Shows
Supra Insider#70: How to capture the AI integration opportunity with MCP | Reid Robinson (Lead AI Product Manager @ Zapier)Listen now: Spotify, Apple and YouTubeAs AI agents become the new interface for work, a major question looms: how will your product connect into this ecosystem?In this episode of Supra Insider, Marc and Ben sat down with Reid Robinson, product manager leading AI at Zapier. They talked about the rise of Model Context Protocols (MCPs) — the new standard for connecting AI agents to tools and data sources.Reid explains the fundamentals of MCP clients vs. servers, why the standard is gaining traction across players like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Atlassian, an...2025-08-1145 min
Supra Insider#69: Why product leaders should embrace politics instead of avoiding it | Rich Mironov (Product Management Veteran & Coach)Listen now: Spotify, Apple and YouTubeWhat happens to product management when building becomes nearly frictionless—and AI threatens to replace the “busy work” PMs have traditionally done?In this episode of Supra Insider, Marc and Ben sit down with legendary product coach Rich Mironov to explore the shifting value of product leadership in the AI era. They unpack why great PMs must now double down on customer insights, business understanding, and organizational influence rather than execution—and how this shift impacts hiring, mentorship, and career paths.From the dangers of AI-washi...2025-08-041h 13
Supra Insider#68: Why authentic storytelling beats credentials | Charles Ruiz (Keynote Speaker, Founder & Executive Coach)Listen now: Spotify, Apple and YouTubeWhat if the key to showing up as a great leader had nothing to do with your title, metrics, or credentials—and everything to do with knowing who you are outside of work?In this episode of Supra Insider, Marc and Ben sit down with executive coach Charles Ruiz to explore how leaders can shift from external validation to authentic presence. Charles shares the origins of his mantra “Presence over Preference,” his Four Cs framework (Core, Craft, Community, Creativity) and the transformative practice of running an “identity marathon...2025-07-281h 04
Supra Insider#67: Untangling identity from job title | Jori Bell (VP Core Experience @ Hampton, ex-Spotify, SoundCloud, Audible)Listen now: Spotify, Apple and YouTubeWhat if walking away from your polished product career was the exact move you needed to grow?In this episode of Supra Insider, Marc and Ben sit down with Jori Bell to explore her unconventional journey from PM roles at Spotify, SoundCloud, and Audible to building a coaching practice, curating intimate community spaces, and teaching at Cornell Tech. After two years of self-exploration and reinvention, Jori is now bringing her rediscovered superpowers—curiosity, empathy, and intuition—into her new role at Hampton, helping founders and CEOs cultivate mean...2025-07-211h 08
Supra Insider#66: How MCP enables AI to know you better | Mike Bal (Head of Product and AI @ David’s Bridal)Listen now: Spotify, Apple and YouTubeWhat if you had a personalized AI toolkit—not just a chatbot—that actually remembered your projects, your workflows, and even your family’s preferences?In this episode, Marc and Ben sit down with Mike Bal, a product leader experimenting at the frontier of AI tooling. Mike shares how he built a local memory system for Claude using Model Context Protocols (MCPs), enabling persistent knowledge graphs that connect everything from his product designs to his family’s vacation plans. They walk through how it works—step-by-step—including a live demo...2025-07-141h 05
Supra Insider#65: How to build an AI career coach in 90 minutes | Kavita Anand (VP, Product & Design @ NewtonX)What if you could access a personalized career coach anytime—one who remembers your goals, understands your tendencies, and gives you thoughtful, actionable guidance?In this episode of Supra Insider, Marc and Ben sit down with Kavita Anand, a product leader at NewtonX, to explore how she built her own AI-based career coach using tools like Claude and ChatGPT—and then taught 30+ women at her company how to do the same. She breaks down the exact system she used: crafting a system prompt, running a kickoff conversation, and curating relevant context to create a truly helpful AI co-p...2025-07-0757 min
Supra Insider#64: How top companies evaluate PM candidates in 2025 | Nickey Skarstad (Duolingo), Stephanie J. Neill (Stripe), and Chantal Cox (LTK)If you’re navigating today’s brutally competitive PM job market and wondering what “good” looks like, this episode will become your playbook. In this episode, Ben moderates a candid panel with three veteran product hiring managers:Nickey Skarstad – Director of Product, Duolingo (now leading Duolingo Math)Stephanie J. Neill – Head of Product, Stripe TaxChantal Cox – Director of Product, LTK (LiketoKnow.it creator platform)Together, they reverse-engineer every stage of their 2025 hiring funnels—from 30-second resume scans to offer debriefs—and spell out the signals that turn an applicant into a hire. You’ll hea...2025-06-3056 min
Supra Insider#63: How PMs can bring predictability to AI products | Aman Khan (Head of Product @ Arize AI, ex-Spotify, ex-Apple)If you’ve ever launched an AI feature and later realized it wasn’t quite ready—or struggled to define what “quality” even looks like in an AI product—this episode is for you.In this episode of Supra Insider, Marc and Ben sit down with Aman Khan, Head of Product of Arize AI and a leading voice in AI product evaluation. Aman has helped dozens of teams—from scrappy startups to massive consumer platforms—build systematic approaches for evaluating LLM-powered features. Together, they explore the dangers of “vibe coding” your way to production, how to define and operationalize e...2025-06-2356 min
