Episodes

  • Jordan Dalladay's Hot Take - We Should Build Roadmaps Off Risks, Not Features (with Jordan Dalladay, Product Consultant @ inherent ventures)

    Jordan Dalladay's Hot Take - We Should Build Roadmaps Off Risks, Not Features (with Jordan Dalladay, Product Consultant @ inherent ventures)
    Oct 6 2024

    Jordan Dalladay is a product strategist and leader who works with startup founders to help them turn ambitious ideas into market successes. He specializes in "dragging a vision kicking and screaming into reality" with his consultancy, inherent ventures.

    His hot take? We should invert our approach to product roadmapping. Instead of listing features to build, create a "risk-based product strategy" that outlines all the assumptions and potential pitfalls that could prevent success. This approach helps teams prioritize learning and experimentation, validating their riskiest assumptions first and dragging their vision into reality more effectively.

    Find Jordan on LinkedIn and you can check out his firm, inherent ventures.

    If you'd like to appear on Hot Takes, please grab a time!

    Related episodes you should like:
    • OKRs: The Gateway Drug to Agility & Good Product Management (Jeff Gothelf, Product Management Consultant & Co-author "Lean UX" )
    • Adventures in Product Management (Dan Olsen, Author "The Lean Product Playbook")
    • Fighting Fires in B2B Product Management (Rich Mironov, Author "The Art of Product Management")
    • Your Product is a Joke - How to use Improv Comedy Principles in Product Management (Amogh Sarda, Co-founder @ Eesel)
    • Putting Customers at the Heart of your Product Decisions (Hubert Palan, Founder @ Productboard)
    • Servitising Product Management & Setting Up Product Teams For Success (Jas Shah, Product Consultant)
    • Build What Matters with Vision-Led Product Management (Rajesh Nerlikar, Author "Build What Matters")
    • Build Better Products at Scale with Product Operations (Melissa Perri & Denise Tilles, Product Consultants & Co-authors "Product Operations")
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    16 mins
  • Chris Butler's Hot Take - Product Managers DON'T Need to be Technical (with Chris Butler, Staff Product Operations Manager @ GitHub)

    Chris Butler's Hot Take - Product Managers DON'T Need to be Technical (with Chris Butler, Staff Product Operations Manager @ GitHub)
    Sep 28 2024

    Chris Butler is a "Chaotic Good Product Manager" who has worked for companies like Microsoft, Google and Facebook. He's currently Staff Product Operations Manager at GitHub, and current running an online course on AI Product Design Patterns.

    His hot take? That product managers don't need to be technical and that it might even be a net negative to their relationship with the engineering team.

    Find Chris on LinkedIn and remember to check out his AI product course, "AI Product Design Patterns" .

    If you'd like to appear on Hot Takes, please grab a time!

    A message from this episode's sponsor - Leadfeeder

    This episode is sponsored by Leadfeeder. No more not knowing who’s coming to your website, convert more leads and get a free trial at Leadfeeder.com: Check out Leadfeeder here.

    Related episodes you should like:
    • Survive the Feature Factory by Applying Product Thinking to Product Thinking (John Cutler, Product Evangelist & Coach @ Amplitude)
    • The Five Dysfunctions of Product Management Teams (Saeed Khan, Founder @ Transformation Labs)
    • Practice Makes Perfect: Embracing the Messy Reality of Product Management (Matt LeMay, Product Management Consultant & Author "Product Management in Practice")
    • May Wong's Hot Take - Product Management is a Team Sport (May Wong, Product Operations Consultant & Coach)
    • Dean Peters' Hot Take - There's More to be Said About the Instagram-ification of Product Management (Dean Peters, Principal Consultant & Trainer @ Productside)
    • Applying Product Management Principles to Life (Miloš Belčević, Author "Build Your Way")
    • Product Processes & the Importance of Work / Life Balance (Busayomi Omotosho, Product Manager @ Softcom)
    • Jeremy Kirouac's Hot Take - Founders Need Product Management Training (Jeremy Kirouac, Fractional Product Leader)
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    24 mins
  • Jeremy Kirouac's Hot Take - Founders Need Product Management Training (with Jeremy Kirouac, Fractional Product Leader)

    Jeremy Kirouac's Hot Take - Founders Need Product Management Training (with Jeremy Kirouac, Fractional Product Leader)
    Sep 25 2024

    Jeremy Kirouac is a "Pan-Canadian" product leader and former startup founder who has thrown himself headlong into the world of fractional product leadership, as well as helping advise companies in all things product-related.

