Tech for Non-Techies

Check out Parth's book Swipe to Unlock: The Insider's Guide to Tech and Business Strategy .   Learning points from this episode:   Product strategy sets the vision of the future trends for your business Product management implements that vision with a specific product The three factors that firms use to decide whether to build, borrow or buy new innovation are: team, product and users   If you are...

Learning notes from this episode:   Product managers define "the what, the when and the why of the product," - what the product is, what the priorities are within the product and why it needs to exist. Product managers do not need to code, but taking some basic coding courses can help product managers work better with developers. Constant learning is a feature of a good product manager's job: lear...

Key learning points from this episode:   The tech sector is growing exponentially, so the time to invest in tech is now. A decade ago only 1 company out of the top 10 companies in the world by market capitalisation was a tech company. Today, 7 out of the top 10 are tech companies. The Techquisition process Paul describes consists of 12 steps. The first step to making the right acquisition is clari...

Key learning points:   AI is already changing industries and the economy by making simple operations run faster A business model is how a company aims to create and capture value An operating model is how the company delivers that value to the customer. Prof Iansiti calls this "the hard part" AI is already being used by companies like Ant Financial to take humans and cost out of their operating mo...

Key Learning Points:   The International Standardisation Organisation defines user experience as "a person's perceptions and responses that result from the use and anticipated use of a product, system or service."   UX is so important that you shouldn't put it on the shoulders of just the designer The main thing about UX design is that it's USER experience, NOT YOUR experience A good UX designer c...

The key learning points from this episode are: Algorithms are just sets of rules for computers to follow Algorithms need data to be useful Data is by definition historic because it is information on what has already happened A combination of AI and algorithms can create better user experiences, which can result in more usage, which then results in even more data and happy customers Algorithms ampl...

In this episode Sophia Matveeva talks to Rags Vadali about what product management is, what PMs do and what you need to get a job in PM. Rags Vadali has managed product at Google, Facebook and various start-ups, and like Sophia, has an MBA from Chicago Booth. This interview is an excerpt from a PM masterclass Rags taught on Tech for Non-Techies.   Summary points A product manager is like the condu...

In this episode Sophia Matveeva covers the top five mistakes non-technical founders make, most of which she made herself.  The main five mistakes to avoid are: Don't make developers your first hires. Your first hire should be a User Experience designer Don't confuse product metrics with business metrics Set your team tangible product aims with metrics and time frames Co-create with your users, rat...

David Segura is a perfect example of how non-techies can thrive in technology. His first venture, Giant Media, was a native video advertising exchange which David sold for millions to an ad tech company backed by TPG & JMI in 2014. Since then David has invested in almost 50 startups, many of which have technology at their core.  I met David in the early Naughties, when we studied together at the U...

Tech products like apps, sites and algorithms are constantly evolving. Every time an app is released, its makers track how people use it. They use that information to improve it for the next release.    Traditional products like the chair you are sitting on, are just made and sold to you. The manufacturer doesn't monitor how you sit on the chair to make it more comfortable.    Tech products are ma...

This podcast is for non-technical founders and established small-to-mid-size business owners who want to launch an app or add a tech-enabled offering—without learning to code. Each episode breaks down product strategy, scoping, hiring and managing developers, and applied AI for real business outcomes (not VC theatre). Expect step-by-step playbooks, case studies, and jargon-free conversations that...

Robyn is the CEO & Founder of HER, the world's largest brand for LGBTQ women & queer people. Their app is home to 5 million people across the world, with dating and community connections, and their events run in 15 cities, hosting 50,000 people per year. Robyn is an alumna of Y Combinator, the prestigious Silicon Valley accelerator, and has raised $2.5 million from investors. Despite Robyn's Silic...