is the strongest early predictor of product-market fit, how choosing the wrong business model was her biggest mistake as a founder, and why she now believes AI will spark a new wave of consumer media. 00:00 Intro 1:00 Who is Jess Lee 02:50 The EQ / IQ / PQ / JQ framework 03:44 What early Google taught her 05:35 When ambition becomes a weakness 07:34 Customer discovery vs visionary intuition 09:31 Polyvore: from user → CEO 12:37 Imposter syndrome & finding authentic leadership 15:20 Picking the wrong market 18:24 Firing fast & setting high performance bars 20:12 Building cult-like community and emotional loyalty 22:13 Velocity vs delight in product 24:32 What she looks for in founders (turn-based velocity) 25:59 The business model wake-up call 27:27 Storytelling as a founding superpower 28:26 Hot take: consumer isn’t dead, it’s being reborn 31:50 AI-generated media, fanfic, and the next YouTube Grateful to be working with her at @withdelphi !