In this episode, we sit down with Peter Gergely, Director, Content and Fan Experience at the New York Yankees, to explore how legacy sports brands are evolving their in-stadium experiences for today’s tech-savvy fans. With more than two decades in sports media, Peter shares how his role has shifted from video production to driving innovation and fan engagement at Yankee Stadium.

We discuss:

Why mobile phones are central to the modern ballpark experience.

How the pandemic forced a reassessment of in-game entertainment.

The challenge of keeping both traditional and digital-first fans engaged.

What made mobile bingo an effective entry point for interactive tech.

How Peter evaluates new vendors and emerging tools.

Why personalization is the next big shift in stadium innovation.

💬Peter says: “We’re getting older. But there’s always going to be young fans coming in. They’re going to be the new model of what we need to showcase and what we want to enhance for them, for the generation, while maintaining traditional aspects for the older fan.”

———

Resources Mentioned:

Peter Gergely

https://www.linkedin.com/in/pgergely/

New York Yankees | LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/new-york-yankees/

New York Yankees | Website

https://www.mlb.com/yankees

MLB Ballpark App

https://www.mlb.com/apps/ballpark

———

This episode is brought to you by Majestyk Apps

We imagine, design and build digital products. With clients like Chevrolet, Audiomack, IBM, Barefoot and more, you can be sure you are in good hands. Reach out to us at MajestykApps.com

Please leave a 5-star review

If you enjoyed today’s show, please leave a 5-star review. For more information and links to all of the resources mentioned in today’s episode, visit ProductBuildersPodcast.com

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———

#LiveEntertainmentTech #DigitalFanEngagement #RealTimeFeedback

In this episode, Samantha McCarthy, AVP, Product Management at Sotheby’s, joins us to discuss what it takes to build proprietary tools inside a 300-year-old company. She shares how her team balances the weight of tradition with the speed of modern product development, and what it means to build for ultra-high-net-worth clients in real time.

We discuss:

How Sotheby’s matured its internal product org to support digital transactions.

Why clear communication and analogies help bridge tech and non-tech teams.

Challenges of building tools for a small, ultra-high-net-worth user base.

How legacy data informs the shift to platform-level thinking.

Why the team chose to build proprietary tools instead of buying off-the-shelf.

What it takes to deliver real-time, high-stakes auction experiences online.

💬 Samantha says: “There’s a performance and a drama and an immediacy to a lot of the auction experience that goes into how we think about things that I think really impacts not just how we build products, but how we work with the rest of the business. And how they understand what we're doing is really crucial.”

Resources Mentioned:

Samantha McCarthy

https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthajmcc/

Sotheby’s | LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/sothebys/

Sotheby’s | Website

https://www.sothebys.com/en/

This episode is brought to you by Majestyk Apps

We imagine, design and build digital products. With clients like Chevrolet, Audiomack, IBM, Barefoot and more, you can be sure you are in good hands. Reach out to us at MajestykApps.com

If you enjoyed today’s show, please leave a 5-star review. For more information and links to all of the resources mentioned in today’s episode, visit ProductBuildersPodcast.com.

FOLLOW US:

►Newsletter: https://www.majestykapps.com/newsletter

►Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/majestykapps/

►LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/majestyk-apps/

►Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MajestykApp

►Twitter: https://twitter.com/majestykapps

In this episode, we’re joined by Andrew Tunall, President and CPO of Embrace. Andrew breaks down the real-world impact of telemetry and observability, explaining how teams can use these tools to create faster, more resilient product experiences. With a background at New Relic, AWS and now Embrace, Andrew shares how observability is evolving into a product-wide concern — not just an engineering one.

We discuss:

- Why telemetry is essential for measuring real user performance.

- How observability differs from traditional analytics tools.

- What forward-looking teams do differently when shipping mobile apps.

- How cross-functional teams benefit from shared data insights.

- Why user disengagement is often a performance issue in disguise.

- How AI helps Embrace rapidly test ideas and improve collaboration.

