LaunchPod | Product Management Podcast

Today, we’re talking with Mahesh Guruswamy, CPTO at Kickstarter. In this episode, we discuss: How daily reflection on hard moments helped him grow as a leader—and led to his widely praised book How to Deliver Bad News and Get Away with It. How Kickstarter went from “printing money” and experiencing “insane” PMF to plateauing - and how they created urgency and competition to quickly turn it around The actual process Kickstarter used to activate its creator and backer communities to shape a better UX, build real loyalty, and re-ignite growth Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maheshguruswamy/ Website: https://www.maheshguruswamy.com/ Substack: https://maheshguruswamy.substack.com/ Resources How to Deliver Bad News and Get Away with It: A Manager's Guide, By Mahesh Guruswamy: https://www.amazon.com/How-Deliver-Bad-News-Away/dp/B0D7FHTTNN Tell Your CEO They're Wrong (And KEEP Your Career) | Steve Nash, Dir. Product (GumGum): https://youtu.be/oeEBy8mJfB0 Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:09 Mahesh's Background and Kickstarter Connection 02:08 The Power of Writing and Self-Reflection 04:28 Publishing a Book: How to Deliver Bad News 05:53 Effective Communication and Feedback 06:46 Navigating Tough Conversations 11:03 Kickstarter's Evolution and Challenges 14:16 Listening to Customers and Adapting 19:36 Navigating Market Shifts and Growth 20:34 Prioritizing Customer Feedback 25:59 Building and Engaging the Community 29:54 Competitive Strategies and Organizational Culture 34:05 Leadership and Legacy 37:03 Conclusion and Future Prospects 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's Galileo AI watches user sessions for you and surfaces the technical and usability issues holding back your web and mobile apps. Understand where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com.Special Guest: Mahesh Guruswamy.

On today’s episode, our guest is Lauren Schuman, VP of Product Growth at Bitly & former Sr. Dir. of Product Growth at MailChimp. In this episode, we discuss: How Lauren created product-led growth (PLG) as a discipline at MailChimp and turned it into a systematic growth engine The turnaround story behind a failed product launch, and how it led to a 183% spike in adoption overnight Why lagging engagement pushed her to lead a ground-up rebuild of MailChimp’s core email editor to improve growth Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenschuman/ Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Lauren Schumann 03:09 Transition to E-commerce and PLG 07:15 Joining MailChimp and Early Challenges 09:50 Implementing PLG at MailChimp 13:43 Navigating Organizational Politics 19:03 Improving User Experience at MailChimp 19:26 Defining Key Customer Journey Metrics 20:30 Challenges and Solutions in Email Activation 21:40 Balancing Core Competencies and Expansion 22:59 The Role of AI in Product Management 24:50 Human Touch in the Age of Automation 27:48 Future of AI and Personalization 34:50 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's Galileo AI watches user sessions for you and surfaces the technical and usability issues holding back your web and mobile apps. Understand where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com.Special Guest: Lauren Schuman.

On today’s repeat episode, our guest is Steve Chazin, CEO & Founder of Skytech.io and formerly VP of Products at Alarm.com. In this episode, we discuss: Steve’s experience working at Apple, competing with Final Cut Pro, and his current role at alarm.com The time he said no to Steve Jobs — and how that pushed his career forward The importance of user-centered product design and the impact of AI in home security Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chazin/ Chapters 00:00 Intro 03:05 Reviving Apple: The University Consortium 07:04 The iMac and Think Different Campaign 07:37 Lessons from Steve Jobs 11:35 Competing with Apple: The Avid Story 19:05 Current Role at Alarm.com 21:41 The Future of AI in Home Security 27:15 Advice for Aspiring Technologists 29:49 Conclusion and Final Thoughts 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's Galileo AI watches user sessions for you and surfaces the technical and usability issues holding back your web and mobile apps. Understand where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com.Special Guest: Steve Chazin.

On today’s episode, we’re talking with Jeremy Pollock, VP of Product at WP Engine. In this episode, we discuss: Why speed is the new moat — Jeremy is pushing PMs to use AI, ship code, and move fast, because in the AI era, slow teams fall behind for good How WP Engine is enabling product teams to use AI — through access, training, and best practices that turn weeks of work into hours And, How big, aspirational product goals create momentum — giving teams the motivation to “eat their vegetables” and tackle the foundational work required for long-term 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 01:06 Dane Molter’s Journey From Amex to Grubhub 01:44 The Grubhub Experience: Embracing Imperfection 04:08 The Push for Hypergrowth in Product 05:19 Lessons in Product Risk and Innovation 06:59 The Bigger Picture: Product Beyond Technology 09:30 Focusing on Bravery in Product Innovation 12:12 Applying Product Lessons at Navan 17:50 Enterprise Travel Challenges and AI Solutions 19:53 Business Outcomes and Accountability 20:13 Learning Business Mechanics at Amex 26:15 The Importance of Small Tests in Product Testing 34:27 Navigating AI and Emerging Technologies 37:45 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's Galileo AI watches user sessions for you and surfaces the technical and usability issues holding back your web and mobile apps. Understand where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com.

On today’s episode, we’re talking with Rajitha Chaparala, VP of Product at Procore, a construction management solution and one of the most successful examples of vertical SaaS out there today. In this episode, we discuss: How Rajitha and Procore got hesitant construction executives hungry for AI by showing real, immediate value in processing unstructured data, improving efficiency, and taking friction out of core workflows Rajitha’s critical processes to ensure data quality, consistency, and collection in service of AI solutions deliver on their promise How you can leverage 3rd party data to unlock the promises of AI Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajithachaparala/ Procore: www.procore.com Resources Do THIS to Build a $1M+ Product Team (ex Google, Bitly PM) | Product Growth Podcast with Aakash Gupta: https://www.news.aakashg.com/p/matt-lemay-podcast Chapters 00:00 Introduction to LLMs and Data Structuring 01:39 The Importance of Data in Product Management 04:53 Impact-Driven Product Management 08:28 Challenges and Solutions in Data Utilization 13:00 Energy Efficiency and Data Insights 16:33 The Role of AI in Data Normalization 19:56 AI's Role in Construction Efficiency 20:34 Automated Area Takeoff 21:18 Leveraging LLMs in Construction 22:33 Challenges and Adoption in the Construction Industry 25:05 Streamlining Information Dissemination 25:27 Request for Information (RFI) Process 31:26 AI Integration in Procore's Tools 33:57 Future of AI in Construction 39:01 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 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.