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How Zoom Took Over The World
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How Zoom Took Over The World

John Beckmann led Zoom's Meetings Product during Covid and now leads their Events & Webinars product. Today, he breaks down how Zoom grows, how they build product, and how to use Zoom like a pro.

Check it out on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube.

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Today’s Episode

We have a treat for today’s episode. We’re going deep inside Zoom with their former Head of Meetings Product and now Head of Live Events and Webinars Product, John Beckmann.

We cover:

  1. How Zoom scaled from 20 to 200+ PMs during a global crisis

  2. What to expect if you're interviewing as a PM at Zoom now

  3. The unique aspects of how they build product

  4. How to use Zoom like a pro

  5. Zoom’s AI future

If you use Zoom or are interested in their growth, this episode is for you (seriously, you don’t want to miss John’s tips on using Zoom well):

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1. How Zoom Took Over the World

When John joined Zoom in January 2020, the company was already well-positioned but nobody foresaw the tsunami of growth about to hit.

In just a few months, Zoom’s revenue exploded from $1B to $4.5B, user volume skyrocketed, and the product team ballooned from 20 to over 200 PMs.

All this while onboarding a global user base overnight.

So how did they survive the chaos?

One key decision: a three-month feature freeze at the peak of the COVID shift. Instead of pushing new features, Zoom zeroed in on reliability, security, and critical issues for teachers, enterprises, and new users.

Eric Yuan (Zoom CEO) led daily war rooms with exec staff and product leads to triage problems in real time.

John recalls the psychological toll of those early days - reacting fast, firefighting around the clock, and scaling teams in a context where “mistakes weren’t just bugs - they could break people’s workdays.”

Despite the chaos, Zoom’s platform held up. Zoom became the default infrastructure for global communication in 2020.

Zoom market summary dated 16th June 2025.

2. Interview Tips at Zoom

If you’re applying for a role at Zoom - especially in product - you’ll want to approach the interview like you’re already part of the team.

Here’s what I took away from how they think:

2.1 Use Zoom’s features like a Zoomer…

Know the platform. Use its strengths. But don’t go overboard.

He recommends subtlety - a virtual background or good lighting is fine. But using avatars or filters while interviewing? That’s a gamble.

This is a chance to show that:

  • You’ve actually used Zoom’s AI Companion or meeting summaries.

  • You understand their UI and philosophy (usability > complexity).

  • You know the product well enough to give thoughtful suggestions if asked.

2.2 Expect values-aligned questions.

Zoom values:

  • Speed with thoughtfulness

  • Root cause mindset

  • User empathy over shiny features

  • Fast, reliable iteration

So choose stories where you:

  • Shipped fast under pressure

  • Simplified a complex UX

  • Designed based on user pain vs internal goals

  • Identified a hidden root cause behind a surface bug

…you’re going to stand out.


3. How Zoom Builds Products

Zoom’s product engine scaled fast but not without pain.

John shares that during the pandemic surge, they weren’t just building features, they were firefighting. Thousands of feature requests. Bug escalations daily. UI problems amplified by usage scale.

It wasn’t just a to-do list anymore. It was avalanche-level chaos.

To manage this, he built a system of buckets to organize incoming requests by type - feature, bug, UI friction, etc. He layered that with tooling to track priorities and progress across hundreds of items.

One of the most important principles he emphasized: “Root cause thinking”

With so many incoming issues, it’s tempting to slap patches and move on. But he pushed for going deeper asking why something broke or why a behavior kept surfacing.

Because sometimes it’s not the bug you see, it’s the broken assumption beneath it.

And unless you fix that, it’ll surface again in another form.

Zoom also embedded product managers deeply into feedback loops:

  • Triaging feature requests through formal pipelines

  • Pulling insights from social media, forums, in-product surveys

  • Keeping PMs in live contact with customers and support teams

  • Fast iteration cycles - a feature suggestion could ship in weeks

And even small features got deep thought like the “Raise Hand” tool, which evolved to include host controls, order queues, and dismiss logic.


