Shows
Product Management ChatRitesh Chandawar on trends about IOT, AI, ML, smart buildings, and the metaverseWhen I think about IoT, I mostly think about my Apple Watch.
I also imagine how cool it would be to live in a home with not just a smart TV. But also with other connected appliances such as a smart fridge, coffee machine, thermostat, camera, alarm system, doorbell, and a smart lock.
Furthermore, how amazing the future of work would be if we’re all driving smart cars, and even living in smart cities.
But more than that consumer side of IoT, it is...
2024-06-3035 min
Product Management ChatRiya Arora on managing the tensions between designers and developersOne of the most misunderstood relationships on cross-functional and software development teams are between the Designers and the Developers.
One of the misconceptions is that the Designer likes most aesthetically pleasing user experience.
On the other hand, the Developer likes building something that’s easier and more feasible
Designers don’t have the technical skill to build the thing that they want to be built
On the other hand, Developers don’t have the perspective of the users’ needs.
2024-05-2228 min
Product Management ChatWilliam Liu on what's personally exciting about GenAIThree things that are *personally* exciting about GenAI, according to
1. Helps increase productivity
e.g. drafting emails, summarizing email threads, writing meeting minutes, coming up with a to-do list
What’s most amazing is it can even help us prioritize tasks based on the the data that it can gather from all our emails and chats :)
2. Make our work happier
GenAI can help us with the mundane/ repetative work, but so we...
2024-05-1327 min
Product Management ChatYashi Srivastava on Customer Experience and Product ManagementYashi Srivastava, Senior Product Manager at LearnApp, was recognized by ADPList.org as one of the Top 10 female mentors in Customer Experience
Also, she previously had a “Top Product Road Mapping Voice” badge on LinkedIn.
So I’m honored to have her on my podcast :)
2024-05-0926 min
Product Management ChatStephanie Talaway on the Group Product Manager roleIn the words of Marty Cagan in his book “Inspired”, the Group Product Manager (usually referred to as GPM) is a hybrid role.
Part individual contributor and part first-level people manager.
Stephanie from Waresix has been one for almost 3 years now.
Listen to our conversation in which she shares how she balances being an IC and people manager as a GPM :)
2024-05-0428 min
Product Management ChatJustin Chew on common misconceptions about Product Management in techTo become a good Product Manager in tech:
You need to be “technically trained”. Meaning, trained in software engineering
You need to learn Scrum or Agile
Both are common misconceptions of most of us essentially
So.. it’s been amazing to sit and talk to Justin Chew as he debunks those misconceptions. And shared how can non-tech folks *successfully* transition into tech as a PM.
Successfully, meaning, no need to take a pay cut or start with an associ...
2024-04-1330 min
Product Management ChatMatt Burrell on the Product Owner roleIn the words of Marty Cagan in his book Inspired, a Product owner is the name of the role on an Agile team for the person responsible for the product backlog.
I’ve also heard on a Product Thinking podcast by Melissa Perri that she doesn’t not love the split of Product Managers and Product Owners.
Reason being is it that a Product Owner is a backlog grooming jockey for the Developers. And that there’s no critical thinking involved.
2024-04-1131 min
Product Management ChatMaulanna Maryunani-Enoch on how it's best to learn Product Management by doing, not just by readingThere’s a lot of great Product Management books out there. Some of my favorites are:
Inspired by Marty Cagan
Escaping the Build Trap by Melissa Perri
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
And I’ve yet to read some which are The Lean Product Playbook, Continous Discovery Habits, Cracking the PM Interview, and so on.
All were recommended to me by the product people that I spoke with. So all are realllly insightful.
However, I was also told...
2024-04-0933 min
Product Management ChatManish Mrigank on how to adapt when you switch industriesWorking with several industries such as FinTech, healthcare, e-commerce, retail, hospitality, manufacturing, media, etc., Manish Mrigank said all companies are technology companies nonetheless.
Fun fact, even Nike calls itself a technology company.
As a Product Leader, the things that helped him adapt when switching industries are:
1. Empathy
Because any industry is trying to solve a customer problem nonetheless :)
2. Being agile and continuous in learning
Because technology...
2024-04-0532 min
Product Management ChatAnkur Goyal on why you don't need to know all the tech jargons in the beginning of your PM careerA friendly reminder to aspiring product managers that it’s okay if you don’t know a lot of tech jargons in the beginning :)
Ankur Goyal, Product at Virtual Internships used to not know all of them either. But was humble enough to ask and learn from his developers whenever he got the chance.
Fun fact:
Ankur has created a Product Management community called “Creators of Product”. And Lenny is a part of it back in the day :)
2024-04-0221 min
Product Management ChatIjaaz Ahamed on what it means to be customer obsessedOne of the many things that most of us admire about Amazon is its customer-centricity.