    His hot take? That startup founders live in information bubbles that concentrate solely on revenue and don't spend enough time teaching them good product management fundamentals. This impacts their chances of building a good product company and impacts their relationship with product management teams as they scale.

    Find Jeremy all over Canada, or on LinkedIn.

    If you'd like to appear on Hot Takes, please grab a time!

    Related episodes you should like:
    • Moving Beyond Founder-Led Product Development & Setting PMs up for Success (Jennifer Yang-Wong, VP of Product @ Contrary)
    • Build Products Businesses Want with the Lean B2B Pyramid (Étienne Garbugli, Author "Lean B2B", "Find your Market" and "Solving Product")
    • Your Product is a Joke - How to use Improv Comedy Principles in Product Management (Amogh Sarda, Co-founder @ Eesel)
    • Chris Locke's Hot Take - Product Leaders Need to Adopt a VC Mindset (Chris Locke, CEO @ Aspire)
    • Upping Your Odds of BEATING the LinkedIn Algorithm (Ivana Todorovic, CEO @ AuthoredUp)
    • Greg Prickril's Hot Take - AI is going to change everything for Product Managers (Greg Prickril, B2B Product Management Coach, Consultant & Trainer)
    • May Wong's Hot Take - Product Management is a Team Sport (May Wong, Product Operations Consultant & Coach)
    • Dean Peters' Hot Take - There's More to be Said About the Instagram-ification of Product Management (Dean Peters, Principal Consultant & Trainer @ Productside)
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    16 mins
  • Chris Locke's Hot Take - Product Leaders Need to Adopt a VC Mindset (with Chris Locke, CEO @ Aspire)

    Chris Locke's Hot Take - Product Leaders Need to Adopt a VC Mindset (with Chris Locke, CEO @ Aspire)
    Sep 22 2024

    Chris Locke is a long-time product leader who has taken his passion for educating product managers into his agency, Aspire, with which he aims to help product teams bridge the skills gap and equip them with the skills and resources to build products customers love.

    His hot take? That product leaders need to adopt the mindset of Venture Capitalists to truly drive growth through their product initiatives; placing a series of bets, backed by data, with clear stage gates for decision-making and adopting a portfolio approach to product prioritisation.

    Find Chris on LinkedIn and remember to check out his training company, Aspire.

    If you'd like to appear on Hot Takes, please grab a time!

    A message from this episode's sponsor - Leadfeeder

    This episode is sponsored by Leadfeeder. No more not knowing who’s coming to your website, convert more leads and get a free trial at Leadfeeder.com: Check out Leadfeeder here.

    Related episodes you should like:
    • Moving Beyond Founder-Led Product Development & Setting PMs up for Success (Jennifer Yang-Wong, VP of Product @ Contrary)
    • Paying Off Your Organisation's Human Debt Through Agility & Psychological Safety (Duena Blomstrom, Founder & CEO @ People Not Tech)
    • Fearlessly Defeating the Four Horsemen of a Product-Friendly Culture (Eisha Armstrong, Co-founder @ Vecteris & Author "Productize" & "Fearless")
    • Greg Prickril's Hot Take - AI is going to change everything for Product Managers (Greg Prickril, B2B Product Management Coach, Consultant & Trainer)
    • May Wong's Hot Take - Product Management is a Team Sport (May Wong, Product Operations Consultant & Coach)
    • Dean Peters' Hot Take - There's More to be Said About the Instagram-ification of Product Management (Dean Peters, Principal Consultant & Trainer @ Productside)
    • Build Better Products at Scale with Product Operations (Melissa Perri & Denise Tilles, Product Consultants & Co-authors "Product Operations")
    • Applying Product Management Principles to Life (Miloš Belčević, Author "Build Your Way")
    Show more Show less
    17 mins
  • Upping Your Odds of BEATING the LinkedIn Algorithm (with Ivana Todorovic, CEO @ AuthoredUp)

