Product Talk

What role does simplifying solutions and learning from failures play in long-term success? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, Turo CPO Tom Wang discusses his journey at Turo and lessons learned along the way. He shares how simplifying solutions and finding bold ways forward have contributed to his success. Tom also opens up about failures, including an early initiative to leverage social media that didn't work out and a mistake that removed too many hosts from the platform. Through these stories, Tom demonstrates the importance of being willing to admit mistakes, learn from them, and move forward. The conversation provides valuable insights for other product leaders on maintaining motivation over many years and navigating challenges with authenticity and care for customers.

Why is it important to foster collaboration between product & engineering teams? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Kaboo Founder Neha Shah, Splunk Senior Software Engineer Rehan Mulla speaks on his experience building products and leading engineering teams. Rehan discusses the importance of collaboration between product managers and engineers to deliver successful products. He shares insights on how building empathy and understanding each other's perspectives through workshops and planning sessions can help engineering and product teams overcome communication challenges and work towards aligned goals. Rehan also offers advice on how engineering leaders can effectively scope projects, communicate risks to stakeholders, and continuously learn to stay on top of the latest technologies.

How can product leaders drive innovation in healthcare? In this episode hosted by Cognizant Product Director Chenny Solaiyappan, SmartRise Health CEO Vanessa Guzman discusses her journey in healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship. She shares how personal experiences motivated her to pursue solutions focused on social determinants of health, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Vanessa also touches on launching Ella Es Health to close gaps in women's healthcare through coaching and navigation services. She emphasizes the importance of adapting to market trends and leveraging accreditation to improve outcomes.

What is unique about leading product in fintech? Join us for the latest episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, where Tipalti CPO Roby Baruch discusses his experience leading product management in the fintech industry. Roby shares the unique challenges of product management in fintech, including the need for deep domain expertise. He also discusses the importance of mentorship throughout his career and a defining product moment that expanded Tipalti's offerings. Additionally, he describes Tipalti's data-driven approach to prioritizing product decisions and validating ideas with customers to ensure the highest priority needs are addressed.

How can product leaders foster customer-centered growth? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Nacho Andrade, New Work SE Fmr. Product Director Thomas Gläser discusses approaches to product strategy, innovation, and growth. Thomas emphasizes the importance of deeply understanding customer needs and jobs to be done over simply analyzing competitors. He advocates developing evidence-based strategies through empathetic customer research rather than making assumptions. Thomas also cautions against common pitfalls like moving too quickly without validation or focusing on internal metrics over market fit. Listeners will learn frameworks for strategic product leadership focusing on customer-centered problem solving to drive meaningful growth.

What lessons can product leaders learn from scaling multiple product businesses? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Sid Shaik, Temporal Technologies Fmr. COO Charles Zedlewski speaks on his career in product management and lessons learned from scaling multiple product businesses. Charles shares insights on becoming a successful PM without a technical background, emphasizing the importance of building technical depth over time. He discusses philosophies for collaborating closely with engineering teams and getting the "soul of the product" to live in their hearts. Charles also talks about his experience scaling Cloudera's Hadoop distribution and lessons from launching new features. Overall, the discussion provides perspectives on product growth strategies, frameworks for conceptualizing customer journeys, and approaches to partnerships between organizations.

How can product leaders navigate product leadership in a regulated healthcare industry? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, Carelon CPO Gautam Shah discusses his approach to product leadership in a highly regulated healthcare industry. He explains how understanding regulations and prioritizing user needs affects product development. Gautam also shares stories about high-impact products he's worked on, including an unlimited telecommunications product and a product supporting vulnerable mental health patients. The discussion provides insights into navigating complex priorities, using customer journeys and personas, and leveraging AI to improve product management effectiveness.

How can product leaders build curious and collaborative teams? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Jonathan Ozeran, Productiv Founder Jody Shapiro discusses his career in product management and insights on building successful teams. He speaks on his diverse educational background and how it led to roles at companies like TiVo and Google. Jody also shares strategies for constructing teams at startups, emphasizing passion and collaboration. Tune in for insights on how data-driven decision making and customer feedback can validate product ideas.

How can product leaders build personalized edtech products? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Kaboo Founder Neha Shah, Dailies Co-Founder & CEO Jessica Shelley shares her inspiration for starting Dailies based on her experience as a teacher, wanting to better engage families in students' learning. She discusses building the initial product team and navigating the transition from teaching to leading a tech startup. The conversation covers challenges like difficult decisions to cut features and lessons learned from experiments. Jessica emphasizes the importance of aligning on long-term vision over short-term gains and hiring candidates committed to the company mission in a startup environment. Listeners gain insights on iterative product development and community involvement for ongoing learning and career growth.

How can product teams manage remote communication? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Deel Director of Product Barbara Bermes, Deel Product Lead Eugene Shulitskyi speaks on managing communication in a remote work environment. They discuss best practices for communicating over Slack in a remote setting, such as using templates, naming conventions, and video recordings. Eugene shares examples of templates used for go-to-market announcements. The conversation also covers avoiding misunderstandings, common pitfalls of remote communication, and tools for streamlining productivity.