LaunchPod | Product Management Podcast

Today, we’re talking with Jake Hookom, EVP of Product at Perforce. In this episode, we’ll explore: How Jake’s focus on "category carving" at Four51 helped them soar above the sea of headless commerce tools and into a successful exit Why most PMs are wrong to measure success on features shipped - it’s about solving user problems throughout the entire customer journey And, how Sitecore’s enormous practitioner community provided market awareness and a means to drive product adoption beyond anything they could do alone disrupts the world Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobhookom/ Perforce: https://www.perforce.com/ Resources Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets by Al Ramadan, Dave Peterson, Christopher Lochhead, Kevin Maney: https://www.harperacademic.com/book/9780062407610/play-bigger/ Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:17 Joining 451 During COVID 02:24 First 90 Days Strategy 04:21 Defining a New Category 08:07 Focusing on B2B Market 10:16 Product as a Spectrum 15:59 Importance of Compliance 19:37 Success and Acquisition 20:17 Joining the Java Champions Community 21:22 The Acquisition by Sitecore 22:29 Focusing on B2B Product Sales 24:16 Building a Practitioner Community at Sitecore 25:40 Leveraging Community Feedback 30:00 The Role of Product in Solving Problems 33:52 Engaging and Growing the Community 39:27 Outro Follow LaunchPod on YouTube We have a new YouTube page! Watch full episodes of our interviews with PM leaders and subscribe! What does LogRocket do? LogRocket combines frontend monitoring, product analytics, and session replay to help software teams deliver the ideal product experience. Try LogRocket for free today.Special Guest: Jake Hookom.

Today, we’re talking with Sean McLeary, VP of Product Experience at Intapp. In this episode, we’ll explore: How Sean turned Macys.com and Macy’s brick-and-mortar into one cohesive experience, increasing revenue across both sources How the team at DocuSign improved the UX to go from tech darling to mainstream product The current landscape of AI adoption, addressing "empty box syndrome," and how AI’s parallels to the early stages of the internet help us understand how user behavior might evolve Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smcleary/ Intapp: https://www.intapp.com/ Resources How To Say "Not Yet" To Enterprise | Deepti Mendiratta, VP Of Products (HungerRush) | LaunchPod: https://youtu.be/WHapWGbuS0Q How to A/B test your product to millions in ARR | Eric Metelka, Head of Product (Eppo) | LaunchPod: https://youtu.be/3u5vovkAtXc Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:23 Challenges in Bridging Physical and Digital Retail 03:13 Macy's Digital Transformation 06:44 User Research and Implementation 12:30 Impact and Results of Macy's Integration 15:04 Introduction to DocuSign's Evolution 20:42 Challenges in Highly Regulated Industries 21:51 User Research and Common Themes 22:11 DocuSign's Feature-Rich Product 23:40 Sender and Signer Dynamics 28:16 Trust Layer and Proof of Insurance 32:28 AI and Data Ownership 35:42 The Future of AI in Everyday Life 40:37 Outro Follow LaunchPod on YouTube We have a new YouTube page! Watch full episodes of our interviews with PM leaders and subscribe! What does LogRocket do? LogRocket combines frontend monitoring, product analytics, and session replay to help software teams deliver the ideal product experience. Try LogRocket for free today.Special Guest: Sean McLeary.

Today, we’re getting into Part 2 of our masterclass on user research and product strategy from Aleks Bass, CPO at Typeform. In part two of this episode, Aleks talks about: How she successfully launched Typeform for Growth in only six months, which quickly became Typeform's fastest-growing product ever How she restructured the entire Typeform product development lifecycle, adding continuous usability testing as a crucial part of that process And how you can cultivate strong partnerships between R&D and GTM to drive similar success Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dane-molter-6b937231/ Navan: https://navan.com/ Resources (Ethically) cheat your way to $250M+ | Mikal Lewis, Product Exec. (Whole Foods, Nordstrom): https://youtu.be/5txeT2U_YQo Chapters 00:00 Intro 00:47 Understanding User Personas 02:09 Launching Typeform for Growth 05:05 Product Development Lifecycle 07:49 Usability Testing and User Feedback 13:34 Competitive Analysis and Market Positioning 19:34 Go-to-Market Strategy 26:28 Company Ceremonies and Collaboration 31:04 Outro Follow LaunchPod on YouTube We have a new YouTube page! Watch full episodes of our interviews with PM leaders and subscribe! What does LogRocket do? LogRocket combines frontend monitoring, product analytics, and session replay to help software teams deliver the ideal product experience. Try LogRocket for free today.Special Guest: Aleks Bass.

Today, we’re talking with Aleks Bass, CPO at Typeform. In part one of this two-part episode, Aleks talks about: The exact methodologies for user research that she used to develop a complete product strategy in just 45 days Their discovery of “feature constellations” - sets of features that are worth 10x more when combined than just the sum of the parts How to break the rules of user research for even faster results Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleksbass/ Resources How To Say "Not Yet" To Enterprise | Deepti Mendiratta, VP Of Products (HungerRush) | LaunchPod: https://youtu.be/WHapWGbuS0Q Chapters 00:00 Intro 00:54 Aleks Bass’ Unique Career Path 02:07 Challenges at Typeform 06:49 Research-Driven Product Development 11:35 Understanding Customer Needs 33:07 Feature Constellations and Their Impact 40:05 Outro Follow LaunchPod on YouTube We have a new YouTube page! Watch full episodes of our interviews with PM leaders and subscribe! What does LogRocket do? LogRocket combines frontend monitoring, product analytics, and session replay to help software teams deliver the ideal product experience. Try LogRocket for free today.Special Guest: Aleks Bass.