    Upping Your Odds of BEATING the LinkedIn Algorithm (with Ivana Todorovic, CEO @ AuthoredUp)
    Sep 14 2024
    Ivana Todorovic is the co-founder of AuthoredUp, the "Ultimate LinkedIn Content Creation & Analytics Tool", and wants to help YOU get better at standing out from the crowd and beating the LinkedIn algorithm. We spoke about all things LinkedIn, including the dangers of "engagement pods", whether it matters where you put your links in the post, how to engage with larger accounts, the power of secondary comments, and much, much more. We also spoke about her startup journey, the pros and cons of being reliant on a larger platform, and why she's so happy she bootstrapped rather than seeking VC funding. Check the episode out now! A message from this episode's sponsor - Leadfeeder This episode is sponsored by Leadfeeder. No more not knowing who’s coming to your website, convert more leads and get a free trial at Leadfeeder.com: Check out Leadfeeder here. Episode highlights: 1. There's no "Quick Fix" for your LinkedIn profile Beware snake oil salespeople who claim to be making millions off of their LinkedIn content and are trying to sell you frameworks to be just like them. There's no cookie-cutter approach, the algorithm is changing all the time, and the majority of these people are basically lying about the results you will get and laughing their way to the bank. 2. It's Important to Soft Sell on LinkedIn Direct sales pitches underperform compared to content that offers value with a subtle call to action. Posts with a soft sell, focusing on the audience’s needs and delivering value without the CTA, perform better. You can't just keep selling things or trying to get people to click links... LinkedIn hates you leaving the platform and they will de-boost your posts. 3. The Pros and Cons of "Link in Comments" Posts with external links often get down-boosted because LinkedIn wants to keep users on the platform. Adding links in the comments or at the very end of the post is a better strategy, though even this approach reduces post impressions. 4. LinkedIn doesn't want your posts to go viral However it might look, LinkedIn explicitly prioritises real conversations and interactions rather than people mindlessly sharing clickbait. Concentrate on having real conversations, replying to comments, and replying to the comments on comments. This will boost your own impressions. 5. LinkedIn Blue and Gold Badges are Statistically Meaningless There's no statistically significant impact on having either of these badges. The badges are just there to make you feel special and keep you coming back to LinkedIn so that they can keep advertising to you. People with blue badges don't obviously have better content than those without, and people with gold badges are just being rewarded for feeding the AI-training hamster wheel. 6. Beware Engagement Pods Engagement Pods are private groups of people who share their posts with each other so they can game engagement and try to defeat the dreaded algorithm. However, these are super-easy to detect and they show up quickly even to external analysis. There are better ways to win at LinkedIn than paying exorbitant fees to snake oil salespeople. Contact Ivana You can catch up with Ivana on LinkedIn or check out AuthoredUp. Related episodes you should like: How to Move Fast Without Breaking Things (Dani Grant, Co-founder & CEO @ Jam) Valentine's Special! A Love Letter to Problems, not Solutions (Uri Levine, Founder @ Waze & Author "Fall in Love with the Problem, not the Solution") Moving Beyond Founder-Led Product Development & Setting PMs up for Success (Jennifer Yang-Wong, VP of Product @ Contrary) The Big Pivot to Reinvent Product Management (Yana Welinder, Founder & CEO @ Kraftful) Nailing your Product/Market Fit Strategy by Focusing on the Mission Critical (Maja Voje, Growth Strategy Expert & Author "Go-To-Market Strategist") Nailing your Brand Marketing by Embracing your Zone of Genius (Orly Zeewy, Brand Strategy Consultant & Author "Ready, Launch, Brand") Helping Superhero Startup Founders Stay Away from their Kryptonite (Richard Blundell, Founder @ Vencha & Co-author "The Go To Market Handbook for B2B SaaS Leaders") Building Great Companies through Community-Led Growth (Lloyed Lobo, Author "From Grassroots to Greatness")
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • Jenny Wanger's Hot Take - Training Courses Are Useless If You Don't Engage Your Team Afterwards (with Jenny Wanger, Product Consultant & Coach)

    Jenny Wanger's Hot Take - Training Courses Are Useless If You Don't Engage Your Team Afterwards (with Jenny Wanger, Product Consultant & Coach)
    Sep 7 2024

    Jenny Wanger is a product consultant and coach who loves to educate PMs around the world and is doing just that with her product operations course on Reforge.

