How I Grew This

Ajey Gore is on a mission to grow through simplification. As a serial entrepreneur who’s led technology teams for companies like ThoughtWorks, Hopper, and most recently as the CTO of Gojek, he takes a thoughtful approach to bringing balance both in work and in life. As a teenager he printed business cards but, after accidentally blowing up his brother’s computer, he signed up for the closest computer science class and was obsessed ever since. Fast forward to his time at Gojek where he oversaw 30 - 40 million app impressions a day, Ajey reveals that a focus on product market fit and delighting customers is the only north star one can follow. More on Ajey’s story including what it’s like to prioritize new marketplaces when everything seems like green field, the importance of purposeful communication within an organization, and why formal education isn’t necessarily a great prerequisite for a career in technology. All this and more on this episode of How I Grew This. Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and anywhere you find your podcasts.

Ben Weiss has built a career with an attention to detail and quality specifically around the mobile customer journey from offline into digital. As an intern at Walgreens in 2007, he pitched the then CEO about creating a mobile app in the first place. Long story short, they listened. Over the course of the next decade, Ben rose the ranks, starting from the bottom as an intern and exiting at the top as the Director of Product Management for Mobile. Today, he oversees the global digital product management teams for mobile at Hyatt. His new mission: Rethink what the hotel experience could look and feel like in this new era of Covid-19. More on Ben’s story including how he’s bridging the gap between physical and digital through employee education, how to build an app for an older demographic, and his observations of digital adoption more broadly. All this and more on this episode of How I Grew This. Listen now on Apple Podcasts Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher and more.

Canva belongs to a small group of products that change how people and brands completely shirt their approach to design. Our guest today, Cameron Adams, is the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Canva, he shares how the product was built and how it was able to disrupt the design industry. He shares what he learned from building a product that would get massive adoption after working on Google Wave, a project which Google shut down because of low Monthly Active Users. He took the unconventional approach of waiting a long time to release the product, to ensure that it would launch a product that users wouldn’t stay with. They courted the press through the power of storytelling and were able to have a big launch and sustain that growth with smaller bloggers covering the tool. More on Cameron’s story how he came to America and failed to raise the round he’d hoped for, how his other creative endeavors like DJ’ing influence his design and the difference between graphic design and business design on this episode of How I Grew This. Listen now on Apple Podcasts Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher and more.

David Rusenko is no stranger to creating world-class products. In 2007 he founded Weebly, a website builder, and watched it grow. Selling to Square in 2018, David now leads the eCommerce team which, as the pandemic surfaced, acted quickly to build new delivery products on their platform that has forever changed the business. More on David’s story including his time management techniques post-acquisition, how he found their killer feature at Weebly, and why Twitch and Amazon are models for what good acquisitions can look like. All this and more on this episode of How I Grew This. Listen now on Apple Podcasts Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher and more.

Inés Ures, CMO at Deliveroo, shares her views on growth when it comes to product and retention and how marketing strategies have changed in a post-COVID world. More on Inés’ story, including her unconventional path to becoming a CMO, how Deliveroo pivoted their marketing plans to support restaurants and frontline workers, and the increasingly prevalent shift from paid to organic growth strategies, are featured on this episode of How I Grew This. Listen now on Apple Podcasts Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher and more.

On this episode Archie Abrams, Senior Director of Product Management, shares how he thinks about balancing supply and demand at Lyft, even as markets have been forever changed by COVID-19. Before this, he was the 10th employee at udemy. Over the course of his 7.5 years there he helped to scale Udemy from no revenue to hundreds of millions in revenue and over 600 employees. More on Archie’s story, including how perceived value plays into the psychology of your user, why it’s important to utilize the behaviors of your best customers, and why you should reevaluate immediately killing unsuccessful strategies, on this episode of How I Grew This. Listen now on Apple Podcasts Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher and more.

Grant Ingersoll, Chief Technology Officer of Wikimedia, joined us on the podcast this week to discuss his experience navigating his own career through identity and knowledge equity. He shares the path that led him to his current role and why he chose to take a bet on himself and start his own company. More on Grant’s story, including his beliefs that people’s views of themselves can be blockers for their own personal growth, why he is constantly reinventing himself as a founder, and Wikimedia’s roadmap to make their knowledge base reflect the global community, are shared in this episode of How I Grew This. Listen now on Apple Podcasts Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher and more.

Today’s guest is Stuart Jones, the Head of Product at ITV Hub, an on demand streaming service in the UK. Stuart discusses how the pandemic has affected the television industry in many ways, specifically in the lack of available content along with the call for changes to their subscription model. More on Stuart’s story, including his early start as an airplane engineer apprentice, how his experience in various sectors brought him to TV, and his take on changing viewer habits in light of the pandemic are shared on this episode of How I Grew This. Listen now on Apple Podcasts Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher and more.

Tech professionals, especially those who work in product, are not necessarily the folks who first come to mind when discussing the topic of creativity. However, there is a shifting viewpoint that argues a healthy level of creativity and optimism is essential to these functions due to the responsibility of bringing technological advancements and game-changing content to a global audience. Michael Sippey, Chief Product Officer at Medium, joins the podcast to discuss his ideas regarding the inherent optimism required when creating something to share with the world, whether it’s a new app, a blog article and beyond. More on Michael’s story including his early experience running product at Twitter, the mistake he’s repeatedly made in his career that finally changed his perspective, and why he says product managers should never write an unordered list, are featured on this episode of How I Grew This. Listen now on Apple Podcasts Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher and more.

When it comes to your career, taking the road less traveled will often serve you well. Knowing exactly what you’re passionate about, what you’re naturally good at and what you want to accomplish on your career path are essential components needed to live a life of intent. Today’s guest is Ana Guillen, the Senior Director of Marketing at TuneIn. She has been intentional about growing her career ever since her first job working at a local music store at 13 years old and utilizes this intent in all aspects of both her personal and professional life. Take a listen to hear more about Ana’s experience working for one of the industry’s leading record labels, her strategy for crafting intentional marketing campaigns that engage valuable lifetime users, and how she finally learned to trust her instincts. Hear all these stories and more on this episode of How I Grew This. Listen now on Apple Podcasts Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher and more.