One Knight in Product

An interview with Jack Stevens. Jack is Senior Product Manager for Publicis Sapient, a product consultancy that helps large companies with their digital transformation. Aside from his day job working on a secret project that he can't tell us about, Jack was also featured in a BBC article last summer "Stress, burnout and redundancy: Tough times in IT". I spoke to Jack about a few things: His work with Publicis Sapient and how they work really hard to be a flat, open company at scale How SAFe and other scaled agile approaches (probably) can't work How he got onto the BBC article in the first place, and how the reaction has been How hustle culture is toxic, mainly a lie, and we just see the survivors who probably succeeded partially through luck How it's OK for some people to just be OK and not everyone has to change the world to be successful How his employer reacted after seeing the article, and the support they gave him How personal hardship has driven his ambitions to work in financial services to ensure people have the right tools to make good financial decisions And much more!

An interview with Abby Hehemann. Abby is Senior Product Marketing Manager for GetResponse, a full stack marketing platform. She's passionate about Product Management and Product-Led Growth, and using data to monitor and inform Product Marketing decisions. Abby is also a features speaker with Product-Led Growth Hub. The role of Product Marketing and importance of getting close to the Product team Pirate metrics (AARRR!) and how you can use them to monitor the health of your funnel The concept of Product-Led Growth and how companies can take their first steps to being Product-Led The importance of communication and collaboration between functions How she got involved with Product-Led Growth hub and their future collaboration plans Whether Product Marketing should report to the VP of Marketing or the VP of Product Most importantly, whether you can get get good nachos in Poland And much more!

An interview with Ana Kresina. Ana is a self-described vagabond, a Canadian living in Australia, passionate Product Manager at Redbubble, a leading online art marketplace. We speak about the following and more: Ana's journey into Product Management from Marketing via UX The importance of guidance and mentorship at the early stages of a PM career The importance of getting shots on goal early Some of the systemic problems with returning to work after maternity leave How we're pretty far from having acceptable diversity in tech & product, but at least the conversations have started

An interview with Harpal Singh. Harpal is an award-winning product consultant and interim CPO with long experience working with a variety of startups and helping them set up effective product teams and achieving Product/Market Fit. We talk about his journey and specifically: The benefits of being a consultant and how it's helped him to be a better leader His passion for Product/Market Fit and why he wrote a playbook on it His ambitions for the book and how it's helped him challenge his assumptions What Product/Market Fit really means, why it's not just about MVPs, and the concept of a "Hair On Fire" problem The importance of Marketing when finding Product/Market Fit and not being led solely by technology The variability of the Product Manager role between companies & the importance of a career plan The perils of poor LinkedIn content

An interview with Dave Martin. Dave is a product leader with a strong history of transforming companies into effective product-focused organisations. Most recently, he's co-founder of consultancy Right to Left, where he takes some of his past learnings and pays them forward to the next generation of product-hungry companies. We speak about a lot, including: How he works with early to mid stage companies to transform them The Product Management Health Check How Product Managers must not be seen as mere requirements gatherers The difference between different types of Product Manager, even within successful organisations The challenges of moving from product management into product leadership The importance of evidence in decision making

Janna Bastow, CEO of ProdPad, talks about the perils of building features for clients, avoiding the agency trap, and the challenges of date-based roadmaps. She also discusses her recent ADHD diagnosis and how it impacts Product Management.

An interview with Andrea Saez. Andrea works in Product Growth & Education for ProdPad. She's a lifelong learner, educator and advocate, looking to help Product Managers make good decisions. We talk about her journey into Product Management, why certifications aren't all that they cracked up to be and how Human Psychology helps make good product decisions. We talk about: How Andrea got into Product Management after being the first person to ask her boss "why?" Why Customer Support staff are ideally placed to become Product Managers How Andrea stays motivated during all of her social media product management advocacy, and how she loves Mondays Why date-based roadmaps are the devil and why management want them because of Previous Product Trauma How Product need to take more responsibility when Sales make a commitment Why certifications aren't really worth much without follow on experience And much more!

An interview with Marc Abraham. Marc is the Head of Product - Engagement for ASOS.com, author of two books on Product Management and co-curator with Mind the Product. I originally picked up Marc's first book, My Product Management Toolkit as I was looking for a good primer for people transferring into my Product team from elsewhere in the business. I found the book a great primer and guide to product management. I was excited to see his new book come out, which covers a lot more around the psychology of Product.   I spoke to Marc about his journey into Product Management, his new book 'Managing Product = Managing Tension', and some great advice about navigating a career in Product. Marc also gives some excellent advice for Product Leaders (or aspiring Product Leaders) and ways that they can create psychological safety for their teams. As a keen boxer, Marc is also a massive advocate for using exercise to help work out some of the tensions of product management.   Further show notes here: https://www.oneknightinproduct.com/s1e21

An interview with Busayomi Omotosho, Product Manager at Softcom. Busayomi speaks to me about Softcom's mission to connect consumers to businesses across Africa, her past working in LegalTech, how you need to apply efficient processes to Product Management, the importance of work / life balance and much more. Catch up with Busayomi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omotosho-busayomi-1ab461b0/ or Twitter: https://twitter.com/Buu_buu10 

An interview with Victoria Tkatch, Senior Product Manager at Sonos. Victoria is an ambitious, driven professional, operating at a million miles an hour, and she's definitely going to be your boss one day. We talk about her journey to Sonos via her own nutrition startup, her plans for the future and how she manages to keep 3 side hustles going. You can catch up with Victoria on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoriatkatch/ or on her YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCym4-hlfCs0M1iitZ9xSDWw  UPDATE: She is also soliciting feedback for her new idea, a book for PMs! https://techforpms.online/ - so that's *4* side hustles