4. How to Use Zoom Like a Pro

John walked through his favorite Zoom features that most people aren't using to their full potential. Here's what you're missing:

4.1 Master the Advanced Audio/Video Controls

Beyond basic mute/unmute, dive into the audio/video submenu for game-changing features:

Zoom adds facial effects so you can look your weirdest during meetings |  The Verge
  • Virtual backgrounds and avatars - Not just for fun. Use them strategically when you need a break from video but want to stay present in the meeting

  • Studio effects and video filters - Zoom's lighting enhancement genuinely makes you look more professional

  • Avatar movement tracking - When your video is on, avatars move with your head movements. When off, they create subtle motion that's psychologically better for other participants than a static "video off" box

4.2 Chat Like a Power User

Most people only use the main meeting chat, but there's more:

Waiting Rooms
  • Create new chats during meetings for side conversations with specific participants

  • Separate group chat from individual chats - keep the main discussion flowing while handling specific questions privately

  • Reactions with effects - Use "send with effect" for more engaging responses in larger meetings

4.3 Collaboration Tools That Replace Other Apps

Zoom Docs: Create collaborative documents directly in meetings. Other participants can edit in real-time, and docs persist after the meeting ends. John uses this for everything from meeting notes to organizing hundreds of product requests.

Zoom Whiteboard: Far beyond the basic drawing tool. It's a full collaborative canvas (with AI) you can use for:

Using Whiteboard Content Generation with AI Companion
  • Boxes and arrows diagrams (John's go-to for explaining concepts)

  • Real-time brainstorming where everyone can contribute

  • Visual specs that evolve during the meeting and become part of documentation

4.4. AI Companion - Your Meeting Superpower

Turn on AI to unlock these capabilities:

Zoom AI Companion
  • "Catch me up" - Join late? Get an instant summary of what you missed

  • Free-form questions - Ask the AI about anything discussed in the meeting

  • Private queries - Your AI interactions are private unless you choose to share responses

  • Meeting summaries - Automatically generated after meetings, with action items and key decisions

4.5. Workflow Optimization

Keyboard shortcuts: Master audio/video toggles and interface navigation for seamless meeting-to-meeting transitions.

Calendar integration: Use the right-hand panel in the Zoom client to see upcoming meetings. Connect your calendar or use Zoom Calendar for one-click meeting access.

Meeting management:

  • Polls and quizzes for formal presentations

  • Raise hand with order tracking - hosts can see the sequence and manage questions systematically

  • Customizable toolbar - reorder icons based on your most-used features

The key insight from John: don't just use Zoom for basic video calls. The collaboration tools can replace multiple other apps and make meetings genuinely productive rather than just informational.

Most powerful underused feature according to John: AI Companion and meeting summaries. "If you're not leveraging those, you're definitely missing out. They're very, very powerful, very accurate, and a tremendous addition to the meetings product."


5. The Future of Zoom

While Zoom dominated synchronous communication during the pandemic, the company is now looking far beyond 1:1 calls.

Three big directions are emerging:

5.1. AI Integration

Zoom’s biggest post-pandemic release? The AI Companion, a tool that:

  • Auto-generates meeting summaries

  • Helps latecomers “catch up”

  • Surfaces action items and decisions

Internal usage has grown rapidly and he recalls it “the most impactful thing we’ve shipped.” He believes AI will drive the next leap in productivity by turning meetings into searchable, useful artifacts.

5.2. Avatars & Presence

Not every innovation is futuristic. Some solve today’s pain: being in 6 hours of meetings with no lunch break.

Zoom’s avatar system lets users “show up” even when they turn off video, adding subtle animations that reduce cognitive friction for others in the meeting.

5.3. Live Events & Broadcasts

Zoom is making a hard push into broadcast-quality events:

  • Expanded their Webinars product

  • Built Zoom Events for pro marketers/trainers

  • Launched Production Studio (a no-code pro production tool)

  • Acquired Liminal to enable high-end event production

This shift moves Zoom from “calls” to “platform for digital communication at scale.”

Watch Now

Check out the episode on Spotify


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Podcasts:

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  3. How Amplitude Became the #1 Product Analytics Tool - With CEO/ Founder Spenser Skates


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