Product Confidential: The reality of PM life!

Empowering First-Time Product Managers, with Susana Lopes In this podcast episode, Susana Lopes, a product manager with an impressive career journey, discusses how to successfully onboard and develop first-time product managers. She talks in-depth about her own unique experiences The discussion also involves the detrimental effects of bad onboarding on both the individual and the organisation, while proposing practical methods for improvement. Moreover, Susana offers prospective product managers and leaders advice on interview strategies and the significance of a supportive work environment. Links Minimum Viable Product Manager article Susana's coaching 00:00 Introduction 00:00 Susana's Background and Kickboxing Experience 00:11 Onboarding and Developing First Time Product Managers 02:11 Susana's Entry into Product Management 04:08 The Importance of Early Exposure in Product Management 08:13 Common Traits of Bad Onboarding 13:02 Advice for Aspiring Product Managers 20:03 Advice for Product Leaders 25:42 Susana's Coaching Experience 29:52 Conclusion

In the discussion, Adam Warbuton, Vypr's Chief Product Officer, shares his experiences transitioning from CPO at a large corporation to leading product at a scale-up company. Adam discusses the crucial differences and challenges between the two roles the importance of mindset in driving success in a startup environment his insights on building a strong product culture in a fast-growing company. He explains that high performance, impact-orientation, humility, and the ability to cope with risk are some of the key traits required in a start-up context. The conversation also explores issues of diversity in startups and the role that leaders play in modeling work-life balance. Evie & Michael Show notes ⁠Follow the show on LinkedIn⁠ ⁠⁠Follow Michael⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Follow Evie Adam's Links Vacancies at Vypr

We're back with a brand new season! Today we're joined by Alex Rechevskiy, a former Google Group PM, and now coach to hundreds of PMs that want to get into Big Tech. In this episode Alex tells us everything about: 💥 The reality of working in Big Tech (and it is not what you would expect!) 💥 How to actually land a role in Big Tech 💥 The importance of focussing on your career goals and getting clarity on what you want It's a great episode for anyone looking to get into Big Tech. & if you don't want to get into Big Tech, you'll learn so much about assessing different companies in this episode still. We hope you love it! & please do leave a review, and subscribe to join us for the rest of this season! 🎙️ Evie & Michael Show notes Follow the show on LinkedIn ⁠Follow Michael ⁠⁠Follow Evie Alex's links: Practical Product Newsletter for real-world insights to help folks develop their product management skills and career Substack LinkedIn YouTube

It's the last episode of our first podcast season! Thank you to everyone that has listened, subscribed and rated the podcast so far. It has been amazing to have you on this journey with us. To close off the season, Michael & Evie catch up to share: Our reflections on the podcast and how we found the experience. Our life updates and why we're taking a break from recording. & we answer your questions on: - How to adapt to the first 30-90 days in a new role - Risks and rewards in Product Strategy - Where do we see ourselves professionally in 5 years time Enjoy all of the insights, and we can't wait to see you back in the New Year! Thanks for joining us and sharing the last 12 episodes with us, Michael & Evie

This week we were joined by Leanne Gill, an Agile Transformation expert. Leanne has worked across a range of organisations to help them to become more Agile, and grow in their product maturity. In this episode we discuss: - How to successfully go through agile transformation - How to bring your team on the journey with you - How Agile looks different in every organisation - How to pick your battles as you work through Product Maturity It's a great listen for any Product person looking to grow Agile maturity in their team, or in their wider business. We all know that it's not always easy to bring other people on the journey of to do Product well! So grab a bevvie, and find some comfort in hearing the highs and lows of someone else driving positive product change!

In our latest episode, we were excited to be joined by Product Operations expert, and positive mental health advocate - Graham Reed. Have you heard all about Product Operations this year? But you're not quite sure what it entails, or how it can add value? Graham shares all of these insights, talks through the practicalities of doing Product Operations well, and the importance of defining exactly what Product Operations is in the ever-changing Product landscape. Graham is also the founder of the Product Mind Community. A growing community that exists to support PMs with their mental health, something that we have covered on many of our episodes and know is crucial to people in our industry. Graham shares his experience with this, and how the community is supporting PMs to have a safe space to sharing everything Product related. We hope you enjoy. As always, like, subscribe & leave a review if you do!

Andy Walsh is currently a Senior Product Manager at the BBC. Having previously worked as both a product manager and a programme leader at the Department for Education. In this episode, Andy reflects on what it was like making the jump from being a product manager into being a a manager of product managers, including what he feels are the transferable skills. Andy also shared why he’s made the decision to go back into straight up product management in his new role at the BBC. This episode is great for anyone considering entering leadership and is full of top tips.

We were super excited to be joined by Darinka Burovska on our latest episode of Product Confidential. Darinka is a Product Discovery superstar, with knowledge on how to implement best practises across the world. In this episode we explore how to best develop Product Discovery in your organisation, how to carry out discovery across cultures & we talk about what it is really like to be a digital nomad - and perhaps how you could make this lifestyle work for you! Darinka has a load of interesting stories to share and really is an inspiration in the way that she lives her life and works with Product teams. Enjoy! & as ever, subscribe and review if you do.

Evie and Michael catch up with George Manea, Senior Product Manager at MoneySuperMarket. The central topic is high performing teams as George covers what traits they posses as well as sharing some aspirational goals for anyone trying to create one. The conversation also explores what it's like working for MoneySuperMarket taking a deep dive into what makes their culture successful before taking a look at George's unique career path that took him from working in a recycling factory through to where he is today with lots of interesting steps and lessons along the way.

We're joined by Nick Jemetta for an amazingly educational and inspiring episode. Nick's mission is to make the workplace 1% better each day. He brings to life a tonne of experience from mental health to digital transformations to achieve this with different organisations. In this episode Nick speaks about: His own mental health journey, opening up a conversation about our experiences How to talk to others about mental health The top mindset that Product Managers can adopt Human skills, and how you can learn them & How to work on Digital Transformations I'm sure you'll find so much value in this episode, and will be able to relate to a what of what we chat about. As ever, if you find it helpful - please leave us a glowing review! Books: Never split the difference - Chris Voss with Tahl Raz A path through the jungle - Steve Peters Others: Pockets of Brilliance - Pippa Topp