Supra Insider#62: Why the future belongs to spiky PMs who use AI to magnify their strengths | Hilary Gridley (Head of Core Product @ WHOOP)What actually sets you apart in a world where AI can do more and more of your job? In this episode, Marc and Ben are joined by Hilary Gridley—Head of Core Product at WHOOP and instructor of the Maven course How to Be a Supermanager with AI—to unpack how great product leaders can use AI to magnify their strengths instead of dulling them.Hilary breaks down her approach to time allocation, sharing how she dissects messy, ambiguous work into its component parts and uses AI as a thinking partner—not a crutch. They explore how to ide...2025-06-161h 02
Supra Insider#61: How jobs-to-be-done (JTBD) nearly killed our startup | Troy Sultan and Austin Cooley (Co-founders @ Guide)If you’ve ever found yourself torn between chasing a long-term product vision and urgently responding to customer demands—or wondered how to strike the right balance between innovation and pragmatism—this episode is for you.In this episode of Supra Insider, Marc and Ben sit down with Troy Sultan and Austin Cooley, co-founders of Guide, to explore how they transformed their entire product philosophy from idealistic "big bets" into rapid, incremental solutions based on direct customer feedback. Over eight years as co-founders, Troy and Austin have navigated the common pitfalls of visionary product building, learning to valida...2025-06-091h 14
Supra Insider#60: What PM candidates get wrong about behavioral interviews | Robert Hamilton (PM interview coach, ex-Meta, ex-Google)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Robert Hamilton, executive coach and former Meta and Google PM, to unpack the art and science of behavioral interviews. If you’ve ever struggled with the infamous “leadership and drive” loop or wondered why your best stories aren’t landing, this episode is a must-listen.They explore why behavioral interviews are often harder to prepare for than case-style interviews, how to identify the signal behind the questions, and why storytelling, self-awareness, and emotional authenticity are so critical. Robert shares actionable tactics like the STAR...2025-06-021h 08
Supra Insider#59: How this AI-powered duo found PMF by building 3 products in 9 months | Andy Keil & Kyle LedbetterWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc sat down with Kyle Ledbetter and Andy Keil, the co-founders of Dreambase—an AI-native toolset built on top of Supabase. Despite not having formal engineering backgrounds, Kyle and Andy have built and launched three fully functional products in just nine months.They unpack their unique zero-to-one process—from jamming on whiteboards to building multimodal prompts, doing bake-offs across V0, Bolt, and Lovable, and validating with real users in days, not months.This episode is packed with insights on collaboration, prototyping workflows, and why the best AI builders migh...2025-05-261h 12
Supra Insider#58: Why PM hiring is broken (and how to fix it) | Mike Curti & Joshua Herzig-MarxWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Mike Curti, a recently hired product leader, and Joshua Herzig-Marx, a trusted advisor to early-stage startups and product teams. Together, they unpack one of the most mission-critical and misunderstood topics in product leadership: hiring.They break down what’s broken in today’s interview processes, especially for product roles and why simply copying Big Tech often leads to poor outcomes. Josh shares lessons from working with founders on their first PM hire, while Mike reflects on his own job search and why stru...2025-05-191h 10
Supra Insider#57: What product leaders get wrong about strategy | Melissa Perri (board member, author of Escaping The Build Trap)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Melissa Perri, author of Escaping the Build Trap and one of the world’s leading product strategy experts. Melissa shares lessons from advising CEOs, founders, and product leaders on how to build strategy that works, scale from VP to CPO, and navigate the often tricky dynamic between founder-CEOs and product leaders. They also explore how AI is shifting product management and why the fundamentals still matter more than ever. Whether you’re a founder, product leader, or operator, this conversation is packed with...2025-05-121h 11
Supra Insider#56: How to find work you love | Troy Sultan (Co-Founder & CEO @ Guide)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Troy Sultan, co-founder and CEO of Guide, to unpack the state of job searching and recruiting in the AI era.Troy shares a compelling behind-the-scenes look at what’s really going on inside recruiting teams today—and why the typical candidate experience is often so broken. He also explains how AI and modern tooling are reshaping hiring in real-time, helping teams scale quality and efficiency without sacrificing humanity.They also dive into how job seekers can regain power in the proc...2025-05-051h 04
Supra Insider#55: How v0 has changed the way we build product | Sanket Kavishwar (Director of Product @ Relyance AI)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Sanket Kavishwar, Director of Product at Relyance AI. Sanket is one of the most active members in Supra’s AI workflows Slack channel, and in this episode, we explore how he’s transforming his company’s product development process with AI prototyping tools like V0.We dive into how Relyance AI shifted from traditional PRDs to problem statements and interactive prototypes, dramatically accelerating iteration speed, improving customer feedback loops, and empowering PMs to communicate ideas visually without waiting on design resources. Sanket also s...2025-04-281h 11
Supra Insider#54: How leading designers are riding the AI prototyping wave | Will Newton (Principal Product Architect @ Amplitude)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Will Newton, Principal Product Architect at Amplitude—and one of our most popular past guests—for a follow-up conversation on the fast-evolving world of AI tooling in product design and development.In just a few weeks since our last chat, Amplitude has gone from early AI experimentation to giving Bolt licenses to every designer. Will takes us inside this transition and breaks down how AI is changing design workflows, redefining prototyping, and collapsing traditional linear product development.We also get deep...2025-04-211h 08
