Since 1985, when the first pair of Air Jordan’s were released to the public, the Jordan brand has stood at the intersection of culture, design excellence, and self-expression. Today, Jason Mayden, Chief Design Officer of the Jordan brand at Nike, is ushering in the next era. Jason, who grew up on the South Side of Chicago, started as an intern at Nike and worked his way up to lead the design of iconic shoes for the Jordan brand.

In this episode of Building One, Tomer Cohen sits down with Jason to discuss the power of emotional connection in product design. Jason shares his philosophy that great design goes beyond product features—it’s about how a product makes people feel about themselves. He explains why emotional resonance, rather than just performance specs, is the key to building lasting brand loyalty and remaining culturally relevant.

Jason also opens up about his neurodivergence, explaining how embracing his unique cognitive strengths has helped him innovate and excel in design. He shares how understanding his brain wiring allowed him to think differently and bring fresh perspectives to Nike’s product creation process.

Part of Jason’s approach is fostering creativity by involving non-design functions—like HR and legal—early in the process. He believes that bringing in fresh perspectives from across the company can lead to more innovative products and a stronger sense of ownership across teams.

Finally, Jason emphasizes the importance of a growth mindset, a principle he learned from Michael Jordan himself. He shares how continuously learning and evolving is crucial for long-term success, both for individuals and brands.

Follow Jason Mayden on LinkedIn.

Follow Tomer Cohen on LinkedIn and check out his newsletter, Building LinkedIn

Get ready for a brand new season of Building One. Tune in Jan 14 as we kick things off with Nike’s own Jason Mayden, the Chief Design Officer of the Jordan brand. But that’s hardly all - we’ve got a great lineup of guests for you this season: Sal Khan of Khan Academy, Jenna Johnson of Patagonia, Arvind Jain of Glean, and Will Ahmed of WHOOP are just a few of the new voices we’ll hear from!

And if you can’t wait, it’s never been a better time to catch up on great interviews from our past season, like our interviews with Spotify’s Gustav Söderström, Plaid’s Zach Perret, or even Michelin-starred Chef, Dan Barber.

Last week we welcomed Spotify Co-President and CPO Gustav Söderström to the show to discuss his professional journey and the evolution of Spotify. We’re back this week with a few more questions for Gustav to get to know him better.

Follow Gustav Söderström on LinkedIn.

Follow Tomer Cohen on LinkedIn and check out his newsletter Building LinkedIn

For our Season 1 finale, we’ve got a real treat for you. Spotify has been bringing music to listeners' ears since 2008. Today, they are the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription, offering over 100 million tracks, 6 million podcasts titles, and 350,000 audiobooks. Spotify Co-President, Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Product Officer Gustav Söderström joins us today to discuss the evolution of the platform, Spotify’s future, and his own professional journey. Over the course of his career, Gustav’s resistance to labels and entrepreneurial experience has allowed him to successfully innovate across various disciplines. He sits down with Tomer to discuss Spotify’s long term bets, why the company will never “move fast and break things,” the value of explanations, what AI means for the future of Spotify’s platform, and so much more.

Follow Gustav Söderström on LinkedIn.

Follow Tomer Cohen on LinkedIn and check out his newsletter Building LinkedIn

We’ve talked a lot this season about building various apps, platforms, and software. This week, we’re discussing a different type of product: seeds. Michelin Star chef Dan Barber joins us to talk about his new venture, Row 7 Seed Company, where he’s implementing a seed-to-table approach to optimize produce for flavor while also delivering yield and disease resistance to meet today’s needs. Dan draws upon his experience as the chef behind renowned farm-to-table restaurant Blue Hill at Stone Barns to help influence plant breeding and pioneer new paths in gastronomy. Dan sits down with Tomer to talk about the process of making his product accessible and sustainable and Row 7’s recent partnership with Whole Foods. He shares his approach to looking at chefs and cooks as tastemakers who can influence demand, as well as his strategies for connecting farmers and cooks at either end of the value chain. 

Follow Dan Barber on LinkedIn.

Follow Tomer Cohen on LinkedIn and check out his newsletter Building LinkedIn

Last week we welcomed Cerebral CPO Alex Stried to the show to discuss the benefits of directly connecting with your users. We’re back this week with a few more questions for Alex to get to know her better.

Follow Alexandria Stried on LinkedIn.

Follow Tomer Cohen on LinkedIn and check out his newsletter Building LinkedIn

Technology has an undeniable impact on mental health: not just on mental health issues like anxiety and depression, but also on mental health care and the way we access it. Founded in 2020, Cerebral provides online access to psychiatrists and therapists with the aim of offering affordable, high-quality, long-term mental health care to anyone who might need it. As Chief Product Officer, Alex Stried spends a lot of time focusing on user experience. Drawing from her experience at Cerebral, as well as her time at Ellevest and Weight Watchers, Alex talks about best practices for building user-centric products. She shares strategies for directly connecting with your users, building profiles of them, and retaining users once they're on board. 

Follow Alexandria Stried on LinkedIn.

Follow Tomer Cohen on LinkedIn and check out his newsletter Building LinkedIn

We're back this week with Noah Weiss, formerly the CPO of Slack. He's joining Tomer for a rapid fire round of questions.

Follow Noah Weiss on LinkedIn.

Follow Tomer Cohen on LinkedIn and check out his newsletter Building LinkedIn.

Since 2013, Slack has helped teams connect and communicate seamlessly. It stood out early amongst enterprise software - which is often characterized by layered complexity - by bringing the craft and frictionless experience of consumer products into its design. As a B2B product, Slack created a messaging platform with features like channels and huddles that make it easier for businesses to collaborate internally. Slack’s former CPO Noah Weiss helmed this innovation for 8 years. He joins Tomer to talk about Slack rediscovering its market fit, the company’s core building principles, and how Noah fostered curiosity across his team.

Follow Noah Weiss on LinkedIn.

Follow Tomer Cohen on LinkedIn and check out his newsletter Building LinkedIn.

We're back this week with Zoom CPO, Smita Hashim. She's joining Tomer for a rapid fire round of questions.

Follow Smita Hashim on LinkedIn.

Follow Tomer Cohen on LinkedIn and check out his newsletter Building LinkedIn.