The Estee Show - Product Management & Business Insights

In the realm of leadership and decision-making, the phrase "disagree and commit" presents an intriguing paradox. It encapsulates both the potential for quick decision making and the challenges of maintaining team unity. In this episode, we dive into the value of "disagree and commit" in leadership, and its impact on effective decision-making with four product leaders. Vladimir's Stance on "Disagree and Commit": Vladimir firmly supports the idea of "disagree and commit." He believes it's crucial in today's business landscape. Drawing from his own journey, including founding a company and working remotely, he emphasizes that it's not about mindlessly agreeing but rather about ensuring that everyone's voice is heard. Vladimir highlights the drawbacks of blindly following orders, such as disengagement and the loss of valuable perspectives. For Vladimir, "disagree and commit" strikes a balance. It allows individuals to voice their concerns while still maintaining forward momentum. In a culture that encourages open communication and respects differing viewpoints, this approach leads to better decision-making and a more motivated workforce. Jack's Take on "Disagree and Commit": Jack is "against" the idea of "disagree and commit." He views it as a team- exercise that can sometimes feel punitive, akin to a performance improvement plan (PIP). Jack expresses concern that this approach might convey to individuals that they don't align with the organization's thinking, potentially leading to feelings of exclusion and insecurity. Our conversation explored how this approach could stifle dissent, hinder innovation, and underscored the importance of promoting healthy debate for better decisions. We also considered its impact on company performance, recognizing that rigid adherence may not suit fast-paced industries. Jack stressed adaptability and logical, data-driven decisions when a chosen path proves ineffective, emphasizing effective problem-solving over adherence to a decision. Luke's Perspective on "Disagree and Commit": Luke firmly stands in favor of "disagree and commit," viewing it as a crucial element for fostering healthy teams. He highlights the importance of acknowledging that disagreements are a normal part of human interaction and problem-solving. While the ideal scenario is unanimous agreement, Luke recognizes that this isn't always attainable due to varying perspectives. "Disagree and commit" allows teams to make decisions and move forward transparently, even when not everyone fully agrees. Luke highlights the importance of psychological safety within teams, where individuals feel safe expressing dissenting views. He emphasizes the need to credit those who raise valid concerns and turn out to be right, promoting a culture of continuous improvement. Brennan's Approach to "Disagree and Commit": Brennan has a nuanced stance on the concept of "disagree and commit." Initially, he championed this idea on his teams but realized the flaw in his approach. He used to encourage open debate while inadvertently conveying a lack of receptivity to differing opinions. This led Brennan to rethink his leadership style, aiming to foster an environment where opinions could be freely shared without resistance. Brennan's perspective evolved after reading "The Fifth Discipline" by Peter Senge, which introduced the distinction between commitment and compliance. Brennan now believes that expecting everyone to fully commit may be unrealistic. Instead, he suggests "disagree and comply" or even "disagree but comply" as more respectful ways of collaboration within teams, emphasizing that this concept applies to both overarching visions and everyday decisions. In essence, Brennan highlights the importance of maintaining a shared vision within teams and respecting diverse perspectives while acknowledging that true commitment cannot be forced but must stem from individuals' freedom of choice.  Join us in exploring the dynamic world of decision-making and leadership through the lens of "disagree and commit" – and weigh in on whether this value fits into your leadership motto!   About the Guests Brennon Martin is an entrepreneurial product manager whose experience as a product manager, technical consultant, and business leader provides a unique perspective to product-led growth strategies. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, with stints in San Francisco and Seattle, Brennon has now called Colorado home for almost 20 years. He is passionate about guiding start-ups, emerging, and established software companies toward revenue-driven portfolios that marry innovation and business objectives while sustaining profitability. Brennon is a product leader focused on fostering positive team cultures through operational excellence, cross-functional alignment and collaboration, and a drive for continuous improvement. He is also an avid traveler and occasional travel blogger at xnomadlife.com. Luke Mundy is a Staff Site Reliability Engineer from Perth Australia with a passion for working at the intersection of people and software engineering. His career started on an IT Helpdesk for a small MSP but with the ambition of working in the games industry as a Software Engineer. Luke was instrumental in bridging the gap between development and operations teams when DevOps first swept over the industry and today is a key part of a team that builds and runs a