Not many people are willing to call up their competitors and dive into discussions on bettering the industry at large—choosing to see their competitors as partners. Sara Rossio, Chief Product Officer at G2, is curious about the ways transparency can build trust internally and how to embrace transparency and collaboration with customers, vendors, and across an industry.

In this episode, Sara talks about how she approaches product management at G2, including utilizing artificial intelligence and people to moderate and validate reviews and personalizing data to meet a customer’s needs. She discusses her leadership style of providing frequent, direct, and actionable feedback, as well as the importance of supplying context. Sara illuminates the key to her success in product management and how companies can remain competitive: stay curious.

(1:05) – Chief Product Officer at G2
(4:04) – Transparency
(8:19) – Inviting criticism
(11:49) – Working with competitors
(13:24) – Nokia
(16:12) – The customer of tomorrow
(17:21) – Biggest challenge: talent
(22:27) – Frequent, direct, actionable feedback
(25:33) – Tough conversations and a culture of kindness
(27:59) – Staying curious

Sara Rossio is the Chief Product Officer at G2, a digital marketplace for business software and services that boasts 1.7 million validated product reviews. Sara has worked in project management at PowerReviews, Gogo, Here (a Nokia company), NAVTEQ, and Eaton. She earned a BSBA in Marketing and International Business at Fisher College of Business at the Ohio State University.

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Podcast episode production by Dante32.

Championing Transparency and Collaboration with Sara Rossio