Navigating Product Development Challenges

Adam Fishman, interim SVP of New Products at Mozilla, shares insights on zero-to-one product development, killing unsustainable projects, and navigating AI’s impact on B2B SaaS. He breaks down Mozilla’s stage-gating process for innovation, the challenges of balancing ambition with practicality, and why distribution often trumps product in today’s crowded market.

Chapters with Timestamps

00:00–03:30

• Adam’s role at Mozilla: Building beyond Firefox, managing innovation, and why “killing projects” is critical.

03:30–15:30

• Stage Gating 101: How Mozilla’s framework prioritizes ideas, allocates resources, and avoids “innovation theater.”
• The 5 stages: Discovery, Exploration, Viability, Growth, and Sustaining.

15:30–30:00

• AI’s Double-Edged Sword: Turbocharging prototyping vs. drowning in “wrapper” tools.
• Why distribution (not product) is the new battleground for SaaS.

30:00–45:00

• Corporate Innovation Realities: Avoiding “software sprawl,” managing founder-minded PMs, and surviving existential pivots.
• Adam’s take on AI-driven sales tools: “We’re flooding the zone with crap.”

45:00–01:00:00

• Hot Takes: Why B2B SaaS companies built on “forms + databases” are doomed, and the future of AI agents.

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