CRES
Session 03  ·  April 2026  ·  Week 2

CRESCENDO

The best supply chain engineers in the world create the best supply chain products in the world.
Assignment 1 — On Time
WHO MET THE
DEADLINE.
These people shipped. On time. That's the whole game.
Brian Morrow
Optimize Routes
Kevin Shull
Analyze Demand
Tommy Foley
Optimize Logistics Network
Andy Kung
Analyze Demand
Jake Speiser
Simulate Routes
Robert Mendoza
Plan Supply
Vijay Ganti
Plan & Schedule Production
Patricia Burgess
Plan Supply
Timothy Knox
Optimize Stock Targets
Teresa Viola
Simulate Network
Jacob Hartley
Analyze Greenfield
Yan Gao
Plan Supply
Yeswanth Kumar
Optimize Stock Targets
Paul McCrory
Plan & Schedule Production
Opening — The Reveal

SAME DATA.
TWO WORLDS.

The difference isn't what you know. It's how you see it — and how you make others see it.
Without taste
SKUDCOH_INVFCST_D7FCST_D14DOSREORD
10042381ATL12401883906.6Y
10042382ATL8201152457.1N
10042390CHI31004028407.7N
10042391CHI4403106501.4Y
10042395DAL9608817510.9N
10042400DAL2201984151.1Y
+ 847 more rows  ·  export as CSV
With taste
3 DCs are at risk of a stockout
in the next 7 days
1.1
DAYS OF SUPPLY — DAL  ·  SKU 10042400  ·  CRITICAL
Recommended action: Expedite 415 units to DAL by Thursday. Without intervention, stockout probability reaches 94% by end of week. CHI and ATL require monitoring — reorder already triggered.
Today
THE PLAN.
  1. 01 Supply Chain Personas
  2. 02 Lenny's 5 Principles
  3. 03 Breakout Room
  4. 04 Special Guest
  5. 05 Decision Mesh Product Patterns
  6. 06 Logistics Reminders
Three Archetypes
SAME PLATFORM.
THREE RHYTHMS.
A transportation planner and a network strategist don't just need different data — they need a fundamentally different kind of tool.
Execution
EXECUTION ERIC
Transportation Planner
Time horizonThis week
RhythmReact → Fix → Commit
App patternAlert-driven triage
"Which routes are at risk right now, and what's the fastest fix?"
Simulate Routes
Tactical
TACTICAL TINA
Supply Planner
Time horizonThis quarter
RhythmCompare → Adjust → Track
App patternAuto-scenario comparison
"Am I over-investing in inventory at the wrong locations?"
Inventory Rebalancer
Strategic
STRATEGIC STAN
Network Strategy Lead
Time horizonQuarters / Years
RhythmExplore → Model → Recommend
App patternWhat-if exploration
"What if we added a DC in Memphis? How does it change the 5-year picture?"
Network Explorer
The Source
LENNY
RACHITSKY
Author of Lenny's Newsletter. Former Head of Product Growth at Airbnb. One of the most-read product thinkers in the world.
Lenny's Newsletter Ex-Airbnb Product Growth 700k+ readers
Guests on the podcast
Brian Chesky · CEO, Airbnb Dylan Field · CEO, Figma Luis von Ahn · CEO, Duolingo Marty Cagan · SVPG Julie Zhuo · ex-VP Design, Meta Gibson Biddle · ex-VP Product, Netflix Shreyas Doshi · ex-Stripe, Twitter, Google Shishir Mehrotra · CEO, Coda Deb Liu · CEO, Ancestry
Next: five principles, distilled from his work →
Lenny Rachitsky
01
Principle 01 of 05
Fall in love with
the problem
Real builders are obsessed with the pain, not their solution. Before asking "what should we build?" ask "what is actually broken for this person every week?"
From the field
"I once had a guy on my team who was struggling. At one point he said to me: 'I don't really care about the problem, I just care about the math.' We worked together to find him a new role. We were building products — and he wasn't obsessed with the problem. Bad fit."
Ideas without a problem anchor
Build a better dashboard
Add more filter options
New alert notification system
Redesign the reporting UI
The Problem.
02
01 Love the problem
Principle 02 of 05
Build for someone
you can name
"All supply chain planners" is not a user. Great products are built for someone specific — someone whose bad Monday you can describe in detail.
From the field
The thing people are most interested in is other people. It's hardwired. We pay attention to someone else's success, their embarrassment, their bad Monday. When you can picture a real person and their problem — not a persona, an actual human — it becomes a driving force. Every design decision: you just imagine how they'd react.
SL
SARAH L.
Sr. Demand Planner · Coca-Cola Consolidated
Her worst Monday
