The Product Porch

Why do so many teams still misunderstand what product management is actually for? In this episode, Joe, Ryan, and Todd take on a question that keeps showing up in the age of AI: if engineering can build faster than ever, do we still need product managers? The answer is yes, but probably not for the reasons a lot of people think. They dig into why product so often gets treated like project manageme...

How do you get leaders to keep backing AI exploration when they’ve already invested, but the biggest upside still isn’t fully clear yet? In this episode, Joe Ghali, Ryan Cantwell, and Todd Blaquiere dig into a listener question about one of the hardest parts of AI adoption in product teams: justifying the paths, gains, and possibilities that do not show up as a flashy feature or an obvious ROI lin...

Join us on the porch for our series on Product Manager Power Skills. These are the skills that help good product managers become great ones. They stay valuable across tools, processes, and product types, and building them can help you grow your impact and your career. What happens when a product manager gets really good at moving fast… but stops questioning their own thinking? In this episode, Tod...

So now you have defined the starting point and the ending point. Check out Part 1, “Decisions in Uncertainty (Part 1): When ‘Go Build This’ Is All You Get.” What do you do next? In part two of this conversation, Todd Blaquiere and Ryan Cantwell define the messy middle and give you the playbook for making the call when certainty is still out of reach. They walk through how to use a decision-making...

Have you ever been told to “go build this” and felt that little pit in your stomach because you were not totally sure what success even meant? In this episode, Todd Blaquiere and Ryan Cantwell dig into one of the most uncomfortable parts of product management: making decisions when the path is unclear and the pressure to move is high. They talk through why vague direction creates misaligned expect...

Why does it feel like every time product managers start to catch up on AI, three new tools, five new hot takes, and twelve new newsletters show up? In this episode, Joe Ghali and Ryan Cantwell sit down with Dean Peters to talk about AI overload in product management and how to separate useful signal from all the tool-chasing noise. They discuss the thought leaders in the PM community who keep tell...

Have you ever tried a new framework, only to find the meetings changed, but the results didn’t? In this episode, Todd Blaquiere, Joe Ghali, and Ryan Cantwell dig into product culture and why it shapes roadmap decisions, product discovery, experimentation, and the way cross-functional teams work day to day. They break down the difference between culture and practice, talk through what product manag...

AI is accelerating product development faster than ever—but product roles haven’t caught up. Todd Blaquiere, Ryan Cantwell, and Joe Ghali tackle the question teams are avoiding: what happens to product managers and product owners in an AI-driven world? The conversation draws a line between execution and real product thinking. Tasks like writing tickets, acceptance criteria, and documentation are i...

AI is making it easier than ever to build faster. Features ship overnight, prototypes spin up in hours, and suddenly everyone assumes experience and expertise are optional. But almost nobody's asking the harder question: what happens when you build faster than your customers can actually absorb? Todd Blaquiere, Ryan Cantwell, and Joe Ghali dig into that gap. Customers still have the same limited a...

When did product management turn into running for office? In this episode, the guys dig into the reality of product management politics and what it really takes to influence without authority. They debate whether great PMs have to act like politicians, what separates ethical influence from manipulation, and why stakeholder alignment often matters more than your title. You’ll hear practical ways to...

Why are so many product managers saying, “I’m a perfect fit on paper… so why am I not getting interviews?” In this episode, we sit down with veteran product recruiter Heidi Ram to talk about what’s really happening in product management hiring right now. Since the 2022 correction, the market has shifted. There are more smart, credentialed PMs than ever… but hiring leaders are no longer optimizing...

Ever feel torn between wanting the impact and scope of a VP or CPO role and worrying about what you might lose along the way? If you’ve been reading job descriptions, Reddit threads, or career advice that all seem to contradict each other, you’re not alone. In part two of our product management career progression series, we get honest about what actually changes as you start aiming for executive p...

What do they never tell you about becoming a product leader? In this episode, we talk about the parts of moving from PM to Director that catch most people off guard. The quiet loss of being the hero. The awkward shift from working alongside peers to managing them. The moment when shipping features stops being the job and making decisions, saying no, and setting direction becomes the work. We share...

