Products of Music

The Secret Behind Empress Effects' Legendary Sounds

Fri, 10 Jul 2026 17:00:00 +0100

Welcome to Products of Music, a podcast sharing inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Steve Bragg, founder of Empress Effects, about his founder story, approach to product development, the secrets behind the pristine sounds of Empress pedals, thoughts about the state of the market and much more.

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:21 Intro

02:25 Pedal pricing

02:20 Steve's founder story

05:45 Art versus science in design

07:45 Why surface-mount tech is best

11:25 Why Empress pedals sound 'pristine'

15:37 Chase Bliss Big Time sponsor

16:41 How the business is run (Lean)

19:18 How ideas come

20:55 Key product milestones

24:51 How features are chosen

26:18 Beta testing

27:32 What's surprising behind the scenes

31:50 What concerns Steve

34:00 Thoughts on AI

36:03 Challenge of starting a business now

38:04 Favorite Empress pedal

38:23 New pedal soon?

39:53 Most underrated Empress pedal

40:28 Steve's top 3 pedals of all time

42:45 Thoughts on future collaborations

44:04 Philosophy question

45:40 Surprising thing that impacts tone

46:40 An Empress pedal Steve would redesign

48:13 What makes an idea reach production

49:49 Smaller Reverb and Echosystems?

51:30 What makes the Para EQ pedal so good

52:37 Swapping Reverb & Echosystem firmware

55:18 Advice to aspiring founders

57:00 Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

From Cornford to Victory Amps: Martin Kidd's Story

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 15:00:00 +0100

Welcome to Products of Music, a podcast sharing inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Martin Kidd, Chief Designer and Co-Founder of Victory Amplification. We discuss his founder journey, perspective on Cornford Amps ceasing trading, the birth of Victory Amps and his approach to product development. We also have some quick-fire questions and community questions.

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:13 Intro

02:20 Martin's musical beginnings

03:30 Modding Marshalls

05:10 How Martin learned amp design

09:06 Building the first amp

12:00 The Cornford story

13:45 Cornford ceases trading

18:00 Chase Bliss Big Time Event

19:15 Martin as Chief Designer, not CEO

22:15 Approach to product development

28:10 Product development early process

29:15 Martin's unique designs

31:58 Standing out in the amp market

34:52 Victory MKX and originality

38:25 Market concerns

42:06 Hybrid analog and digital

45:36 Victory PowerValve and digital products

47:55 Quick-fire questions

52:13 Advice to aspiring founders

55:10 Most difficult amp to design

56:13 Addressing the Lee Anderton 'drama'

58:54 The braille amps story

01:02:40 Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

How Old Blood Noise Endeavors is Evolving to Survive

Tue, 05 May 2026 15:00:00 +0100

Welcome to Products of Music, a podcast sharing Inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Brady Smith, co-founder of Old Blood Noise Endeavors (OBNE), about his career and founder journey, the approach to product development at Old Blood, as well as how he is reshaping business processes and operations to survive the challenges of running a small business in a niche industry.

To learn more about the company, visit: https://oldbloodnoise.com/

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:14 Intro

02:20 Brady's founder story

07:16 Keeley Electronics job

09:00 Birth of Walrus Audio

11:30 Quitting Walrus, founding OBNE

14:40 The OBNE way of product development

18:07 Chase Bliss sponsor section

18:57 Product development process

23:07 Brady's role at OBNE

24:26 EOS business model

26:30 Split with Seth McCarroll

29:40 Thoughts on the future effects market

31:35 Empress Bass compressor love

36:25 Future pedal opportunities

42:45 Friendship with Joel Korte

46:20 Quick-fire questions

49:55 Community questions

56:40: Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

How Neural DSP Became a Leader in Digital Modeling

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Products of Music, a podcast sharing Inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Francisco Cresp, co-founder and CPO at Neural DSP, about his founder journey, how the company approaches product development and inside stories from one of the leading names in digital modeling for guitar and other instruments.

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:15 Intro

02:36 Francisco's founder story

09:00 Working with Doug Castro

11:00 Neural DSP's product development

16:03 Chase Bliss sponsor section

16:47 User feedback mechanisms

19:05 John Mayer X development

23:02 Plugin compatibility challenges

26:10 How Neural DSP prioritises

27:42 Why a vocal plugin?

31:30 Quad Cortex for vocals

33:10 Analog versus digital debate

34:48 Tom Morello JCM800 differences

37:40 Love of analog synths

38:52 Synth in the Quad Cortex

39:08 Neural DSP as a target

40:36 Latest research projects

41:21 Gen AI in the Quad Cortex?

42:50 Challenges of capturing fuzz

46:06 Noise floors in capture tech

47:33 Quick-fire questions

51:30 FX captures?

53:52 When PCOM for Petrucci?

55:22 Interface gain at 0?

58:24 Software for Nano Cortex?

59:04 Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

Analog Man: The Last Years of a Pedal Legend (and What Comes Next)

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 17:00:00 +0000

In this episode, host Adam Wakeling speaks with Analog Mike Piera, founder of Analog.man, about his approach to product development, the infamous waitlist for the King of Tone, the state of the guitar and pedal market and what the future looks like for the company.

To learn more, visit: https://www.analogman.com/

Many thanks to this episode's sponsor Chase Bliss.