And as PMs, one of the things that we need to balance is doing what is best for the Customer AND the organization.
Being customer obsessed ≠ doing everything the customer say
This reminds me of the Henry Ford quote that says:
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
So... Ijaaz Ahamed, Senior Consul...
2024-03-3126 min
Product Management ChatViviene Gan on working as a PM in health tech and fintechAs a PM, generally the stakeholders that you deal with daily are:
engineering
design
QA
marketing
sales
But when you work in highly regulated domains such as fintech and health tech, there’s a whole bunch of other (internal) stakeholders that you have to deal with:
legal
compliance
data privacy
finance,
and so on.
Also, there are regulatory authorities and legalities of a country or a system (external stakeholders).
Working in health tech now, and previously in fintech, Viviene Gan from Doctor Anywhere shares wh...
2024-03-2832 min
Product Management ChatMadan Chander on outside-in thinking for Product ManagersMadan Chander, Delivery Head at Tech Mahindra has mentored hundreds of people who are willing to transition into a product role. According to him, anybody can become a Product Manager IF:
They are customer-obsessed and have empathy
They think problems from the outside in, not inside out
Inside-out -> you think of what you have (ideas, experience) and how you can use that to gain a market, create a product, and sell it.
Outside-in -> you think of the underserved need, and then you look at...
2024-03-2732 min
Product Management ChatAnimesh Chandra on how an MVP should be and shouldn't beI’ve watched several webinars from Product School. So that certain visual representation of MVP is already familiar to me and makes sense to me.
Seeing Animesh Chandra’s viral post about it is interesting, as there have been some good debates and healthy discussions in the comments.
A key takeaway is that— in an MVP, there always should be some form of rapid feedback from the users/customers.
2024-03-0824 min
Product Management ChatStallon Miranda on transitioning into a PM role without an MBA or a tech backgroundHow to crack into a PM role if you don’t have a tech background or an MBA
Read “Cracking the PM Interview”
Checkout the @Exponent YouTube channel
Be a Product Manager
There are a lot of books, podcasts, certifications, and other resources out there. But based on speaking with a lot of PMs over the past few months, the 2 best ways to get started are 1) building/doing and 2) coaching.
Hear how Here’s how Stallon Miranda, Technical PM at Microsoft would coach someone who’s looking to...
2024-03-0123 min
Product Management ChatVivek Shenoy on a Product Leader's View on Demand GenDemand Gen VS Lead Gen— it’s a debate that most marketers are already tired of seeing on LinkedIn.
I’ve had horrifying experiences in the past when I shared some opinions about it internally 😅 So it’s best if it comes from Vivek Shenoy instead. He's the Head of Partnerships & Product at Audyence.
We always hear about this hot topic from marketers, which makes sense. But in the meantime, it’s so refreshing to hear a demand gen VS lead gen perspective from a Product Leader.
2024-02-2526 min
Product Management ChatUjjwal Trivedi on how a Product Manager is like a spyWhat a spy does based on the movies:
gathers intel
analyzes information and strategizes for the best solution
works closely with teams to accomplish their mission
calculates risk properly, because one wrong move can be really bad
negotiates and persuades to get what they want and need
adapts to different countries and cultures that they were assigned in
Quite the same as what a product manager does on most days, right?
This resonates with Ujjwal’s article that there’s quite an overlap between what a spy...
2024-02-2433 min
Product Management ChatValerie Gan on Generative AI for Product ManagersToday’s new episode is about the type of AI that we all talk about— which is Generative AI 🤖
I’ve seen people rave about how GenAI can:
write code
write music
crack jokes
create presentations
And even generate images, which is one of the cool features of Picsart. Their mobile app allows creators to make images from a word, phrase, or sentence.
So, my guest speaker, is Valerie Gan, Gen AI Product Manager of Picsart.
Valerie has launched some AI p...
2024-02-2335 min
Product Management ChatGokul Kumar on product for non-profitProduct for Non-Profit
The perception towards, let’s say, profit sector and the non-profit sector is that it is assumed or perceived that there’s a lot of more innovation that happens in the for-profit space.
Considering the amount of capital, the amount of money, and human skill sets that are in it.
So there is a bias towards that the innovation happens in the for-profits space.
However, he thinks the tides are switching greatly.
So much in such a way that the wins a...
2024-02-1825 min
Product Management ChatTilak Pattnaik on B2B vs B2C Product ManagementMBA in Product Management, according to Tilak Pattnaik:
An MBA is not absolutely necessary, in order to transition into a product management role.
However, where an MBA helps is in giving a perspective on how business function in general.
Be it how the organizational makeup typically is of a business, and how do you navigate that organizational sort of makeup.
In order to push your ideas, push your product through. So that they can go on to the market.
2024-02-1729 min