People Calls: High Performers vs. Culture

It's the first week of a new year. You're looking at your roadmap, your team, your strategy - and you're realizing something: You need to make some hard decisions. The thing is, the hardest calls aren’t deciding what features to build.

Rather, it's likely determining who on the team comes with you on the journey. Or deciding which products to sunset, even if they're generating revenue. Or it's making the choice to bet everything on a new direction.

In this special compilation episode of Hard Calls, host Trisha Price brings together the three types of hard calls shared by her guests, featuring Jodi McDermott, Jessica Soroky, Pierre Naudé, Peter Bailey, Naomi Larivière, Noa Ginsberg, Mark Mitchell, Ben Currin, Todd Olson, Gabrielle Bufrem, and Marty Cagan.

This isn't a highlight reel. This is a breakdown of the three types of decisions that define product leadership: the People Calls, the Stop Calls, and the Go Calls.

Here are the three types of hard calls you’ll hear about in this episode:

• The People Calls that define your culture. 
• The Stop Calls that protect trust and enterprise value.
• The Go Calls that reshape the company and customer adoption.

Episode Chapters

• (00:23) Introduction: The Three Types of Hard Calls
• (01:51) Part 1: The People Calls
• (02:20) Jodi McDermott: The High Performer Who Undermines Culture
• (03:00) Jessica Soroky: When a Good Person Isn't the Right Fit
• (04:30) Pierre Naudé: Scaling Beyond Your Founding Team
• (05:58) Part 2: The Stop Calls
• (06:38) Peter Bailey: Pausing a Federal Reserve Launch at JPMorgan
• (09:20) Naomi Larivière: When Innovation Collides with Trust at ADP
• (11:35) Jodi McDermott: Sunsetting a Product Built for One Customer
• (14:38) Mark Mitchell: Walking Away from a Large Prospect
• (17:09) Ad Break: Pandemonium 2026 Festival
• (18:04) Part 3: The Go Calls
• (18:16) Noa Ginsberg: Trust Your Gut But Verify with Data
• (19:22) Ben Currin: Pivoting Vantaca's Entire Strategy to AI
• (20:32) Todd Olson: Building Without Budget or Permission at Rally
• (22:51) Gabrielle Bufrem: Betting on Herself as a Coach
• (25:13) Marty Cagan: The eBay Lesson on Product Adoption
• (27:43) Closing: Making the Call with the Right Data

Whether you're navigating AI transformation, restructuring your team for the next stage of growth, or deciding what to say no to this year, this episode gives you the confidence to make the hard calls that matter.

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Presented by Pendo. Discover more insights at pendo.io or connect with Trisha Price on LinkedIn.