In this conversation on this week's podcast, Adam Warburton, Co-Founder of Rove, shares his journey from being a Chief Product Officer at large firms like Co-op and Travelex, to co-founding his startup, Rove. He discusses the challenges and learnings from transitioning to a startup environment, the importance of prototyping and user feedback, and the balance between being product-led and sales-led.

Featured Links

Follow Adam on LinkedIn
Rove
Co-op
Marty Cagan's book 'Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love'

Chapters

00:00 Expectation vs. Reality in Happiness
05:08 Transitioning from Corporate to Startup Life
10:05 The Importance of Prototyping and User Feedback
14:58 Navigating Product vs. Sales-Led Strategies
20:00 The Value of Co-Founders in Entrepreneurship
25:13 Learning from Experience: Shaping Product Practices
29:46 Pragmatism Over Theory in Product Management
35:08 Coaching and Training: Evolving Perspectives

Key takeaways

Happiness is expectation divided by reality.
Transitioning from corporate to startup life brings unexpected challenges.
Prototyping and user feedback are crucial in early stages.
Navigating product vs. sales led strategies is essential for growth.
Co-founders significantly enhance the entrepreneurial experience.
Pragmatism often trumps theoretical frameworks in product management.
Learning from experience shapes product practices.
The importance of being adaptable in product strategies.
Building a prototype can lead to significant traction.
Coaching should focus on maximizing impact with available resources.

We’re taking Community Questions for The Product Experience podcast.
Got a burning product question for Lily, Randy, or an upcoming guest? Submit it here.

Our Hosts
Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.

Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A...

Notion 🗒️: Wie das "Lego der Software" auf KI setzt [ENG]

digital kompakt | Digitale Strategien für morgen

Strategie und Geschäftsentwicklung mit AI

The AI-powered Podcast Player