
Better Product
Digital products don’t just live online. They are made up of people, experiences, and awe-inspiring innovation. This show shares the stories of industry-leading companies whose products have a soul, a mission, and a vision.
Through engaging conversations with CEOs, entrepreneurs, and innovators, hosts Christian and Meghan explore the notion of what it takes to build better products. Better Product weaves a narrative story about the good, the bad, and the ugly of ideating and activating the digital products that have launched businesses and changed the world.
Listen weekly to understand how digital products are created, how design influences adoption and ultimately, why product means everything.
Latest episodes

May 25, 2021 • 10min
Series Wrap Up + Series Kickoff: Behind the Product at Etsy
This past series we focused on telling stories of bets gone wrong and the ones that went right, while pulling out the things product leaders from Forbes, Hubspot, Wildbit wish they’d known along the way. While you heard from leaders across the country, we prompted listeners to ask themselves, what big bets are you taking -- or what big bets should you be? As we wrap the series, we’re asking that question again, this time to our newest member of the better product show: Meghan Pfeifer. Take a listen to hear her answer while getting a sneak peek at our next Better Product series.

May 18, 2021 • 28min
Content Experimentation and Its Impact with Alanah Joseph, HubSpot
When done well, content marketing connects your product to people communicating the value without sharing features. Podcasts are one channel in a strategy, and it’s one many brands are embracing. For Alanah Joseph of HubSpot, the opportunity to invest in content has been foundational to its success. She joins the Big Bets series to announce their newest bet with podcasting while sharing the driving factor behind their recent acquisition of The Hustle.

May 13, 2021 • 4min
The Minute: Meet Meghan + Newly Updated Better Product
Better Product has a new co-host! Meet Meghan Pfeifer, Senior Product Marketer & Brand Strategist at Innovatemap. In this newly updated Better Product, Meghan will bring her perspective of art, product marketing, messaging, and brand to the show...as well as challenge Christian every once in a while. Hear what else is coming to the Better Product feed in this episode of The Minute.

May 11, 2021 • 17min
Farewell Anna
Anna shares a big announcement with the Better Product Community while she and Christian reminisce on the experience of running the podcast for the last few years.

May 4, 2021 • 26min
Recognizing Product Strengths with Matt Sniff, Map My Customers
What happens when you take your finger off the pulse of your product? Matthew Sniff launched Map My Customers as a gift for his dad, and the app quickly grew in user adoption allowing him to go all in. Little did he know the impact COVID would soon have on his growing startup. While he could have folded under the weight of the market shift, Matt evolved the product to meet the needs of his users, which meant stepping down as CEO to move into a product role. He joins our Big Bets series to share his unique origin story and what betting on the future looks like moving forward.

Apr 27, 2021 • 2min
The Minute: The Future of Tik Tok with Ray Cao
One of the guests we're bringing back is from the Big Bets in Product series. In The Minute, Ray Cao, the Managing Director and Global Head of Product Strategy and Operations of Tik Tok, answers Christian's big question about what the future has in store for the social media platform.

Apr 20, 2021 • 21min
Shifting from Traditional Media to a Digital Product with Nina Foroutan, Forbes
When you think of Forbes do you think of a digital product? Probably not. Nina Foroutan of Product Development joins the Big Bets in Product series to share how the print form magazine has evolved to build a community using technology and data. More pointedly, what does a Director of Media of a product look like at a 102-year-old media company, and how do they transform from traditional journalism to digital? “We fill the gap between traditional departments at companies. And I think it's really important because you need someone in the room that’s thinking and protecting your end-user and building opportunities for them to engage with your brand.” - Nina Foroutan Listen in as Christian explores what it’s like to create a product at a non-product company. And how Forbes is responding to the needs of its readers.

Apr 13, 2021 • 19min
The Power of the Creator Economy with Sahil Lavingia, Gumroad
We move so fast here on the show, that we often don’t have the time to look back and reflect. This big bets series reminded us of one of my favorite podcast interviews with Sahil Lavingia, Founder of Gumroad and Funder of shl.vc. He joined the show in August of 2019, to share the story of bringing his company Gumroad back from the brink of failure, laying off 75% of the staff, and building a product hyper-focused on value, not growth. Since then we’ve seen Sahil take many bets -- the big one? Embracing what it means to be a minimalist founder. Gumroad is growing, he’s written a book, and he bought out investors, check out the link below to see what all he’s been up to. Resources Mentioned: Sahil has started investing in early-stage tech startups: https://shl.vc/ Gumroad has been killing it see growth of the creator economy: https://www.businessofbusiness.com/videos/sahil-lavingia-interview-rise-of-creator-economy/ Sahil's book about being a minimalist founder: https://www.minimalistentrepreneur.com/book Sahil bought out investors and still has not taking investment but he raised $5M through equity crowdfunding of over 8,000 people: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2021/03/22/gumroad-crowdfunding-results-sahil-lavingia-investing/?sh=5a9f13bf55d7

Apr 8, 2021 • 5min
The Minute: What is a growth team and how can PM evolve?
Last June, we did a series on product-led growth because it’s still a pretty ambiguous and misunderstood term. While we sought to define it better, it’s still a topic on many companies' minds, specifically around how to structure your team. Blake Bartlett, Partner at OpenView, and Kyle Lacy, CMO at Lessonly, discuss the impact PLG has on an organization, and how it's impacting the way teams are structured.

Apr 6, 2021 • 5min
The Minute: Strategizing Growth Opportunities
Prianka Rayamajhi of Pinterest joins The Minute to challenge one key message: growth design is for short-term gains. Listen in as she shares how to strategize for long-term goals while building in opportunities for experimentation.