Andrew says, 

“As you think about full-stack engineering, not just front-end engineering, I'm a big believer that having common data sets and thinking about a problem with all of the information at your disposal, produces the best overall system design decisions. That is to say, if you think about a UX pattern that you could contemplate, if you do not care at all about any of the implementation details, you could come up with some wild stuff that is virtually impossible for the engineers to actually deliver in a way that performs consistent with user expectations.” 

Resources Mentioned:

Andrew Tunall |LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewtunall/

Embrace | Website

https://embrace.io/

Embrace | LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/embrace.io/

GitHub (for all our open source, OTel SDKs)

https://github.com/embrace-io

Embrace’s Slack Community (anyone can join to learn about user-focused observability and how to work with OpenTelemetry for web and mobile)

https://community.embrace.io/

This episode is brought to you by Majestyk Apps.

We imagine, design and build digital products. With clients like Chevrolet, Audiomack, IBM, Barefoot and more, you can be sure you are in good hands. Reach out to us at MajestykApps.com. 

Please leave a 5-star review.

If you enjoyed today’s show, please leave a 5-star review. For more information and links to all of the resources mentioned in today’s episode, visit ProductBuildersPodcast.com.

#DigitalProduct #Hiring #Apps

Jacqueline Sigler, Senior Product Manager, Point of Sale and Payments, of GoDaddy, joins us to share her journey from finance to product management. Jacqueline highlights the unique challenges of building point-of-sale (POS) systems that blend physical hardware, digital software and real-world human interactions. She explains the importance of balancing innovation with reliability in payment systems, emphasizing the need to consider diverse user perspectives, from small business owners to end customers.

We discuss:

- The journey from finance to product management.

- The complexities of designing for both hardware and software in POS systems.

- Building trust and reliability in payment experiences.

- Lessons learned from working with small business owners.

- Balancing speed, precision and customer expectations in software updates.

- How AI and emerging technologies are shaping the future of POS systems.

Jacqueline says, 

“When you're working through payments, you have to ensure that everything is stable from a payment's availability, acceptance, privacy, security and so forth. So your day-to-day can be intense and fast-moving, but what actually happens on the release side tends to be intentionally and meaningfully slower, comparatively.”  

Resources Mentioned:

Jacqueline Sigler

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jnsigler-1/

GoDaddy | LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/godaddy/

GoDaddy | Website

https://www.godaddy.com/

This episode is brought to you by Majestyk Apps

We imagine, design and build digital products. With clients like Chevrolet, Audiomack, IBM, Barefoot and more, you can be sure you are in good hands. Reach out to us at MajestykApps.com

Please leave a 5-star review

If you enjoyed today’s show, please leave a 5-star review. For more information and links to all of the resources mentioned in today’s episode, visit ProductBuildersPodcast.com

#DigitalProduct #Hiring #Apps

In this episode, Kevin Williams, Vice President of Digital Products at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, sits with us to share insights into building digital products that prioritize impact over profit. He discusses the challenges of scaling mission-driven teams, designing for accessibility and leveraging technology to serve diverse user needs.

We discuss:

- Technology expands access to sexual and reproductive health.

- Mission-driven teams need both expertise and values alignment.

- Designing for vulnerable users benefits everyone.

- Innovation is about reducing friction and simplifying access.

- Success is measured by impact, not revenue.

- Trust comes from transparency and ethical data practices.

Kevin says, 

“Innovation today is really about simplifying people’s lives. That’s where our team is right now because I think there’s a lot of chaos in digital, there’s a lot of noise in digital and some of that has come from innovation. So I think we need to dial it back a little bit and be innovative all around.” 

Resources Mentioned:

Kevin Williams

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenya-kevin-williams/

Planned Parenthood Federation of America | LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/planned-parenthood-federation-of-america/

Planned Parenthood Federation of America | Website

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/

This episode is brought to you by Majestyk Apps.

We imagine, design and build digital products. With clients like Chevrolet, Audiomack, IBM, Barefoot and more, you can be sure you are in good hands. Reach out to us at MajestykApps.com. 

