Until the Ice Cream Truck

In this episode, Glenn and Howard talk about taking a balanced approach to hot new technology - even when everyone around you (especially your business partners) is all in on the promise.

What does it mean to be data-driven? That is the topic of this episode. Howard and Glenn delve into what it means from an organizational perspective and how it impacts product and engineering. We talk about quantitive and qualitative data, the value of each, and how they are connected. And, we discuss some of the problems in over-indexing on one or the other such as missing out on understanding why you are seeing what you are seeing. Another topic we explore is the danger of confirmation bias in interpreting the data. And we can't forget product analytics, metrics, KPIS, OKRS, and DORA. Just some of the many topics we touch on in this jam-packed session!

Links:

• Striking a balance between Quantitative and Qualitative data
• Product Analytics
  • Amplitude
  • Pendo
  • Heap
• DORA
• OKRs

After a LONG hiatus, we're back and this time we're seriously serious about sticking to keep this going. Unlike the last time when we were just serious. Seriously! We thought we could jump back on a topic that is truly unique, something you've never heard of. Drum roll........Gen AI! Join us for a lively conversation about Gen AI. Will it destroy the world?

Has Skynet truly arrived?

What are these agent things? We'll answer these questions and more and also shed some light on our experiences in using Gen AI and what tools we recommend. Links from the episode

• ChatGPT
• Claude
• Github Copilot
• TabNine
• CodeScene (A very cool tool Howard and I talked about offline)
• Nilou Salehi's talk on "LLMs for Product Managers" (Reliable AI)

Roadmaps, why do we have them? Do they help? Is there a better way to do them? These are all topics near and dear to Janna Bastow's heart. We're honored to have her as our guest.

In this episode, we go deep into talking about the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of traditional roadmaps, and about her pioneering Now Next Later approach. The show is full of gems and insights from Jenna on how to build great products and reduce waste. Thank you Janna! Enjoy!

SHOW LINKS:

Why I invented the Now-Next-Later Roadmap

ProdPad

Perfecting product roadmaps with Janna Bastow

Minimum Viable Product, what is it that all about? In this episode, Howard and Glenn dive in:

• What is MVP and its purpose?
• Where does the term come from?
• What common misconceptions, misunderstandings, and fallacies about MVP?
• How does MVP relate to tech debt and scale?
• What are the variations of MVP? Minimum Lovable Product, Minimum Effective Dose, Minimum Marketable product

We had a great exchange of ideas and shared our raw personal experiences and perspectives. Enjoy!

SHOW LINKS:

• The Lean Startup
• A Review Of The Minimum Viable Product Approach
• The Minimum Lovable Product
• The Minimum Effective Dose
• My short interview with Nils Davis on MED

In this episode, Glenn and Howard talk about the value of mentoring, both in serving as a mentor as well as having a network of mentors who can help in various aspects of personal and professional life. Additionally, mentorship and coaching are compared from the perspective of both techniques used and expectations set. Show links Men: want to increase diversity in tech? Be a mentor

Let's talk about Mentoring - Cascadia JS

Supporting black employees with mentorship

GROW Model

It's been a while, but Glenn and Howard are back at it, and in this episode are answering some of the questions sent in by you! To send in a question for a possible future episode, email us at [email protected].

Some resources mentioned in this episode include:

• Atomic Habits
• Traction

In this episode, Howard and Glenn spend some time talking about the leadership principles they apply in their roles as managers of people and as leaders within their respective disciplines. The guys also spend a few minutes talking about some of the tech behind producing the podcast.

You can reach us with questions or comments at [email protected].

Some resources mentioned in this episode include:

• https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6452796-drive
• https://youtu.be/u6XAPnuFjJc
• https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/949515.Coaching_for_Performance
• https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29342515-the-coaching-habit

In this episode, Glenn interviews our first guest on the show, Jessica Tucker. Jessica transitioned into tech as a software engineer and then moved into more of a product role. She's now left her corp job, has her own tech consulting company and has launched her own wearable-tech company! We have a rich conversation on her journey, what she learned moving into different roles and becoming an entrepreneur, also what it means to be a Black woman in tech, and the challenges and trauma that Black women face navigating the tech world.

I, II, Senior, Staff, Principal, Distinguished, Fellow.....ahhhh!! What does it all mean? In this episode, Glenn and Howard take a look at the various levels and titles found in many technology companies and then break it all down into some guiding principles for thinking about leveling at your own organization. We delve into topics like what the difference is between levels and bands, how levels match up when you switch roles or move from a different geo, how levels equate to pay, fixed vs variable comp, and we touch on the elephant in the room, the pay gap. Don't miss this episode! Resources: Levels.fyi - Compare different levels across large tech orgs

https://faangpath.com/blog/faang-companies-salary-bands/ - On bands for Faang companies

https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-106041 - On the gender pay gap