Product Talk

Founder of Portigal Consulting, Steve Portigal, talks about user research, books, and how much there is to learn about people on today's episode. Located just outside of San Francisco in Pacifica, CA, you'll find Steve's consultancy. Here, he aims to help companies harness the strategic power of user research. In this episode, Steve provides his expertise and thoughts on how to uncover compelling...

Founder and CEO at WorkFusion, Max Yankelevich, talks about his desire to build products people use. Max provides his thoughts on the AI revolution and its future. He also gives advice to entrepreneurs who want to work in the B2B space, provides a glance into a typical day at WorkFusion, and stresses the importance of being a customer-focused business. His advice: don't postpone the first contact...

On this podcast, I interviewed Adam Lasinky about his bestselling book,"Wild Ride, Inside Uber's Quest for World Domination". He discusses why he chose to take a close-up look at Uber's rise as a global tech business phenomenon. Adam reveals his brief stint as an Uber driver and how the drivers have made the company what it is today. He talks about the brilliance of Uber capitalizing on driver's a...

Head of Product at Amplitude, Justin Bauer, talks about his non-traditional path to becoming a rising star in Silicon Valley's Product Management scene. Justin provides some insightful advice on analyzing data to make an outstanding product. He also talks bout being distinctive in your product management career, a typical day at Amplitude, and the importance of listening to customer needs.

In this episode, Gaurav Hardikar talks about the future of e-commerce. He discusses how to design products that provide an efficient shopping process for consumers, how he drives engagement at Shopkick, and the need to balance stakeholders needs with needs of consumers. He also talks about the qualities needed to be a great Product Manager and what it is like being a minority in Silicon Valley.

In this compelling conversation, Jules Walter discusses his role at Slack to drive user growth. He talks about Slack's unique, transparent culture and how Slack uses its own product within the company. He reveals how Slack makes decisions and increases productivity by communicating internally with their own product. He also discusses his perspective on the future of mobile, the best qualities of a...

In this interview, Katherine Kornas talks about Pandora's commitment to both culture and innovation. She talks about the importance of using simplicity and inspiration to inspire growth. She also delves into how Pandora listens deeply to its consumers to understand their habits through qualitative and quantitative measurement techniques. By doing so, Pandora is committed to personalization of thei...

I've had the chance over the past few months to interview 5 product gurus: Marty Cagan, Teresa Torres, Jeff Gothelf, Rich Mironov and Dan Olsen. This podcast compiles the best moments of those interviews including their views on what makes a great product, what makes a great product manager and more

Patricia Roller talks about balancing the art + science of product management based on her experience as Co-CEO at frog design inc. In this conversation, Patricia delves into the importance of teamwork as a product manager. She also explains how to navigate the balancing act of handling so many moving parts by focusing on the end goal of meeting customer needs.

On this episode, former FBI High Stakes Negotiator Chris Voss shares the nine effective principles to become more persuasive in both your professional and personal life. He discusses how to gain a competitive edge by using counterintuitive strategies and tactics including emotional intelligence. He also emphasizes the need for highly effective communication (which includes highly effective listeni...

Joyce Solano talks about her experience learning how to reinvent of Adobe from a software co. to marketing co. She also talks about empathy, brand positioning, and how defining company goals to create your brand story.  

Jeff Gothelf talks about the shift in mindset needed to scale your business. He makes the case that you must think about yourself in the software business. Secondly, he says we need to shift into thinking about how to manage all the departments and roles within a software business. He discusses why leaders need to rethink the way that tech businesses are managed so they can innovate and drive thei...

In this podcast, Anneka talks about understanding the art and science of customer relationships, risk/reward ratio for businesses, and how to build your network through leveraging the people around you.

Clara Nam talks about her passion for product design. She speaks about her job in Silicon Valley as a Product Designer on the Growth team at Yelp. She shares her experience on iterating the Yelp mobile app and finding design solutions to make a successful product. She also discusses using metrics to predict product growth and what it's like being a women in tech.

Thought leader Sally Thornton discusses how to create ownership of your career while finding work/life balance. She discusses how to create your ideal career through a system and framework that motivates you. She also discusses how to create a human-centered work culture that benefits individuals and the companies they work for.

Serial tech entrepreneur Sachin Rekhi talks about his journey in Silicon Valley to take his products from the idea stage to being sold to a top social media company. He candidly shares his experience on the challenges of working in Silicon Valley in 2016 and gives advice on building great products by learning what type of product manager you are.

Silicon Valley Product Management veteran Rich Mironov discusses his experience in the product manager role and shares some tips to be successful and move up the ladder in your career. He discusses critical aspects of the job such as cross functional communication and the role of incentives.

Marty Cagan discusses the importance of focusing on impact when designing great products. He emphasizes that it is essential that product managers put the customer first to build products that people love. Additionally, he points out how the culture of a business can have a great effect on whether a product can be successful.

How do you know what to build next? It's all about product discovery, argues product guru Teresa Torres. She shares best practices for product discovery, understanding what customers want, and then building it right. Through impact and empathy we can shift the focus from designing within and hoping a product finds success to human centered design.

Stuart Foster talks about the importance of simplicity in making your brand stand out in the marketplace. He delves into how to create an unforgettable brand by focusing on the value of a company. He explains why mass marketing is no longer valid because we are now inundated with advertising and need our marketing messages delivered based on context (i.e. on where we receive them).

Guillermo discusses the importance of efficiency in product design, human centered design that creates a 'wow' factor, and how direct experience with a product plays a major role in the widespread adoption of a product. This is a fascinating discussion that delves in Guillermo's extensive knowledge of space architecture and the future of technology.  

Nell discusses singularity including the notion of AI personhood. She talks about how AI is here to stay because of what she refers to as the 'autonomous distributed corporation'. She emphasizes that knowledge is power and postulates that it makes sense to involve AI when there is so much data available.

As a serial entrepreneur, investor and ex-Monster exec, Anne Dwane discusses the current revolution in corporate learning and the future of work. "There is no such thing as one size fits all," she argues. "Work and education are both ready for disruption." She shares her insight on making learning more accessible, affordable and effective than ever before.

Data and analytics expert Alistair Croll argues that big data is changing business, society and even the human species. Businesses are built faster based on analytics and data. What's coming next for big data and cloud computing? Alistair's answers and examples may surprise you. Listen in and find out.    

Leah Hunter has spent her career exploring the intersection of technology, culture, and design. She writes about the human side of tech for Fast Company, O'Reilly Radar, Business Punk, and mentors tech companies.