Check out Chase Bliss effects pedals here: https://www.chasebliss.com?utm_source=productsofmusic

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:02 Intro

02:00 Mike's founder story

03:57 Approach to product dev

10:50 Analog Man marketing

12:53 Sponsor section

13:38 Art versus science in design

15:01 Testing rigs

17:10 FX loop challenges

18:50 Pedal gain versus amp gain

20:49 Analog Man Rat pedal?

21:24 King of Tone wait list

24:25 Analog Man without Mike?

25:31 Teaching knowledge

27:06 Thoughts on digital modelers

31:04 What not to add on pedals

34:47 Chase Bliss Brothers AM

36:42 Mike's current concerns

40:32 Challenge of limited supply

42:39 What keeps Mike motivated

44:57 How the customer has changed

50:07 Mike's advice to founders

52:52 Quick-fire questions

56:38 Community questions

01:00:30 Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

How Abasi Concepts is Redefining Guitar Design (CEO Tosin Abasi & COO Ivan Chopik)

Tue, 09 Dec 2025 17:00:00 +0000

In this episode, host Adam Wakeling speaks with Tosin Abasi (CEO and Founder of Abasi Concepts), as well as Ivan Chopik (Founder of Guitar Messenger and COO of Abasi Concepts) about their journeys; the state of the guitar and pedal market; and their approach to product development and innovation.

To learn more about Abasi Concepts, visit: https://abasiconcepts.com/

Many thanks to this episode's sponsor Chase Bliss.

Check out Chase Bliss effects pedals here: https://www.chasebliss.com?utm_source=productsofmusic

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:35 Intro

02:41 Abasi Concepts Origin Story

10:16 The First 7/8 Strings

17:00 Chase Bliss Sponsor Section

18:15 Compromises in Guitar Design

20:32 Abasi Concepts Product Development

25:16 Ideation to Production

31:30 Why Tosin Loves Analog Gear

34:40 Digital and the Young Generation

35:26 Where Abasi is Looking Next

38:32 Gibson Neck Heel Issues

39:37 Abasi Concepts Bass Guitars

40:00 Abasi Nylon String Guitars

42:05 Solving Problems for Guitarists

45:30 Leveraging Industry Collaborations

47:36 Guitar Market Concerns

50:00 Abasi Guitar Quality Issues

54:39 Entrepreneurial and Musician Advice

58:54 Quick Fire Questions

01:01:54 Reddit Community Questions

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

How EarthQuaker Devices Changed the World of Effects Pedals (Jamie Stillman, Founder)

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Products of Music, where you will hear inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode:

In this episode host Adam Wakeling speaks with Jamie Stillman, Founder of EarthQuaker Devices about the impact of tariffs on small US businesses; why Jamie is not concerned about the current generation of digital modelers like the Quad Cortex and Helix, as well as how EarthQuaker Devices approaches product development at the company.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_O3xHoxGFw

To learn more about EarthQuaker Devices, visit: https://www.earthquakerdevices.com/

Many thanks to this episode's sponsor Chase Bliss.
To learn more about Chase Bliss, visit: https://www.chasebliss.com?utm_source=productsofmusic

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:15 Intro

02:17 EarthQuaker origin story

05:00 Catalyst for scaling

05:53 Julie's impact

06:58 Product development approach

09:24 Data-driven development

10:48 Trends in the market

14:31 Chase Bliss Sponsor

15:34 Analog versus digital

18:36 Guiding product principles

22:50 Every pedal has a song in it

24:03 Inspiration for pedal ideas

27:39 Ideas thought process

29:25 More complex EarthQuaker pedals

32:50 Hedgehog concept in business

35:19 What EarthQuaker is best at

41:45 Getting pedals to be ready

47:12 Jamie's concerns for the future

49:28 Quick-fire questions

52:55 How fans can support

55:30 Customisation capabilities

56:51 Pedals close to being scrapped

59:08 Bright pedal LEDs

01:00:03 Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

The Chase Bliss Way: Emotion, Design and the Future of Pedals (Joel Korte, Founder)

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 14:00:00 +0100

Welcome to Products of Music, where you will hear inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Joel Korte, founder of Chase Bliss, about his founder journey, the 'chase bliss way' of product development, as well as his successes, failures and market insights.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTKX8kSsQsw

To learn more about Chase Bliss, visit: https://www.chasebliss.com

00:00 Preview

01:50 Intro

03:05 Joel's founder journey

09:00 Meaning of 'Follow Your Bliss'

12:25 EOS business tools

15:00 Chase Bliss way of product dev

18:30 Definition of 'best'

20:42 Biggest success story

25:36 Pedal release timing

28:36 Why Joel discontinues pedals

33:25 What makes a pedal last?

37:45 Analog versus Digital

42:52 Future innovation

45:37 Chase Bliss midi controller?

47:24 Enamel pins

48:30 Habit design

50:09 New form factor?

50:44 State of the market

57:35 Chase Bliss budget pedals

58:30 Most painful pedal implementation

01:00:01 'Quick fire' questions

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

The Future of Guitar Amps Looks a Lot Like the Past (Dave Friedman, Friedman Amplification)

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 12:00:00 +0100

Welcome to Products of Music, a podcast sharing inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode, host Adam Wakeling speaks with Dave Friedman, founder of Friedman Amplification, about his approach to product development at the company; the analog versus digital debate; and what the future of boutique amps looks like.