Product managers don’t just bring new products into the world. They move the needle on the business. In this episode, Todd Blaquiere and Ryan Cantwell sit down with multi-time Chief Product Officer David Nash to unpack what “moving the needle on the business” really means. They cover how to connect product work to financial outcomes like ARR, EBITDA, and net revenue retention, why empathy is the s...

If you could see product management through a CEO’s eyes, would it change the way you lead? In this episode of the Product Porch, Todd Blaquiere and Joe Ghali sit down with Ben Clarke, former CEO of BetterRX, to explore what executive leaders look for in top-tier product managers. Ben shares his journey from KPMG to Amazon to leading BetterRX through a product-led transformation. He opens up about...

Ever find yourself wondering if great product ideas really start with a problem… or if sometimes the solution shows up first and you just have to make sense of it? In this episode, Ryan and Joe dig into the messy middle of product discovery, where ideas aren’t magic and where PMs are constantly juggling customer discovery, internal requests, and the pressure to move fast. They share examples like...

Every product manager knows the feeling: standing in front of a slide deck that’s full of facts but empty of feeling. You’ve got the data, the details, the deadlines — yet somehow, your message still misses the mark. The roadmap reads right, but no one’s moved by it. That’s where your journey begins. You’ve been the quiet architect — building, balancing, and bridging ideas — but now it’s time to b...

Ever been caught between wanting to show your boss you’ve got it handled and realizing later you probably should have checked in sooner? In this episode, the Porch crew dives into the often-overlooked skill of managing up. Joe, Ryan, and Todd share stories about times they got it wrong, what they learned from it, and how managing up is not about politics. It is about clarity, trust, and communicat...

What does product-market fit actually look like in the real world? Everyone’s heard it. A leader slaps the table and says, “Go get product market fit.” But what does that even mean? In this episode, Ryan and Joe sit down with Shardul Mehta, founder of Street Smart Product Manager, to unpack one of the most overused yet misunderstood phrases in product management. They dig into what PMF actually lo...

Preparing for a product management interview can feel like trying to read minds—what exactly are they looking for? In this episode, Todd Blaquiere, Joe Ghali, and Ryan Cantwell break down how to position yourself as the clear top candidate by understanding what interviewers are really evaluating: Do you want the job? Do they want to work with you? And can you actually do the job? The team shares p...

Why are so many companies putting technology and cost savings ahead of the human experience? In this episode of The Product Porch, hosts Ryan Cantwell, Joe Ghali, and Todd Blaquiere dig into what’s really happening with customer service, and why product managers can’t afford to ignore it. They share personal stories of declining experiences and pockets of excellence, and explore how product manage...

Ever wonder if product management is really different in hardware versus software? In this episode, hosts Ryan Cantwell and Joe Ghali dig into the nuances — and the common ground — between these two worlds. From myths about MVPs and iteration to the very real challenges of supply chains, tooling, and long development cycles, they unpack what makes hardware product management unique. At the same ti...

Some say internal product managers aren’t doing “real” product work. Ryan, Todd, and Joe aren’t buying it. In this episode, they dig into the differences between internal and external product management, and why shifting your mindset, not your products, can give your career the biggest boost. External PMs get the spotlight with customer growth, revenue goals, and flashy product launches. Internal...

Ever wonder how to position yourself in a job search the same way you’d position a product? In this episode, Todd Blaquiere and Joe Ghali welcome back resume and storytelling expert Nils Davis to talk about how product managers can stand out in a crowded job market by running their job hunt like a go-to-market strategy. We cover why resumes should read like short stories instead of laundry lists,...

Ever get told to “focus on outcomes, not outputs”... and then left with absolutely no clue what to do next? You’re not alone. Too many product thought leaders drop this phrase like it’s gospel, but rarely explain how to apply it. It’s a slogan, not advice, and it leaves real product managers stuck. This episode is the antidote. We break down what “outcomes over outputs” actually means, how to tell...