highly successful social games platform providing entertainment to hundreds of thousands of players every day across North America. Jack Coates is a passionate and committed product management leader, responsible for driving successful products from inception to sustainable growth. He has hands-on expertise in forming product strategy, leading international engineering teams, and building goal-oriented teams. Jack has worked for many years to improve IT security and operational awareness, from distributed visibility and control to data-centric analysis and automation. Vladimir Nikolić born in Belgrade, Serbia - lived around 20 years in Berlin, Germany - finished Economy studies in Belgrade - coming from an entrepreneurial family - co-founded C2C and B2C e-commerce marketplaces as well as payment solution in Serbia with his brother, was up until recently the CEO of the company (which had up to 40+ employees, attracted investment of 1m+ EUR and had transactions of over 1m per year) - worked as project and process manager for a short time and am currently the Product Marketing Manager at babelforce.   Connect with our Guests Brennon Martin Website | xnomadlife.com Brennon Martin LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/brennonmartin Luke Mundy LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/luke-mundy Jack Coates LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/jack-coates Jack Coates Writings | Conflicts at Work Vladimir Nikolić LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/kapri81   IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, SHARE IT WITH OTHER ENTREPRENEURS AND PRODUCT PROFESSIONALS! About Estee Estee Goldschmidt is a customer-obsessed, delivery-oriented, and data-driven product leader. With extensive experience in strategy, product, marketing in the healthcare and CPG industries, startups and corporate, she joins teams to solve complex revenue problems related to client conversion and retention.  Her motto for proof of concept is: test, reiterate, scale. Estee’s background is in a diverse set of fields ranging from founding startups to leading teams in multinational corporations. Website | www.esteegoldschmidt.com LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/esteegoldschmidt/

By understanding hiring macro trends, employers and job seekers can stay ahead of the curve. As technology advances, economies fluctuate, and society transforms, understanding these trends becomes vital for everyone involved in the job market. In this episode, we spoke with Aaron Edwards, a senior consultant at Orbis, a recruiting firm that specializes in placing Product, Design, and Engineering talent. He highlighted the ways in which the hiring market changed in the last five years: the tech job market's growth (2020-2021) and contraction (2022-2023), mentioning that despite multiple layoffs, companies still had larger workforces than before COVID. We talked about hiring costs, the importance of employee healthy tenure being 3-5 years, creative hiring solutions, and challenges with competitive salary bands set by HR departments. Fair compensation was a key theme, with an emphasis on avoiding and haggling strategies to reduce turnover. Aaron stressed employer branding in creating a positive candidate experience shared practical steps to improve it. We also discussed how online research and feedback can and should influence a candidate's perception and decision-making when considering which companies to work for. Aaron also shared best practices for candidates on how to stand out in the interview processes both through improvements in the resume and approach to interviewing. Aaron explored AI's impact on jobs, recommending candidates leverage it. Remote work and its future were considered, with Aaron noting that while it won't disappear, office returns are happening, especially in larger companies. Offering remote options remains attractive and cost-effective for hiring for some companies. Whether you're a job seeker looking for your next opportunity or an employer seeking top talent, our exploration of macro hiring trends will empower you.    Episode Highlights: The tech job market, its growth, and the impact of layoffs on the tech sector The importance of employee tenure and its impact on hiring costs  Challenges in hiring within a budget and dealing with competitive salary bands in the market Building employer branding and the value of online reviews on Glassdoor How negative feedback from employees and job offer reneging can affect candidates' perceptions of a hiring company Tips on creating an engaging interview experience for candidates Advice for candidates on how to tweak resumes and approach interviews in order to land the dream position The impact of AI on jobs and how candidates can leverage AI to their benefit The evolving landscape of remote work and the importance of self-awareness in hiring decisions   Connect with our Guest: LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/aedwards13   IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, SHARE IT WITH OTHER ENTREPRENEURS AND PRODUCT PROFESSIONALS! About Estee Estee Goldschmidt is a customer-obsessed, delivery-oriented, and data-driven product leader. With extensive experience in strategy, product, marketing in the healthcare and CPG industries, startups and corporate, she joins teams to solve complex revenue problems related to client conversion and retention.  Her motto for proof of concept is: test, reiterate, scale. Estee’s background is in a diverse set of fields ranging from founding startups to leading teams in multinational corporations.   Website | www.esteegoldschmidt.com  LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/esteegoldschmidt/

