Product management isn't about building features. It's about orchestrating the entire lifecycle from idea to withdrawal.

The technical build is the easy part. 

The real challenge is changing organisations, processes, and people to deliver something customers actually want.

In this episode of "A Few Good People,"  we venture into a masterclass on the product development lifecycle with industry veterans Andrew and Kieron. With a combined half a century of experience in telecoms, tech, and more, they share invaluable insights on navigating the complex journey from idea conception to product retirement. 

🎯 On the Docket:

00:00:00 - Introduction to product lifecycle management

00:04:00 - Ideation: Where great ideas really come from and why some fail

00:20:00 - Strategy: Aligning the organisation and setting priorities

00:44:20 - Definition: Turning concepts into executable plans

01:01:20 - Build & Development: Why it's not just about the technology

01:20:40 - Launch: Strategies for successful market entry

01:35:20 - Early Life Support vs. General Availability

01:44:40 - End of Life: Recognising signals and managing withdrawal

⚡ Key Insights:

Why great ideas typically come from individuals but become "great" through team validation

How "exaptation" (repurposing something for a different use) drives major innovations

The critical difference between software product management and "full" product management

Why physical, in-person collaboration trumps virtual meetings for critical product decisions

How AI is shifting the bottleneck from technical development to organisational change

The importance of maintaining customer relationships during product withdrawal

Why portfolio management matters: Sometimes products exist just to complete your offering

💬 Notable Quotes:

"I don't believe great ideas come from committees. There's a time for a committee, but great ideas usually come from an individual having a moment where they think of something." - Andrew

"Much of the complexity in a launch is not about the technology—it's about the ability to deliver that technology in a way that's great for employees and customers." - Kieron

"For the same reasons, a product manager is the champion of their product. They commit blood, sweat, and tears to it, and it's hard to give up. It's almost like losing a child." - Kieron

"The most bullish thing would be to plan for your product's replacement from the beginning." - Andrew

"It's important to make sure the customer experience for the end-of-life phase is just as important as the launch phase. It's often the poorer sibling." - Kieron

🔗 Where to find A Few Good People:AFGP: https://www.afewgoodpeople.co.uk/ Andrew Radley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-radley-6ab365/Kieron McCann: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieronmccann/

In this episode, we sit down with Cory Johnson from Synthesia for a candid exploration of content creation, email marketing psychology, and the surprising evolution of LinkedIn. Discover how his unconventional "anti-LinkedIn" approach has made his feed one of the most engaging on the platform and the strategies behind successfully sending 14 million emails last year.

🎯 On the Docket:

00:00:00 - LinkedIn's evolution from formal network to platform for authenticity and satire

00:05:40 - How Ken Chang's boundary-pushing corporate parody influenced a movement

00:10:20 - Navigating the fine line between workplace satire and potential offense

00:15:30 - Why LinkedIn's algorithm works fundamentally differently than other platforms

00:20:00 - Email marketing psychology: effective hooks vs manipulative tactics

00:29:40 - Creating genuine personal connection through automated communication

00:36:40 - Why AI-generated content "reverts to the mean" and fails at distinctive marketing

00:45:20 - How creative writing practice directly informs professional communication

00:54:00 - When to NOT email your customers (and why restraint builds trust)

⚡ Key Points: Why LinkedIn might unexpectedly become Twitter's true successor

Email remains resilient because it creates a personal space for one-on-one communication

The most effective hooks speak to individual motivations rather than corporate goals

Shorter emails with strategic bold text create dual reading paths for different attention spans

Great marketing requires understanding the human behind the work persona

AI-generated content typically produces generic corporate language that lacks engagement

Embracing "artificial constraints" in writing leads to more creative outcomes

The importance of asking "why should the customer care?" before any communication

💬 Notable Quotes:

"People are more intelligent than we give them credit for. People are more than ever aware that there's a lot of bullshit in the world."

"The most bullshit hooks are the ones that get flagged by spam filters."

"If you write a fundraising announcement email, you've lost a bunch of people to unsubscribes that you'll never be able to pitch with email again."

"Embrace the cringe. The cringe only exists if you give it power."

"The worst emails are the ones that have no point beyond corporate self-congratulation."

