Product Ops Podcast

Tina Stewart (Head of Product Ops - Data&Growth Platform) and Shradha Kothari (Former Head of Product Ops - R&D) from Twilio join me for the second episode of Season 2 of POP. We discuss what it's like coming together to work as one Product Ops team under the Twilio umbrella post the Segment acquisition and deep dive on the following practical examples: 1. Scaling communication into and out of the R&D team 2. Simplifying operating cadences and recognizing the importance of change management 3. Scaling the Product Ops team with a clear sense of purpose from a career development perspective Listen in for some unique insights into how Product Ops is structured in a large and fast-growing organisation to deliver maximum impact! 

Vincent Poulain (Senior Product Ops Lead) and Jessica Orellana (Senior Ops Lead) from Shopify join me for the first episode of Season 2 of POP. We deep dive on practical examples of how the Product Ops team is tackling alignment at scale, including: 1. With hypergrowth, how do we know what’s happening across the org and have the right decisions at the right time?  2. How do we get hundreds of people across multiple teams to solve a hard problem instead of "shipping the org chart" 3. How do we scale Product Ops with a common foundation but different flavours e.g. Growth "startup" versus Core platform? Listen in for some incredible insights into how Product Ops is enabling Shopify to operate with "the speed of startups and the impact of giants!" 

Michael Akkerman, the Chief Product and Strategy Officer @ Cardlytics, joins me for the final episode of Season 1 of POP to share his views on Product Ops and why he thinks it's a key role in a scaling product organisation. Prior to his current role, Michael served as the Global Head of Partnerships at Pinterest.  We talk about how important internal stakeholder management and collaboration is in building and launching products (and how Product Ops can help strengthen this process!). Listen in to find out how Michael sees this function delivering value and what he will do as a CPO to set it up for success. This is a great episode to get a different perspective on Product Ops from a CPO championing the role and looking to hire for it! 

Anabela Cesário, the Director of Product Ops @ OutSystems, joins me on POP this week to talk about how she focused on tackling impactful work with her product ops team which allowed her to scale the function from 3 to 9 people over a year. She has worked at OutSystems for over 5 years in various positions including the Director of Product Management. Her ability to understand and empathise with product managers definitely serves her well in this position. Listen in to find out more about the operating model she uses to evaluate the impact of work, as well as to find out what a scaled up version of Product Ops looks like. (They're doing a lot!) Anabela provides some great advice for Product Ops leaders looking to scale this function! 

Yash Singri, a Product Ops Manager @ Talkspace, joins me on POP this week to talk about how he's using product analytics in ProdOps to help drive data driven decision making. He previously worked as a consultant at Bain & Company before landing a strategy "externship" and moving into the digital health space. Listen in to find out how Yash works with the data science team in order to bring a holistic view of quantitative and qualitative analysis to product teams. He provides practical examples of how he has leveraged SQL skills and data analysis for 1) sizing and prioritising of tickets and requests and 2) experimentation and product decision making. This is a great episode for anyone looking to embed data analysis and insights into the ProdOps function.

Mayara Barros, the Product Ops Manager @ QuintoAndar, joins me on POP this week to talk about her passion for community building and how she's using it to improve the efficiency and alignment of 60+ product teams! May previously worked as a corporate lawyer and used to organise tech events such as TechStars Startup Weekend and SiliconDrinkAbout. Listen in to find out how she is helping teams work better together by cultivating strong connections and building trust. May shares some practical examples of work she's doing in this space from tailored onboarding programmes for new PMs to purposeful team rituals. This is an insightful episode that delves into the importance of addressing the people side of product through Product Ops! 

Wole Atunbi, Product Ops @ Mono (YC W21), joins me on POP this week to talk about what it's like working in Product Ops at a seed stage startup (with less than 20 people!). Wole previously worked as a product manager at various startups in Nigeria and has now found a role that combines his experience in product with his background in business and interest in strategy. Listen in to find out more about what a typical day in product ops looks like for him and how he juggles wearing many hats! This episode provides a unique perspective on Product Ops and shows how each company will define the role differently according to specific needs. 

Sloan Saunders, the Product Ops Manager @ Evidation Health, joins me on POP this week to talk about lessons she's learnt from over 5 years of working in Product Ops! Listen in to find out more about Sloan's journey with Product Ops from starting off as a product ops analyst to being a product programme manager and now hiring for her own team that she manages. Many feel that this function is quite new (myself included!), so this is a great episode with lots of wisdom shared on how the role has evolved over the years and why Sloan still enjoys working in this space.

Hugo Froes, the Product Ops Lead @ Farfetch, joins me on POP this week to talk about how he transitioned from a background in UX Design to Product Ops! Listen in to find out what design principles Hugo finds valuable in his current role and how this has shaped his focus in Product Ops. From conducting user research to pattern matching and using Wardley Maps - Hugo has a wealth of knowledge, experience and advice to share on navigating Product Ops. He also hosts informal chats about Product Ops on Clubhouse. Give him a follow on twitter (or LinkedIn) to join in the next conversation!

Kaitlyn Melo, the Product Ops Lead @ Faire, joins me on POP this week to talk about how she leveraged her background in customer experience to bring customer centricity directly to product teams! Listen in to find out how Kaitlyn developed a Voice of Customer (VOC) programme for Faire against the backdrop of rapid scaling and the need for instant knowledge transfer. A good episode with lots of practical advice for anyone in product or product ops currently facing a similar challenge. And btw, she's hiring!