View on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSmHFXvpvXw

To learn more about Friedman Amplification, visit: https://friedmanamplification.com/

00:00 Preview

01:24 Intro

02:25 Dave's founder journey

06:15 Developing amp building skills

08:20 The key to creating a company

13:10 Option paralysis in digital modeling

15:13 The lack of unique guitar tones today

20:23 How Dave finds new product ideas

23:16 Unsuccessful product releases

24:25 Biggest Friedman product success

29:10 The difficulty with US tariffs

33:35 Early lessons learned

38:10 Digital detoxing/experience of analog

41:45 How buyer expectations have changed

44:10 When to expand the product range

45:50 Some insights for entrepreneurs

48:40 A few quick-fire questions

51:15 Why the amp naming convention?

54:14 Friedman takes on other amps?

55:05 New Vox-style Friedman amp

56:00 How Dave adds his unique touch to vintage amps

56:55 Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

Adapt or Fade: How Wampler Pedals is Navigating the Digital Storm

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 14:00:00 +0100

Welcome to Products of Music, a podcast sharing inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode host Adam Wakeling speaks with Brian Wampler, Founder of Wampler Pedals.

From the humble beginnings of modding pedals in his garage to producing some of the most sought-after boutique pedals in the industry, Brian Wampler’s journey is one of passion, innovation, and a relentless pursuit of the perfect guitar tone.

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/C4sYXrSJY8Y

To learn more about Wampler Pedals, visit: https://www.wamplerpedals.com/

Guitar Pedal Courses: https://www.guitarpedalcourse.com/

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:03 Intro

02:07 Brian’s founder journey

05:44 Importance of networking

08:40 The Wampler product development process

12:39 Getting feedback and external data

15:40 Brian’s approach to hiring

20:10 When to release new products

24:14 The expectation of digital products

28:50 Wampler’s audience and expectations

30:38 The different USPs in guitar pedals

37:13 Diversification of revenue streams

40:27 Threat of digital modeling

48:00 Asking Reddit’s most upvoted questions

56:30 Quick-fire questions

01:03:30 Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

How Universal Audio Designs the Gear Trusted by the Pros

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 13:00:00 +0100

Welcome to Products of Music, a podcast sharing Inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Rodrigo J. Ibieta, Director of Product Management, Hardware Products, at Universal Audio.

What to expect:
🟠 Product strategy insights for developing music hardware
🟠 Inside stories from Fender and Universal Audio
🟠 Tips on progressing in Product Management

Chapters:

00:00 Preview
01:00 Intro and background
06:47 Fender Acoustasonic stories
12:00 How Fender segments its customers
15:22 Product Strategy at Universal Audio
19:59 Importance of speaking with customers
20:50 Creating a product ecosystem
24:10 Ensuring product alignment
28:39 Talking Customer Lifetime Value
31:30 Defining a few terms
34:02 Process for New Business Cases
37:32 Competitor landscapes
39:30 Product feasibility process
43:03 Lessons from product disappointments
46:20 Advice to Product Managers
49:46 A few quick-fire questions
53:57 Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack: https://www.productsofmusic.com
🎥 Subscribe to Adam Wakeling's personal YouTube channel: @adamwakeling
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/products-of-music/id1683097403
🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/07d7lJpIRYIZ0rr31xUa5X

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

How Rob Chapman turned his guitar passion into a business

Sat, 05 Apr 2025 18:00:00 +0100

Welcome to Products of Music, a podcast sharing inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode host Adam Wakeling speaks with Rob Chapman, Founder of Chapman Guitars.

Rob is an English musician, YouTube content creator, and the founder and co-owner of Chapman Guitars. He is is known for his popular instructional YouTube channel with over 725,000 subscribers and as demonstrator of guitar equipment for Andertons Music Co.

He is a lead singer and a guitarist, previously playing for the blues/Americana band Clockwork Wolf & Co, and rock band Dorje.

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnC9tEEDjNQ

To learn more about Chapman Guitars, visit: https://www.chapmanguitars.com/

Rob's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@RobChappers

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:07 Intro

02:40 The birth of Chapman Guitars

05:05 The power of customer collaboration

09:49 How to make a great guitar?

10:41 Rob's skillset that helped boost the brand

13:04 Rob's values and company values

15:12 Steering the ship in difficult times

19:57 The uniqueness of the guitar product market

23:28 Finding 'vibe' in developing products

25:12 The rise of relicing guitars

26:54 Finally talking about the café

28:36 Separating business and creative sides

33:10 The issue with YouTube product demos

36:17 Agile approach to manufacturing location

42:53 Decision to release a boutique guitar amplifier

6:10 Rob's final thoughts

48:00 Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

How Daniel Steinhardt solved a problem guitarists didn't even know they had

Sat, 22 Mar 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Products of Music, a podcast sharing inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Daniel Steinhardt, Founder of GigRig, about his 20-year journey founding the company and building it to be one of the market leaders in the guitar pedal accessory market.

GigRig: https://shop.thegigrig.com/

That Pedal Show: https://www.youtube.com/thatpedalshow

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:24 Intro

01:50 The idea for GigRig

06:00 Tone struggles and in the studio

08:00 The challenge of complex effects

11:00 Moving to the UK

12:50 Dan shows very first product

16:15 Common founder story?

20:50 The slow burn of Youtube for promotion

22:20 The niche of the niche of the niche

25:40 Dan's music and product passion

28:00 The beauty of being agile

31:25 Deciding to launch a new product

34:25 Dan's advice for new founders

40:30 What keeps Dan's drive

42:50 The 'magic' of musical connections

45:00 Outro and final thoughts

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

How Tommy Stalknecht launched Single, the direct-to-fan platform for Shopify

Sun, 26 Jan 2025 16:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Products of Music, a podcast sharing Inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode host Adam Wakeling speaks with Tommy Stalknecht, co-founder and CEO of Single, the direct-to-fan platform for Shopify.