🔗 Where to find Cory:

LinkedIn

Product management isn't just about building something new. It's about managing the entire lifecycle from idea to obsolescence.Most technology vendors obsess over creation but forget to plan for death. The best ones eat their own children before someone else does.In this episode of A Few Good People, we dive deep into the world of technology productisation and the complete product lifecycle. Andrew and Kieron share invaluable insights on managing products from conception to retirement, revealing why the often-overlooked end-of-life phase might be the most critical part of product management.🎯 On the Docket:00:00:00 - Welcome back00:06:32 - The complete product lifecycle: from idea to development to end-of-life00:12:30 - Why end-of-life management is critical yet often forgotten in product strategy00:19:35 - Real examples: Managing a challenging network technology end-of-life process00:27:20 - The importance of having an end-of-life strategy when products decline00:33:42 - How technology evolves in waves: from mainframes to cloud to AI00:40:00 - Why you should never use a vendor's own professional services00:44:40 - Working with Adobe: Building solutions to address platform shortcomings00:51:40 - The complex vendor-implementation partner relationship dynamics00:57:20 - Why technology selection should start with business needs, not tools01:00:59 - A critique of how technology vendors typically sell their products⚡ Key Points:Product management extends far beyond creation to include the entire lifecycleEnd-of-life strategies can significantly impact profitability and customer relationshipsImplementation partners often understand customer needs better than the vendors themselvesStarting with business requirements rather than available tools leads to better technology decisionsEffective product lifecycle management requires balancing innovation with support for legacy systemsVendor-partner dynamics create both friction and value for end customersThe most successful technology implementations focus on business outcomes, not feature listsCreative obsolescence management can extend product value far beyond intended lifecycles💬 Notable Quotes:"The end-of-life phase isn't the end of your responsibility—it's where your commitment to customers is truly tested.""Never ever use the vendors professional services.""Technology selection should start with what you're trying to achieve, not staring at tools and deciding what to use.""Vendors sell what they have. Partners sell what you need. That's the fundamental difference.""The most valuable product managers aren't those who launch products—they're those who can gracefully retire them."🔗 Where to find A Few Good People:AFGP: https://www.afewgoodpeople.co.uk/ Andrew Radley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-radley-6ab365/ Kieron McCann: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieronmccann/———————Random links about me🌍 My Articles - https://medium.com/@virajacharya📸 My Instagram - https://instagram.com/virajacharya🐦 My Twitter - https://twitter.com/Viraj__Acharya📱 My TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@viraj_acharyaVenturesNothing ventured, Nothing gainedGET IN TOUCH:If you’d like to talk, I’d love to hear from you. Instagram @virajacharya directly will be the quickest way to get a response!☕️ In-person - I love meeting up with people in real life. So here's a standing offer - if you fancy taking a trip to London (UK) & want to chat, I'll buy you a coffee, no questions asked. Drop me a dm on Instagram (@virajacharya) and include [Coffee] as the first line, and we can work something out.

Elaf Deyab, co-founder @ Caspa AI shares how AI-generated imagery is affecting e-commerce product photography. With deep expertise spanning engineering, Goldman Sachs, and digital marketing, we unpack the surprising truths about traditional product photography costing brands over $200,000 annually. Discover why hyper-personalisation drives 40% higher conversion rates, how a simple AI upload can replace entire photoshoots spanning multiple countries, and why even established brands often resist fully embracing AI-generated content despite the clear ROI.

This is more than theory — it's a roadmap for dramatically reduced marketing costs, expanded product lines, and culturally-relevant imagery that connects with diverse audiences.

Plus: Could your future shopping experience show products exclusively modelled by people who look like you, in weather conditions matching your location?

🎯 On the Docket:

00:00:00 - The engineering-to-AI founder journey

00:01:20 - Deep learning dissertation that sparked it all

00:05:40 - How Caspa began as an AI photo agency

00:08:30 - Challenges in the competitive AI image space

00:11:40 - Hyper-personalisation driving 40% conversion improvements

00:15:05 - How the Vietnam-US retailer case study transformed their business

00:21:40 - Technical approach: multiple AI models for product accuracy

00:27:30 - Building for future scale and expansion

00:32:00 - The shopping experience five years from now

00:37:40 - Overcoming "AI tourism" and building customer trust

00:45:20 - Advice for female founders and entrepreneurs

00:48:30 - Quick-fire insights on books, productivity and future tech

⚡ Key Points:

• Traditional product photography requires 13+ tools, 5+ employees, and $200k+ annually
• Many businesses fail to realise personalised imagery by demographic boosts conversions by 40%
• Caspa uses 10 different AI models working together to ensure product accuracy and realism
• Creating AI "brand characters" provides a consistent representation across all marketing materials
• The future isn't just about saving money but freeing time to launch more products and grow faster
• AI democratises entrepreneurship, potentially enabling "billion-dollar companies with teams of 5-20 people"
• Data-driven insights across brands will reveal which visual approaches convert best by market

💬 Notable Quotes:

1. "A lot of independent people could do this themselves... who maybe aren't super interested in running crazy unicorn startups but are interested in making more money on the side and having a better work-life balance."
2. "Hyper-personalisation with AI is happening. It's just hands down going to happen."
3. "If somebody questions the churn for a high-growth AI company, maybe they're not looking at the bigger picture."

