Product Talk
Products That Count
Produced by Products That Count, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that helps everyone build great products, this podcast is an award-winning show by and for product minds, with millions of downloads and a 5-star rating on most major platforms. Each of the 300+ episodes features a product leader interviewing another product leader and exploring what it takes to build great products. Recent ones feature the Chief Product Officers of Brex, Glassdoor, Experian and more.
About Us: Products that Count is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that helps everyone build great products. It celebrates product excellence through coveted Awards that inspire 500,000+ product managers and honor great products and the professionals responsible for their success. It accelerates the career and rise to the C-suite of 30% of all Product Managers globally by providing exceptional programming – including award-winning podcasts and popular newsletters – for free. It acts as a trusted advisor to all CPOs at Fortune 1000, and publishes key insights from innovative companies, like Capgemini, SoFi, and Amplitude, that turn product success into business success. Learn more at ProductsThatCount.com.
About Us: Products that Count is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that helps everyone build great products. It celebrates product excellence through coveted Awards that inspire 500,000+ product managers and honor great products and the professionals responsible for their success. It accelerates the career and rise to the C-suite of 30% of all Product Managers globally by providing exceptional programming – including award-winning podcasts and popular newsletters – for free. It acts as a trusted advisor to all CPOs at Fortune 1000, and publishes key insights from innovative companies, like Capgemini, SoFi, and Amplitude, that turn product success into business success. Learn more at ProductsThatCount.com.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 26, 2024 • 40min
EP 420 - Vycarb CEO on Scaling Impactful Climate Solutions
What do product managers need to consider when scaling impactful climate solutions? The scale and urgency of the transformation required to fight climate change has never been more clear. In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Silicon Valley Bank (a Division of First Citizens Bank) Climate Tech SVP Maggie Wong, Vycarb CEO Garrett Boudinot speaks on his journey developing carbon removal technology and building his startup. He highlights the importance of scaling solutions to address the urgent climate crisis and emphasizes leveraging partnerships across the ecosystem. Garrett also stresses the need for diversity of perspectives and skill sets in teams to develop globally relevant solutions. Listeners learn about Vycarb's water-based technology and path to commercialization.
Jun 24, 2024 • 41min
EP 419 - CPO Rising Series: Turo CPO on Simplifying Solutions and Learning From Failures
What role does simplifying solutions and learning from failures play in long-term success? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, Turo CPO Tom Wang discusses his journey at Turo and lessons learned along the way. He shares how simplifying solutions and finding bold ways forward have contributed to his success. Tom also opens up about failures, including an early initiative to leverage social media that didn't work out and a mistake that removed too many hosts from the platform. Through these stories, Tom demonstrates the importance of being willing to admit mistakes, learn from them, and move forward. The conversation provides valuable insights for other product leaders on maintaining motivation over many years and navigating challenges with authenticity and care for customers.
Jun 21, 2024 • 37min
EP 418 - Splunk Senior Software Engineer on Fostering Collaboration Between Product & Engineering Teams
Why is it important to foster collaboration between product & engineering teams? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Kaboo Founder Neha Shah, Splunk Senior Software Engineer Rehan Mulla speaks on his experience building products and leading engineering teams. Rehan discusses the importance of collaboration between product managers and engineers to deliver successful products. He shares insights on how building empathy and understanding each other's perspectives through workshops and planning sessions can help engineering and product teams overcome communication challenges and work towards aligned goals. Rehan also offers advice on how engineering leaders can effectively scope projects, communicate risks to stakeholders, and continuously learn to stay on top of the latest technologies.
Jun 19, 2024 • 45min
EP 417 - SmartRise Health CEO on Driving Innovation in Healthcare
How can product leaders drive innovation in healthcare? In this episode hosted by Cognizant Product Director Chenny Solaiyappan, SmartRise Health CEO Vanessa Guzman discusses her journey in healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship. She shares how personal experiences motivated her to pursue solutions focused on social determinants of health, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Vanessa also touches on launching Ella Es Health to close gaps in women's healthcare through coaching and navigation services. She emphasizes the importance of adapting to market trends and leveraging accreditation to improve outcomes.
