Product Rebels

What does it actually look like to run a one-day sprint cycle? To have agents building product overnight? To compress months of work into days — and still ship things that matter? Kris Kaneta, Chief Product & Innovation Officer at Norstella — one of fast company's most innovative companies of 2025 — is doing it. And in this episode, he shares how with hosts Heather Samarin and Vidya Dinam...

What happens when product leaders stop talking about AI theory and start sharing what’s actually working? In this special Product Rebels episode, Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin unpack insights from four AI roundtables with CPOs, VPs, and product leaders.  They explore AI slop, ROI challenges, role anxiety, rapid prototyping, and why judgment, customer insight, and product fundamentals matter m...

What does it take to turn a struggling edtech platform into a mission-driven product powerhouse — in under a year?  Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin sit down with Jared Harless , Chief Product and Technology Officer at BookNook, as he talks about his early days bootstrapping digital products inside a billion-dollar publishing company, to leading a turnaround that grew revenue 25% year over year...

Hey there Product Rebels! If you're a product leader right now, chances are someone in your org has asked you some version of "what's our AI strategy?" in the last month. And chances are, the answer is still murky. We're hearing this from product leaders constantly — there's pressure to ship AI features, but not a lot of clarity on how to move from boardroom excitemen...

Hey there Product Rebels! We've had a lot of conversations with product leaders lately, and one thing that keeps coming up is how much financial guesswork is involved in incorporating AI into their product orgs.  From forecasting costs to proving ROI, it's a challenge that really comes down to something more fundamental — do PMs actually understand the economics of the products they&apos...

What does it mean to be a true product rebel in the age of AI?  Heather Samarin and Vidya Dinamani sit down with Raviv Levi, former Chief Product & Technology Officer at Sift, as they unpack how product leaders can stay focused on what really matters—amid constant noise, data overload, and accelerating change.  From building alignment across competing teams to rethinking experimentation in an...

What happens when product leaders prioritize profit over long-term value?  In this episode, Michael Nierstedt shares lessons from more than a decade building payroll and HR technology across companies like Gusto and Paylocity. He explains why product investment drives competitive advantage, why product managers must think like sellers inside their organizations, and how real influence comes from d...

Overthinking isn't a liability — it might just be your greatest edge as a product leader.  In celebration of women's history month, Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin sit down with Carmen Palmer , CEO of Women in Product and a veteran CPO with 20 years in the industry.  Carmen makes the case for why women's "overthinking" is a competitive edge, argues product management is...

In this special episode of Product Rebels, Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin revisit highlights from their recent webinar, AI as a Force Multiplier for Product Discipline , featuring product and AI leader Elena Luneva. After the live session sparked a wave of thoughtful audience questions, they sit down to tackle some of the most pressing ones—from how AI is reshaping product work to why strong p...

Note: As Product Rebels journeys deeper into supporting teams navigating AI, we're resharing this episode featuring Kene Anoliefo who shared some great insights. We hope you enjoy! How is AI reshaping product management?  Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin sit down with Kene Anoliefo, Co-founder of HEARD by Elis, to explore how AI is accelerating product development, streamlining research, an...

What does great product leadership look like when you’re asked to go along with a big initiative you don’t believe in?  In this episode, former CPO at Everway, Timothy Alvis, talks about the tough calls product leaders face when conviction clashes with consensus.  From telling better stories, to embracing problem obsession over solution fixation, Tim shares hard-earned wisdom from leading at scale...

What happens when you challenge long-held assumptions—and let real data and user behavior lead?  In this episode, Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin sit down with Harish Pandian , CPO at Gravity, to talk about driving product transformation in industries resistant to change.  From building gamified safety tools to rapid-fire prototype testing on job sites, Harish shares how deep customer empathy,...

What does it really mean to make AI practical in product teams?  In this special year-end episode, Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin are sharing highlights from a recent Product Rebels live webinar focused on how product leaders can apply AI in meaningful, responsible ways.  Joined by Polly Allen, former Principal Product Manager at Alexa AI, they explore grounding AI in real customer problems, a...