Since its inception in 2018, Single has transformed the way artists engage with their audiences by empowering them to sell music, merch, video and memberships directly to fans. Under Tommy's leadership, Single has facilitated the sale of over 5 million digital albums, reported 16 million albums to Billboard, and hosted livestream events for millions of viewers worldwide.

To learn more about Single, visit: https://www.single.xyz

Chapters:

00:00 Preview
00:45 Intro
01:07 Tommy's LinkedIn post
02:14 Single's origin story
10:52 The MVP of Single
13:00 Validating the MVP
14:53 Analytics feature development
16:38 Live-streaming integration
20:00 Single's org structure
21:08 Being a hands-on founder
22:26 NFT feature introduction
26:42 Are NFTs dead?
28:42 Patreon competitor
31:40 Tommy's product vision
33:30 Single's approach to product development
35:46 How Tommy prioritises
37:58 Tommy's lessons for new founders
42:30 Getting close to customers
43:40 Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

7 Steps to Become an AI PM | Aakash Gupta of Product Growth

Wed, 30 Oct 2024 08:00:00 +0000

Aakash Gupta writes the Product Growth newsletter for over 140,000 subscribers and hosts the Product Growth podcast, where he helps product managers, product leaders and aspiring product managers.

In today's episode:

Aakash's journey to newsletter success
The 7 steps to follow to become an AI Product Manager
Aakash's tips on growing your network and audience

—

Aakash's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aagupta
• Product Growth Newsletter on Substack
• Product Growth Podcast on YouTube

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Preview
(00:49) Intro
(02:01) The growth of Product Growth
(07:32) Step 1: Shape your content diet
(12:55) Step 2: Take relevant courses
(20:25) Step 3: Gain hands-on experience
(23:46) Step 4: Structure your portfolio
(26:25) Step 5: Network
(36:38) Step 6: Snag interviews
(41:14 ) Step 7: Ace the homework and interview
(50:52) Final thoughts

Useful links from the episode:

AI for Everyone by Andrew Ng
Jeff Su's YouTube channel
Dwarkesh Patel's Podcast
SVPino on YouTube

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

It Depends. The Art of Product Decision Making | Phil Hornby (Product Coach)

Tue, 10 Sep 2024 20:00:00 +0100

Phil Hornby is a passionate product leadership coach. Helping product leaders to think clearly, make strong decisions, and take powerful action that drives high-impact outcomes.

In today's episode:

The 'how' and 'who' of product decision making
Key principles in product decision making

—

Phils's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/philhornby
• Talking Roadmaps Podcast on YouTube
• It Depends book: https://www.forproductpeople.com/content/books/it-depends

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Preview
(00:55) Intro
(01:55) Why the book?
(04:13) Where to start with product decision making?
(07:05) How to decide and who decides?
(11:51) Product leadership decision foundations
(16:44) Getting to, making and implementing
(18:33) Resolving dysfunctional teams
(24:54) The importance of conflict
(28:42) Decision conviction
(33:09) Prioritisation frameworks
(37:13) A few extra decision principles
(41:00) The number seven
(42:40) Final thoughts

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

Seven superpowers of great product managers | Amy Mitchell, Principal PM at Dell Technologies

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 06:00:00 +0100

Amy Mitchell is Principal Product Manager at Dell Technologies and author of Product Management IRL newsletter on substack.

In today's episode:

The seven superpowers of great product managers (that they don't say on job descriptions)
Tactics to grow these superpowers

—

Amy's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amycmitchell
• Substack: https://amycmitchell.substack.com/

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Preview
(00:49) Intro
(02:20) Overview of the seven superpowers
(04:00) Empathy
(11:20) Communication skills
(19:36) Resilience
(24:29) Discernment
(30:49) Prioritisation by value
(40:35) Patience
(48:00) Blending skills
(50:56) Future of product management
(56:40) Final thoughts

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

Improve your communication skills with visual mapping | Christoph Steinlehner, Product Coach

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 08:00:00 +0100

Christoph Steinlehner is a Product Management coach who helps product managers and leaders that are feeling stuck in their work caught and struggling to facilitate between different perspectives in a business.

In today's episode:

The challenges of effective business-product communication
How visual mapping can help improve communication
The MAPPER method walkthough

—

Christoph's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/csteinlehner
• Website: https://csteinlehner.com/
• Substack contributor: https://mapperclub.substack.com/

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Preview
(00:54) Intro
(02:01) Main challenges in effective communication
(03:40) X-department perspectives in communication
(05:20) The bigger picture
(08:28) What is visual mapping?
(11:48) Differences in types of visual maps
(16:18) Walkthough of MAPPER method
(25:20) Reflection part of MAPPER
(26:03) Similarity to Event Storming
(27:53) Challenges in implementing MAPPER
(33:21) Resistance to new frameworks
(34:50) Leveraging AI with the MAPPER method
(39:04) Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

Using AI to uncover product data insights | Mo Hallaba, CEO of Datawisp

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 16:00:00 +0100

Mo Hallaba is CEO of datawisp.io, an AI-based analytics tool to help non-technical teams understand their product and users better. He was previously working in financial services and the e-sports industry.