Jun 17, 2024 • 37min
EP 416 - Tipalti CPO on Leading Product in Fintech and Validating Product Decisions
What is unique about leading product in fintech? Join us for the latest episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, where Tipalti CPO Roby Baruch discusses his experience leading product management in the fintech industry. Roby shares the unique challenges of product management in fintech, including the need for deep domain expertise. He also discusses the importance of mentorship throughout his career and a defining product moment that expanded Tipalti's offerings. Additionally, he describes Tipalti's data-driven approach to prioritizing product decisions and validating ideas with customers to ensure the highest priority needs are addressed.
Jun 14, 2024 • 40min
EP 415 - New Work SE Fmr. Product Director on Strategies for Customer-Centered Growth
How can product leaders foster customer-centered growth? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Nacho Andrade, New Work SE Fmr. Product Director Thomas Gläser discusses approaches to product strategy, innovation, and growth. Thomas emphasizes the importance of deeply understanding customer needs and jobs to be done over simply analyzing competitors. He advocates developing evidence-based strategies through empathetic customer research rather than making assumptions. Thomas also cautions against common pitfalls like moving too quickly without validation or focusing on internal metrics over market fit. Listeners will learn frameworks for strategic product leadership focusing on customer-centered problem solving to drive meaningful growth.
Jun 12, 2024 • 1h 2min
EP 414 - Temporal Technologies Fmr. COO on Lessons From Scaling Multiple Product Businesses
What lessons can product leaders learn from scaling multiple product businesses? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Sid Shaik, Temporal Technologies Fmr. COO Charles Zedlewski speaks on his career in product management and lessons learned from scaling multiple product businesses. Charles shares insights on becoming a successful PM without a technical background, emphasizing the importance of building technical depth over time. He discusses philosophies for collaborating closely with engineering teams and getting the "soul of the product" to live in their hearts. Charles also talks about his experience scaling Cloudera's Hadoop distribution and lessons from launching new features. Overall, the discussion provides perspectives on product growth strategies, frameworks for conceptualizing customer journeys, and approaches to partnerships between organizations.
Jun 10, 2024 • 43min
EP 413 - Carelon CPO on Product Leadership in a Regulated Healthcare Industry
How can product leaders navigate product leadership in a regulated healthcare industry? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, Carelon CPO Gautam Shah discusses his approach to product leadership in a highly regulated healthcare industry. He explains how understanding regulations and prioritizing user needs affects product development. Gautam also shares stories about high-impact products he's worked on, including an unlimited telecommunications product and a product supporting vulnerable mental health patients. The discussion provides insights into navigating complex priorities, using customer journeys and personas, and leveraging AI to improve product management effectiveness.
Jun 7, 2024 • 55min
EP 412 - Productiv Founder on Building Curious and Collaborative Teams
How can product leaders build curious and collaborative teams? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Jonathan Ozeran, Productiv Founder Jody Shapiro discusses his career in product management and insights on building successful teams. He speaks on his diverse educational background and how it led to roles at companies like TiVo and Google. Jody also shares strategies for constructing teams at startups, emphasizing passion and collaboration. Tune in for insights on how data-driven decision making and customer feedback can validate product ideas.
Jun 5, 2024 • 32min
EP 411 - Dailies Co-Founder on Building Personalized Edtech Products
How can product leaders build personalized edtech products? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Kaboo Founder Neha Shah, Dailies Co-Founder & CEO Jessica Shelley shares her inspiration for starting Dailies based on her experience as a teacher, wanting to better engage families in students' learning. She discusses building the initial product team and navigating the transition from teaching to leading a tech startup. The conversation covers challenges like difficult decisions to cut features and lessons learned from experiments. Jessica emphasizes the importance of aligning on long-term vision over short-term gains and hiring candidates committed to the company mission in a startup environment. Listeners gain insights on iterative product development and community involvement for ongoing learning and career growth.
