One Knight in Product

An interview with Jackie Bavaro. Jackie started her Product Management career as a Program Manager at Microsoft, before joining Google's Associate Product Manager programme and then getting hired as the first Product Manager at Asana. Back in 2013, she collaborated with Gayle McDowell to write the best-selling book "Cracking the PM Interview", which inspired a generation of Product Managers to get their first jobs. Jackie and Gayle are back with "Cracking the PM Career" which explains how to get good at it once you're in. Understandably, we cover a lot, including: How Jackie got into Product in the first place, and why Microsoft calls Product Managers Program Managers The pros and cons of working for Google versus a new startup How she met and decided to collaborate with Gayle McDowell and how they write together How the FAANG companies reacted to her giving away all their secrets Excellent advice on how to make an impact in your new PM job How to avoid the dreaded Feature Factory, build a strategy and sell it Why it's important to look outside your Product bubble for inspiration And much more!

An interview with Heather James. Heather is the Founder of The Product-Led Alliance, providing a community, events and materials fora community of passionate product professionals, obsessed with Product-Led Growth. We talk about... What the Product-Led Alliance is and what it offers Why Heather is so passionate about Product-Led Growth and some of the challenges in getting there How she defines Product-Led Growth and how it differs from the dictionary definition What made her start the Product-Led Alliance when she did How a community with so much free content pays the bills How they had to pivot because of COVID-19 What makes her most proud of the Product-Led Alliance so far Future ambitions to take over the world Shock horror ... a rival podcast! mumble grumble And much more!

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