In today's episode:

The challenges of data-informed decision making
How AI can help solve some of these challenges
The limitations of AI

—

Mo and Datawisp's contact info:

• Twitter/X: https://www.x.com/electronicmo
• Website: https://www.datawisp.io

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheProductDevelopmentPodcast

In this episode, we cover:

00:00 Preview
01:23 Intro
02:25 Mo's background
04:04 How e-sports teams use data
05:55 Challenges with using product data
08:31 AI removing technical barriers
09:49 Culture of caring about data
11:58 Scooter app example in datawisp
13:35 Exploration of data
14:30 Correlation vs causation
15:47 Limitations of AI in creativity
19:42 Getting buy-in for change
22:19 AI data solutions
26:01 Gen AI blended with product data
29:54 Difference perspectives on UX
32:55 The more data the better
36:50 Transparency of data and insight logic
37:51 Usefulness of having technical knowledge
39:30 Final thoughts
41:12 Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

A Brief History of Digital Publishing and Future Tech & Tactics (Jonny Kaldor, CEO of Pugpig)

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 18:00:00 +0100

Jonny Kaldor is CEO and Founder of Pugpig, a web and app developer for publishers. He was previously CTO at News UK.

In today's episode:

• A brief history of digital publishing

• The current state of the digital publishing market

• Successful tactics and tech that publishers should employ

—

Jonny's and PugPig's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkaldor
• Website: https://www.pugpig.com

Report mentioned in episode: https://www.pugpig.com/the-media-collective-on-retention-economics/

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheProductDevelopmentPodcast
In this episode:

00:00 Preview
00:56 Introduction
02:00 From print to digital
03:17 Types of publishing
04:00 How things have changed in publishing
08:00 News Media as first movers
13:00 Products for consumer magazines
16:28 Utility as a tool for consumer magazines
17:52 Creating daily and weekly user habits
24:00 Digital editions and 'finishability'
27:38 Print vs Digital UX
28:40 Audience profile of mobile apps
32:56 What makes a great digital publishing platform
34:00 Publishing apps versus the 'big' apps
36:00 Use of audio
40:00 Repurposing content
41:00 The need for publishers to invest in editorial
43:35 Insights on gating tactics
52:10 The importance of the Friends Zone
54:26 Jonny's takeaways

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

A New Path for Product Leaders Tired of the Corporate Grind | Henry Latham (Founder, Break Free)

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 14:00:00 +0100

Henry Latham is Founder of Break Free. He is a 2x bootstrapper and has coached over 280+ people through his Prod MBA.

In today's episode:

• Henry's product journey

• A deep dive into his manifesto for senior product people tired of the corporate grind.

• How to launch a micro-business

—

Henry's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/henrylatham/

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheProductDevelopmentPodcast

—

In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Preview

(00:51) Intro

(01:28) Henry's background

(03:00) Moving on from Prod MBA

(06:56) Theory versus practice

(08:07) The current state of product leadership

(14:10) Unmet expectations in product roles

(16:48) Promotions mean more stress and less fulfilment

(20:38) Stress in product roles

(25:17) Lack of passion

(27:13) Who should start a micro business

(30:03) How to improve your product skills

(34:00) Fundamentals in launching a product

(37:50) Finding the root problems

(41:40) The importance of product positioning

(43:56) How to start a business

(47:35) The will required

(50:30) Key takeaways

(51:50) Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

Building Personalised Product Experiences | Varun Ghatge (Head of Product, BBC)

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Varun Ghatge is Head of Product at the BBC, with a focus on cross-product personalisation and recommendation for all BBC brands.

In today's episode:

• Varun's journey into Product

• Key elements of building personalised product experiences

• The challenges in implementing recommendation features

—

Varun's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/varun-ghatge/

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheProductDevelopmentPodcast

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Preview

(01:00) Introduction

(01:37) Varun's journey into Product Management

(02:38) Definitions of personalisation

(04:10) Key elements in recommendation models for PMs.

(07:40) Avoiding negatively impacting your metrics

(09:46) How to improve your product sense

(13:10) Best practices for personalisation in products

(23:40) Where to start in building recommendation features

(31:24) How to best use your data

(32:59) Challenges of maintaining data and algorithms

(37:44) Unintended impacts in personalisation features

(39:22) Building vs buying

(41:38) Key takeaways

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

How to find Product Market Fit | Dan Olsen (Author, The Lean Product Playbook)

Sun, 18 Feb 2024 21:00:00 +0000

Dan Olsen is the author of the Amazon Bestseller 'The Lean Product Playbook', and host of the Lean Product Meetup. He is also a Product Management Trainer and Speaker, helping executives build great products and strong product teams

In today's episode:

• Dan's journey into Product

• A step-by-step guide to find Product Market Fit

• What new tools are helping with Product Management in 2024

—

Dan's contact and company info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danolsen98/

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/danolsen

• Website: https://www.dan-olsen.com

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Preview

(01:57) Introduction

(02:38) Dan's background

(05:04) The story behind writing The Lean Product Playbook

(07:46) General overview of the Product Market Fit Pyramid

(10:58) Target Customer layer

(16:13) Underserved Needs layer

(25:46) The Value Prop layer

(33:26) Feature Set and UX layers

(35:31) Different types of MVPs

(39:20) What's different in 2024

(44:44) Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

AI and the State of Product Management | Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia (Founder & CEO, Product School)

Thu, 01 Feb 2024 19:00:00 +0000

Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia is Founder and CEO of Product School, and an entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience building global companies and digital products.

