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Rituals for hypergrowth: An inside look at how YouTube scaled
Rituals for hypergrowth: An inside look at how YouTube scaled
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Weekly cadence

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YouTube meeting map

An accurate summary of my regular YT schedule.
I’m a big believer in color-coding my calendar (I still do it today), because it allows me to see at a glance how I’m spending my time. I’ve mapped out my actual meeting schedule at YouTube, and provided a few different cuts of the same schedule below.
I’ve started by coloring based on meeting type, but you can color by audience instead by checking the box below:
⁠
⁠
Check to color by type (unchecked) vs audience (checked)
By the way, if you want to repeat this process for your own meetings, just copy / paste this page into a new doc and fill in the Raw Data table at the bottom of the page.

A typical week

Here’s a snapshot of the meetings we ran at YouTube. By defining the meetings into 4 types, I avoided ad hoc meetings and set expectations for what to expect at each meeting type. This led to better preparation and subsequently more productive meetings.
Note: you’ll notice several overlapping meetings. No, I wasn’t in two multiple places at once 😀 ; those are meetings that happen monthly or quarterly, but we’re showing them here on a weekly schedule to paint a holistic picture.

January 2025

Week
Today
Jan 12
Jan 13
Jan 14
Jan 15
Jan 16
Jan 17
Jan 18
9:00 AM
9:30 AM
10:00 AM
10:30 AM
11:00 AM
11:30 AM
12:00 PM
12:30 PM
1:00 PM
1:30 PM
2:00 PM
2:30 PM
3:00 PM
3:30 PM
4:00 PM
4:30 PM
January 13, 2025
Tag-up Admin + ChiefOfStaff Sync
, 9:00 AM
January 13, 2025
YT Tech Staff
, 11:30 AM
January 13, 2025
YT Tech Staff Bullpen
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
January 13, 2025
Product Review
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
January 13, 2025
1:1 PM Lead - Ads #1
, 3:00 PM
January 13, 2025
1:1 PM Lead - Creator #1
, 3:30 PM
January 13, 2025
1:1 PM Lead - Ads #2
, 3:00 PM
January 13, 2025
1:1 PM Lead - Creator #2
, 3:30 PM
January 13, 2025
1:1 PM Lead - UX Lead
, 4:00 PM
January 13, 2025
1:1 PM Lead - Viewer
, 4:00 PM
January 14, 2025
Tag-up Big Rock #1
, 9:00 AM
January 14, 2025
Tag-up Big Rock #2
, 9:30 AM
January 14, 2025
Tag-up Big Rock #3
, 10:00 AM
January 14, 2025
Tag-up Big Rock #4
, 10:30 AM
January 14, 2025
Tag-up Big Rock #5
, 11:00 AM
January 14, 2025
Tag-up Big Rock #6
, 11:30 AM
January 14, 2025
Tag-up FA: Ads
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
January 14, 2025
Tag-up FA: Core Eng
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
January 14, 2025
Tag-up FA: Creator
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
January 14, 2025
Tag-up FA: Viewer
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
January 14, 2025
Salar-Shishir-Robert
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
January 15, 2025
YT All Hands
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
January 15, 2025
YT Staff
, 11:30 AM
January 15, 2025
YT Tech All Hands (incl Prep)
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
January 15, 2025
YT Staff Bullpen
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
January 15, 2025
YT Eng Review
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
January 15, 2025
1-1: APAC Lead
, 2:00 PM
January 15, 2025
Eng Lead - Ads
, 2:30 PM
January 15, 2025
1-1: EMEA Lead
, 2:00 PM
January 15, 2025
Eng Lead - Core
, 3:00 PM
January 15, 2025
1:1 AreaTechLead - App
, 2:00 PM
January 15, 2025
Eng Lead - Creator
, 3:00 PM
January 15, 2025
1:1 AreaTechLead - Data
, 2:00 PM
January 15, 2025
Eng Lead - Viewer #1
, 3:30 PM
January 15, 2025
1:1 AreaTechLead - Discovery
, 2:00 PM
January 15, 2025
Eng Lead - Viewer #2
, 3:30 PM
January 15, 2025
1-1: Larry
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
January 15, 2025
1-1: Salar
, 4:00 PM
January 16, 2025
Tag-up: Finance
, 9:00 AM
January 16, 2025
Tag-up: ATLs
, 9:30 AM
January 16, 2025
Tag-up: Legal
, 9:00 AM
January 16, 2025
Tag-up: Marketing
, 9:30 AM
January 16, 2025
Tag-up: HR / Recruiting
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
January 16, 2025
YT Eng Leads
, 11:00 AM
January 16, 2025
YT Biz Staff
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
January 16, 2025
YT Product Leads
, 11:00 AM
January 16, 2025
YTX Deal Review
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
January 16, 2025
1:1 Ex Creator Platform PM Lead
, 2:00 PM
January 16, 2025
1-1: Exec Advisor-1
, 2:30 PM
January 16, 2025
1:1 Ex Ux Ads Lead
, 2:00 PM
January 16, 2025
1-1: Exec Advisor-2
, 2:30 PM
January 16, 2025
1:1 Ex Ux Viewer Lead
, 2:00 PM
January 16, 2025
1-1: Marketing Lead
, 3:00 PM
January 16, 2025
1:1 Ex Video Delivery Platform Lead
, 2:00 PM
January 16, 2025
1-1: Sales Lead
, 3:00 PM
January 16, 2025
1-1: Content Lead
, 3:30 PM
January 17, 2025
YT Stats
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
January 17, 2025
Dim Sum
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
January 17, 2025
1:1 Ex Creator Platform Eng Lead
, 2:00 PM
January 17, 2025
1:1 Flex 1-1s
2:30 PM - 4:30 PM
January 17, 2025
1:1 Ex Data Science Lead
, 2:00 PM
January 17, 2025
1:1 Ex Infra Lead
, 2:00 PM
January 17, 2025
1:1 Ex Test Lead
, 2:00 PM
⁠