Today, we’re talking with Deepti Mendiratta, VP of Product at HungerRush, an all-in-one POS system for restaurants. In this episode, Deepti talks about: Why you have to just “make the pizza” - meaning experience the day-to-day of your users, not just your buyers, to build software that solves key issues for the business getting her biggest UX wins from fixing the paper cuts that users run into all the time, not just the sporadic gaping wounds And, how to say “not yet” to the allure of going upmarket to Enterprise too soon...because, as she says, once you catch that elephant, you have to feed it Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deeptim13/ Resources Build product like Linear | Nan Yu, Head of Product (Linear, Everlane, BOA) | LaunchPod: https://youtu.be/7ISWLoQtNOc How to A/B test your product to millions in ARR | Eric Metelka, Head of Product (Eppo) | LaunchPod: https://youtu.be/3u5vovkAtXc Grow $50 million in revenue in one year | Vaarrun Bimbhat, Head of Product (Jiffy.com) | LaunchPod: https://youtu.be/SNZWHt0Zu-I Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:07 Understanding the Customer Experience 05:35 Challenges and Insights from the Product Field 14:31 Balancing Enterprise and SMB Markets 26:07 Innovations in Hospitality 32:37 The Future of AI in Service Industries 36:40 Outro 25:48 Building a Pricing Experimentation Platform 27:20 Challenges and Successes in India 36:30 Insights on Prioritization and Growth 38:40 Outro Follow LaunchPod on YouTube We have a new YouTube page! Watch full episodes of our interviews with PM leaders and subscribe! What does LogRocket do? LogRocket combines frontend monitoring, product analytics, and session replay to help software teams deliver the ideal product experience. Try LogRocket for free today.

Today, we’re talking with Vaarrun Bimbhat, Head of Product at Jiffy.com, an online retailer of customizable clothing. In this episode, Vaarrun talks about: Humanizing the sale of high-commit items, like furniture, at Wayfair - which led to $50m in additional sales How he built a repeatable process to expand into new countries at Shopify - adding almost 100k new merchants and $50m in additional revenue in India in the first year alone And why developing a billing experimentation platform drove over $26m in gross profit annually at Shopify Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vbimbhat/ Resources (Ethically) cheat your way to $250M+ | Mikal Lewis, Product Exec. (Whole Foods, Nordstrom): https://youtu.be/5txeT2U_YQo Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:25 Challenges of Selling Furniture Online 02:07 Implementing Product Solutions at Wayfair 06:58 Leveraging AI and User Research 15:45 Exploring Wayfair's B2B Segment 20:10 Managing Product at Shopify 21:02 Scaling Shopify's FinTech Arm 23:12 Expanding Shopify Globally 25:48 Building a Pricing Experimentation Platform 27:20 Challenges and Successes in India 36:30 Insights on Prioritization and Growth 38:40 Outro Follow LaunchPod on YouTube We have a new YouTube page! Watch full episodes of our interviews with PM leaders and subscribe! What does LogRocket do? LogRocket combines frontend monitoring, product analytics, and session replay to help software teams deliver the ideal product experience. Try LogRocket for free today.Special Guest: Vaarrun Bimbhat.

Dan McCarthy, VP of Product at Cyvl, shares insights from his experience with an AI-powered mapping tool for transportation infrastructure. He discusses how digital product strategies can improve real-world environments and unveils his playbook for entering new markets. McCarthy highlights how reduced data ingestion costs have transformed Cyvl's approach and emphasizes the importance of a solid go-to-market strategy alongside product development. The conversation also explores challenges in infrastructure management and the role of AI in shaping the future of the sector.

Sowmya Sundararagavan, Senior Director of Product at Freshworks, shares her expertise in product leadership through acquisitions. She highlights the pitfalls to avoid post-acquisition and emphasizes the importance of integrating different product visions. Sowmya also discusses bridging the gap between legacy and new teams, ensuring a customer-centric focus during transitions. Additionally, she dives into evaluating M&A opportunities and the role of FinOps in managing cloud expenditures, showcasing how AI can enhance product management and user insights.

Steve Nash, Director of Product at GumGum and an early team member at Playground XYZ, shares insights on managing product-centricity in a challenging environment. He discusses strategies for effectively communicating with CEOs when disagreements arise, without jeopardizing your job. Nash reveals how Playground’s shift to a product-focused culture fueled innovation and led to its acquisition by GumGum. Additionally, he delves into the evolution of attention tracking in advertising and the critical role that design plays in improving user engagement.

Join Jonathan Sussman, CPO at Jebbit, as he delves into the complexities of product management, sharing insights from his experience in the ad tech industry. He discusses the importance of focusing on customer needs over internal problems, revealing how that misstep almost led to a failed launch. Jonathan also highlights how leveraging professional services can drive product innovation and long-term growth, advocating for a balance between tech debt and customer satisfaction in product development.