Supra Insider#53: The state of AI prototyping for product managers | Colin Matthews & Tal RavivWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Ben and Marc sat down with Tal Raviv and Colin Matthews for a candid conversation about how AI is reshaping the work and mindset of modern product managers.They unpack insights from Tal’s recent survey on AI prototyping adoption, common challenges for PMs using AI tools, and the importance of learning how to experiment effectively. Colin shares how his approach to evaluating side projects has shifted now that AI accelerates time to build—and why go-to-market remains the biggest bottleneck.They also explore why some comp...2025-04-141h 08
Supra Insider#52: The beautiful mess of organizational context | John Cutler & Joshua Herzig-MarxWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with John Cutler and Joshua Herzig-Marx for a wide-ranging conversation about how AI is transforming the way product teams build, collaborate, and scale. John shares why he joined a new early-stage startup as Head of Product and how the team is breaking the traditional rules of product development—starting with a platform-first mindset.The conversation explores the rise of highly configurable tools, the new personas emerging in AI-native organizations, and how simulations, knowledge graphs, and organizational ontologies might shape the next generation of wo...2025-04-071h 09
Supra Insider#51: The future of in-product collaboration between AI and humans | Steven Fabre (Founder @ Liveblocks)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Steven Fabre, co-founder and CEO of Liveblocks, a company helping product teams seamlessly build collaborative experiences—now with AI copilots in the mix.In this conversation, Steven shares his journey from being a designer at InVision to leading a developer tools company that’s rethinking collaboration in the AI era. They talk about how Liveblocks is evolving from enabling human-to-human collaboration to supporting humans and AI working together in real time—and what that means for interface design, trust, and product differentiation.S...2025-03-311h 11
Supra Insider#50: Nailing GTM in the age of AI-first startups | Phil Ou (Founder @ Blossomer, Ex-Google & YouTube PM)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc sat down with Phil Ou, founder of Blossomer and former product leader at Google, where he led teams across Google Photos, RCS, and YouTube Ads. Phil now helps early-stage B2B founders get their first 1,000 customers—without hiring a sales team.In this episode, they unpack what it really takes to build a repeatable go-to-market engine, the decision to bootstrap vs. raise VC, and the biggest mistakes founders make when thinking about growth. Phil also shares how he uses AI tools to save hours each week—from cust...2025-03-241h 07
Supra Insider#49: How Asana builds AI products | Rodrigo Davies (Director of Product @ Asana)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Rodrigo Davies, the product leader shaping Asana’s AI strategy. Rodrigo shares his journey leading AI adoption at Asana, from educating internal teams to building a culture of AI experimentation.We explore how Asana integrates AI into work management, balances AI innovation with enterprise needs, and develops features that deliver real value—not just hype. Rodrigo also talks about how AI is changing the product development process, the importance of hands-on tinkering, and why AI needs to earn trust before it can take...2025-03-171h 03
Supra Insider#48: The art of listening | Randhir Vieira (Chief Product Officer @ Omada Health)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Randhir Vieira, Chief Product Officer at Omada Health and a Supra facilitator. Randhir has led product teams at companies like Headspace and brings a deep passion for leadership, communication, and the often-overlooked skill of listening.In this episode, we explore why listening is the foundation of strong leadership, how to give feedback that actually lands, and why the best product leaders focus on building psychological safety in their teams. Randhir also shares practical frameworks for improving team collaboration, handling difficult conversations, and...2025-03-101h 09
Supra Insider#47: How AI agents are supercharging PMs | Jacob Bank (Founder & CEO @ Relay.app, prev Director of PM @ Google)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Ben and Marc sat down with Jacob Bank from Relay.app to dive into the rapidly evolving world of AI workflows, automation, and agent systems. Prior to founding Relay.app, Jacob was a Director of Product Management at Google, which he joined after Google acquired his former startup, Timeful.Jacob shares his firsthand experience building AI-driven workflows, what he’s learned from experimenting with AI agents, and how PMs should be thinking about automation in their work. We explore the real-world challenges of implementing AI, why human-in-the-loop remains cr...2025-03-031h 11
Supra Insider#46: How AI is blurring the line between Design and PM | Will Newton (Principal Product Architect @ Amplitude)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Will Newton, Principal Product Architect at Amplitude. With years of experience at companies like Gusto and Feather, Will shares insights into how AI is transforming the design world—from prototyping workflows to the evolving roles within product teams. The conversation explores how AI tools are blurring roles between product managers, designers, and engineers while speeding up development cycles. If you're interested in AI's impact on product development, don't miss this episode!All episodes of the podcast are also available on Sp...2025-02-241h 16
Supra Insider#45: How top PMs leverage AI-powered prototyping tools | Colin Matthews (Founder & Author @ Tech For Product)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Colin Matthews, instructor of two popular AI prototyping courses on Maven. Colin shared his insights on the evolving landscape of AI-powered prototyping tools and how product managers can leverage them to build and test more impactful features faster.The discussion explored different categories of AI prototyping tools, when to use them, and how they’re changing the way teams collaborate. Colin also walked us through a live demo, showing how to prototype and test a new hypothetical AI LinkedIn feature in real ti...2025-02-171h 11