Meetings by type

Here you can see how I proportionally structured my time by type. The slices of the pie are driven by weekly time in each meeting type. You can see a detailed breakdown of all meetings below in
Data for YouTube Meetings
⁠
. Since the frequency of meetings varied (Some weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc), there’s a column that indicates the average time spent per meeting in a given week (e.g. a biweekly 1 hour meeting counts for 30 minutes weekly). Based on that, this is how my time split between the 4 meeting types:
A few things you’ll note:
Tagups were primary - you can see them dominating the time. This was the key to avoiding adhoc meetings
Decision Forums were intentionally separated from the other forums
Group Information Sharing meetings look like a lot but actually include a lot of Bullpen time and DimSum, so most of it was fairly casual.
There were a lot of 1-1s, but by managing frequency it didn’t overwhelm my week

Meetings by audience

Here’s a view showing my schedule cut by both type and audience. I used this to check which level of the company I was spending most of my time on.
Type
Audience
Title
Weekly Amount
Title
Weekly Amount
Title
Weekly Amount
Title
Weekly Amount
Salar-Shishir-Robert
1 hr
Tag-up: Finance
15 mins
Tag-up: Legal
15 mins
Tag-up: Marketing
15 mins
Tag-up: HR / Recruiting
1 hr
3 hrs
Tag-up Admin + ChiefOfStaff Sync
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #1
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #2
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #3
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #4
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #5
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #6
30 mins
Tag-up FA: Ads
1 hr
Tag-up FA: Core Eng
1 hr
Tag-up FA: Creator
1 hr
Tag-up FA: Viewer
1 hr
8 hrs
Tag-up: ATLs
15 mins
YT Eng Leads
15 mins
30 mins
YT Product Leads
15 mins
15 mins
YTX Deal Review
1 hr
1 hr
Product Review
2 hrs
2 hrs
YT Eng Review
1 hr
1 hr
0
YT All Hands
5 mins
YT Staff
30 mins
YT Staff Bullpen
1 hr
YT Biz Staff
1 hr
3 hrs
YT Tech Staff
30 mins
YT Tech Staff Bullpen
1 hr
YT Tech All Hands (incl Prep)
5 mins
YT Stats
1 hr
Dim Sum
45 mins
3 hrs
0
0
1-1: APAC Lead
8 mins
1-1: EMEA Lead
8 mins
1-1: Exec Advisor-2
8 mins
1-1: Exec Advisor-1
2 mins
25 mins
1:1 Flex 1-1s
9 mins
9 mins
1:1 AreaTechLead - App
8 mins
1:1 AreaTechLead - Data
2 mins
1:1 AreaTechLead - Discovery
2 mins
1:1 Ex Video Delivery Platform Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Creator Platform Eng Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Data Science Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Infra Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Test Lead
8 mins
50 mins
1:1 Ex Creator Platform PM Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Ux Ads Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Ux Viewer Lead
8 mins
23 mins
1-1: Larry
30 mins
1-1: Salar
15 mins
1-1: Marketing Lead
15 mins
1-1: Sales Lead
15 mins
1-1: Content Lead
30 mins
2 hrs
0
Eng Lead - Ads
15 mins
Eng Lead - Core
15 mins
Eng Lead - Creator
15 mins
Eng Lead - Viewer #1
15 mins
Eng Lead - Viewer #2
15 mins
1 hr
1:1 PM Lead - Ads #1
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - Ads #2
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - Creator #1
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - Creator #2
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - Viewer
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - UX Lead
15 mins
2 hrs
⁠

