ProductLed Podcast

In a tech company, the road to success is to scale up. After successfully creating a super product and having a base of happy users, the next option is optimizing growth by scaling it up. With this, it is necessary to have a growth team plan and conduct a series of growth tests to scale product usage. In this episode, Matt will talk about his experiences in working on growth in Drift and Hubspot. He will also talk about how it has helped him evolve with the team to work with various departments and handle multiple roles and functions. He will also share his learnings based on his mistakes and his realizations on what he needs to do to make things better for the company in the future.  This episode will help those who are starting with growth. Listen and get your takeaways from Matt. Show Notes [00:50] About Matt and what he does [01:59] On being a product person with a growth mindset [02:23] How he started doing growth roles with Drift [06:06] His story on the 0 to 1 moments early on [08:49] On the reality of Drift starting with a not-so-clean data [11:41] Working with Hubspot and his takeaways [14:05] The importance of focusing on the value for users and the problem at hand [16:04] On growth team goals and its pressures [18:29] How he sees the growth version of Hubspot and Drift’s first version [21:11] How the team and projects at Drift evolved over time [23:33] How his role changes over time with growth at Drift [25:18] How the other angle of growth type work influenced him on what he does [26:51] What skills he focused on to be successful in his role and achieving plans [28:35] His learning moments [30:55] What he could have done differently, working on growth, to bring people on the loop  [33:18] About his Growth Podcast About Matt Bilotti Matt Bilotti is the Product Lead, Growth & Lifecycle at Drift. Being with Drift for five and a half years, he has watched the company grow from earning $0 to $107M in revenue. He has worked across departments, roles, and functions with his core footing in product-based roles. He wrote a book with David Cancel entitled Burndown: A Better Way To Build Products and he has the Growth Podcast for Drift. Link Product-Led Pro Profile Matt Bilotti on LinkedInMatt Bilotti on TwitterMatt Bilotti Personal WebsiteGrowth with Matt Bilotti

In this special episode, Wes and Ramli will introduce a new and unique product to support companies or teams in climbing up the ladder of success in handling their Product-Led business: the Product-Led Pro Accelerator Program. This program uses a nonlinear approach to learning. It helps in transitioning or scaling up a Product-Led business and being successful through learning from the experts. Learn more about the program as Wes and Ramli will answer these questions: Who are the target participants/audiences? What are the benefits for those who will be joining the enriching program? What are the four components of the program cycle and other features of the program?    If this is what you need in your business, then, this is an episode that you do not want to miss! Show Notes [00:31] The 6-weeks Product-Led Pro Accelerator Program [03:51] What companies need to consider in joining the program [05:13] The target participants/audiences of the program [06:39] What big groups or teams joining the program awaits  [09:01] What makes the program unique [10:01] The Interactive learning component of the program [11:18] The “seeing what drives results” component of the program [12:29] The “doing what best works” component of the program [13:03] The review component to complete the program cycle [13:30] Other features of the program in the future Profile Wes Bush on LinkedInRamli John on LinkedInProduct-Led ProEmail Address: courses@productled.comWes Bush's Email Address: wes@productled.comRamli's Email Address: ramli@productled.com

Robbie Allan is the Group Product Manager at Intercom, the only suite of customer messaging products designed to drive growth at every stage of the customer lifecycle—acquisition, support, and engagement. In this episode, Robbie talked about the importance of user onboarding for companies, how jobs-to-be-done can affect user onboarding, and his aha moment. Show Notes [03:55] How long he’s working at Intercom and how he got started in his current role [05:30] The importance of user onboarding for companies [08:54] Why most companies get onboarding wrong [12:27] His suggestion for teams who want to improve their onboarding [14:37] Who should own onboarding [18:18] How jobs to be done can affect user onboarding [23:24] How the four forces come into play [27:05] What to do when there are multiple jobs-to-be-done [30:30] His aha moment [32:39] When the initial onboarding is done [37:44] His advice to podcast listeners [41:03] Where people can find out more about him and Intercom About Robbie Allan Robbie Allan is a seasoned SaaS product leader with a top-tier strategy background. He also has world-class B2B SaaS experience and a passion for sales and marketing. Currently, he is the Group Product Manager at Intercom, the business manager loved by businesses and customers alike. Today, over 30,000 businesses use Intercom to connect with over a billion people worldwide! Profile Inside Intercom BlogRobbie on Twitter