Supra Insider#44: The journey from product leader to coach | Yue Zhao (Founder @ The Uncommon Exec, Ex-Meta)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Yue Zhao, a former product leader at Thumbtack, Instagram, Meta, and Fuzzy, who now thrives as an executive coach and author. Yue shares her story of moving to Barcelona, exploring new career paths, and writing a book that reshaped her outlook on work and leadership. They dive into key topics like navigating career pivots, staying energized through curiosity, and learning to reframe limiting beliefs.Whether you’re a product leader considering new career paths or someone seeking actionable tips for personal growth, th...2025-02-101h 16
Supra Insider#43: How AI is impacting the PM - engineer relationship | Irene Yu (Founder & CEO @ Skiplevel)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Irene Yu, founder and CEO of Skiplevel, professional training designed to teach PMs how to become more technical without learning to code. In this conversation, they explored Irene’s journey from Amazon engineer to entrepreneur, the communication challenges between PMs and engineers, and how Skiplevel is helping mitigate those challenges. They also discussed the rise of AI features in product development, exploring how PMs can handle edge cases, learn critical AI concepts, and avoid the dreaded "demo trap." Irene also revealed how sh...2025-02-031h 09
Supra Insider#42: How AI is changing the way product teams work | Tal Raviv & Joshua Herzig-MarxWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Tal Raviv and Joshua Herzig-Marx to explore AI's seismic impact on product development. This conversation unpacks how revolutionary tools like Replit and Vercel v0 are democratizing prototyping and reshaping traditional roles across design, engineering, and product management.Delving beyond surface-level observations, our guests share provocative insights on AI agents' role in reshaping workplace dynamics and envision the emergence of AI-native enterprises. From reimagining established workflows to envisioning AI-first companies, this episode delivers crucial insights for anyone building products in the AI era.2025-01-271h 22
Supra Insider#41: Reflections from 40 episodes and plans for 2025 | Ben Erez & Marc BaselgaWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben take a moment to reflect on their journey after reaching 40 episodes. They share their evolution - from starting the podcast as a fun experiment to crafting the art of genuine conversation that defines their podcast format today.The conversation flows naturally into their aspirations for the new year, exploring exciting trends like AI-powered prototyping and the changing landscape of IC career paths, while sharing practical wisdom on setting expectations and building momentum in both work and life.This episode is packed with actionable...2025-01-201h 16
Supra Insider#40: How Pie Insurance Implemented the Product Operating Model | Brenton Sellati (VP of Product @ Pie Insurance)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Brenton Sellati, VP of Product at Pie Insurance, and Joshua Herzig-Marx as the honorary co-host for this episode to dive into the transformational journey of implementing the product operating model at Pie Insurance.Brenton shares how he overhauled Pie’s product strategy, slashing 66% of the roadmap to focus on high-ROI initiatives, aligning leadership, and fostering a product-led culture. With insights from Joshua throughout the discussion, the episode explores the challenges and successes of introducing a problem-first mindset, building cross-functional collaboration, and creating a...2025-01-131h 03
Supra Insider#39: How PM compensation has changed in the last two years | Peter Walker (Head of Insights @ Carta)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Peter Walker, Head of Insights at Carta. Drawing from Carta's vast database of over 30,000 companies, Peter offers a data-driven analysis of the evolving compensation landscape in 2024.The conversation delves deep into product management compensation, exploring both cash and equity components across different startup stages. Peter shares unique insights into critical industry challenges, including the complexities of equity exercise decisions and the growing emphasis on capital efficiency in startups.The episode tackles pressing questions facing the PM industry today: How are...2025-01-0650 min
Supra Insider#38: Where software pricing is heading in an AI world | Alvaro Morales (Co-founder & CEO @ Orb)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Alvaro Morales, CEO and co-founder of Orb, a company revolutionizing modern billing infrastructure with notable customers like Vercel, Perplexity, and Replit. Alvaro shared his journey from being an engineering manager at Asana to launching Orb after encountering challenges with pricing iterations.He also discussed the evolving role of pricing in product strategy and the rise of usage-based and outcome-based pricing models. Additionally, he shared his insights into the psychology behind pricing decisions, the importance of building customer trust, and how...2024-12-301h 01
Supra Insider#37: How AI is impacting Product Discovery and User Research | Teresa Torres (Author, Speaker, Product Discovery Coach)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Teresa Torres, author of Continuous Discovery Habits, to explore the role of AI in modern product discovery. Teresa shared why customer empathy remains irreplaceable, the common pitfalls teams face when misusing AI in research, and practical strategies for integrating AI effectively—without losing sight of the human touch.She also offered her insights on how AI can empower product teams to build skills, enhance customer interviews, and streamline discovery workflows, all while staying firmly rooted in authentic customer understanding. If you're passionate ab...2024-12-1648 min
