Episode 236: Real Career Advice From Product Leaders

9 snips

Aug 13, 2025

Kristin Dorsett, COO at Viator, shares her insightful journey in product management. She emphasizes the importance of continuous growth and not sweating the small details. The discussion dives into how leveraging AI can boost productivity, freeing time for strategic insights. Dorsett, along with other industry leaders, highlights the significance of focusing on core problems rather than features and learning from missteps, encouraging aspiring product managers to adopt a curious mindset and embrace unexpected opportunities.

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ADVICE

Go Deeper, Not Wider

Focus on making impact within your current scope instead of chasing larger scope to be seen as senior.
Learn deeply where you are and use that impact to set up future growth.

ADVICE

Stop Sweating The Small Stuff

Stop sweating small interactions and speak up without overthinking your wording.
If you are not learning on the job, find a role where you are growing.

ADVICE

Take Calculated Risk To Grow

Aim for initiatives that have a 30–50% chance of failure to force growth and learning.
Use risky but plausible bets to create step-change career moves.

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Join Melissa Perri as she dives into some of the best advice about career growth in product management from an incredible group of industry leaders. Monica Lewis from LinkedIn, Kristin Dorsett from Viator, Dheerja Kaur from Robinhood, Lucie Buisson from Contentsquare, Ben Hafele from the Lean Startup Co., Marco De Freitas and Amber Brestowski from Vanguard, Oliver Seil from Belkin International, David Myszewski from Wealthfront, and Eilon Reshef from Gong share their insights on developing strategic judgment, embracing learning, and leveraging AI for productivity.

Discover how focusing on impact over scope, obsessing over problems, and starting small can accelerate your growth in product management. Our guests also discuss the importance of market fit strategy, learning from missteps, and being open to unexpected opportunities.

Want to accelerate your product management career with practical advice from industry leaders? Tune in to this episode for actionable insights and strategies to help you grow and succeed.

You’ll hear us talk about:

07:45 - Embracing Learning on the Job

Kristin Dorsett talks about not sweating the small stuff and embracing learning on the job, emphasizing that nobody has it all figured out and the value of continuous growth in product management.

15:22 - Leveraging AI for Productivity

Lucie Buisson explains how using AI can enhance productivity, allowing product managers to focus on strategic thinking and customer engagement by freeing up valuable time.

23:10 - Starting Small to Prove Concepts

Ben Hafele introduces the "Convinced Do Loop," highlighting the importance of starting small to prove concepts instead of trying to convince everyone at once, thereby enabling more effective product management strategies.

Episode resources:

Monica Lewis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicamlewis/
Kristin Dorsett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristindorsett/
Dheerja Kaur: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dheerja/
Lucie Buisson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucie-buisson/
David Myszewski: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmyszewski/
Amber Brestowski: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amber-brestowski-019b56ab/
Marco De Freitas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-de-freitas-80416714/
Oliver Seil: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-seil/
Eilon Reshef: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eilonreshef/
Ben Hafele: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-hafele/
Check our new course: https://productinstitute.com/p/mastering-product-strategy-overview

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

03:03 Monica Lewis: Grow where you are

04:28 Kristin Dorsett: Don’t sweat the small stuff

07:36 Lucie Buisson: Use AI to reclaim time for strategy

11:12 David Myszewski: Lean into what’s working

13:30 Amber & Marco: Obsess over problems, be ruthless with priorities

18:50 Oliver Seil: Learn with intention

21:20 Ben Hafele: Start small and let doing drive buy-in