Katie Mitchell is Head of Marketing at UserLeap, the platform designed for modern user research. Also hailed as the first continuous research platform, UserLeap uses artificial intelligence to help UX researchers and product managers obtain quantitative insights at scale so they can make informed product decisions in just hours. In this episode, Katie talked about her primary responsibilities, their marketing plans for 2021, and her advice to those who want to go product-led. Show Notes [00:44] Her main responsibilities right now [04:07] Difference in her roles and responsibilities [06:47] He definition of PQL [08:29] What has been working in terms of her transition into becoming product-led [13:16] What their plans are for 2021 in terms of marketing [15:26] The role of salespeople in their product-led journey [19:20] Her advice to those who want to go product-led [20:16] Where people can find out more about her and UserLeap About Katie Mitchell Katie Mitchell is a curious problem solver and a DC-based marketer. She is also the Head of Marketing at UserLeap. For over a decade, she has worked at various SaaS-based companies across B2B and B2C. She helps them elevate their brands and accelerate their growth. Before that, she has worked with large consumer brands like Campbell’s Soup Company, PBS, and BB&T Bank. Profile Katie on LinkedInKatie on TwitterUserLeap

Sam Crowell Richard is the director of the growth team at OpenView, an expansion stage venture firm that helps turn software companies into market leaders. At OpenView, she has helped accelerate top line growth by establishing processes and best practices that support product-led growth. In this episode, Sam talked about the challenges she faced, the kind of problems she loves to work on, and the most important skills she thinks are needed to succeed in growth.  Show Notes [02:35] What OpenView is and how her role fits in there [04:01] The skillset that has helped her get to this point [05:32] The foundation of her skillset [13:20] What happened when she led the marketing team [18:37] Challenges she faced when she took on project strategy [20:41] How she learned how to crossover into the product realm [26:28] What the vibe is at OpenView [31:40] Favorite type of problems she loves to work on [33:22] Trends she has noticed [35:37] The most important skills needed to be successful in growth [36:57] Common traps she’s seeing [38:00] Skills she’s working on right now [39:24] How she knows if she’s making progress About Sam Richard Sam Richard is the director of growth at OpenView. She works closely with portfolio leadership teams to determine and implement powerful and impactful growth strategies. Sam also takes care of onboarding and retention optimization, funnel optimization, and channel/partner strategy. Before joining OpenView, Sam worked as the director of growth and engagement at Dispatch.  Profile Sam on LinkedInOpenViewDispatch

Aggelos Mouzakitis is a product-led growth mentor at GrowthMentor. He is also the growth product manager at Growth Sandwich, a very prominent customer-led growth agency that helps B2B SaaS companies work through deep customer empathy and win/loss data. In this episode, Aggelos shared what the value gap is, how he fixes it, and what he recommends so companies don’t have to deal with value gap. Show Notes [01:05] Favorite road trip he’s been to [01:56] How he became the growth product manager at Growth Sandwich [03:29] What value gap is [06:37] How he fixes the value gap [15:44] What to do when a product is used for something completely different [19:30] How big the value gap problem is [21:32] What businesses that don’t have the value gap problem are doing right [22:48] What he’ll recommend to companies so they won’t have to deal with value gap [22:56] One or two pieces of advice he’d like to give to those who would like to go product-led [28:11] His call to action About Aggelos Mouzakitis Aggelos Mouzakitis’s background is 40% marketer and 60% product manager. He is obsessed with user research and jobs-to-be-done and is one of the very few people certified in the framework. He founded Growth Sandwich in 2017 and has worked with more than 100 SaaS companies. He has also trained thousands in person and through his online courses. Links SlackTrello Profile Aggelos Mouzakitis onLinkedInGrowth Sandwich