Supra Insider#36: How AI is making product management fun again | Tal Raviv (Ex-Riverside, AppsFlyer, Patreon)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Tal Raviv, an experienced product manager and AI enthusiast, to explore the intersection of AI and productivity in product management. Tal shares insights from his career, including his time as the first PM at Riverside and his work building generative AI features.We dove deep into the myths surrounding AI's role in product management, the power of context when working with tools like Claude and ChatGPT, and practical use cases for both co-pilots and agents. Tal also shared tips on creating a...2024-12-091h 14
Supra Insider#35: Unpacking the Current Job Market for Product Leaders | Sunil Chaudhary (Director @ Riviera Partners)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Sunil (Sunny) Chaudhary, a former product leader turned recruitment director at Riviera Partners, one of the top recruiting firms in tech. Sunny shares his journey from leading product teams to helping companies hire the right product leaders, offering a unique perspective from both sides of the hiring table.In this episode, Sunny also dives deep into how the product leadership market is evolving, from the rising demand for AI expertise to the increasing focus on doers over managers. He shares...2024-11-2552 min
Supra Insider#34: Scaling Impact Off the Beaten Path | Gibson Biddle (Netflix, Chegg)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Gibson Biddle, former VP of Product at Netflix and Chief Product Officer at Chegg. Gib shares his journey from full-time product leadership to becoming an interim and fractional executive, driven by the desire to live life on his own terms. He discussed his strategies for balancing impact and flexibility, the importance of continuous learning, and his passion for teaching and storytelling.Gib also talked about building engaging content, like his well-loved product strategy workshops, and organizing the Product Leader Summit. Whether you're...2024-11-1848 min
Supra Insider#2 Re-Post: Fearless Salary Negotiation | Josh Doody (Author)Today’s episode is a re-release of one of our most popular episodes on the podcast: our conversation with Josh Doody, a renowned salary negotiation coach and author of Fearless Salary Negotiation. With the job market shifting and more people navigating complex career moves, we thought it was the perfect time to bring back Josh's invaluable advice on negotiating job offers.This episode covers why changing companies can be key to maximizing your compensation, the best practices for salary negotiation, and common mistakes to avoid. It’s packed with practical strategies and tips to help you...2024-11-0748 min
Supra Insider#33: The nuanced reality of the product leadership job market | John Cutler & Josh Herzig-MarxWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben are joined by John Cutler and Joshua Herzig-Marx (friends of the show) to explore a growing trend in the product community: product leaders struggling to find their next roles. We discussed the contributing factors to this trend, including the flattening of product organizations, the rise of super IC PMs, and the influence of AI. The conversation dives into practical advice for product leaders navigating these challenges and what the future might hold for product leadership.For anyone who is navigating the evolving product...2024-10-2855 min
Supra Insider#32: Escaping the AI Demo Trap | Ben Sprecher (CPO @ bookend.ai)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sit down with Ben Sprecher, CPO at an AI startup and a longtime product leader with 24 years of experience in AI. They explore Ben’s fascinating journey from founding a company that was acquired by Google to leading AI initiatives. In this episode, we dive into a futuristic bet Ben made 25 years ago on the future of AI, the concept of the "AI demo trap"—a pitfall many companies fall into—and actionable frameworks to avoid it.If you’re a founder, product manager, or someone...2024-10-2341 min
Supra Insider#31: What Product Teams Get Wrong about User Research | Alexander Hanthorn (Staff PM @ Drift)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Alex Hanthorn (Drift, TripleByte, Nielsen) to explore the evolving world of user research. From scrappy research methods in early-stage startups to the more formalized processes at large tech companies, we delve into the challenges and opportunities of understanding user motivations. Alex shares insights from his experiences, including his time working with companies from Taco Bell, and discusses the art of balancing intuition with data. This episode is packed with actionable advice for founders, product managers, and anyone looking to improve their approach...2024-10-141h 05
Supra Insider#30: Leaving Google X to build Yoodli aka Grammarly for Speech | Varun Puri (CEO and Co-Founder @ Yoodli, ex-Google X)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben are joined by Varun Puri, CEO and co-founder of Yoodli, a platform helping people improve their public speaking skills. Varun shares his journey from working with Sergey Brin at Google to taking the leap into entrepreneurship. The conversation delves into Varun’s time at Google X, the early days of building Yoodli, the harsh realities of founding a company, and the joys of actually making a difference. This episode is a must-listen for aspiring founders and product leaders who want to hear an honest account of...2024-10-0742 min
Supra Insider#29: From Product Leader to COO: Driving Impact in an Ops-heavy Company | Melissa Chi (COO @ Pathpoint)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Melissa Chi, COO and former head of product at Pathpoint. We explore Melissa's transition from a product leader to COO, the importance of maintaining user empathy in a remote, operations-heavy environment, and how she continues to support and coach her team. Melissa also shares insights on managing time effectively, fostering cross-functional collaboration, and prioritization in a growth-stage startup. This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to grow their career in leadership while maintaining a user-centered approach.All episodes of...2024-10-031h 10