    Her hot take? Product leaders send their teams off for training but then don't do anything when they come back, and nothing changes. This leads them to question the value of the training, but it's almost never the quality of the training that's at fault, it's what they (don't) do with it.

    Find Jenny on LinkedIn and remember to check out her course on Reforge.

    If you'd like to appear on Hot Takes, please grab a time!

    A message from this episode's sponsor - Leadfeeder

    This episode is sponsored by Leadfeeder. No more not knowing who’s coming to your website, convert more leads and get a free trial at Leadfeeder.com: Check out Leadfeeder here.

    Related episodes you should like:
    • The Role of Product Management on Truly Agile Development Teams (Allen Holub, Software Architect, Consultant & Outspoken Twitter Agilist)
    • Survive the Feature Factory by Applying Product Thinking to Product Thinking (John Cutler, Product Evangelist & Coach @ Amplitude)
    • Escaping the Build Trap with Product Operations and Strong CPOs (Melissa Perri, Product Management Leader, Educator & Author "Escaping the Build Trap")
    • OKRs: The Gateway Drug to Agility & Good Product Management (Jeff Gothelf, Product Management Consultant & Co-author "Lean UX" )
    • The Five Dysfunctions of Product Management Teams (Saeed Khan, Founder @ Transformation Labs)
    • Going Beyond the Dreaded Product Demo and Creating the Perfect Sales Pitch (April Dunford, Author "Obviously Awesome" and "Sales Pitch")
    • Enabling Strategic Product Decisions through Product Operations and Portfolio Management (Becky Flint, CEO of Dragonboat)
    • Transforming your Organisation to the Product Operating Model (Marty Cagan, Author "Inspired", "Empowered" and "Transformed")
    Show more Show less
    23 mins
  • Reinventing the Future of Customer Success with Human-First AI (with Nick Mehta, CEO @ Gainsight)

    Reinventing the Future of Customer Success with Human-First AI (with Nick Mehta, CEO @ Gainsight)
    Aug 31 2024
    Nick Mehta is the CEO of Gainsight, a leading customer and product experience platform that aims to be the operating system for your customer journeys. He's a passionate advocate for Customer Success as a function and as a business strategy, an author of several books on the topic, and recently super-excited about the future of Customer Success in an AI world. We talked about all of these topics and much more. A message from this episode's sponsor - Leadfeeder This episode is sponsored by Leadfeeder. No more not knowing who’s coming to your website, convert more leads and get a free trial at Leadfeeder.com: Check out Leadfeeder here. Episode highlights: 1. Customer Success is not the same as Customer Support Yes, they both have the same "CS" initials, and this can confuse people, but it's not the same role. Customer Success conceptually sits somewhere in between Sales and Customer Support and drives customer value and retention. Customer Success is also more than a role, it's a company strategy. It's also part of the product you sell. 2. The end of the zero-interest-rate climate has had a profound impact on Customer Success These days, CEOs and investors value profit today over profit tomorrow. Retention is a huge driver of pure profit, and it's one of the highest-leverage activities you can invest in for a recurring revenue business. On the flip side, leaders are looking to become as efficient as possible and reduce the human effort to drive this retention, leading to a requirement for digital customer success strategies. 3. Yes, you probably do need a Customer Success team in your organisation Chris Degnan (CRO at Snowflake) recently opined on the 20VC podcast that he sees no use for Customer Success teams and would immediately get rid of them. That doesn't work for everyone though, and there are many companies that legitimately need Customer Success teams. It's fair enough to say "Customer Success is a strategy" but someone needs to wake up thinking about this and having it as their biggest priority. Customer expectations are rising all the time, and not all products can look after themselves. 4. Product teams and Customer Success teams need to have a good relationship Too many teams have almost no relationship, or only speak when there's an escalation. Both teams have a legitimate claim to own the customer experience, but they should own it together. The best Customer Success teams don't just bring escalations, or even the "What" but the "Who" and the "Why". This makes the relationship strategic and helps build a great product. 5. AI is going to change everything, but it has to be human-first If you're not keeping up with AI you're going to be left behind. It's important to focus on the evolutionary and revolutionary changes that you can bring to your product. There need to be guardrails in your product to ensure that the customer experience doesn't degrade, and you need to be sensitive to the fears and paranoia of internal teams that might feel threatened... but it's going to happen so you need a strategy to survive and thrive in the AI-powered future. Check out "Digital Customer Success" "In Digital Customer Success: The Next Frontier, a team of trailblazing Customer Success professionals and digital entrepreneurs delivers an insightful discussion of the next stage in Customer Success management. In the book, you'll discover how to design and deploy touchless and automated digital interventions that help your software users learn and grow as they use your product and unlock the value trapped within it — without ever needing to reach out to a live Customer Success Manager. " Check it out on Amazon. Contact Nick You can catch up with Nick on LinkedIn or check out Gainsight. You can also check out the blog post that Nick mentions, The One Thing Billionaire Frank Slootman Got Wrong. Related episodes you should like: Is Product-Led Growth Really For You? (Leah Tharin, Product-Led Growth Guru & Head of Product @ Jua) Embracing Change to Innovate in Product Management (Greg Coticchia, CEO @ Sopheon) The Big Pivot to Reinvent Product Management (Yana Welinder, Founder & CEO @ Kraftful) Helping Superhero Startup Founders Stay Away from their Kryptonite (Richard Blundell, Founder @ Vencha & Co-author "The Go To Market Handbook for B2B SaaS Leaders") Andy Walters' Hot Take - We’re Soon Going to be Living in an AI-Assistant-First World (Andy Walters, CEO @ Emerge Haus & Generative AI Expert) Bjarte Rettedal's Hot Take - AI Models Should Be Under Public Ownership or Completely Transparent (Bjarte Rettedal, UX Designer) Greg Prickril's Hot Take - AI is going to change everything for Product Managers (Greg Prickril, B2B Product Management Coach, Consultant & Trainer) Debbie Levitt's Hot Take - Democratising our Work means AI is Going to Steal all our Jobs Sooner (Debbie Levitt, CXO @ DeltaCX and Author "Customers Know You Suck")
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    57 mins
  • Rina Alexin's Hot Take - Our Stakeholders Are Just Doing Their Jobs & Product Managers Need To Understand Them Better (with Rina Alexin, CEO @ Productside)