Meetings by weekday

Finally, here’s a view that shows the weekly amount given to each meeting. The weekly amount normalizes meetings to a weekly basis, even when it occurs monthly or quarterly. So for example, a 30 minute meeting that happens once per week equals 30 weekly minutes, while a 60 minute quarterly meeting equals 15 weekly minutes.
All together, I had about 30 hours of scheduled meetings a week, which is one of the reasons why there are very few things that can be a bigger force multiplier than having the right admin and Chief of Staff.
DOW
Title
Weekly Amount
Title
Weekly Amount
Title
Weekly Amount
Title
Weekly Amount
Title
Weekly Amount
Tag-up Admin + ChiefOfStaff Sync
30 mins
Product Review
2 hrs
YT Tech Staff
30 mins
YT Tech Staff Bullpen
1 hr
1:1 PM Lead - Ads #1
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - Ads #2
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - Creator #1
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - Creator #2
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - Viewer
15 mins
1:1 PM Lead - UX Lead
15 mins
6 hrs
Tag-up Big Rock #1
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #2
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #3
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #4
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #5
30 mins
Tag-up Big Rock #6
30 mins
Tag-up FA: Ads
1 hr
Tag-up FA: Core Eng
1 hr
Tag-up FA: Creator
1 hr
Tag-up FA: Viewer
1 hr
Salar-Shishir-Robert
1 hr
8 hrs
YT Eng Review
1 hr
YT All Hands
5 mins
YT Tech All Hands (incl Prep)
5 mins
YT Staff
30 mins
YT Staff Bullpen
1 hr
Eng Lead - Ads
15 mins
Eng Lead - Core
15 mins
Eng Lead - Creator
15 mins
Eng Lead - Viewer #1
15 mins
Eng Lead - Viewer #2
15 mins
1-1: Larry
30 mins
1-1: Salar
15 mins
1:1 AreaTechLead - App
8 mins
1-1: APAC Lead
8 mins
1-1: EMEA Lead
8 mins
1:1 AreaTechLead - Data
2 mins
1:1 AreaTechLead - Discovery
2 mins
5 hrs
Tag-up: Finance
15 mins
Tag-up: Legal
15 mins
Tag-up: Marketing
15 mins
Tag-up: ATLs
15 mins
Tag-up: HR / Recruiting
1 hr
YT Eng Leads
15 mins
YT Product Leads
15 mins
YTX Deal Review
1 hr
YT Biz Staff
1 hr
1-1: Marketing Lead
15 mins
1-1: Sales Lead
15 mins
1-1: Content Lead
30 mins
1:1 Ex Creator Platform PM Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Ux Ads Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Ux Viewer Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Video Delivery Platform Lead
8 mins
1-1: Exec Advisor-2
8 mins
1-1: Exec Advisor-1
2 mins
6 hrs
YT Stats
1 hr
Dim Sum
45 mins
1:1 Ex Creator Platform Eng Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Data Science Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Infra Lead
8 mins
1:1 Ex Test Lead
8 mins
1:1 Flex 1-1s
9 mins
2 hrs
⁠