Supra Insider#28: From childhood besties to Google acquisition | Joshua Herzig-Marx & Ben Sprecher (Co-founders @ Incentive Targeting)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with longtime friends and co-founders, Joshua Herzig-Marx and Ben Sprecher, to explore their journey from childhood friendship to building a company that was acquired by Google. In this candid conversation, Joshua and Ben share their co-founder origin story, the challenges they faced scaling a startup, and how they managed their relationship through the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. They also dive into the crucial lessons learned from hiring a CEO, pivoting their business model, and making tough decisions to ensure a successful exit. ...2024-09-241h 09
Supra Insider#27: How managing PMs has made me a better IC | Katie Kent (Staff PM @ Semgrep, Ex-Panther, Flexport)Welcome to another episode of the Supra Insider. This time, Ben and Marc are joined by Katie Kent, who shares her unique experience transitioning from a product leadership role back to an individual contributor (IC) as a staff PM at Semgrep. Katie talks about how her background in leadership has sharpened her skills as an IC, the lessons she’s learned from the security industry, and why she believes in staying hands-on with product work. The conversation explores the value of remote and hybrid work, the evolving role of tools like FigJam in fostering collaboration, and what it means to...2024-09-161h 00
Supra Insider#26: Why "Founder Mode" isn't black and white | Josh Brewer (Partner @ Enjoy The Work, previously co-founder & CEO @ Abstract, Principal Designer @ Twitter)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Josh Brewer, former CEO and Co-founder of Abstract, to discuss the nuances of creative leadership in today's fast-evolving tech landscape. Josh shares his unique perspective on building high-performing teams, delegating effectively, and fostering an environment of openness and authenticity. The conversation delves into the concept of "founder mode," the future of design amidst AI advancements, and the critical role design plays in shaping product vision and business strategy. Tune in for actionable insights and lessons from Josh's extensive experience in product management...2024-09-091h 13
Supra Insider#25: The benefits and challenges of time offWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben explore the timely topic of taking time off. Recently returning from their own breaks, they share experiences, insights, and reflections on the value of truly unplugging. The conversation delves into their activities during time off, common challenges of stepping away from work, and effective strategies for fully disconnecting. They also discuss the personal benefits experienced and the lessons learned, which they are excited to apply moving forward.For anyone considering a break or just returning from one, this discussion is meant to inspire and offer...2024-09-0355 min
Supra Insider#24: The Foundations for Exponential Growth | Brenton Sellati (VP/Head of Product at Pie Insurance)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, we feature Brenton Sellati, a seasoned product leader who went from managing four teams to leading 50 at Wayfair. Brenton introduces his framework for exponential growth, focusing on critical thinking, problem-solving, and influencing skills. He shares how applying these principles to his career led to rapid advancement and offers practical advice for PMs at all levels. This episode is packed with insights for anyone looking to elevate their product management game. We highly recommend you watch this episode on YouTube since Brenton used slides throughout the episode.All episodes...2024-08-2657 min
Supra Insider#23: Real talk about B2B product management with Rich MironovWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Rich Mironov, an experienced product leader and 6x interim CPO, about the challenges of managing product strategy in sales-driven environments. We discussed building better relationships between product and go-to-market teams, why burnout is so common among product leaders, and how to thrive in these high-pressure roles. This conversation is a must for anyone navigating the complex dynamics of product leadership, especially in a B2B environment.All episodes of the podcast are also available on Spotify, Apple and YouTube (video)....2024-08-1946 min
Supra Insider#22: What founders get wrong about marketing with Allison BraleyWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Allison Braley, partner and head of marketing at Bain Capital Ventures. This episode delves into common marketing and communications mistakes made by founders, the importance of an authentic online presence, and how to build effective partnerships between product leaders and marketers. We also touched on Allison’s transition from an operational marketing leader role to supporting founders as a VC and why this new role plays to her strengths. This episode is essential for founders looking to enhance their marketing strategies and get more le...2024-08-1239 min
Supra Insider#21: How Life360's product org evolved from Series A to IPO with Chris HullsWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. In this episode, Marc and Ben sit down with Chris Hulls, the founder and CEO of Life360, the world’s leading location-sharing app for families. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in scaling a tech startup and Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. In this episode, Marc and Ben sit down with Chris Hulls, the founder and CEO of Life360, the world’s leading location-sharing app for families. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in scaling a tech startup and understanding the intricacies of product management in a ra...2024-08-0646 min