He founded Product School in 2014, which is the global leader in product training with a community of over two million members. All of its instructors are real-world Product Leaders working at top Silicon Valley companies including Google, Meta, Netflix, Airbnb, Uber, and Amazon.

In today's episode:

• How Product Management has changed in 2024

• Impact of AI in product development

• How to navigate the current product job market

—

Carlos's contact and company info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/villaumbrosia/

• Website: https://www.productschool.com/

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

—

In this episode:

(00:00) Coming up

(01:40) Introduction

(02:21) Carlos's background

(04:14) Pull to Product Management

(06:12) How PM tools have changed

(08:12) First steps into Product Management

(09:22) The current job market challenges

(12:28) The Product career ladder

(15:22) How the PM role has now changed

(19:22) Building a great product in 2024

(23:28) The rise of generative AI

(25:44) First steps in implementing AI Product strategies

(30:00) Importance of AI technical knowledge for PMs

(32:50) Risks of AI

(37:33) Final thoughts

(38:35) Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

How to become Evidence-Guided | Itamar Gilad (Author, ex-Google, ex-Microsoft)

Mon, 13 Nov 2023 20:00:00 +0000

Itamar Gilad is author of Evidence-Guided, which outlines a new product development meta framework called GIST. Itamar is also a speaker and a coach, previously working at Microsoft and Google. During his time at the latter, he came up with the idea for the tabbed inbox, which is now a core feature of the email product.

In today's episode:

• The risk of opinion-based development (Google +)

• A run through of Itamar's new GIST Evidence-Guided framework

• How to become evidence-guided in your company

—

Itamar's contact and company info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itamargilad/

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ItamarGilad

• Website: https://itamargilad.com/

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Preview

(00:45) Introduction

(02:40) The story of Google+ and why it failed

(05:23) The story of Gmail tabbed inboxes and why it succeeded

(08:40) Tabbed Inbox timeline

(09:58) GIST introduction

(11:44) How long it took to create GIST

(12:59) Difference between data- and evidence-guided

(14:11) Goals in GIST

(17:10) The challenge of the right Northstar metric

(19:30) Why Meta/Facebook's Northstar is not ideal

(21:16) Ideas in GIST

(23:10) Collaboration in ideas

(25:00) ICE for prioritization/evaluation

(27:25) Impact in ICE explored

(29:30) How to calculate confidence in ICE

(33:36) The right level of confidence

(35:35) Tabbed inbox research and analysis

(40:32) Example steps/AFTER framework

(43:12) PMs stuck in execution/feature factories

(47:32) Empowering others in Product Discovery

(51:02) Tracking Tasks to Goals

(52:52) How to integrate GIST into your business

(57:44) Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

Building a Product-Led Growth company | Krish Ramineni (Co-Founder, Fireflies.ai)

Wed, 08 Nov 2023 22:00:00 +0000

Krish Ramineni is Co-Founder of Fireflies.ai, which helps teams transcribe, summarize, search and analyze voice conversations. He previously worked at Microsoft and has been featured within Forbes 30 Under 30. He is also passionate about Product-Led Growth.

In today's episode:

• Fundamentals of Product-Led Growth (PLG)

• How Fireflies.ai scaled with PLG

• How to implement PLG into a business

—

Krish's contact and company info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krishramineni

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krishramineni/

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/krishramineni/

• Fireflies.ai: https://fireflies.ai

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Introduction

(00:47) Krish's background

(04:18) What is Product-Led Growth (PLG)?

(07:47) B2B vs B2C in PLG

(13:28) Acquisition, Retention and Monetization

(17:25) Aha moments and customer empathy

(19:55) Challenges implementing PLG

(23:30) How Fireflies.ai approaches PLG

(25:53) First version of Fireflies.ai

(28:53) How AI product SMEs can compete with Google and Microsoft?

(32:48) Frameworks that Fireflies.ai leverages

(35:26) Where to start with PLG implementation

(38:09) Product-Led Sales

(39:30) PLG to PLS funnel

(40:46) Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

Mastering Productivity: Insights for PMs and Beyond | Bijan Shahrokhi (Founder, Product Monkey AI)

Sun, 24 Sep 2023 12:00:00 +0100

Bijan Shahrokhi is Creator of PM Exercises and Product Monkey AI. He is a product management executive with 10+ years of experience in building disruptive technologies. He was previously Head of Product at O(1)Labs, working on Mina Protocol, the world’s lightest blockchain, an L1 project.

In today's episode:

• The key pillars of productivity

• How to be more productive in our lives (for PMs and everybody)

• Emerging productivity tools

—

Bijan's contact and company info:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/bijan_sha

• Product Monkey AI: https://productmonkey.ai/

• PM Exercises: https://www.productmanagementexercises.com/

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:32) Bijan's view of productivity as a concept

(04:18) Where to start with being more productive

(09:53) The next steps

(12:34) Discussion around prioritisation

(17:50) Differentiation between team and individual productivity

(19:22) Tactics and The 5AM Club

(25:18) Using mini milestones

(26:30) Importance of exercise

(30:50) Tactics around improving knowledge

(31:46) Using generative AI for productivity

(34:02) Bijan's story in founding PM Exercises and Product Monkey AI

(40:54) The tension between productivity and redundancy

(43:48) Privacy and security around AI

(48:28) Emerging productivity tools

(50:48) Final thoughts from Bijan

(52:03) Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

The Future of TV and Streaming Experiences | Jonathan Courtois (Senior Principal Engineer, Sky)

Wed, 13 Sep 2023 23:00:00 +0100

Jonathan Courtois is a Senior Principal Engineer at Sky (UK), leading the development in C++/Qt of the immersive UI experience of Entertainment OS, the operating system powering Sky Glass and Sky Stream.