The importance of planning in business cannot be overstated. Having a plan can help create focus and unite employees towards a common goal. It also helps ensure time is managed efficiently, resources are allocated accordingly, and the business is prepared for any uncertainties. If there are two people who knows (and believes) in the importance of planning, it’s Wes and Ramli. In fact, they’ve dedicated today’s episode mainly to planning. In today’s show, Wes and Ramli shared what success looks like next year, their theme for 2021, and their takeaways in terms of planning. You’ll learn a lot of great insights on planning from today’s episode so don’t forget to tune in! Show Notes [02:00] What success looks like next year [03:07] Ramli’s 2020 review [05:50] One of their strengths as a business [06:20] Ramli’s surprise for the listeners [08:58] Their theme for next year [17:26] Ramli’s thoughts on planning [20:17] The importance of breaking goals into quarterly goals [23:00] Ramli’s takeaways in terms of planning [24:44] Understanding the brain dump part

Guilherme Lopes is the co-founder and customer success executive at RD Station, the largest SaaS company in Latin America. RD Station helps businesses increase their efficiency and sell more using their marketing and sales tools. With RD Station, you can capture contacts and connect pages, create personalized journeys, and identify the best opportunities. In this episode, Guilherme discussed what prompted them to go product led, what their journey has been like, and what he’ll do differently as it relates to the whole transition. Show Notes [03:03] His background and what he’s been up to [05:10] Their main impetus to go product led [08:20] Pros and cons of the sales led approach [13:35] What their journey to product led has been like [21:17] Ways he built influence to get more people to think about product led [24:34] Areas of resistance he encountered and how he addressed it [27:05] How they structure their pricing [30:32] How they get more teams to get into thinking product led [33:36] The main reason behind having a low touch and high touch sales teams [45:17] What he’ll do differently as it relates to the whole transition [46:52] Biggest difficulty in getting the light version to launch with confidence and how they addressed it About Guilherme Lopes Guilherme Lopes has been building apps since 2005. In 2011, they saw this gap in the South American market and decided to build RD Station. RD Station is now the largest SaaS company in Latin America. By combining their marketing and sales products with people who care about results, they have been supporting businesses from plan to execution.  Profile Guilherme Lopes on LinkedInRD Station WebsiteEmail Address: glopes@rdstation.com

Suneet Bhatt is the president and board chair at Boldr, a purpose-driven outsourcing company that provides clients and partners with high-quality and custom solutions. Boldr provides data management, customer experience, and sales enablement solutions. In this episode, Suneet shared how he approaches growth, how his growth journey started and what it was like, and his advice for those who would like to stand out. Show Notes [02:56] What he did prior to joining the start-up world [05:28] How he approaches growth [08:21] How his growth journey started and what it was like [15:49] How he was able to pick companies that allows making mistakes [21:40] Point where he starts to think about moving to other companies [31:25] His advice for those who would like to stand out About Suneet Bhatt Suneet Bhatt is the president and board chair of Boldr, a purpose-driven outsourcing company that provides customer experience, data management, and sales enablement solutions. He was also the chief growth officer at Help Scout where he raised $6.2 million. Suneet is also the co-founder of Dream Village, a for profit social enterprise that’s dedicated to elevating the work of extraordinary and amazing nonprofit organizations.  Profile Suneet Bhatt on LinkedInBoldrScholarship Boy by Richard Rodriguez (analysis) 

Carlos Villaumbrosia is the founder of Product School, a global leader in product management training. It has an impressive community of over one million product professionals. In this episode, Carlos shared the soft and hard skills great product managers should possess, when’s the right time to hire a product manager, and good UX design resources he’d like to recommend. Show Notes [00:38] How his product led journey started [04:12] What a project manager does [05:40] Difference between the role of product managers in a sales-led organization and a product-led one [06:38] How to influence people without being bossy [07:33] Soft skills great product managers should have [08:59] Hard skills great product managers should have [12:07] UX design resources he’d like to recommend [13:42] When’s a good time to hire a product manager [15:14] His advice to product managers so they don’t mess up [16:42] His thoughts on revenue goals [19:18] Advice he’d like to give  [20:32] Where people can find out more about him About Carlos Villaumbrosia Carlos Villaumbrosia is an entrepreneur with over a decade of experience building digital products and global companies. He founded Product School in 2014. Product School is the global leader in product management training. All of Product School’s instructors are real world product leaders from top Silicon Valley companies such as Google, Netflix, Airbnb, PayPal, Uber, and Amazon. Profile Carlos Gonzales de Villaumbrosia on LinkedInProduct SchoolProduct School ResourcesProduct School YouTube Channel