What happens when a product leader enters a company and rewrites the strategy playbook—not with a megaphone, but with a matchstick and a campfire? Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin sit down with Raji Bedi , CPO at Lob, as he shares his analogies-packed approach to aligning teams, building product culture, and moving from "roadmap blur" to clarity and execution. From transforming product...

This special episode of Product Rebels brings you highlights from a recent webinar hosted by Heather Samarin and Vidya Dinamani, and featuring product veteran Ravi Mehta. With AI hype reaching fever pitch, many product teams are being pushed to “do AI”—without clear strategy or outcomes. In this candid conversation, we break down what’s really working in teams today. Learn the Inspire, Validate, S...

What does it really mean to be a product rebel?  Heather Samarin and Vidya Dinamani sit down with Saurabh Sharma , CPO at You.com, as he shares how asking the tough questions can shift an entire company's trajectory.  From tackling NFT theft at OpenSea to transforming product leadership with resilience, Saurabh brings real-world insight on thinking systemically, building partnerships, and ele...

How do you drive lasting change in one of the most complex and high-stakes industries—healthcare?  Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin sit down with Nasir Ali , former CPO at CareMetx, to explore how a product mindset can reshape legacy systems.  From shifting to scalable solutions to outcome-based contracts, Nasir shares real-world tactics and lessons in driving innovation at scale.

What does it take to drive product innovation across cultures, languages, and business units? Heather Samarin and Vidya Dinamani sit down with Chris Pasley , former VP of Product at 17Live, as he shares lessons from scaling product at a global live-streaming platform. From managing incentives in a “whale economy” to aligning cross-country OKRs, Chris shares stories of stakeholder wrangling, cultur...

What does it take to build products that transform not just classrooms, but the entire education space?  Heather Samarin and Vidya Dinamani sit down with a product leader who's done just that— Rachel Stack , Chief Humanities Officer at Great Minds. From navigating complex nonprofit-to-for-profit transformation, Rachel shares how her teams embraced continuous learning, prioritized with discipl...

What does it take to push back against the status quo—and win?  Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin sit down with Colt Stander , CPO at Presence, as he shares what it means to be a true product rebel.  From tackling overlooked customer problems to navigating leadership resistance, Colt reveals how his teams tested controversial ideas and drove innovation in hardware and healthcare. He offers honest...

How do you scale product impact while keeping customer trust at the center? Heather Samarin and Vidya Dinamani sit down with Ismail Elshareef , CPO at CarGurus, as he shares his bold approach to leading with empathy, optimism, and integrity. From standing up against revenue-first tactics to cultivating teams that challenge norms with courage and candor, Ismail brings tactical advice from hard-earn...

What does it take to challenge the convention and rebuild from scratch?  Heather Samarin and Vidya Dinamani find out as they sit down with Sara Xi , CPO at Rubicon Carbon. Sara shares her journey leading product, engineering, and design to reshape the voluntary carbon market. From scrapping legacy platforms to scaling lean teams, Sara talks risk, trust, and mission-driven leadership. Hear her insi...

What happens when a seasoned sales and engineering leader becomes a CPO?  Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin sit down with Jim Shaw , Chief Product Officer at Acquia, as he shares his journey into product leadership and what he's learned along the way.  From navigating imposter syndrome to bridging gaps between sales and product, Jim dives into the importance of clarify, mission-driven teams,...

What does it take to drive product innovation in industries that aren’t traditionally product-led? Heather Samarin and Vidya Dinamani sit down with Rahul Nath , CPO at Accel, who brings rich experience from Google, Drip Capital, and McKinsey. Rahul shares how he builds product in non-product-led spaces, from redefining onboarding in trade finance to leveraging AI in venture capital.  Hear Rahul&ap...

What does it take to lead product in complex, regulated industries while driving change from the inside out?  Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin talk to Chad Fenner , CPO at i3 Verticals. Chad shares lessons from decades of experience at Dell, Thomson Reuters, and now the public sector.  From influencing stakeholders to saying "no" with confidence, Chad unpacks what it takes to build ali...