In this exciting episode of Product and Cake, Ghonche Tavoosi and Paul Lunow take on the question: Do you actually need a product manager? Whether you’re building a startup or managing a growing business, this episode explores when the product management role becomes essential and why it can make or break your company’s success. They break down seven key responsibilities of a product manager—from defining the vision to managing risk—and explain how this multifaceted role ensures everything stays on track. If you’re on the fence about adding a product manager to your team, this episode is a must-listen to understand the crucial role they play in aligning strategy, driving innovation, and fostering cross-functional leadership. Don’t miss the story about why managing a product is just like running a top-tier kitchen!

In the second episode of season three of Product and Cake, Ghonce Tavoosi and Paul Lunow dive into the essential skills and responsibilities required to be a successful product manager. They explore unexpected skills like meeting management, knowledge management, and communication, emphasizing strategic thinking, customer empathy, and technical literacy. The hosts also highlight adaptability, creativity, and leadership as key traits that separate great product managers from good ones. Whether you’re starting your career or looking to refine your product management skills, this episode offers invaluable insights.

In the first episode of season three of Product and Cake, the hosts Ghonche Tavoosi and Paul Lunow dive into the fundamentals of product management. They discuss the complexities of entering the product management field, sharing personal stories and insights on the essential responsibilities of the role. This episode is perfect for anyone curious about whether product management is the right path for them or seeking clarity on how to thrive in the role. Key topics include defining the role of a product manager, balancing between business, customer, and technical perspectives, and how product management differs from project management.

Welcome to the kickoff of Season 3 of Product and Cake! In this special episode, we chat with Christoph Steinlehner, a product coach and consultant, who introduces his “Mapper Method” — a powerful tool to help product teams escape endless meetings and drive real progress. Christoph shares how mapping your thoughts and aligning with your team can lead to clearer, more effective product strategies.

Discover Christoph’s unconventional path into product leadership, plus tips for tackling everyday challenges in product management. Whether you’re just starting or a seasoned pro, this episode is packed with actionable insights.

Connect with Christoph on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/csteinlehner/) for more details about the Mapper Method and stay tuned for more exciting episodes!

Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share with your fellow product enthusiasts!

Ghonche and Paul sit down together to give the podcast a new shape. A new profile. In short, we did some product work.

Want to know the result? Just tune in and let us know what you think.

Summer is here! Christmas is just around the corner. A project starts or finishes. You need to rally the team. In short, it's all about team events. They are always a challenge, but today, in hybrid mode, they are even more challenging.

Get some inspiration on what to do, what to serve, what to ask. Use this episode to get your head into planning mode. Make your next team event the best ever.

The tech giants are dominant in all areas. We imagine that they could just stuff 1000 people to do basically every startup idea that exists on the planet.

But they don't! Why is that? Will AI save us? And most importantly: Does it make sense for you to start something today? Find the answers in this refreshing and motivating podcast episode with Ghonche and Paul.

The most undervalued function is product ops. Only with dedicated product ops people is it possible to scale a product organisation at all. The same goes for engineers and DevOps. Is it that simple? Tune in to learn about this exciting role and why Ghonche and Paul are not quite on the same page here.

We start deep. Sometimes the check-in questions get out of hand, as they did this time. But hey, that's what they're made for. The subject of this episode is also huge. We talk about product strategy. Is monetisation part of it? What makes a good strategy and do I even need one? This is your glimpse as a service (GaaS). Get your head in the game and dive into the topic of strategy.

You do it every day. Your team depends on you to do it. Your peers, colleagues, friends, family, in fact everyone has to do it, is waiting for it and will lose confidence if it is not done. Ghonche and Paul talk about decisions. And we also made a big decision to introduce something new to our podcast. Tune in to find out what has changed!