Supra Insider#20: Open source learnings from launching a Maven courseWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc & Ben sat down to talk about Ben’s recent experience launching a course on Maven. This episode will be extremely relevant to anyone considering launching a course.All episodes of the podcast are also available on Spotify, Apple and YouTube (video).New to the pod? Subscribe below to get the next episode in your inbox 👇In this episode, we covered the following topics:* Ben’s motivation for the course* What it took to get the course off the ground and dri...2024-07-2947 min
Supra Insider#19: Exploring fractional product management with Estee GoldschmidtWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Ben joined Estee Goldschmidt on her podcast, The Estee Show, to dive into Ben’s learnings from the past six months of fractional product work.All episodes of the podcast are also available on Spotify, Apple and YouTube (video).New to the pod? Subscribe below to get the next episode in your inbox 👇In this episode, Ben and Estee talked about:* What fractional product work means and why it’s appealing to people* How to build a pipeline of fractional opportu...2024-07-221h 05
Supra Insider#18: How to scaffold founders with Josh Herzig-MarxWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, we’re excited to bring you our second conversation with Josh Herzig-Marx (a follow up on episode 16). Josh was one of the early facilitators in Supra, has been a successful founder who sold his company to Google, held multiple early stage product leadership roles, and in recent years has found meaning in his role as an early stage product coach.All episodes of the podcast are also available on Spotify, Apple and YouTube (video).New to the pod? Subscribe below to get the next ep...2024-07-161h 29
Supra Insider#17: Why Products That Sing Are Good for Business with Heather PhillipsWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, we’re excited to bring you our conversation with Heather Phillips, Senior Director of Product Design at Slack.New to the pod? Subscribe below to get the next episode in your inbox 👇Before Slack, Heather held multiple design leadership roles at companies including Abstract (where she worked closely with Ben), Designer Fund, RelateIQ, and Yammer. In this episode, we talked about* What it means to make a product “sing”* The benefits of investing in user delight* How to instill a...2024-07-0853 min
Supra Insider#16: Coaching early product hires and founders with Josh Herzig-MarxWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, we’re excited to bring you our conversation with Josh Herzig-Marx. Josh was one of the early facilitators in Supra, has been a successful founder who sold his company to Google, held multiple early stage product leadership roles, and in recent years has found meaning in his role as an early stage product coach.New to the pod? Subscribe below to get the next episode in your inbox 👇In our conversation, we talked about* Josh’s decision two years ago to take a break...2024-06-2548 min
Supra Insider#15: How we landed our first jobs in techWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. After Ben shared a fun story on LinkedIn about how he got his first tech job, we thought it would be fun to do an episode about how we landed our first jobs in tech.New to the pod? Subscribe below to get the next episode in your inbox 👇In this episode, we talked about* The story of how Ben joined Life360 as employee #35 through a roadtrip* The story of how Marc joined Asana as their first PM intern* Actionable takeaways from the...2024-06-1847 min
Supra Insider#14: Building Volunteer Armies with Kelly O'Shaughnessy (Airtable, Uber)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, we’re excited to bring you our conversation with Kelly O'Shaughnessy, Head of Product - Self Serve at Airtable.New to the pod? Subscribe below to get the next episode in your inbox 👇Getting new products off the ground at established companies is notoriously challenging. But when it works, it can meaningfully expand the company’s TAM and introduce new revenue streams.Kelly O’Shaughnessy is one of the earliest members of the Supra community and before her current role at Airtable, she spent four year...2024-06-1046 min
Supra Insider#13: Can Product Managers Thrive in Feature Factories?A couple of months ago, Ben wrote a thought-provoking LinkedIn post about the potential damage Marty Cagan's advice on Lenny's podcast could cause to feature factory PMs. This sparked a conversation between Ben and Estee Goldschmidt on The Estee Show, which caught the attention of Lenny Rachitsky. Recognizing the importance of the topic, Lenny invited Ben to write a guest post for his newsletter, "In defense of feature team product managers," which went live today.New to the pod? Subscribe below to get the next episode in your inbox 👇In this episode, Ben and Estee tal...2024-06-0451 min
Supra Insider#12: Early learnings from the podWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down to reflect on the first 11 episodes of the pod.New to the pod? Subscribe below to get the next episode in your inbox 👇In this episode, we talked about* Key decisions we made at the offset and how those have played out* Our runbook for publishing episodes* How we gather and incorporate feedback to make every episode better* Where we’re hoping to go with the pod from here* Why podcast analy...2024-05-2846 min
Supra Insider#11: Jeff Whitlock (CEO @ Grain)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, we’re excited to bring you our conversation with Jeff Whitlock, CEO at Grain.New to the pod? Subscribe below to get the next episode in your inbox 👇Jeff’s most important job is as a father of three. His second most important job is as the CEO of Grain, a role he took on after holding a few other roles at the company, including President, Head of Product and Head of Operations.Before Grain, Jeff started his career at McKinsey, then joined Vivint Smart H...2024-05-2040 min
