Better Product

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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/boo

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. 

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.

When you think of TikTok, what comes to mind? Dancing. Lip Singing. Viral content. Ray Cao is the Managing Director and Global Head of Product Strategy and Operations at Tik Tok. He spent six and a half years helping to build Google Shopping before helping TikTok break out in Southeast Asia. With his robust background in advertising, Ray’s a perfect fit to help the short-form video platform take on its next bet “providing the cutting edge product to business partners” through advertisement opportunities.  “So even though it's an advertising business model, we're still serving the purpose of generating interesting content for the user so that they don't feel that it's intrusive.” - Ray CaoIn the conversation with Christian, Ray challenges the way advertising is thought about and it may change your viewpoint too.

We can all agree on one thing: 2020 shook everything up. As a result, we see people and companies making big bets across the board, both professionally and personally. Kelly Watkins bet on leaving her role as the VP of Marketing at Slack to take on the role of CEO at Abstract. In her new role, she’s taking another bet moving from design outputs to outcomes with the launch of Abstract Notebooks.   Why make these bets? Hear her conversation with Christian Beck. 

You can grow a profitable company while prioritizing people. Sometimes that means killing off a product.  At least that’s what Natalie Nagele, Co-founder and CEO of Wildbit, believes. And for the past 20 years of building products, this bet made early on remains true. Wildbit is behind popular products, like Beanstalk and Postmark.  In this conversation, Natalie shares how they decided to kill off a profitable product, why passion is the key to success, and how above all else, culture drives innovation.

We all know the adage, “go big or go home.” The same rings true in the product world, where it’s full of big bets.  What bets were made? How were they decided? What turns some products into household names while others fail? That’s what our Big Bets in Product series will cover.  You’re going to hear from product leaders from well-known brands like Hubspot, Slack, Wildbit, Abstract, and Forbes.  As you consider the series, ask yourself, what big bets are you taking -- or what big bets should you be?  Join the series by joining our community of product leaders at betterproduct.community.

Founders need to deliver elevated design to stay in touch with users, and it can be done on a shoestring budget. On The Minute, Madelin Woods, CEO and Founder of Walden, breaks down the purpose of the MVP and how to maximize it for evolving your product. 

What’s worse than ordering food for delivery and it showing up cold and soggy? For ClusterTruck it’s a problem they set out to solve as America's first vertically integrated, delivery-only kitchen.   On this Better Product Launch, Brian Howenstein, VP of product at ClusterTruck, shares how they’ve revolutionized food delivery by removing the middleman of third-party delivery apps.  While ClusterTruck is a restaurant, it’s also a software company enabling its competitive advantage. Brian shares how they’ve handled product growth based on geographical location while highlighting what the future for their tech looks like.  Takeaways:  Setting boundaries to stay true to your core principles Competition is more than just other offerings in your category  The importance of keeping your brand voice intentional  Keep things as simple as possible for the user

What comes first the product or the audience? For Dave Gerhardt, formerly CMO of Drift, now CMO for Privy, the audience. In The Minute, Anna and Christian are joined by Mike Reynolds, CEO of Innovatemap to talk about how to build an audience before you launch a product. With his experience, Mike provides insight on how to approach building an audience first while creating momentum.

Data is often a complicated topic wrapped around confusing jargon and direction on how to analyze it effectively. Our series on how to use data provides a narrative on the subject, highlighting organizations thinking differently from the implications AI has to why your gut has to guide more than just the vision.    The wrap-up episode pulls out key takeaways from the guests featured in the series, including Kat Kennedy from Degreed, Marieke McCloskey from Humu, Dennis Mortenson with x.ai, and Kendra Clarke, sparks & honey.  Series Takeaways:  Understanding data is an evolutionary process  Bias begins with the source, not the model  Why time spent defining data before development pays off  What data-driven start-up founders need to consider  User research will save on the development, reducing wasted efforts  What it means to have a “North Star” guiding your product  Start with the question, not the data Resources Offered: And if you’re a startup founder, we want to invite you to join our office hours. F

How do you know when you have a product-market fit? Sometimes the community tells you. Sara Mauskopf, founder of Winnie, a product and community for parents.    In The Minute, Anna and Christian reflect on the conversation and discuss the importance of focus to achieve product-market fit, the community’s role in Winnie’s growth, and how sometimes the biggest obstacle for any startup is simply patience.

Leaning into complexity when it comes to product is often the roadmap less traveled. Yet, for Kendra Clarke Senior Vice President Data Science & Product Development at sparks & honey, it's the road she’s on. From her lens, building a platform that supports complexity requires a different way of thinking for both the team behind it and the users it’s for. As the conversation unfolds, Christian and Anna get Kendra’s insights on the bias inherent in data. While the objective is a platform pulling in different viewpoints and perspectives, for this better product it’s about embracing the variables while enabling users to think differently.