🔗 Where to find Elaf:

⁠Caspa AI⁠

⁠LinkedIn⁠

📌 Notes:

Elaf studied engineering before joining Goldman Sachs, bringing technical and business expertise

The NFL's Washington Commanders explored using Caspa AI (a surprising use case!)

Sara Blakely (Spanx founder) is Elaf's entrepreneurial inspiration

In this episode, we dive deep into the evolution of marketing and how brands can leverage productisation to transform their marketing operations. Kieron and Andrew share their expert insights on creating effective service catalogs, the changing landscape of marketing roles, and how AI is ushering in what they call "the third age of marketing."

🎯 On the Docket:00:00:00 - The historical evolution of marketing from ancient times to AI-driven campaigns00:05:30 - Breaking down the three distinct ages of marketing evolution00:12:15 - How to identify repeatable marketing activities for your organisation00:18:45 - Building structured service catalogues that improve transparency00:24:30 - Transforming brand-agency relationships through clear expectations00:31:20 - How productisation dramatically improves marketing economics00:38:50 - Practical steps for CMOs to implement a service catalogue approach00:45:10 - AI's impact on reshaping marketing team structures and responsibilities00:52:30 - The increasing value of human creativity in an automated world00:58:45 - Why knowing what NOT to do becomes crucial in an age of content abundance

⚡ Key Points:

• Productisation normalises definitions and establishes predictable pricing
• Service catalogues create clarity around dependencies and expected outcomes
• The third age of marketing requires fundamentally different operational approaches
• AI will transform marketing roles, but won't replace human strategic thinking
• Marketing economics improve dramatically with structured service approaches
• Clear service definitions lead to better brand-agency relationships
• The future marketer needs both technical and creative capabilities

💬 Notable Quotes:"Marketing has evolved from artisanal craft to industrial process, and we're now entering an era where it becomes computational.""The most valuable marketing skill of the future may be knowing what NOT to create in a world of infinite content possibilities.""Productisation isn't about commoditization—it's about creating space for true creativity by systematising the repeatable.""When you have a service catalogue, you transform marketing from a black box into a transparent, strategic function.""In the third age of marketing, your competitive advantage comes from how you orchestrate capabilities, not just what you create."

🔗 Where to Andrew & Kieron:

AFGP

Andrew Radley

Kieron McCann

Jay Singh, CEO @ Casper Studios explains how product development in the creator economy is ripe for building. With years of experience from LinkedIn's verification team to his own venture, we unpack the surprising truths about building profitable products with creators. Discover why professionals avoiding AI tools will soon be left behind, how voice interfaces create our most natural technological connections, and why even established companies often resist the acceleration AI brings to product cycles.

This is more than theory, it's a roadmap for creators to diversify revenue streams and developers to compress months of work into days.

Plus: What happens when you combine massive creator audiences with day-one product launches?

🎯 On the Docket:

• 00:00:00 - AI as a tool vs. collaborator in professional life
• 00:03:40 - Personal AI workflows and potential risks
• 00:06:00 - Voice as the future interface for AI interactio
• 00:09:50 - LinkedIn quarter head start and early AI exploration
• 00:14:20 - Origins of the Chrome extension that sparked his business
• 00:17:10 - LinkedIn's verification system origins and importance
• 00:24:30 - Building products with top creators at Casper Studios
• 00:29:40 - Can non-technical people build products with AI alone?
• 00:36:40 - Scaling challenges when launching with creator audiences

⚡ Key Points:

1. Professionals not using AI will soon become less valuable in the workforce
2. Before replacing jobs, AI makes work more enjoyable by eliminating tedious tasks
3. Voice is our most natural form of expression, making it ideal for AI interaction
4. There's a fine line between AI productivity and emotional dependency
5. Creator audiences provide instant distribution but require production-ready scale
6. Traditional product development playbooks still apply but can now run at AI speed
7. Revenue generation matters more than follower count when evaluating creator opportunities

💬 Notable Quotes:

"Before people get replaced with AI, they're likely just going to have more fun at their job because of AI. Because it kind of gets rid of all the bullshit."

"I think if we had the technology to speak to our software, we would have never learned how to type."