Supra Insider#10: Marc Baselga (Founder of Supra)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. We changed things up for this episode and instead of Ben and Marc interviewing a guest, Ben interviewed Marc.New to the pod? Subscribe below to get the next episode in your inbox 👇In this episode, Marc and Ben dive deep into various aspects of the Supra community, including:* Supra’s founding story* The importance of curating a high-quality, committed member community and matching people into the right groups.* The role of executive coaches in facilitating meaningful discussions and maintaining group engagement....2024-05-1442 min
Supra Insider#9: Nan Yu (Head of Product at Linear)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, we’re excited to bring you our conversation with Nan Yu, Head of Product at Linear.New to the pod? Subscribe below to get the next episode in your inbox 👇Nan had a super interesting path to his current role: he started his career as a software engineer at Goldman Sachs, then served as the CTO of Everlane for nearly six years before joining Abstract as an engineering manager (where he paired with Ben as his primary PM counterpart). After a couple years at Abstract, Nan joine...2024-05-0659 min
Supra Insider#8: The Product Leadership Job Search with Aakash GuptaWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, we’re excited to bring you our conversation with Aakash Gupta.New to Supra Insider? Subscribe to get each episode straight to your inbox 👇Aakash is a former product leader who was most recently VP of Product at Apollo, Head of Product Growth at Affirm, and other great companies. He’s lately become known for his Substack newsletter, Product Growth, where he has a very large subscriber base, as well as his LinkedIn where he has 200k+ followers.In this episode, we went deep on the...2024-04-3053 min
Supra Insider#7: Digesting the Product Narrative Soup with John CutlerWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and I are excited to bring you our conversation with John Cutler. John writes The Beautiful Mess, a popular Substack newsletter in the product community and frequently posts on LI to his 100k followers. We both learned about John’s work during his time at Amplitude, where he spent 4.5 years as a product evangelist and coach for hundreds of product teams around the globe, giving him a unique vantage point about reality on the ground in many different environments and cultures. John legitimately lives in the “matrix of pr...2024-04-2248 min
Supra Insider#6: A Masterclass on Scaling as a Product Leader with Brenton SellatiIn this episode, Marc and Ben are joined by Brenton Sellati. Brenton is the incoming VP of product at Pie Insurance (Series D insurtech company) where he will be leading the product and design team and leveraging his past experience driving innovation strategy and product management at Liberty Mutual Insurance where he started his product career.Between Liberty Mutual and Pie Insurance, Brenton had a stellar run for over 5 years at Wayfair, where he worked his way up from managing 4 teams as a group PM all the way to leading 50 teams as a senior director of product...2024-04-161h 01
Supra Insider#5: Lessons from a Liberal Arts Major Turned Product Leader & VC - Diana Berlin (Partner @ Matrix)Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider!In this episode, Marc and Ben are joined by Diana Kimball Berlin, a Partner at Matrix who invests in early-stage B2B SaaS & AI companies, from concept to Series A. Diana also sits on the boards of Accord and Meshcapade. Prior to becoming an investor, Diana spent 5 years at Quip, working up from an IC product manager to VP of Product. Before Quip, Diana was a senior PM at SoundCloud and has held roles at Kickstarter and Microsoft. In our chat with Diana, we cover a lot of...2024-04-0945 min
Supra Insider#4: A Recruiter's Guide to Thriving in the Current PM Market with James JordanWelcome to another episode of Supra Insider. Following up on last episode’s discussion of the current PM market (episode 3), we wanted to add a new perspective to the conversation by inviting a product management recruiter to the show. In this episode, Marc and I are joined by James Jordan, the founder of Producto, a recruiting agency focused on PM hiring from ICs all the way to executives. James is coming up on two decades in recruiting and has a wealth of knowledge about the historical product management hiring landscape and the latest trends. If you...2024-04-0249 min
Supra Insider#3: Navigating the Current Product Leadership Job MarketThis is a wild market for product managers. The hiring landscape has shifted more in the last year than it did in the previous decade.With hundreds of thousands of people actively looking for their next role, we thought it would be helpful to invite a couple of folks from the Supra community to have a chat about how to navigate this job market. For those unfamiliar with Supra, it’s an invite-only community for elite product leaders that Marc founded.In this episode, Ben and Marc were joined by Gaurav Hardikar (VP Product @ HomeLight wh...2024-03-2743 min
Supra Insider#2: Fearless Salary Negotiation with Josh DoodyJosh Doody has coached 200+ high earners in tech through salary negotiations, leading to an average of 16% increase in liquid first year compensation. He’s a published author of Fearless Salary Negotiation and shares tips regularly on YouTube.In this episode, we talk about:* Why people should negotiate* What’s a typical negotiation timeline* How to negotiate without a counteroffer* Go over common negotiation pitfalls/mistakes * How to negotiate in the current job market (Q1 2024)* Why changing companies every 2-3 years optimizes earning potentialIf yo...2024-03-1948 min
Supra Insider#1: Should I join an early stage startup as the first PM?We’re excited to start sharing some of the interesting topics from the Supra product leadership community. Let us know if you have any feedback on the episode!You can also watch our conversation video on YouTube.Thanks for listening,Marc: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbaselga/Ben: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benerez/“How should I think about joining an early stage startup as their first product hire?” Many experienced product leaders are considering this path, so we sat down to chew on it together. In thi...2024-03-1237 min