Raw Data for the Meeting Views

This data drives all the views above
Title
Audience
Type
DOW
Frequency
Start time (PST)
Time
Weekly Amount
1
Tag-up Admin + ChiefOfStaff Sync
​9:00 AM
30 mins
30 mins
2
Product Review
​1:00 PM
2 hrs
2 hrs
3
YT Tech Staff
​11:30 AM
30 mins
30 mins
4
YT Tech Staff Bullpen
​12:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
5
1:1 PM Lead - Ads #1
​3:00 PM
30 mins
15 mins
6
1:1 PM Lead - Ads #2
​3:00 PM
30 mins
15 mins
7
1:1 PM Lead - Creator #1
​3:30 PM
30 mins
15 mins
8
1:1 PM Lead - Creator #2
​3:30 PM
30 mins
15 mins
9
1:1 PM Lead - Viewer
​4:00 PM
30 mins
15 mins
10
1:1 PM Lead - UX Lead
​4:00 PM
30 mins
15 mins
11
Tag-up Big Rock #1
​9:00 AM
30 mins
30 mins
12
Tag-up Big Rock #2
​9:30 AM
30 mins
30 mins
13
Tag-up Big Rock #3
​10:00 AM
30 mins
30 mins
14
Tag-up Big Rock #4
​10:30 AM
30 mins
30 mins
15
Tag-up Big Rock #5
​11:00 AM
30 mins
30 mins
16
Tag-up Big Rock #6
​11:30 AM
30 mins
30 mins
17
Tag-up FA: Ads
​12:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
18
Tag-up FA: Core Eng
​1:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
19
Tag-up FA: Creator
​2:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
20
Tag-up FA: Viewer
​3:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
21
Salar-Shishir-Robert
​4:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
22
YT Eng Review
​1:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
23
YT All Hands
​9:00 AM
1 hr
5 mins
24
YT Tech All Hands (incl Prep)
​9:00 AM
1 hr
5 mins
25
YT Staff
​11:30 AM
30 mins
30 mins
26
YT Staff Bullpen
​12:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
27
Eng Lead - Ads
​2:30 PM
30 mins
15 mins
28
Eng Lead - Core
​3:00 PM
30 mins
15 mins
29
Eng Lead - Creator
​3:00 PM
30 mins
15 mins
30
Eng Lead - Viewer #1
​3:30 PM
30 mins
15 mins
31
Eng Lead - Viewer #2
​3:30 PM
30 mins
15 mins
32
1-1: Larry
​4:00 PM
1 hr
30 mins
33
1-1: Salar
​4:00 PM
30 mins
15 mins
34
1:1 AreaTechLead - App
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
35
1-1: APAC Lead
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
36
1-1: EMEA Lead
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
37
1:1 AreaTechLead - Data
​2:00 PM
30 mins
2 mins
38
1:1 AreaTechLead - Discovery
​2:00 PM
30 mins
2 mins
39
Tag-up: Finance
​9:00 AM
30 mins
15 mins
40
Tag-up: Legal
​9:00 AM
30 mins
15 mins
41
Tag-up: Marketing
​9:30 AM
30 mins
15 mins
42
Tag-up: ATLs
​9:30 AM
30 mins
15 mins
43
Tag-up: HR / Recruiting
​10:00 AM
1 hr
1 hr
44
YT Eng Leads
​11:00 AM
30 mins
15 mins
45
YT Product Leads
​11:00 AM
30 mins
15 mins
46
YTX Deal Review
​1:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
47
YT Biz Staff
​12:00 PM
1 hr
1 hr
48
1-1: Marketing Lead
​3:00 PM
30 mins
15 mins
49
1-1: Sales Lead
​3:00 PM
30 mins
15 mins
50
1-1: Content Lead
​3:30 PM
30 mins
30 mins
51
1:1 Ex Creator Platform PM Lead
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
52
1:1 Ex Ux Ads Lead
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
53
1:1 Ex Ux Viewer Lead
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
54
1:1 Ex Video Delivery Platform Lead
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
55
1-1: Exec Advisor-2
​2:30 PM
30 mins
8 mins
56
1-1: Exec Advisor-1
​2:30 PM
30 mins
2 mins
57
YT Stats
​11:00 AM
1 hr
1 hr
58
Dim Sum
​12:00 PM
1 hr 30 mins
45 mins
59
1:1 Ex Creator Platform Eng Lead
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
60
1:1 Ex Data Science Lead
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
61
1:1 Ex Infra Lead
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
62
1:1 Ex Test Lead
​2:00 PM
30 mins
8 mins
63
1:1 Flex 1-1s
​2:30 PM
2 hrs
9 mins
There are no rows in this table
1 day
⁠
Audience
1
YT X-Functional
2
YT Tech
3
YT Eng
4
YT Product & UX
There are no rows in this table
⁠
Type
1
Tag-Ups
2
Decision Forums
3
Group: Information Sharing
4
Core 1:1
5
Extended 1:1
There are no rows in this table
⁠


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