Products That Count Podcast

How can product leaders master remote communication and team collaboration? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Workleap Director of Product Barbara Bermes, Spotify Senior Product Lead Srividhya Chandrasekaran shares valuable strategies for effective remote communication and team collaboration. She discusses Spotify's innovative approach to asynchronous work, including the use of Slack, team manuals, and collaborative tools. Srividhya offers practical tips for managing communication overload, fostering team cohesion, and maintaining productivity in a distributed work environment. She also explores the future of remote work and shares her favorite resources for continued learning in product management.

How can healthcare leaders make a difference with innovative models for food security and health equity? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Cognizant Product Director Chenny Solaiyappan, U.S. Hunger President & CEO Rick Whitted shares his journey from corporate banking to healthcare leadership. He discusses U.S. Hunger's innovative approaches to addressing food insecurity and social determinants of health, including their community activation events and full cart program. Rick emphasizes the importance of understanding lived experiences, leveraging technology and data, and creating connected ecosystems in healthcare. He offers valuable perspectives on the future of healthcare, the role of community-based organizations, and advice for aspiring healthcare entrepreneurs.

How is AI reshaping product management for one of the most iconic brands in the world? Join us for the latest episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, where CONA Services CPO Petra Romano shares her experiences leading product development for Coca-Cola bottlers. She discusses the evolution of the CPO role, emphasizing the importance of innovation, AI integration, and customer-centricity. Petra highlights her team's approach to prioritization, stakeholder management, and delivering impactful products. She also offers valuable insights on time management, learning from challenges, and the future of AI in product management.

What do product leaders need to consider when hiring in a changing tech landscape? In this episode hosted by Nacho Andrade, Launchpad Recruiting Labs Founder John LaMarche shares his expertise on building high-impact product teams in today's evolving tech industry. He discusses current hiring trends, the impact of AI on product roles, and strategies for job seekers to stand out in a competitive market. John offers valuable insights on networking, personal branding, and the shift towards fractional work, providing actionable advice for both recruiters and job candidates in the product management field.

How can product leaders leverage AI to scale product businesses? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Sid Shaik, PEAK6 Head of AI Yuying Chen-Wynn speaks on her experience scaling product businesses globally and leveraging AI. Yuying shares lessons from building products internationally at Microsoft, in China, and for the education sector. She emphasizes the importance of timing when bringing products to market and adapting quickly when market conditions change. Yuying also discusses how she used AI to rapidly automate content creation and scale an education business in China. Tune in for insights on international product development, leadership mindsets, and Yuying's vision for how generative AI will transform business models.

How can data be used to build trust with customers? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, Varo Bank CPO Wook Chung discusses how the company is using data and behavioral insights to build trust with customers and provide innovative lending solutions. As a digital-first bank aiming to serve the underbanked, Varo is developing new ways to underwrite customers based on their behaviors and transactions over time. Chung shares how they are visualizing the trust relationship and using data to offer near-instant access to credit when customers need it. This interview explores Varo's mission to create a financial operating system that combines traditional banking services in a seamless digital experience, while ensuring regulatory compliance.

How can product professionals leverage AI and machine learning to empower creators? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Jonathan Ozeran, Twitch VP of Product Jeremy Forrester discusses how the company is leveraging AI and machine learning technologies to empower creators on the platform. He shares Twitch's focus on being creator-first and how they are exploring ways AI can help streamline content creation workflows and management. Jeremy also talks about how the streaming community is already innovating with AI, such as virtual avatars and AI-generated voices. He believes AI will open up more opportunities for diverse, passion-driven games by reducing barriers to entry. This discussion provides valuable insights for product managers on experimenting with emerging technologies and unleashing creativity.

How can product leaders begin optimizing product-level data to facilitate carbon emission reductions? The scale and urgency of the transformation required to fight climate change has never been more clear. Building hardware and software products, acquiring the funding and creating a diverse community to enhance talent capacity and to drive innovation, is essential to tackling this global environmental crisis. In this episode of Product Talk, Silicon Valley Bank (a Division of First Citizens Bank) Climate Tech SVP Maggie Wong will be interviewing GreenSwapp Founder and CEO Ajay Varadharajan to discuss leveraging machine learning to aggregate, analyze and present emission data in a consistent format, building a data infrastructure API tool to scale product-level carbon accounting, as well as the importance of understanding target customers and anticipating their future needs to enable product development that serve diverse use cases.

How can product leaders build inclusive products and empower the next generation of users? In this episode of the CPO Rising series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, Pinterest CPO Sabrina Ellis discusses her philosophy around building inclusive products that empower all users. She shares how Pinterest is using technology like computer vision to showcase more diverse representations of hair, skin tones, and body types. Sabrina also talks about engaging Gen Z users on the platform and understanding their needs and motivations. The discussion provides insights for product leaders on their social responsibility to consider inclusivity, as well as tips on prioritizing projects and balancing short and long-term goals.

What is the importance of communication skills for remote teams? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Workleap Director of Product Barbara Bermes, TIM Fmr Engineering Lead Andrew Parker speaks on the importance of strong communication skills for remote teams. Drawing on his experience managing remote teams across multiple locations, he emphasizes that while technical skills are important, the ability to collaborate and communicate effectively across disciplines is what truly defines a high performer working remotely. He highlights best practices for asynchronous communication and provides insights into how output can be measured in remote environments through a focus on outcomes rather than activities. Andrew also shares his perspective on the future of remote work and the incremental changes we may see in how virtual teams communicate and collaborate over the next five years.

