Listen now on Apple, Spotify and Youtube.

Every startup wants to get to the elusive product-market fit.

But unlike PMs at established companies, startup founders often have an extra layer of ambiguity to navigate — zeroing in on the target customer.

In this episode, Ian O’Donnell (Director of Design & Validation at Menlo Labs) shares his practical process to help startup founders get to product-market fit. He shares how he conducts product discovery calls and quantitative ad testing alongside founders to hone in on the target industry, user and buyer.

All of Ian’s advice is grounded in first-hand startup stories, in which he’s helped to shape their trajectory.

Chapters:

00:00Introduction to Product Discovery and Ian O'Donnell

01:56Ian's Journey into Design and Innovation

09:02The Role of Qualitative and Quantitative Research

10:41Case Study: Squint's Journey in Manufacturing

24:02Deep Dive into Manufacturing Needs and Insights

34:31Adoption Challenges and the Role of AI

36:49Squint's Journey to Success

37:55The Menlo Labs Experience

43:56Challenges in Manager Training

47:10Exploring New Directions

55:06Navigating Customer Discovery

01:01:56Advice for Founders

Where to find Ian:

* Menlo Labs

* Menlo Labs’ Fellows Program

* Ian’s LinkedIn

Listen now on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.

What can product management learn from video games?

How to make dying more fun.

In this episode, we talk to a household name in tech that you might already know — Aakash Gupta, founder of product-growth.com.

Aakash has done it all: from founding his own companies, to working in game development, to becoming VP of product at a unicorn. He shares several case studies on how to do low-lift product discovery both as a founder and as an established PM.

Because he knows what PMs are going through, Aakash has pragmatic advice on how to talk to customers as an overburdened, burnt out PM. :)

We also talk about how we can apply video game psychology (e.g. dying gameplay) to everyday product development. Take a listen!

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Product Discovery and Akash Gupta

01:36 Akash's Journey into Product Management

05:03 Defining Moments in Akash's Product Leadership

09:09 User-Centric Product Discovery at Rap to Beats

18:23 Impactful Features and Gamification in Product Development

31:43 Insights from Epic Games and the Psychology of Gaming

40:50 Enhancing Player Experience through AI and Matchmaking

43:52 The Psychology of Failure and Game Design

47:29 The Importance of Playtesting in Game Development

51:04 Navigating User Research in Large Organizations

54:13 Leveraging Data for Product Discovery

58:21 Building Effective Customer Feedback Loops

01:01:43 The Role of Research in Product Management

01:05:01 Democratizing User Research for Product Managers

01:09:18 Balancing Analytics and Customer Conversations

01:13:49 Creating a Continuous Feedback Loop with Customers

Where to find Aakash:

* LinkedIn

* Aakash’s newsletter at Product-growth.com

* Aakash’s podcast

* Book: The Ultimate Guide to Getting a PM Job

Listen now on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.

Sometimes you can play all your cards right, and the product will still fail.

We kick off 2025 with a New Years episode of the Product Discovery Show. In this episode, Stacey Feero, Director of Product at AgencyAnalytics, talks about a 0-to-1 product she built for Canada’s largest retailer.

Stacey walks through how she identified the cause behind the product not taking off (spoiler alert: user insights), how she iterated on it, how it got to $20M ARR, and how it still got shut down. She shares valuable lessons throughout that journey on managing stakeholder expectations and matching the product to user mental models.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Product Leadership

06:05 Transitioning into Product Management

13:03 Challenges in User Experience and Market Fit

19:59 Adapting to User Needs and Market Changes

25:48 Strategic Marketing and Product Positioning

31:39 Navigating Product Development Timelines

36:53 The Importance of Timing in Product Success

44:25 Transforming User Mindsets for Product Success

50:00 Lessons from Product Launch Failures

56:46 The Role of Curiosity in Product Management

Where to find Stacey:

* LinkedIn

* No Fear Product Leadership - Coaching

* Stacey’s Substack newsletter

Summary

What do you mean, that adding screens sometimes drives more user growth?

In this episode of the Product Discovery Show, Maria Cuasay, Director of Product at Ancestry, shares how she did product discovery to discover why her growth experiments weren't working.

Maria shares several case studies: one where she optimized the checkout flow at Ancestry and adding more screens actually solved more user pain points. She also shares an immersive way of de-risking physical mail marketing at Opencare. Throughout the episode, she shares practical tips for those looking to launch successful products.

Chapters:

00:00Introduction to Product Discovery

01:10Maria's Evolution as a Product Leader

03:17Defining Moments in Maria's Career

07:44Building vs. Scaling: Maria's Preference

09:47The Role of Product Discovery at Ancestry

10:37Understanding Ancestry's Business Model

11:29Optimizing the Checkout Flow

12:55The Importance of Qualitative Insights

19:14Transforming Insights into Action

27:23Lessons Learned from Experimentation

28:57Reducing Mental Friction for Better Conversion

30:36Building Reputation and Expanding Remit

31:50Innovative User Insights at OpenCare

34:58De-risking Direct Mail Marketing

39:15Rapid Iteration in User Research

42:33The Importance of Clear Copywriting

46:05Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Data

50:59Structuring Insights with Opportunity Solution Tree

54:45The Balance of Discovery and Execution