Product Thinking

Bryan House, Chief Experience Officer at Elastic Path, discusses the close collaboration between product and customer success. They explore how to build a customer-centric organization and improve collaboration between sales, customer success, and product teams. They also discuss their role in prioritizing customer feedback and involving customers in product development. Additionally, they highlight the positive impact of bridging the gap between product and sales teams in customer interactions and relationships. Finally, they share insights on incorporating customer anecdotes when presenting to executive teams.

Tom Eisenmann, Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, joins Melissa Perri to discuss his book 'Why Startups Fail.' They explore different types of startup failures, strategies for avoiding them, and the challenges faced by startups during scaling. The conversation also covers the tension between building and customer discovery, as well as reasons for startup failure like false start and bad bedfellows. The episode provides valuable insights for navigating the landscape of product management in startups.

Chris Andrews, COO and Head of Product at Rendered.AI, discusses building products in new markets, introducing new market opportunities, navigating innovation in larger organizations, and the changing requirements for product managers.

This podcast episode explores the importance of efficiency and opportunity cost in re-platforming, emphasizing the need to quantify the benefits. It also discusses the role of a platform product manager and the importance of collaboration between the technical and commercial sides of a company. Additionally, the episode delves into the concept of discovery in platform product management and the various methods for conducting discovery work.

Luke Skurman, CEO of Niche, joins Melissa Perri to explore Niche's journey from helping students choose the right college to becoming a successful company. They discuss adapting to the changing landscape, raising funds, and achieving rapid growth. Luke reveals the evolution of College Prowler and the challenges faced. They also highlight the significance of facilitation in product management, metrics for driving growth, and a pilot program offering real-time scholarships.

This podcast discusses structuring product management teams for complex portfolios like medical devices and digital products. It also explores the shift from sales-led to product-led growth in companies, prioritizing customer problems, and capacity planning for teams within a product structure.

Stephanie Leue, Chief Product Officer at Doodle, shares insights on transitioning to a subscription-based model, organizational support, and the role of data in decision-making. They discuss deprecating features, connecting data to revenue, addressing declining numbers, and maintaining simplicity while growing.

Michelle Parsons, Product Executive in Residence at Product School, discusses the essential components of a stellar consumer product, challenges in implementing user personalization, and experiences at Spotify and Netflix. They also delve into the role of personalization in the dating app Hinge and its mission for meaningful connections.

Jason Fried, Co-founder and CEO of 37signals, discusses the importance of simplicity in product design, saying no to customer requests, designing for profitability, and work-life balance. He emphasizes building for yourself first, focusing on real problems, shipping products to get real feedback, and the advantages of small teams and self-funding.

In this Dear Melissa segment, Melissa Perri answers subscribers’ questions about product ROI techniques, how we relate our product metrics to our financial metrics, buying versus building a product, and how you can get realistic market size estimates for your team.