Episodes

  • Episode 203: Christmas Special Greatest Hits 2024: Mastering Product Leadership Through Research, Goals, and Growth

    Episode 203: Christmas Special Greatest Hits 2024: Mastering Product Leadership Through Research, Goals, and Growth
    Dec 24 2024
    In this special holiday episode of the Product Thinking Podcast, Melissa Perri curates the most impactful insights from 2024's top episodes. Featuring conversations with industry leaders including Steve Portigal on user research evolution, Quincy Hunte on decision-making at scale, Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden on OKRs, Kate Leto on leadership coaching, and Leah Tharin on product-led growth. This compilation episode showcases key learnings that shaped product thinking throughout the year, offering valuable perspectives on research, leadership, goal-setting, and growth strategies.
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    9 mins
  • Episode 202: Transforming Product Teams into Investment Partners with Fabrice des Mazery

    Episode 202: Transforming Product Teams into Investment Partners with Fabrice des Mazery
    Dec 18 2024
    Fabrice des Mazery, Chief Product Officer at productROI joins Melissa Perri on this episode of the Product Thinking podcast, discussing shifting product managers' mindsets from builders to investors. Drawing from his extensive experience, including leading product at TripAdvisor's TheFork, Fabrice shares insights on evaluating product decisions through an investment lens, building stakeholder relationships, and creating a balanced product portfolio. He emphasizes the importance of understanding business metrics, ROI, and risk assessment in product management, while offering practical advice on how to communicate with stakeholders, using their language rather than product jargon.
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    45 mins
  • Episode 201: Enhancing Product Operations in Enterprise Software with Mark Rosenberg and Vivian Phinney

    Episode 201: Enhancing Product Operations in Enterprise Software with Mark Rosenberg and Vivian Phinney
    Dec 11 2024
    Mark Rosenberg and Vivian Phinney from Workday join Melissa Perri on this episode of the Product Thinking podcast to dive into product operations. Mark, an experienced leader at Workday, shares his journey in implementing modern product operations within a large-scale organization to meet the financial product needs of over 2,000 customers. Vivian expands on how they accomplish it and her mission to reduce the cognitive load on product teams through selective standardization and streamlined data solutions—ensuring PMs can prioritize effectively and communicate clearly with leadership. Tune in to learn how Mark and Vivian tackle the challenges of growth and complexity in enterprise product development.
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    50 mins
  • Episode 200: Building a Minimal Lovable Product with Tomer London

    Episode 200: Building a Minimal Lovable Product with Tomer London
    Dec 4 2024
    Gusto's Tomer London joins Melissa Perri in this episode of the Product Thinking podcast. As the co-founder and Chief Product Officer, Tomer shares his insights on building a lovable product experience in the fast-paced world of payroll and HR solutions. He discusses how Gusto stays committed to exceptional user experience amidst a growing and complex product portfolio. Tomer delves into the three key pillars of creating great user experiences – functionality, intuitiveness, and delight – and shares an engaging example of how celebrating payday can enhance emotional connections with customers. Tune in to learn how a focus on user-centric design and strategic thinking can drive meaningful innovation in product management.
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    44 mins
  • Episode 199: The True Cost of AI: Beyond the Hype and Into Reality with Jessica Hall

    Episode 199: The True Cost of AI: Beyond the Hype and Into Reality with Jessica Hall
    Nov 27 2024
    Just Eat Takeaway’s Jessica Hall joins Melissa Perri in this episode of the Product Thinking podcast. Chief Product Officer at the food delivery giant, Jessica links up with Melissa to discuss the intricacies of managing a diverse product portfolio across global markets, sharing insights from her journey in navigating the challenges of integrating multiple brands, post-merger and establishing a unified customer experience. She’s not all positive about AI adoption though, and is honest about both the potential and the pitfalls, including the often-overlooked costs and the importance of building a sustainable ecosystem around new technologies. Tune in to discover how strategic thinking and a customer-first approach can lead to innovative, responsible AI implementations that truly resonate with users.
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    47 mins
  • Episode 198: The Cupcake Approach: Validating Product Concepts with PJ Linarducci

    Episode 198: The Cupcake Approach: Validating Product Concepts with PJ Linarducci
    Nov 20 2024
    This time on the Product Thinking Podcast, Melissa Perri is joined by P.J. Linarducci, Chief Product Officer at Thumbtack, to explore the complexities of product leadership in both large and small-scale organizations. P.J. shares insights from his journey, starting with his formative years at Meta and his transition to Thumbtack, where he embraced the role of leading the entire product organization. He delves into the significant mindset shift from being one of many leaders at a large company, to owning full responsibility at a smaller, more agile company. P.J. also highlights the challenges of evolving Thumbtack from a marketplace model to a holistic home management platform, requiring new approaches to both product strategy and company culture. Tune in to learn how product managers can influence without authority.
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    43 mins
  • Episode 197: Aligning Product Development with Business Objectives in Healthcare with BJ Boyle

    Episode 197: Aligning Product Development with Business Objectives in Healthcare with BJ Boyle
    Nov 13 2024
    This time on the Product Thinking Podcast, Melissa Perri is joined by BJ Boyle, Chief Product Officer at PointClickCare, to discuss the critical intersection of healthcare technology and product management. With over two decades of experience in the health tech space, BJ shares insights from his journey, including lessons learned during his transition to the C-suite. He delves into the unique challenges of managing product strategy in a rapidly evolving industry, emphasizing the importance of aligning product development with market needs and regulatory changes. He also makes clear the importance of balancing domain expertise with product management acumen and engineering understanding, and the value of cross-functional collaboration in building effective product teams. Tune in to explore how PointClickCare is innovating within the healthcare sector.
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    42 mins
  • Episode 196: The Affirm Card: Transforming Payment Flexibility with Vishal Kapoor

    Episode 196: The Affirm Card: Transforming Payment Flexibility with Vishal Kapoor
    Nov 6 2024
    In this episode of the Product Thinking Podcast, Vishal Kapoor, Senior Vice President of Product at Affirm, joins Melissa Perri to dive into the intricacies of building and scaling products in the fintech space. Vishal shares his journey through 15+ years of product management. The episode offers deep insight into not just what Affirm is up to, but into the very bones of the culture that drives their product development. For instance, Vishal lets us in on how the company balances customer-centric innovation with the complex regulations of the financial sector. Tune in to learn how Affirm is shaping the future of fintech and get practical advice for building adaptable product strategies in complex industries.
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    45 mins