    Rina Alexin's Hot Take - Our Stakeholders Are Just Doing Their Jobs & Product Managers Need To Understand Them Better (with Rina Alexin, CEO @ Productside)
    Aug 23 2024

    Rina Alexin is the CEO of Productside, a leading product training and consulting company (formerly known as The 280 Group). Rina is passionate about furthering the craft of product management around the world.

    Her hot take? Product managers complain about stakeholders, but they're just doing their jobs and we need to spend some of our energy on understanding them and properly collaborating rather than treating them as annoyances.

    Find Rina on LinkedIn or check out Productside

    If you'd like to appear on Hot Takes, please grab a time!

    A message from this episode's sponsor - Leadfeeder

    This episode is sponsored by Leadfeeder. No more not knowing who’s coming to your website, convert more leads and get a free trial at Leadfeeder.com: Check out Leadfeeder here.

    Related episodes you should like:
    • May Wong's Hot Take - Product Management is a Team Sport (May Wong, Product Operations Consultant & Coach)
    • Untrapping Product Teams and Getting Rid of Bullsh*t Management (David Pereira, Author "Untrapping Product Teams")
    • Dean Peters' Hot Take - There's More to be Said About the Instagram-ification of Product Management (Dean Peters, Principal Consultant & Trainer @ Productside)
    • John Cutler's Hot Take - The Instagram-ification of Product Management is Driving us Crazy (John Cutler, Product Educator & Author @ The Beautiful Mess)
    • Build Better Products at Scale with Product Operations (Melissa Perri & Denise Tilles, Product Consultants & Co-authors "Product Operations")
    • Knowing your Customers, Seeking Evidence and Sticking up for Continuous Discovery (Hope Gurion, Product Leader and Team Coach @ Fearless Product)
    • Transforming your Organisation to the Product Operating Model (Marty Cagan, Author "Inspired", "Empowered" and "Transformed")
    • Applying Product Management Principles to Life (Miloš Belčević, Author "Build Your Way")
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    25 mins