In today's episode:

• What makes a great Product and Engineering relationship through the lens of a Senior Principal Engineer

• How Sky how approaches product feature development

• The future of TV and streaming experiences

—

Jonathan's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-courtois-8a9ab98/

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:33) What the Senior Principal Engineer does at Sky and Jonathan's professional journey

(05:55) Having a strong alignment with business direction

(06:54) The Engineering and Product relationship

(09:38) How Squads and Crew function at Sky

(11:07) Some tactics on product-engineering alignment

(13:04) Advice to Product Managers

(14:36) Typical product feature development approach at Sky

(20:11) Trimming MVPs

(24:00) Accessibility within product development

(24:52) The future of TV and streaming experiences

(32:32) The power of generative AI

(34:30) Social Media

(36:22) The end of traditional TV?

(37:46) Where the ad money goes and impact of individual content creators

(41:39) What emerging tech Jonathan is most excited by

(43:51) Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

An Introduction to Event Storming and Event Modeling | Rafal Maciag (Founder & CEO, ModelingEvolution)

Mon, 14 Aug 2023 20:00:00 +0100

Rafal Maciag is Founder and CEO of ModelingEvolution, which helps businesses and organisations implement effective, high-quality software solutions. The company's Modellution product provides a collaboration platform for Event Storming and Event Modeling.

In today's episode:

• The foundational concept of Event Storming and how it serves as a catalyst for collaborative transformation

• How to integrate Event Storming and Event Modeling concepts into a business

• Rafal's story of founding a company and lessons learned

—

Rafal's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafalmaciag/

• ModelingEvolution: https://www.modelingevolution.com/

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Introduction

(00:56) Putting everyone on the same page

(02:32) What is Event Storming?

(08:40) Examples of 'events'

(12:39) Enabling Customer Journey Mapping

(16:00) How often to conduct Event Storming

(23:48) 'Movies' in Event Storming

(26:17) Who organises everything?

(28:10) Challenges of implementation of Event Storming

(29:54) How organisations are working with ModelingEvolution

(31:24) What Rafal has learned from founding a company

(33:37) Building the right things

(36:14) Final thoughts from Rafal

(38:00) Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

From Ideas to Impact: A Deep Dive into Product Discovery | Gabrielle Hayes (Co-Founder, Product x Agile)

Sun, 16 Jul 2023 22:00:00 +0100

Gabrielle Hayes is a Product and Agile Coach. She is co-founder and instructor at Product x Agile, which brings expertise to product teams in the form of human-centred, on-demand, self-paced courses.

She is also passionate about all things Product Discovery, which is the main topic of today’s episode.

In today's episode:

• The fundamentals of successful Product Discovery

• How Product Discovery fits in the Product Development Lifecycle (PDLC)

• How to influence change in an organisation for better product discovery outcomes

—

Gabrielle's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielleahayes/

• Product x Agile: https://www.productxagile.com/

• Product x Agile on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/product-x-agile/

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Podcast Introduction

(00:46) What is Product Discovery?

(01:28) Iterative approach to Product Discovery

(02:44) Kano analysis model

(04:09) Where to start with Product Discovery

(06:04) Having a dynamic product team

(08:40) Framework for discovery efforts

(11:20) Impact of Customer Success teams

(12:55) Reaching non-owned audiences

(15:40) What questions to ask your customers

(19:21) Deeper empathy with customers and users

(22:10) What to do after the MVP launch

(23:30) What to document in discovery

(26:15) How to approach feature prioritisation

(29:00) The role of innovation within Product Discovery

(32:20) Utilising AI for Product Discovery

(35:15) Pressure of being in a 'feature factory'

(38:04) Influencing leadership to enable more Product Discovery efforts

(40:43) About Product x Agile

(42:44) Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

Cracking the Code: How Technical Skills Transform Product Management | Alina Verbenchuk (HypeAuditor, ex-Google, ex-YouTube)

Thu, 22 Jun 2023 21:00:00 +0100

Alina Verbenchuk is Senior Product Manager @ HypeAuditor and was previously Product Manager @ Creator Tools at YouTube and Program Lead at Google.

She is also Founder of Verbetcetera, which looks to help empower tech careers through mentorship and consulting for people from various backgrounds.

In today's episode:

• Exploring how technical skills enhance a PM's ability to work effectively with engineers.

• Alina's personal journey of realizing the importance of technical skills in her role as a PM.

• Discussing other crucial areas, such as generative AI and agents, in the evolving product development landscape.

—

Alina's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alinaverbenchuk/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@alinaverbenchuk683

• Verbetcetera: https://verbetcetera.com/
—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Introduction

(00:53) Reading Alina’s Linkedin post

(02:06) Difference between a PM and a Technical PM

(04:18) Advantages in more complex products

(05:22) Computer Science prerequisite in Google PM interviews

(06:54) Importance of communication

(07:51) Engineering's respect for having technical skills

(10:04) The moment of technical realization

(12:30) The start of the technical journey

(15:17) Starting with SQL

(16:07) Key technical PM areas to learn

(18:00) Rise of generative AI and agents

(19:27) Verbetcetera

(20:45) Thinking about a problem with technical skills

(22:47) Difference between Google and smaller companies

(26:18) Approaches and time to spend on different goals

(28:26) Turning theory into practice

(29:45) Favorite parts of technical development

(31:18) Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

The MVP Journey: Engineering-Product Collaboration for Iterative Success | Gisela Rossi (Technology Leader)

Mon, 05 Jun 2023 20:00:00 +0100

Gisela Rossi is a technology leader, public speaker and mentor, and currently working as Engineering Manager at HSBC.