Unrealistic estimates, changing priorities, and poor communication create a lack of transparency around when projects will be delivered. In this episode, Spencer Jack, the co-founder of Cardagraph talks about how he came up with the idea for this product management tool. He explains that as a sales-focused founder, he faced challenges when relying on engineering estimates for projects and a lack of transparency around when a project would be delivered. This often led to frustrations with internal and external stakeholders. Spencer shares how Cardagraph evolved from trying to enhance Jira to becoming a tool that helps teams align projects with their actual capacity.The Cardagraph dashboard pulls data from Jira and displays time spent and planned on projects based on actual work, making the product delivery process more predictable. He gives an example of a client, Premier Digital Services, who used Cardagraph to improve their product delivery and stakeholder management. This helped them communicate better with clients like Apple and avoid surprises by proactively addressing delays. Spencer also discusses how Cardagraph handles complexities such as matching the right team members to projects based on skills. Cardagraph solves project management challenges by using real data, improving communication, and enhancing collaboration between teams.   Episode Highlights: The pain points of project delivery that drove the creation of Cardagraph Cardagraph's visualizations of projects are powered by data from Jira How Cardagraph considers the ongoing investment required post-launch and addresses the maintenance phase's impact on future projects How Cardagraph's approach impacts business strategies, alignment, and coordination between marketing, product, and engineering The importance of planning based on actual achievable capacity, shifting away from overly optimistic estimates Examples of clients who used Cardagraph to better manage clients  How Cardagraph improves transparency and communication between teams, preventing misaligned expectations   Connect with our Guest: Spenser Jack | www.linkedin.com/in/spencer-jack  LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/cardagraph Website | www.cardagraph.com   IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, SHARE IT WITH OTHER ENTREPRENEURS AND PRODUCT PROFESSIONALS! About Estee Estee Goldschmidt is a customer-obsessed, delivery-oriented, and data-driven product leader. With extensive experience in strategy, product, marketing in the healthcare and CPG industries, startups and corporate, she joins teams to solve complex revenue problems related to client conversion and retention.  Her motto for proof of concept is: test, reiterate, scale. Estee’s background is in a diverse set of fields ranging from founding startups to leading teams in multinational corporations. Website | www.esteegoldschmidt.com LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/esteegoldschmidt/

Where innovation and strategic decision-making reign supreme, a new paradigm has emerged that promises to reshape the very foundation of how products are envisioned, developed, and brought to market. In this episode, we are with Misha Kaplun, the co-founder of Chassis – a game-changer for product managers. Throughout my career, alignment and decision-making challenges have been constant. But then, I met Misha. His consulting and product management background led him to create Chassis, a tool that transformed how I approach decision-making and prioritization. Misha shares insights from a Pendo AI study – a whopping 80% of tech features go unused. We discuss Amazon's principle of "Leaders are right," highlighting the importance of data-driven decisions. Misha breaks down decision-making approaches – customized frameworks, established ones, top-down choices, and intuition-based calls. But Misha's solution is a customized, documented framework for consistent choices. We explore Chassis' survey-based approach, uncovering hidden misalignments within teams. The conversation turns to designing Chassis' decision-making framework. From time-to-value to strategic fit, the framework encompasses crucial aspects, ensuring data-driven, consistent decisions that are transparent to the rest of the company. Chassis' vision is to democratize decision-making, aligning teams and achieving superior outcomes. As we wrap up, Misha opens up about the challenges of pioneering a tool for alignment. So, if you're ready to revolutionize your decision-making and prioritization processes, check out Chassis’s survey here and embark on a journey of better alignment and outcomes.   