Woke up to 14 alerts. Three stockouts already in progress. Her forecast model ran overnight but the outputs are in a spreadsheet no one else can read. She has a 9am with her VP.
↑ Not a persona. A real person you can build for.
03
01 Love the problem 02 Name your user
Principle 03 of 05
Specify what you
won't include
Scope is a product decision. The features you cut reveal your understanding of the problem more than the features you ship.
From the field
Every week I see submissions with 15 things on the screen. AI makes it worse — it's never been easier to generate more. Here's the line: if you're building for AI, pump up the information. If you're building for a human, dial it back. Reduce cognitive load. The cuts are the product.
What you ship vs. what you cut
Stockout risk score
Export to CSV
Recommended action
Column toggle settings
Days of supply trend
Raw SQL query view
Full audit log
Admin config panel
3 things. That's the product.
04
01 Love the problem 02 Name your user 03 Cut scope
Principle 04 of 05
Make the first
30 seconds magical
If the first screen is a config wizard, you've already lost. Show them something they didn't know — before they have to do anything.
From the field
Open an Apple product. The lid resists slightly — then releases with a soft, satisfying exhale. That sound is engineered. Every millimeter of friction in the unboxing is intentional. Apple spends months on the first 30 seconds you spend with their product. Your app's opening screen deserves the same obsession.
What they see when they open the app
Before
Welcome! Let's get started.
Select your region...
Choose date range...
Configure filters...
Run Report
After
3 routes at risk this week
Frankfurt DC — 1.2 days of supply
Brussels Hub at 112% capacity Thu
Simulate Fix →
Value before configuration. Always.
05
01 Love the problem 02 Name your user 03 Cut scope 04 First 30 seconds
Principle 05 of 05
Design for a decision,
not a report
A dashboard tells you what happened. A product tells you what to do next. If your user still opens a spreadsheet after using your tool, you built a report.
From the field
Back at Target, the week before Black Friday, our forecasts were trending way too low. UPS called: did I want to change my Black Friday and Cyber Monday numbers? I saw what the models said. I saw the numbers. But I was the one who had to make the call. Hold — risk stockouts on the biggest weekend of the year. Raise — eat the freight, eat the inventory. Both ways had a trade-off. High pressure, someone waiting on the line. That is what your product should be designed for.
📊
REPORT
Here's your data. 12 charts, 8 filters, 47 KPIs. Good luck figuring out what to do.
VS.
⚡
DECISION
3 routes are at risk. Here's the recommended fix. Accept, modify, or reject.
If the user still needs a spreadsheet after, you built a report.
6
Breakout — 10 minutes
What principle did Frank miss?
3–4 per room
10 min
One answer per room
Guest Speaker
Sara Hoormann
Co-Author of Supply Chain Network Modeling · Head of Strategy & Marketing at Lyric · ex-Coupa · ex-Opex Analytics
Decision Mesh · Product Patterns
THE
PATTERNS.
Three personas. Three products.
The same five principles.
Pattern 1 — Strategic Stan
DEDICATED FLEET SIZING
Stan explores. No alerts. No urgency. Just "what if?"
Persona: Strategic Stan · Network Strategy Lead
Horizon: Quarters / Years
Key feature: In-app scenarios
Pattern 2 — Tactical Tina
INVENTORY REBALANCER
Tina sees auto-generated scenarios. She compares, not configures.
Persona: Tactical Tina · Supply Planner
Horizon: This Quarter
Key feature: Auto-scenarios
Pattern 3 — Execution Eric
SIMULATE ROUTES
Eric opens to his week's routes. Stress-tests. Sends a report.
Persona: Execution Eric · Transport Planner
Horizon: This Week
Key feature: Stress test + report
Assignment 2
BUILD THE
PRODUCT.
Take your Week 1 problem. Build a Next Gen App in Lyric Studio. Ship it.
Know your user
EXECUTION ERIC TACTICAL TINA STRATEGIC STAN
×
Apply the framework
01 Love the problem 02 Name your user 03 Cut scope 04 First 30 seconds 05 Decision, not report
WHAT'S NEXT.
WED NOON
April 22 · 12:00 PM ET
Questions posted in Circle
What's the call you're most unsure about?
WED MIDNIGHT
April 22 · 11:59 PM ET
Working draft submitted
App + brief. Ship it imperfect.
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