In this episode of The Product Leader’s Edge, KJ Green sits down with Miriam Odabe, Founder and Principal Consultant at Rethink Strategy, to explore how startups and modern businesses should approach go-to-market strategy in the age of AI.

Drawing from experience across entrepreneurship, global campaigns, and growth strategy, Miriam breaks down why many startups struggle to scale, why product managers are closer to marketers than they realize, and why storytelling still matters more than features.

The conversation explores the intersection of:

product strategy

customer behavior

AI

positioning

founder-led growth

product-market fit

modern go-to-market systems

Together, KJ and Miriam discuss:

Why AI is not a differentiator on its own

The biggest mistakes founders make when building products

Why startups often overbuild instead of refining strategy

The relationship between product management and marketing

Why product-market fit comes before branding

The future of AI-powered go-to-market teams

How storytelling drives adoption and scale

This episode also introduces a broader conversation around Applied AI Foundations — exploring how AI, product thinking, and strategy are reshaping the future of business.

Key Moments

00:00 — Introduction to Miriam Odabe & Rethink Strategy 07:20 — Big brands vs startup go-to-market strategy 10:45 — Questions founders should ask before building 14:50 — “Product managers are marketers” 19:30 — When strategy matters more than adding features 25:30 — Why startups should sell outcomes, not features 29:00 — AI is not a differentiator if it’s not packaged correctly 34:15 — The future of AI and go-to-market strategy 40:45 — Marketing Myth or Must? 45:15 — Closing reflections

Connect with Miriam Odabe

LinkedIn Website Marketing on a Budget on Substack

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In this episode, I break down why most founders build too early and how experimentation is the real path to product market fit.

This is Part II of the Product Market Fit series, focused on how to validate what you’re building before you invest in a full product.

I walk through how to design simple experiments, what to measure, and how to remove bias from the building process. I also share lessons from building Cele, where testing shifted our product from an app to a website, and how that decision improved adoption.

I also talk about how we approached experimentation at Amazon through PR FAQs and written strategy documents, and why testing ideas before building is critical.

We cover how to use lightweight tools like prototypes and landing pages to validate ideas, and why behavior matters more than opinions when you’re trying to understand your customer.

Finally, I touch on the role of AI and why it won’t give you product market fit without a clear problem and a real user.

Product market fit is not luck. It’s iteration.

Key Takeaways

* Most founders build too early

* Testing is cheaper than building

* You are not your customer

* Start with a clear hypothesis

* Measure behavior, not opinions

* Product market fit comes from iteration

In this episode

* Why experimentation matters

* How to design a simple experiment

* Lessons from building Cele

* How Amazon tests ideas before building

* Prototyping without writing code

* Why AI won’t solve product market fit

Call to Action

If you’re building right now, run one experiment this week. Talk to users. Test something small. Watch behavior. Adjust.

Connect

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Episode Description

Product-market fit is one of the most talked about concepts in product—but one of the least understood.

In Part 1 of this series, KJ breaks down how product-market fit actually begins—starting with customer discovery, market understanding, and early MVP experimentation.

Before growth and traction, it all comes down to one thing:

Understanding.

What You’ll Learn

* Why product-market fit is often misunderstood

* How to approach customer discovery and market research

* What an MVP really is (and isn’t)

* Why your “why” matters when building something new

Next Episode

Part 2 explores how to recognize, strengthen, and scale product-market fit over time.

Final Thought

Product-market fit doesn’t start with growth.

It starts with understanding.

Episode Summary

In this episode of The Product Leader’s Edge, KJ sits down with Senior Product Manager Travell Williams to explore what product leaders can learn from engineers.

From a non-traditional path (humanities → engineering → product), Travell breaks down how builders think — and why empathy, resilience, and ownership are the real edge in modern product leadership.

Episode Description

In this episode of The Product Leader’s Edge, KJ Green sits down with product leader Kyle Sinno for a candid conversation about the intersection of product leadership and life.

Rather than focusing purely on frameworks or tactics, this conversation explores the human side of building products—how product leaders think, make decisions, navigate challenges, and grow through the work.

KJ and Kyle reflect on lessons from the product journey, the realities of working in technology, and the experiences that shape how leaders approach both their careers and their lives.

This episode is part of the ongoing exploration of what it really means to lead products in a rapidly evolving technology landscape.

This episode is different.

No guest.

No script.

No formal structure.

Just a voice note.

In this bonus episode, I talk through what Season 1 of The Product Leader’s Edge is really about — beyond the episode titles and sequencing.

I reflect on:

Why product leadership is a unitary discipline across industriesHow the Builders Series fits into the larger thesisWhy “Product & Life” exists in the middle of the seasonThe role of judgment in long-term leadershipWhat I’m learning as I build this in real timeThis isn’t polished.

It’s not framework-heavy.

It’s process.

Sometimes clarity shows up mid-thought. This episode captures one of those moments.

If you’ve been following Season 1, I’d love to hear what’s resonating.

More soon.

In this inaugural episode of The Product Leader’s Edge, KJ Green introduces the core idea behind the show and the framework that defines great product leadership.

He shares his journey into product management, why product leadership is more than a job title, and what listeners can expect from future episodes.

The Product Leader’s Edge is a podcast for builders, operators, and leaders navigating the intersection of product, cloud, AI, and modern technology organizations.

The Product Leader’s Edge Podcast — Official Trailer

There is a moment every product leader encounters.

It’s late. The roadmap is uncertain. The data is incomplete. The stakes are real.

And the decision is yours.

The Product Leader’s Edge is a podcast about that moment.

Hosted by KJ Green, product leader and builder at the intersection of technology, business, and emerging systems, this podcast explores what it truly means to lead in an era defined by artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and continuous technological disruption.

This is not a podcast about frameworks alone. It is about judgment.It is about responsibility.It is about the discipline of building products that shape companies—and, ultimately, the future.

Each episode explores the thinking behind great product leadership: how leaders navigate uncertainty, scale systems, and make decisions when there is no clear playbook. From conversations on AI and cloud infrastructure to reflections on leadership, innovation, and execution, The Product Leader’s Edge is designed for those operating—or preparing to operate—at the highest levels of product and technology.

This is where product leaders are forged.

What You’ll Gain

Insight into how elite product leaders think and make decisions

Perspective on how AI and cloud are reshaping the product landscape

Mental models for building and scaling enduring products

Lessons on leadership, innovation, and long-term execution

A front-row seat to the evolving discipline of product leadership

Timestamps

00:00 — The defining moment of product leadership00:40 — Why this podcast exists01:10 — The intersection of product leadership, AI, and cloud

Listen to The Product Leader’s Edge PodcastSubstack: https://substack.com/@insidesolostar?utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-page

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-product-leaders-edge-podcast/id1812236538Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/119bHN6Q6OyXtnCDVuzdpiYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5TiyD1otnqeBO_iWXb7cMxoP7R68ZCFj

Connect with KJ Green:LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kjgreenNewsletter: https://substack.com/@insidesolostar?utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-page

Contact Information:

Email: [email protected]