Build with Maggie Crowley

It's hard enough to figure out what the PM role is, let alone how to manage PMs. Luckily, in this episode Maggie gets advice from Dheerja Kaur, who leads the Core Product team at Robinhood, about how she approaches management. With experience as the Chief Product Officer at The Skimm and growing the product management role at ESPN, Dheerja shares how to coach PMs, how that changes at different stages of growth, and pitfalls to look out for when managing product managers. Plus, advice on how and when to make the jump from PM to manager of PMs.

Like this episode? Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review, hit the subscribe button, and share the pod with your friends! You can also connect with Maggie on Twitter @maggiecrowley

It's hard to have a tactical conversation about product strategy without giving away what you're up to as a business. But, product strategy is a critical discipline for product leaders. So in today's episode, Maggie and Ibrahim Bashir, GM & VP of Product at Box, tear down a product we all know to see if they can back into that product's strategy. Along the way they cover what product strategy actually is, what frameworks are helpful, what inputs go into a good strategy, and when you don't need a strategy at all. Looking for a deep dive into how product strategy works from an expert? This one's for you.

You can connect with Ibrahim on Twitter @ibscribe and sign up for his newsletter at https://runthebusiness.substack.com/

Like this episode? Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review, hit the subscribe button, and share the pod with your friends! You can also connect with Maggie on Twitter @maggiecrowley

It's easy when you're a product manager to take the pricing and packaging of your product at face value. But, if you're solving customer problems in a differentiated way you're probably eventually leaving money on the table if you don't start to think about how you might continue to monetize that work. In this episode, Maggie talks with Tara Seshan, Business Lead for Financial Products (and one of the first product managers) at Stripe, about how to think about pricing, packaging, and value creation as a product manager. Plus, bonus advice on the "splash zone" and Tara's journey from founder, to PM, to business lead.

Like this episode? Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review, hit the subscribe button, and share the pod with your friends! You can also connect with Maggie on Twitter @maggiecrowley

Good product managers do customer research. But just doing the research isn't enough - we also have to make that customer research matter. In this episode Maggie talks with Adam Thomas, product leader and principal at Approaching One, about how to make research work and how to package it for and sell it to your stakeholders. In Adam's words, "good research helps teams understand the why behind the why — the thing that’s driving the customer’s need to find a solution for the problems they face." Looking to get more out of your research? This episode is for you.

You can read Adam's article for BuiltIn here: https://builtin.com/product-management/make-your-product-research-matter

Like this episode? Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review, hit the subscribe button, and share the pod with your friends! You can also connect with Maggie on Twitter @maggiecrowley

So many products, especially in B2B, say that they're powered by AI. But what does that mean for the product team? Should every team or every product be "using AI?" In this episode, Maggie talks with Ashley Fidler, CPO at Eigen Technologies, about what problems are a good fit for AI, how to approach building with AI as a product manager, and whether or not you need an advanced degree to PM an AI-powered product.

Like this episode? Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review, hit the subscribe button, and share the pod with your friends! You can also connect with Maggie on Twitter @maggiecrowley

We know that time-based roadmaps never seem to work. But product teams still need a way to plan, coordinate, and share what they're working on both internally and externally. Enter Janna Bastow, the CEO and Co-Founder of ProdPad, who has gone on a long journey to the promised land of roadmaps. In this episode, Maggie learns from Janna the right way to think about roadmaps, how they're actually a tool for prototyping strategy, and how to get out from under the tyranny of the Gantt chart.

Like this episode? Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review, hit the subscribe button, and share the pod with your friends! You can connect with Maggie on Twitter @maggiecrowley and Janna @simplybastow

Did you think product-led growth was something just for people doing "growth hacking?" Turns out that being product-led is about way more than just growth and instead is one of the best ways that a company can get their customers what they need, faster. In this episode Maggie gets the real scoop on all things product-led from Todd Olson, CEO and Founder of Pendo, who recently wrote the book on the subject. Want to learn more about being product-led? Check out Todd's new book here: https://www.pendo.io/the-product-led-organization/

Like this episode? Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review, hit the subscribe button, and share the pod with your friends! You can connect with Maggie on Twitter @maggiecrowley

Great product managers and product leaders are excellent at communication. Whether it's getting a team excited about a problem, getting buy in on a plan, or persuading stakeholders, product managers are always trying to get a point across. In this episode, Maggie shares three lessons she (re)learned this summer about how to communicate effectively. Looking for a few tips on how to manage up, or just how to be more effective in that big meeting? This one is for you.

Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review, hit the subscribe button, and share the pod with your friends! You can connect with Maggie on Twitter @maggiecrowley @HYPERGROWTH_Pod

Do you need to love the problem you're solving as an entrepreneur? Or just pick the best idea you can find? Today Maggie talks with Joah Spearman, CEO and Founder of Localeur, who has been working in and on the same problem for the past 7 years. Localeur is on a mission to help people experience local wherever they go, a space so many big companies have tried to solve for, but Localeur has taken a different approach and created a new business model in part because of the passion Joah has for the space and the fit he has with the problem. Thinking about starting a company? This episode is for you. Be sure to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review and share the pod with your friends! You can connect with Maggie on Twitter @maggiecrowley @HYPERGROWTH_Pod

Crowded markets mean both money to be made but also way more competition, which is why distribution channels and figuring out how to create moats for your product are so important. Today, Maggie talks with Amir Salihefendic, CEO and Co-Founder of Doist, to get his take on distribution models, moats, and different strategies companies have used to defend their position within a market (plus a bonus foray into disruption), from his long history as an entrepreneur. Like this episode? Be sure to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review and share the pod with your friends! You can connect with Maggie on Twitter @maggiecrowley @HYPERGROWTH_Pod