The LaunchNotes Podcast | Product Management, Product Marketing, Product Ops

Steve, Teddy, Blake, and Jake discuss a variety of product launch tactics, including waitlists, beta programs, communities, and cold outreach for getting the word out. They dive deep into how and when to use Product Hunt, and Jake shares some outside-of-the-box ideas to help move the needle on product launches.

🔗 Links

📝 Show notes

(00:00) - Introductions

(03:08) - Beta programs and pre-launch activities

(07:37) - Beta programs and pre-launch activities

(13:56) - Nailing product screenshots

(20:14) - Events and conferences

(24:16) - The power of cold outreach

(26:35) - The power of cold outreach

(31:40) - Thoughts on Product Hunt

(38:18) - Thinking outside of the box

Blake and Steve discuss some of the findings in the recently published 2023 Future of Product Management report. They specifically talk about the downturn in hiring, average working hours, the cost of replacing a product manager, and more.

📝 Show notes

(00:00) - Introductions

(15:28) - Trends around customer acquisition cost

Blake Thorne (@blakethorne - https://twitter.com/blakethorne) of LaunchNotes talks with Dani Grant (co-founder of Jam, previously of Cloudflare) about the transition from product manager to founder. Dani share’s some of the things you miss when you become a founder, and she explains how her small team works quickly by leveraging internal betas.

📝 Show notes

(00:00) - Introductions

(03:19) - Things Dani wishes she knew transitioning from PM to founder

(11:40) - Working faster with fewer people and internal betas

(20:52) - Some of the sacrifices of being a founder

(25:31) - What does a good founder / PM relationship look like?

(35:37) - What's happening at Jam?

Blake Thorne (@blakethorne - https://twitter.com/blakethorne) of LaunchNotes talks with Rian van der Merwe (Postmark, ActiveCampaign) about his journey into product management and transitioning into a GM role. Rian also shares how they close the loop with customers on feature requests.

📝 Show notes

(00:00) - Introductions

(08:38) - Getting started in product management

(15:48) - Rian's book about product management

(23:00) - Empowering teams to make critical decisions

(25:12) - The value of writing

(30:13) - From product management to GM

(34:39) - Staying close to customers

Blake and Steve chat with Blake Ziolkowski (of LaunchNotes’ sales team) about competitive intelligence. Blake Z. also shares his number one question to ask competitive customers.

🔗 Links

📝 Show notes

(00:00) - Introductions

(01:45) - Where does competitive intel work best within a sales team?

(09:45) - Customer success as a differentiator

(11:22) - Balancing the type and amount of competitive intel you share

(16:28) - The best question to ask competitive customers

(20:24) - Thoughts on ROI surveys

(31:53) - Picking up patterns in customer feedback

(34:05) - Sharing customer insights internally

(39:02) - Finding product market fit in a competitive market

Steve Klein (@stevenklein - https://twitter.com/blakethorne) of LaunchNotes talks with Andy McCotter-Bicknell (Head of Competitive Intel @ ClickUp) about how competitive research can help sharpen your product strategy, and how to effectively do it at your company.

📝 Show notes

(00:00) - Introductions

(03:07) - Building a competitive intelligence program

(05:53) - Should you focus on competitors?

(15:34) - 3 sources for gathering competitive intel

(23:15) - Tips for building a win/loss program

(28:46) - Tips for ensuring customer research insights don’t go dormant

(36:07) - Thoughts on G2 and Capterra

(43:18) - Tips for requesting an interview

(46:03) - How do you learn about a competitor’s pricing model when they don't publish it on their website?

(49:04) - How does competitive intel change over the size and growth of a company?

(50:42) - Andy's course on competitive intel

Blake Thorne (@blakethorne - https://twitter.com/blakethorne) of LaunchNotes talks with Fran Rosch (https://www.linkedin.com/in/franrosch/ - CEO of ForgeRock, previously of Symantec), about what he expects from product leaders. They discuss important traits of product leaders, and Fran shares his thoughts on defining vision, purpose, mission, and strategy.

📝 Show notes

(00:00) - Introductions

(02:32) - What do CEOs look for from product leaders?

(05:32) - Leveraging qualitative data to drive company & product strategy

(12:10) - Strategy frameworks

(15:22) - The important trait of “judgment” in product management

(12:34) - What Fran is most excited about right now at ForgeRock

(23:25) - Thoughts on vision, purpose, mission, and strategy

(29:55) - General availability tips from a CEO

Blake Thorne (@blakethorne - https://twitter.com/blakethorne) of LaunchNotes talks with Yi Wang of Journeey about her path to becoming a founder and how she has built an audience by creating a dialogue early on. Yi also shares some tips for new founders who are getting started with building a product.

📝 Show notes

(00:00) - Introductions

(05:56) - Becoming a founder

(07:47) - Collecting feedback early on

(14:42) - The importance of targeting communication with your users

(20:21) - Advice for new founders

Blake Thorne (@blakethorne - https://twitter.com/blakethorne) of LaunchNotes talks with Daniel Liem about his experience working on products at Uber and Linear. Daniel shares insights on how Uber managed to ship fast while scaling quickly and he gives listeners tips on how to work smarter by leveraging automation.

🔗 Links

📝 Show notes

(00:00) - Introductions

(08:29) - How uber shipped quickly

(13:02) - Striking a balance between ambition and scalability

(25:20) - Vision, persistence, and automation

(33:11) - Working smarter with more automation

Blake Thorne (@blakethorne - https://twitter.com/blakethorne) of LaunchNotes talks with Rahul Chhabria (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulchhabria/) of Sentry (formerly Atlassian and Apple) about the diverse career path that lead him to tech, including roles in product, marketing, and growth.

📝 Show notes

(00:00) - Introductions

(06:05) - Starting a career in tech

(13:25) - Building relationships with engineers as a product manager

(23:25) - From product management to product marketing

(31:15) - From product marketing to growth

(37:45) - Advice for new product managers

(39:05) - Rahul’s favorite products