What do product managers need to consider when scaling impactful climate solutions? The scale and urgency of the transformation required to fight climate change has never been more clear. In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Silicon Valley Bank (a Division of First Citizens Bank) Climate Tech SVP Maggie Wong, Vycarb CEO Garrett Boudinot speaks on his journey developing carbon removal technology and building his startup. He highlights the importance of scaling solutions to address the urgent climate crisis and emphasizes leveraging partnerships across the ecosystem. Garrett also stresses the need for diversity of perspectives and skill sets in teams to develop globally relevant solutions. Listeners learn about Vycarb's water-based technology and path to commercialization.

What role does simplifying solutions and learning from failures play in long-term success? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, Turo CPO Tom Wang discusses his journey at Turo and lessons learned along the way. He shares how simplifying solutions and finding bold ways forward have contributed to his success. Tom also opens up about failures, including an early initiative to leverage social media that didn't work out and a mistake that removed too many hosts from the platform. Through these stories, Tom demonstrates the importance of being willing to admit mistakes, learn from them, and move forward. The conversation provides valuable insights for other product leaders on maintaining motivation over many years and navigating challenges with authenticity and care for customers.

Why is it important to foster collaboration between product & engineering teams? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Kaboo Founder Neha Shah, Splunk Senior Software Engineer Rehan Mulla speaks on his experience building products and leading engineering teams. Rehan discusses the importance of collaboration between product managers and engineers to deliver successful products. He shares insights on how building empathy and understanding each other's perspectives through workshops and planning sessions can help engineering and product teams overcome communication challenges and work towards aligned goals. Rehan also offers advice on how engineering leaders can effectively scope projects, communicate risks to stakeholders, and continuously learn to stay on top of the latest technologies.

How can product leaders drive innovation in healthcare? In this episode hosted by Cognizant Product Director Chenny Solaiyappan, SmartRise Health CEO Vanessa Guzman discusses her journey in healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship. She shares how personal experiences motivated her to pursue solutions focused on social determinants of health, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Vanessa also touches on launching Ella Es Health to close gaps in women's healthcare through coaching and navigation services. She emphasizes the importance of adapting to market trends and leveraging accreditation to improve outcomes.

What is unique about leading product in fintech? Join us for the latest episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, where Tipalti CPO Roby Baruch discusses his experience leading product management in the fintech industry. Roby shares the unique challenges of product management in fintech, including the need for deep domain expertise. He also discusses the importance of mentorship throughout his career and a defining product moment that expanded Tipalti's offerings. Additionally, he describes Tipalti's data-driven approach to prioritizing product decisions and validating ideas with customers to ensure the highest priority needs are addressed.

How can product leaders foster customer-centered growth? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Nacho Andrade, New Work SE Fmr. Product Director Thomas Gläser discusses approaches to product strategy, innovation, and growth. Thomas emphasizes the importance of deeply understanding customer needs and jobs to be done over simply analyzing competitors. He advocates developing evidence-based strategies through empathetic customer research rather than making assumptions. Thomas also cautions against common pitfalls like moving too quickly without validation or focusing on internal metrics over market fit. Listeners will learn frameworks for strategic product leadership focusing on customer-centered problem solving to drive meaningful growth.

What lessons can product leaders learn from scaling multiple product businesses? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Sid Shaik, Temporal Technologies Fmr. COO Charles Zedlewski speaks on his career in product management and lessons learned from scaling multiple product businesses. Charles shares insights on becoming a successful PM without a technical background, emphasizing the importance of building technical depth over time. He discusses philosophies for collaborating closely with engineering teams and getting the "soul of the product" to live in their hearts. Charles also talks about his experience scaling Cloudera's Hadoop distribution and lessons from launching new features. Overall, the discussion provides perspectives on product growth strategies, frameworks for conceptualizing customer journeys, and approaches to partnerships between organizations.

How can product leaders navigate product leadership in a regulated healthcare industry? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, Carelon CPO Gautam Shah discusses his approach to product leadership in a highly regulated healthcare industry. He explains how understanding regulations and prioritizing user needs affects product development. Gautam also shares stories about high-impact products he's worked on, including an unlimited telecommunications product and a product supporting vulnerable mental health patients. The discussion provides insights into navigating complex priorities, using customer journeys and personas, and leveraging AI to improve product management effectiveness.

How can product leaders build curious and collaborative teams? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Jonathan Ozeran, Productiv Founder Jody Shapiro discusses his career in product management and insights on building successful teams. He speaks on his diverse educational background and how it led to roles at companies like TiVo and Google. Jody also shares strategies for constructing teams at startups, emphasizing passion and collaboration. Tune in for insights on how data-driven decision making and customer feedback can validate product ideas.

How can product leaders build personalized edtech products? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Kaboo Founder Neha Shah, Dailies Co-Founder & CEO Jessica Shelley shares her inspiration for starting Dailies based on her experience as a teacher, wanting to better engage families in students' learning. She discusses building the initial product team and navigating the transition from teaching to leading a tech startup. The conversation covers challenges like difficult decisions to cut features and lessons learned from experiments. Jessica emphasizes the importance of aligning on long-term vision over short-term gains and hiring candidates committed to the company mission in a startup environment. Listeners gain insights on iterative product development and community involvement for ongoing learning and career growth.