Sebastian Barrios was the longtime head of product and engineering at Mercado Libre, the largest company in Latin America—valued at over $100 billion and home to more than 100,000 employees. There, he led a team of more than 18,000 engineers across 18 countries and oversaw an astonishing 30,000 code deployments a day. Before Mercado Libre, he founded multiple startups, including a ridesharing company that competed directly with Uber in Latin America. And at just 17, he got a personal phone call from Steve Jobs asking him to take his app off the App Store. Today, Sebastian is the SVP of Engineering at Roblox. What you’ll learn: • Why Mercado Libre operates with 95% fewer PMs than typical tech companies (and how it actually works) • How to maintain product quality with 30,000 daily deployments and distributed ownership • The weekly email system Sebastian uses to maintain alignment with leadership • How to build a culture of radical candor and direct feedback in a traditionally hierarchical region • The counterintuitive approach to product reviews that keeps 18,000 engineers aligned • How to evaluate hype cycles (crypto, AI) pragmatically while staying innovative — Brought to you by: Merge—A single API to add hundreds of integrations into your app Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security LinkedIn Ads—Reach professionals and drive results for your business — Where to find Sebastian Barrios: • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/zebas — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: lennysnewsletter.com • X: twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky — In this episode, we cover: — Referenced: • Mercado Libre: mercadolibre.com • Claude: • Salesforce: • Nvidia: • TikTok: • Adobe: • Uber: • OpenAI: • Marcos Galperin on LinkedIn: • Cursor: • Windsurf: • Which companies produce the best product managers: • Which companies accelerate PM careers most: • How Revolut trains world-class product managers: The “local CEO” model, raw intellect over experience, and a cultural obsession with building wow products | Dmitry Zlokazov (Head of Product): • Intercom: • Atlassian: • Radical Candor: From theory to practice with author Kim Scott: • Managing up: • Steve Jobs: • Tobi Lütke’s leadership playbook: Playing infinite games, operating from first principles, and maximizing human potential (founder and CEO of Shopify): • Everything Everywhere All at Once: • Dune on Max: • Bluey on Disney+: • Mentava: • Matt Bateman’s website: • Beast Academy: • David protein bars: • Marc Andreessen on X: • Tatami mats: — Recommended books: • Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity: • High Output Management: • The Odyssey: • The Dream Machine: • Dune: — Production and marketing by . For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. — Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.