Please leave a 5-star review.

If you enjoyed today’s show, please leave a 5-star review. For more information and links to all of the resources mentioned in today’s episode, visit ProductBuildersPodcast.com.

#DigitalProduct #Hiring #Apps

On this episode, Chad Vavra, Founder of Chat Agency AI, joins us to explore the impact of AI on creative workflows. Chad shares how his platform helps streamline ideation and strategy by combining different large language models, enabling creatives to focus on execution without getting lost in the complexities of AI technology. He discusses balancing keeping humans in the loop and leveraging AI’s capabilities to accelerate workflows and reduce time spent on repetitive tasks.

We discuss:

- How AI tools can amplify speed and accuracy in the creative process. 

- Why human input is essential for guiding AI effectively. 

- The “human-in-the-loop” concept and its role in maintaining quality control. 

- Tips for effective prompt engineering to get refined outputs from AI. 

- Potential challenges and pitfalls of AI, such as “hallucinations” and inaccuracies. 

- The importance of organizational culture in adopting and embracing AI. 

Chad says, 

“There are going to be situations where a team of 10 is going to become a team of 3. That might happen in project management, but there still needs to be a project manager. It’s not like AI can just take over that entirely.” 

Resources Mentioned:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadvavra/

Chat Agency AI -

https://chatagency.ai

Chad Vavra -

https://chadvavra.com

This episode is brought to you by Majestyk Apps

We imagine, design and build digital products. With clients like Chevrolet, Audiomack, IBM, Barefoot and more, you can be sure you are in good hands. Reach out to us at MajestykApps.com 

Please leave a 5-star review

If you enjoyed today’s show, please leave a 5-star review. For more information and links to all of the resources mentioned in today’s episode, visit ProductBuildersPodcast.com

#DigitalProduct #Hiring #Apps

In this episode, we explore the world of interactive entertainment with David Carpenter, CEO of Gamiotics. David shares his journey and how Gamiotics is changing audience engagement with real-time data and interactive tech.

We discuss:

- The idea and mission behind Gamiotics.

- How real-time data is changing live shows.

- The challenges and benefits of interactive storytelling.

- The importance of engaging the audience in today's entertainment.

- How to integrate tech into live performances.

- Future trends in interactive entertainment.

David says,

“Gamiotics is the gamification of the live entertainment experience. It's taking that gaming that we do at home, and turning it into a collective storytelling experience and allowing the audience to have agency and to play a show.” 

Resources Mentioned:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-edward-carpenter/

Gamiotics | LinkedIn -

https://www.linkedin.com/company/gamiotics/

Gamiotics | Website -

https://www.gamiotics.com/

This episode is brought to you by Majestyk Apps

We imagine, design and build digital products. With clients like Chevrolet, Audiomack, IBM, Barefoot and more, you can be sure you are in good hands. Reach out to us at MajestykApps.com 

Please leave a 5-star review

If you enjoyed today’s show, please leave a 5-star review. For more information and links to all of the resources mentioned in today’s episode, visit ProductBuildersPodcast.com

#DigitalProduct #Hiring #Apps

On this episode, we talk with Anna Oh, Senior Product Designer of Teladoc Health, to explore the dynamic role of product design in healthcare. Anna emphasizes the fusion of design thinking and technology to enhance patient care.

We discuss:

- The importance of integrating empathy into healthcare product design.

- How cutting-edge technologies like AI are transforming healthcare product design.

- The impact of thoughtful design on patient experiences.

- Why unique challenges are inherent in healthcare product design.

 -The critical need for multidisciplinary collaboration in healthcare product design.

 -The transformative potential of design in healthcare.

Anna says, “We can make super-hyper-personalized care by utilizing advanced technologies such as AI. These days, everyone loves AI, right? And then big data, and the wearable devices, so that we can see everyone’s biomarkers, and then also genomics. Everything can provide a super-hyper-personalized care experience based on everyone’s individual demographic, their medical history and their condition and lifestyle.”

