Rocketship.fm

We explore what it really means to be a product-driven company. More than anything, it's an exercise in restraint. Don't just build because you can, or because technology allows, but because you're advancing a larger vision. Laura Roeder of Edgar shares just what that means for their company, and how it's helped them follow a guiding light to success. BIG NEWS We've officially launched the Rockets...

We are in the middle of a massive shift in the way people use and buy software. It’s been well over a decade since Salesforce brought software to the cloud. Apple put digital experiences in people’s pockets back in 2009 with the first iPhone. Blake talks about how we’re in “The End User Era” -- which is a new era that we’re now living in. We may be using applications for business purposes, but eve...

Product Marketing. The subtle art of describing your product in a way that excites everyone around you. This isn’t just for entrepreneurs pitching investors, this is for product managers and product leaders to inspire their teams to push themselves to build the best possible solution. We walk through examples from Figure One, Facebook and Sono’s with us as we attempt to break down what makes a pow...

Jobs to be done will change the way you think about product. It will change the way you approach user personas and influence your product decision process. It is one of the most important developments in product thinking in our time, so today we're going to dive right in. In this episode we talk with Jeetu Patel of Box, Bob Moesta co-creator of the Jobs to be done framework, Benedikt Lehnert of Wu...

Daria Axelrod Marmer, a Product Lead at Hubspot wrote about Killing it by Killing Features and we explore that more today. It's never fun to sunset a feature we worked so hard to bring to life, but sometimes growth comes from creating focus and removing unused features to either build something new or take a new approach to solve the problem they were meant to solve. BIG NEWS We've officially laun...

Ryan Singer and the Basecamp team have developed their own methodology for product planning. For one, they don't do waterfall or agile or scrum. For two, they don’t line walls with Post-it notes. For three, they don’t do daily stand ups, design sprints, development sprints, or anything remotely tied to a metaphor that includes being tired and worn out at the end. No backlogs, no Kanban, no velocit...

Mental models are simple expressions of complex processes or relationships. These models are accumulated over time by an individual and used to make faster and better decisions. Today to explore Mental Models for Product Leadership and how to use them with your team every day. This episode is also brought to you by Airtable, which is the all-in-one platform for product managers. Rocketship listene...

Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill, because of our modern times, that is becoming increasingly more difficult to achieve. Today we outline some helpful practices for staying focused and achieving deeper concentration on the work that matters. This episode is also brought to you by Airtable, which is the all-in-one platform for produc...

Today we bring you the story of eBay and Amazon in the early 2000s, and how their fierce competition for market share came down to two very different product approaches. There's a winner, a loser and lots of product lessons in-between. We'll also share something that Jeff Bezos does to this day to ensure the customer is always represented in product meetings. This episode is brought to you by Gust...

A mental model is any concept that helps explain, analyze, or navigate the world. As product managers, our mental models drive our decision-making, the way we communicate and collaborate with others, and how we prioritize. Today we explore some essential mental models for Product Managers. From opportunity cost to confirmation bias to Semmelweis reflex and even key failure. There are countless men...

Mental models are how we understand the world. Not only do they shape what we think and how we understand but they shape the connections and opportunities that we see. Mental models are how we simplify complexity, why we consider some things more relevant than others, and how we reason. A mental model is simply a representation of how something works. We cannot keep all of the details of the world...

Data is powerful because it is concrete. For many entrepreneurs and product people, empirical data can trump everything else – and it’s been an important tool in helping startups solve problems in new and innovative ways. In today's episode we talk with Richard White, the CEO of UserVoice, and what it means to be "data-informed" and how to better use data inside your organization. This episode is...

Have you ever found yourself in the middle of where of those projects where you just go, I wish we’d seen how this would end at the beginning of the project? Often times this is the result of a build vs buy decision gone wrong. Today we discuss recognizing what isn’t your core competency. This can be difficult to admit for organizations, but getting this right could save you a ton of time, money a...

Today we explore the history of the Product Manager from it's early ideation by Neil McElroy to it's growth at Hewlett-Packard thru it's maturation at Microsoft and into today. We talk with former Microsoft Project Manager, Ellen Chisa, Former Microsoft Engineer (and 55th hire), Mark Zbikowski and Matt LeMay, the Author of Product Management in Practice, about this evolution over the past 80 years...

Connie Kwan walks us through her philosophy on storytelling for Product people, teaches us the essential elements of product storytelling and gives relatable use cases. This episode is brought to you by Gusto, making payroll, benefits, and HR easy for modern small businesses. Rocketship listeners get three months free at Gusto.com/rocketship. This episode is also brought to you by Airtable, which...

Adobe's transition into a SASS company wasn't easy. It took two painful years of losses to transition their entire business from one-time upfront pricing to a monthly subscription. For a publically traded company, this could have been the death of them. But long-term thinking and well-executed plan set them up for success into the foreseeable future. This episode is also brought to you by Airtable...

Today we got a chance to sit down with Hunter Walk and discuss his career, what he looks for in founders and products that he’s investing in and, perhaps the most interesting, how he analysis someone’s career path when looking to invest in them… and it’s not exactly what you would expect. Hunter Walk is a founder and partner at Homebrew. He also has extensive experience in product development and...

What’s the best kind of customer? A loyal customer. Today with breakdown how theSkimm has built and maintained am excited audience of dedicated fans. Dheerja Kaur is the Chief Product Officer at theSkimm and walks us through how they keep their audience of largely female millennials (and Belsito) and the challenges of having a passionate audience scrutinizing your every decision.  *** This show is...

You may be tired of writing product stories and pitching product ideas that fall flat. Here we break down how to tell compelling product stories by understanding the basic of storytelling itself. Jack and beanstalk may not be part of your everyday standups, but its the perfect way to breakdown the essential elements of a story. From screenwriter Michael Jamin to Product Manager and former Technica...

Nobody ever looked at an empty calendar and said, The best way to spend this time is by cramming it full of meetings! or got to work in the morning and thought, Today I'll spend hours on Facebook! Yet that's exactly what we do. Why? In a world where information refreshes endlessly and the workday feels like a race to react to other people's priorities faster, frazzled and distracted has become our...

Today, we’re going to dive into the concept of Product Leadership, and specifically the differences between Product People and Product Leaders. We'll go over proven methods to move up inside of an organization and common pitfalls to watch out for once you've been given the opportunity. Here to discuss with us is Rich Mironov. Rich coaches product executives, product management teams and agile deve...

Today we talk with Ash Maurya, the creator of the Lean Canvas and most recently the author of Scaling Lean. His posts and advice have been featured in Inc., Forbes, and Fortune and we're incredibly excited to share his insights with you on scaling through the lean methodology. *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We enco...

On today's show we talk with Clive Thompson, the author of "Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World." We discuss why Coders were such a focus for him, and given all the recent news about Facebook and our personal data, it wasn't hard to figure out why he has such an intense focus on them. Data and surveillance are one of the biggest issues of our time. Product teams, produc...

As we drive along this nondescript suburban street -- dotted with your standard fare of KFC’s and Pizza Hut’s and CVS Pharmacies, it seems like most other main suburban neighborhood thoroughfares here in Northeast Ohio. But as we pull in to the Mercedez Benz of North Olmstead dealership, I wonder to myself if everybody else knows that there’s something a little special to this place. I don’t mean...

Today we’re going to let the skeptics speak. Today we’re going to hear from people who are doubting the initiative. People who have questions. People who may not be buying into all that Blockland has to sell. *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for mor...