Kirsten Mann, CEO and founder of Vizory, previously a CPO at Prospection, shares her insights on the pivotal role product leaders play in boardrooms. She emphasizes that product strategy should be prioritized like financials. Culture emerged as a key factor for success, even more than tech advancements. Kirsten advises aspiring board members to develop financial literacy and communicate effectively about customer outcomes. She highlights the danger of exclusion from board discussions, advocating for inclusivity in strategic conversations.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Turning Around A Youth Club With Governance
Kirsten joined a local youth club committee when it faced payroll problems and weak controls.
She implemented simple tech and governance which stopped theft and returned the club to profitability and growth.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Boards Should Be Guardrails, Not Straitjackets
Kirsten's favorite interview was with Craig Winkler who described boards as guardrails, not straitjackets.
Craig valued chairs who publicly support and privately challenge founders to stay realistic and agile.
insights INSIGHT
Culture Trumps Clever Strategy
Culture is the practical engine of company outcomes and matters more than clever strategy.
Boards must monitor culture as a strategic, not just HR, metric to avoid downstream failure.
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In this episode of The Product Experience, Lily Smith and Randy Silver are joined by Kirsten Mann, former CPO at Prospection and now startup founder and board member, to discuss how product leaders can play a vital role on company boards.
Drawing from her own board experience and a research series interviewing founders and directors, Kirsten explains why product, culture, and customer insight must be central to boardroom conversations.
Key Takeaways — Product’s Place on Boards: Product is a strategic lever, boards should treat it with the same seriousness as financials. — Culture as a Strategic Asset: Culture emerged as the most frequently cited factor in board-level success—more than AI or tech. — From Operator to Overseer: Transitioning to a board role requires stepping back from execution and focusing on governance and strategic guidance. — Communicating with Boards: Product leaders must avoid jargon, speak in terms of customer problems, outcomes, and investment returns. — The Risk of Exclusion: If your product team isn’t presenting to the board, that’s a red flag. — Practical Preparation: Aspiring board members should build financial literacy, start with non-profit boards, and cultivate visibility through writing or public speaking.
Chapters 00:00 – Culture over strategy: Why getting culture right matters more than clever planning 00:45 – Meet Kirsten Mann: Introduction and credentials 01:45 – Career transition: From CPO at Prospection to board member, investor, and startup founder 04:50 – Early board experience: Saving a youth club through governance and tech 06:45 – Product’s value on boards: Bringing customer and tech insight into strategic discussions 08:00 – Oversight, not execution: Adjusting from exec roles to governance roles 09:50 – Frustration sparks research: Why Kirsten began writing about product leaders on boards 11:00 – Product strategy ≠ support: The board’s risk-first mindset
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 Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.
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