Resources Mentioned:

Anna Oh⁠ -

https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaohgood/

Teladoc Health -

https://www.teladochealth.com/

This episode is brought to you by Majestyk Apps

We imagine, design and build digital products. With clients like Chevrolet, Audiomack, IBM, Barefoot and more, you can be sure you are in good hands. Reach out to us at MajestykApps.com.

Please leave a 5-star review

If you enjoyed today’s show, please leave a 5-star review. For more information and links to all of the resources mentioned in today’s episode, visit ProductBuildersPodcast.com.

#DigitalProduct #Hiring #Apps

On this episode, we talk with James Smet, Senior Product Designer of Vagaro. James breaks down the concept of design systems and their critical role in technology. He shares his journey at Vagaro, highlighting the basics of design systems, their elements and their major contributions to product creation and business achievement.

We explore:

- The fundamentals of design systems and their vital components.

- The benefits of implementing a design system for designers, developers and the business as a whole.

- Strategies for educating team members and recognizing when your organization needs a design system.

- Beginner tips for adopting a design system and embracing systems thinking.

- The future of design systems with emerging technologies and trends, including cross-platform design. 

- The importance of accessibility and inclusivity.

- Insights on the most valuable lessons learned and advice for professionals entering the field.

James states: “A design system, in any iteration, for an enterprise or to a small startup or a contractor, is essential to a successful outcome in business and any organization. And, in many cases, [it’s] something that already exists at a level in your workflow. And I think that’s key to understand is, there’s something that you can build on and work on to improve, and it will grow organically as you champion it and nurture it into something that you aspire for it to be.”

Resources Mentioned:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamessmet/

Vagaro | LinkedIn -

https://www.linkedin.com/company/vagaro/

Vagaro | Website -

https://www.vagaro.com/pro

This episode is brought to you by Majestyk Apps

We imagine, design and build digital products. With clients like Chevrolet, Audiomack, IBM, Barefoot and more, you can be sure you are in good hands. Reach out to us at MajestykApps.com. 

Please leave a 5-star review.

If you enjoyed today’s show, please leave a 5-star review. For more information and links to all of the resources mentioned in today’s episode, visit ProductBuildersPodcast.com.

#DigitalProduct #Hiring #Apps

On this episode, Caroline Albanese, Director of Data Products and Capabilities at Dow Jones, explores the role of product advocacy. She shares her strategy for advancing data products, emphasizing the need for effective communication and the value these products bring to both organizations and the broader audience.

We discuss:

- What product advocacy is and why it's important for the success of a product.

- How to clearly show the value of data products to people inside and outside the company.

- Tackling the challenges that come with advocating for new products.

- Using feedback from users to make better products.

- Working together with other teams to make sure a product does well.

- Using stories to make data products interesting to everyone, not just experts.

- The need to think about user privacy and following the rules when creating products.

- Staying up-to-date with new trends and technologies in data products.

Caroline says:

”Product advocacy is basically being able to defend your product decisions or the product manager. Defending why the product is what it is, who it's there for, and how you are measuring success over time with a product. I think oftentimes when people are talking about product development or product development cycles, they're hyper-focused on the beginning stages and launching, and then once the product's actually out in the world, it's don't worry, it's on, but there's so much more that goes into that. And I think that's really what product advocacy shines.”

Resources Mentioned:

LinkedIn - Caroline Albanese -

https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinealbanese/

Twitter - Caroline Albanese -

https://twitter.com/Calbanese

Dow Jones website -

https://www.dowjones.com

This episode is brought to you by Majestyk Apps

We imagine, design and build digital products. With clients like Chevrolet, Audiomack, IBM, Barefoot and more, you can be sure you are in good hands. Reach out to us at MajestykApps.com 

Please leave a 5-star review

If you enjoyed today’s show, please leave a 5-star review. For more information and links to all of the resources mentioned in today’s episode, visit ProductBuildersPodcast.com

#DigitalProduct #Hiring #Apps