Episode Highlights: Misha's background in consulting and product management, leading to the birth of Chassis The impact of poor decision-making and the value of being data-driven Exploration of different decision-making approaches and the importance of democratizing decisions Introduction of Chassis's survey-based approach and its role in uncovering misalignments The process of designing Chassis's prioritization framework, with real-world examples Chassis's functionality in streamlining decision-making, visualizing scores, and maintaining transparency Addressing challenges and concerns about Chassis's success   Connect with our Guest: LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/michael-kaplun Website | www.onchassis.com   IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, SHARE IT WITH OTHER ENTREPRENEURS AND PRODUCT PROFESSIONALS! About Estee Estee Goldschmidt is a customer-obsessed, results-oriented, and data-driven product leader. With extensive experience in strategy, product, marketing in the healthcare and CPG industries, startups and corporate, she joins teams to solve complex revenue problems related to client conversion and retention.  Her motto for proof of concept is: test, reiterate, scale. Estee’s background is in a diverse set of fields ranging from founding startups to leading teams in multinational corporations. Website | www.esteegoldschmidt.com LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/esteegoldschmidt/

As a project manager, one of the most important decisions you can make is choosing the right project to work on. This decision can have a significant impact on your career development and the success of your team and organization. In this episode, we are with Rohit, a product management professional with a history of working at technology start-ups. Previously, he invested in B2B SaaS start-ups at a VC fund. We'll be discussing two different projects that Rohit, a new product manager, has been tasked to choose from. The first project involves creating a simplified product that can be sold as a SaaS platform to improve margins, while the second project involves building an internal dynamic pricing engine to increase margins. While both projects sound promising, it's crucial to consider various factors, such as feasibility, sustainability, and ethics.  Learn how I help Rohit understand the intricacies of each project, the potential challenges and opportunities, and ultimately recommend Rohit to focus on Project A to build a product from scratch and gather valuable insights through customer and user discovery. Tune in now to listen to this engaging and informative conversation. Episode Highlights: Choosing between two projects as a new product manager First project: creating a simplified SaaS platform to improve margins Second project: building an internal dynamic pricing engine to increase margins Challenges and unknowns in categorizing products to improve margins Improving margins through minor changes and setting expectations Different pricing strategies for products Measuring customer perceived value after a purchase Project A and Project B: ethical concerns and recommendation to work on Project A   IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, SHARE IT WITH OTHER ENTREPRENEURS AND PRODUCT PROFESSIONALS! About Estee Estee Goldschmidt is a customer-obsessed, results-oriented, and data-driven product leader. With extensive experience in strategy, product, marketing in the healthcare and beauty industries, she joins teams to solve complex revenue problems related to client conversion and retention.    Her motto for proof of concept is: test, reiterate, scale. Estee’s background is in a diverse set of fields ranging from founding startups to leading teams in multinational corporations.   Website | www.esteegoldschmidt.com LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/esteegoldschmidt

Pricing a product correctly is never easy, especially when it is multi-sided and has many different customers. That’s the challenge Thomas Stockham is facing currently as he figures out who to charge and how much to charge for Jobwise’s offering.  In this episode, Thomas shared with us the story of JobWise's creation and the difficulties his team faced in creating a niche recruiting software for the vocational industry.  Together we explore the various pricing models JobWise could pursue, evaluate pros and cons, and come up with a pricing strategy that would set up JobWise for long-term scale and success to enable the delivery of  value to both employers and job seekers while revolutionizing the recruitment process. Episode Highlights: The good, bad, and ugly of subscription models Defining pricing strategy for three customer segments: the school, the employer, and the applicant  Difference between the vocational market and tech market Pros and cons of charging hiring managers vs schools vs job applicants for the use of Jobwise Cost-based pricing, competitor-based pricing, and value-based pricing Advantages of digital products over old-school ‘trusted’ systems Frustrations of hiring managers using current market leaders for their hiring needs (i.e. Monster, Indeed, and LinkedIn)  Connect with our Guest: LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/thomasstockham/   IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE, SHARE IT WITH OTHER ENTREPRENEURS AND PRODUCT PROFESSIONALS! About Estee Estee Goldschmidt is a customer-obsessed, results-oriented and data-driven product leader. With extensive experience in strategy, product, marketing in the healthcare and beauty industries, she joins teams to solve complex revenue problems related to client conversion and retention.  Her motto for proof of concept is: test, reiterate, scale. Estee’s background is in a diverse set of fields ranging from founding startups to leading teams in multinational corporations. Website | www.esteegoldschmidt.com  LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/esteegoldschmidt/