"The risks are you become fully dependent on this product because nobody else can understand you to the level that this AI can."

🔗 Where to find JPT:

Casper Studios

Jay Singh———————Random links about me🌍 Newsletter

From burnout to breakthrough!

Andrew and Kieron of "A Few Good People" reveal how shifting from time-based billing to value-based offerings is transforming the agency landscape.

With 40+ years of combined experience, we unpack the counterintuitive truths about client relationships that most service businesses miss.

Discover why "people-pleasing" destroys value, how a simple menu approach can boost profits by 17%, and why even creative agencies resist the very innovation they preach.

This masterclass in productisation isn't just theory, it's a roadmap for higher margins, happier clients, & more satisfied teams.

Plus: will AI accelerate this revolution or render it obsolete?

On the Docket:

• 00:00:00 - Introduction and discussion of service business challenges
• 00:05:21 - The evolution of advertising business models since the Mad Men era
• 00:15:46 - What prompted the founders to focus on productisation
• 00:19:04 - The restaurant menu analogy: why productisation creates better client experiences
• 00:23:43 - How to explain productisation to someone who's always used billable hours
• 00:27:23 - The language barrier between agencies and clients
• 00:32:00 - How a productised sales conversation differs from traditional approaches
• 00:37:42 - Case study: Transforming "aftercare" into "solution support"
• 00:50:00 - Common resistance to productisation and how to overcome it
• 01:06:40 - Addressing the objection that "you can't productise creativity"
• 01:13:36 - When a client is ready for productisation
• 01:21:22 - Misconceptions about product management
• 01:26:13 - Predictions for service businesses in the next decade

Key Points:

The fundamental misunderstanding in service businesses

"Being nice to someone is in some way encouraging them to be nice back... They try to keep their customers happy in ways that are detrimental to themselves, and they assume the customer notices, appreciates it, and will pay back that niceness."

Why people-pleasing doesn't work

"It's called people-pleasing, but what it's actually doing is behaving in a submissive sort of manner, which doesn't tend to generate long-term happy relationships."

The restaurant menu approach to offering services

"If you invert that to how a normal restaurant tends to work, it gives you a menu. It says proactively 'these are the things we've designed that we know we can do really well, would you like one?' This creates a positive customer experience but also means the kitchen has some ability to repeat things which makes them efficient."

The surprising outcomes of productisation

"Our relationship with them got better... The employees working on that client were also happier... The customer actually spent more in aggregate... We improved our margins from about 65 per cent to about 82 per cent - all whilst keeping the customer happier."

Why language clarity matters

"Most of the time the client is having a conversation with the agency and they think they're saying the same thing, and in reality it's different. I've even seen it to the extent where the customer believes they are buying a business transformation and the agency thinks they're delivering a website."

The shift away from time-based billing

"In the new model they didn't get to see any of that data, they just saw that a ticket got open and got closed in the timeline that we said it would be. We only now focused on things that didn't work... A relationship with them got significantly better because we were focused on the value we were delivering to the customer, not the amount of time taken."

Where to find Andrew & Kireon

AFGP: https://www.afewgoodpeople.co.uk/

Andrew Radley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-radley-6ab365/

Kieran McCann: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieronmccann/

I'm joined by Matthias, co-founder of Avalana, who shares his journey building a startup in the video editing space & the lessons learned from previous ventures. We discuss how building in public has driven surprising growth, his approach to remote work, and his perspective on AI's impact on creativity.Timestamps:00:00 - Intro and rap01:26 - Experience from previous startups and focusing on one thing02:55 - Evolution of success definition04:47 - Most valuable daily habits (morning runs and sauna)07:28 - Managing expectations while building a startup14:42 - Content strategy and the unexpected benefits of building in public24:42 - Human creativity vs AI generated work in video editing42:34 - Building in Switzerland vs Silicon Valley47:22 - Remote work practices that work (and what they rejected)52:53 - Insights from shadowing video editors and product developmentKey Points:Focus is everything for startup success"I'd say my biggest failure was just doing a lot of things okay to good, but not really building anything to its biggest potential."Redefine success beyond external validationMatthias shifted from "How can I make money as fast as possible?" to "How can I be happy, build what I'm passionate about with people I enjoy working with?"Remote-first works with the right structureTheir approach: Monday/Tuesday/Friday standups, Wednesday deep dives, and no meetings on Thursdays for focused work.Building in public creates unexpected advantages"We have every week somebody wanting to apply either as a video editor, product engineer, or designer for free" - all from sharing the startup journey through vlogs.AI will amplify rather than replace human creativity"Finding the story" will remain the most valuable skill for creators as AI handles technical tasks.Europe offers startup advantages over Silicon ValleyLower talent costs, better work-life balance, and cultural diversity create a strong foundation for building sustainably.Taste is developed through intentional consumption"Be very conscious of how you consume... think why does this speak to me? Why does this not speak to me?"Notable Quotes:"The older you get, the more you learn to say no just because you said yes too many times.""I don't think you need to work 12 hours a day seven days a week to be successful.""The bigger you are, the more your personal brand matters, and the more that is directly connected with the value of your brand."