She was previously Engineering Manager at Pollen, WISE YP Board Member and a Software Engineer at Facebook, among other roles.

In today's episode:

• What a great Engineering Management and Product Management relationship looks like

• Building trust in a development team

• How to successfully launch and iterate on a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

—

Gisela's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giselacrossi

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/gise_rossi

• Blog: https://giselarossi.co.uk/
—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Podcast Introduction

(00:39) What will be covered in today's episode

(01:09) Engineering Manager and Product Manager relationship

(05:04) Importance of trust in a team

(11:44) Tactics on improving alignment

(14:05) What is an MVP?

(16:23) Trimming an MVP

(21:56) Who defines success of an MVP?

(25:00) Building MVPs in challenging financial conditions

(33:11) The value of OKRs

(33:33) Common mistakes in MVP builds

(38:44) Experience working as a mentor

(42:29) Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

The Business Side of Cyber Security: Bringing a Product to Market | Chris Clinton (Naq Cyber, NATO)

Mon, 15 May 2023 21:00:00 +0100

Chris Clinton is co-founder of Naq Cyber, and was previously a Cyber Security Consultant and Engineer, working with NATO and a number of defence organisations.

In today's episode:

• What is cyber security and how to protect your business

• Fundamentals in preventing cyber attacks

• How Naq Cyber went from idea to product market fit

—

Chris's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismclinton/

Naq Cyber:

• https://www.naqcyber.com/

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Podcast Introduction

(00:42) Definition of cyber security

(04:09) The biggest risk in cyber security

(06:55) First steps in implementing a cyber security strategy

(09:11) Risk assessment steps

(13:00) Approach to protecting passwords

(17:20) Using personal devices for work

(18:22) The business of IT certifications

(23:12) Lessons from growing Naq Cyber from ideation

(28:22) Naq Cyber MVP

(33:33) Tracking competitor features and solving problems

(38:34) Manual first, automation second

(41:48) Future of cyber security

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

Customer Lifetime Value Strategies in B2B | Michael Migliore (News UK, TMAC)

Mon, 08 May 2023 22:00:00 +0100

Michael Migliore is a Lifetime Value (LTV) expert and was Head of Customer Value at News UK, CMO of The Modular Analytics Company (TMAC) and has worked with a number of other organisations on their LTV and growth strategies.

In today's episode:

• How Marketing and Product teams can work better together

• Fundamentals of an LTV strategy in B2B products

• How to approach pricing of a B2B product

• Ways to reduce churn and where it is positioned in LTV strategies

—

Michael's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-migliore-75966636/

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Podcast Introduction

(01:34) Definition of a great product

(02:44) The Product and Marketing relationship

(07:04) Lifetime Value framework

(11:00) How to approach a SWOT analysis

(16:04) Pricing and price sensitive

(18:20) LTV timeframes - what is a lifetime?

(20:12) The dark art of pricing

(23:10) The right discounting approach

(27:37) Additional pricing tactics

(30:54) Marketing input into product feature development

(35:00) Marketing and product 'buddies' in a company

(35:50) Churn and LTV

(39:30) Execution tactics in tackling churn

(43:13) What metrics to track in LTV

(47:00) Application of AI in LTV

(48:45) Creative pursuits outside work

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

The Fundamentals of SEO | Tom Merryfield (Thoughtful Marketing)

Wed, 19 Apr 2023 11:00:00 +0100

Tom Merryfield is the Founder of Thoughtful Marketing, helping organisations with their SEO, Google Ads and website improvement requirements. Prior to founding Thoughtful Marketing, he was Senior Marketing Manager at Pure World Energy, Marketing Manager (EMEA & APAC) at Precor and Product Manager at Koch Media. In today’s episode:

• How SEO strategies differ for different types of organisations

• The key elements of a great SEO strategy

• Common mistakes in SEO

• The possible impact of AI on SEO

—

Where to find Tom Merryfield

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tmerryfield/

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Podcast Introduction

(01:06) Why Tom works in SEO

(02:20) Types of clients Tom works with

(03:30) First steps in creating an SEO strategy

(04:40) The SEO audit

(08:04) Ranking for high volume keywords

(10:27) The challenge for smaller companies

(11:22) The importance of trust in SEO

(12:50) Company name changes and domain authority

(15:02) On-page SEO approaches

(19:50) AI and Chat GPT impact on SEO

(22:07) SEO changes in 2023

(23:38) Ranking for non-branded keywords

(28:44) Root domains vs subdomains

(29:45) Mistakes people make in SEO

(33:44) Engaging with SEO agencies and finding partnerships

—

Other Links:

• Website: https://www.thoughtfulmarketing.co.uk/

• ChatGPT: https://openai.com/

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

Welcome to The Product Development Podcast

Mon, 17 Apr 2023 18:00:00 +0100

Welcome to the The Product Development Podcast, giving you the full story on what makes a great product, with 1-1 conversations from leading Product, Marketing, Sales, Engineering and Leadership professionals.

(0:00) Introduction to the Podcast
(0:31) Topics

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X