I just spent some time with the latest NotebookLM update, and I'm genuinely excited about how it's changing the way I consume and share information. Let's break it down:

⏱️ Key Timestamps

00:00 - Introduction to NotebookLM's rapid evolution

00:20 - Overview of the new audio control features

00:39 - Benefits for different learning styles

01:05 - NotebookLM basics for new users

01:24 - Audio overview demonstration

01:38 - Custom instructions for focused research

02:06 - Learning preferences and audio benefits

02:47 - Research capacity (up to 50 sources)

03:10 - Use case: podcast guest research

03:36 - Practical demonstration of output

03:54 - Sharing capabilities and content creation

04:18 - Final thoughts on practical applications

What I'm really loving about this update is the improved audio overview feature. Finally, we get actual control over how our audio is generated! This is huge if you're like me and switch between reading and listening depending on the day.

If you're new to NotebookLM, don't worry - I cover the basics around the 1-minute mark. But the real magic happens when you see how you can use this for practical stuff like:

- Researching podcast guests to find those unique angles nobody else covers

- Creating and sharing research summaries without all the manual work- Finding answers to questions that have already been addressed online

- Pulling unique insights from multiple sources (it handles up to 50!)

- Turning your written research into audio content you can share

You can download these audio files, upload them to platforms like Spotify, or share them directly. This makes content creation so much more efficient.

The team at NotebookLM seems to understand that we all learn differently. Some of us need chat-style interaction, others (like me sometimes) need the space to listen and reflect.

Just wrapped an deep dive into OpenAI's new image generation capabilities in GPT-4o, and wow - the game has completely changed. It's got really good at realistic images and copying styles, so I might have to rethink the way I make thumbnails in the future !Key Learnings 🧠The leap from prompt engineering to conversational image creation is a game-changer for workflowContent creators should start experimenting now to stay ahead of the curveThe combination of style consistency + text preservation solves the biggest previous pain pointsHaving reference images dramatically improves results compared to text-only promptsThese tools work best when you understand their strengths and limitations, not as complete replacementsThe accessibility of these tools will raise baseline expectations for visual content quality## Key Timestamps ⏱️00:00 - Introduction to GPT-4o's image capabilities02:15 - First demonstration of style transformations04:37 - Text rendering breakthrough explained07:22 - Real-time image editing demonstrations10:56 - Podcast thumbnail creation walkthrough13:41 - Personal photo transformation experiments17:08 - Marketing material recreation demos20:33 - Multi-lingual text handling limitations22:15 - Future implications for content creators24:46 - How to access these tools yourselfThe Good Stuff The new capabilities completely redefine what's possible with AI image generation:- Studio Ghibli style transformations that maintain original composition- Consistent artistic styles across multiple generations- Preservation of important visual elements from source images- Ability to follow nuanced style guidelines- Real-time previews and iterationsA game-changing improvement over previous models and UI:- Perfect text preservation in transformed images- Maintained font styles across transformations- Accurate rendering of complex typography- Brand name and logo integrity preservation- Multilingual text support (with some limitations)Real-world use cases that impressed me most:- Professional-quality podcast thumbnails in seconds- Brand-consistent marketing materials- Rapid prototyping of visual concepts- Transformation of amateur photos into polished imagery- Custom illustration creation without design skillsA few challenges still being worked out:- Occasional hallucinations in complex transformations- Inconsistencies with certain multilingual character sets- Some limitations with extremely detailed instructions- Variable results with highly specific brand guidelines- Processing time for complex transformationsWhat this means for creative professionals:- Democratised access to professional-quality visuals- Dramatically reduced time for visual content creation- Integration possibilities with existing creative workflows- Potential reshaping of entry-level design positions- New forms of human-AI creative collaborationRandom Thought 🤔What struck me most about these demos wasn't just the technical achievement, but how it transforms the creative process. Three years ago, generating a decent AI image required complex prompts and extensive post-processing. Now I'm watching photos transform into Ghibli masterpieces through a simple conversation. If this is what's possible today, imagine where visual AI will be in another year.