Practical Product is the most actionable and practical podcast for B2B and SaaS Product Managers. This show is hosted by Jason Evanish, a Product Manager for over 12 years as a Founder, coach, and early-stage Product Leader.
Practical Product will talk about building a great strategy, avoiding pitfalls, balancing the many demands of a career in product management, and so much more.
We have many awesome guests lined up, some you've heard of in the Product Management space and some lesser-known, yet very talented PM's that you should get to know.
Follow the show and get ready to learn the practical product advice you've been dying to hear.
Get more product advice on Jason's blog: https://jasonevanish.com
Follow Jason on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Evanish
Get coaching from Jason or take his course: https://becustomerdriven.com
JTBD: Jobs to Be Done - What it is, why it matters, how to use it, and a real life example
Today we show you how to do a Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) interview with a live example with one of my former clients, Ryan Findley. He is the Chief Learning Officer at Learn to Win, and helped launch the company as well as serve as the company’s founding Head of Product.
I invited him to talk about the JTBD framework and how PMs can use this powerful approach in their work. This is another tool that fits in the tool belt for any PM and is also useful for sales, marketing, and company leaders. The insights inform everyone involved in the buying journey for your leads and customers.
28 Dec 2022
ChatGPT and AI: What it means for PMs, and the future of work w/ Lazar Stojkovic, Co-founder of Serbian Entrepreneurs
Lazar Stojkovic is a Serial founder with 15 years of experience across different spaces: e-commerce, hardware, online publishing, online marketplaces, fintech, and SaaS. He is also the Co-founder of Serbian Entrepreneurs, non-profit that connects 300+ tech founders and investors of Serbian descent across 9 chapters in 5 countries.
2 Dec 2022
The Harsh Truth of Interviewing & Hiring Product Managers w/ Willis Jackson, Founder of Middle Mile and former 1st PM at Grove Collaborative
Willis Jackson is a long-time PM and founder in Silicon Valley. He was 1st PM at Grove Collaborative which IPO’d earlier this year, VP of Product at Apto, and he’s currently working on his new startup, Middle Mile. On this episode, we cover terrible PM interview practices, the key fundamentals of hiring you need to follow, how to ask behavioral questions the right way, making good PM assignments, and how to build your resume like a pro.
19 Nov 2022
How to make Product Specs that Your Teammates and Executives will Actually Want to Read (aka - The Product Thesis)
Virtually every first time product manager, and even many in the middle of their career struggle with this. It’s something that is super critical, and is the linchpin of good product management, and it’s something that I got a LOT of help learning early in my career, and it made a huge difference. It’s the Product Spec. In this episode, I share the common mistakes product managers make in their product specs and exactly how you can make an awesome one that your team and boss will love.
11 Nov 2022
How Free Tools can Supercharge the Growth of Your Business w/ Michael Novotny of Product & Build Co
Michael Novotny is a former PM at The PGA Tour and is now Founder of a product studio called Product and Build Co. On this episode Jason and Michael discuss how you can create major competitive advantages and great growth for your business by building free tools to compliment your core product. Michael shares his framework for building free tools that can drive customers to your core product and business. Michael tells some great stories of different products he's helped build for various companies, where he's seen free tools fail, what PMs should have in their toolkit to build tools, how to pitch these ideas to your superiors, and more in this jam-packed episode.
4 Nov 2022
Keys to Succeeding as a Remote Product Leader w/ Valentina Thörner, Product Advisory at Klaus
Valentina is a product leader and expert of remote management for over a decade. She has developed a framework to help companies cut through the chaos, simplify their policies and align their realities with their aspirations in Product. In this episode, we discuss how PM's can make the shift to a remote role and thrive, even if they only have in-office experience. Valentina also talks about how to create a great environment of teamwork in a remote setting, skills to develop as a remote PM, how to find the right fit when finding a remote role, and so much more.
28 Oct 2022
Consequences of AI, Understanding our Bundling Phase, & Self-Deprecation in Product Managers
This episode is a collection of thoughts on 3 trending topics I am seeing in the world of Tech and Product Management. We'll be talking about how we're now in a bundling phase in most markets and what that means for PMs and product teams, why self-deprecation can be a problem for PMs, and closing with a discussion about AI and the future of work that is much brighter than some false intellectuals are predicting.
14 Oct 2022
The Curse of the 1st PM - Part 2: The PM View w/ Hostos Monegro, 4-time 1st PM
Why do so many 1st PMs end up not working out? What can we learn from these situations, where a founder hires a PM and then things don't work out? In our second of a 2 part series, we interview Hostos Monegro, who has been a 1st PM an amazing 4 times in his career. We take a look at what he's learned across those roles, what he enjoys about the roles, and what you should keep in mind if you're looking at (or already have) a role as a 1st PM.
11 Oct 2022
The Curse of the 1st PM - Part 1: The Company View w/ Pulkit Agrawal, Co-Founder of Chameleon
Why do so many 1st PMs end up not working out? What can we learn from these situations, where a founder hires a PM and then things don't work out?
In our first of a 2 part series, we interview a founder who knew about the curse of the 1st PM and it still didn't work out. Pulkit Agrawal, co-founder of Chameleon, candidly reflects on lessons learned from their 1st PM not working out and what he's doing differently the second time around. We look at how this is often a blameless set of circumstances that evolve as the company grows and makes it so someone who was a fit at the time may not be a fit as you grow.
30 Sept 2022
Jason Cohen - Founder at WPEngine, SmartBear & IT WatchDogs - Breaking down the 4 PM Roles
Jason Cohen is a multiple-time founder and Product Leader who joins us as the very first guest on Practical Product to break down his article: The Impossible Product Manager, a.k.a. the "Great" Product Manager.
We discuss the 4 key areas of responsibility for a Product Manager, how to align your PM's as a leader, finding the right company to work for, hiring and so much more. Jason breaks down how to master each role, and what to do as a PM when you are feeling spread too thin across each. We also discuss screening for PM's to make sure we've got the best fit, auditing your role to free up your own time, and more. Enjoy!
More on Jason Cohen:
Jason’s Blog: a smart bear (https://blog.asmartbear.com/)
The Impossible Product Manager, a.k.a. the "Great" Product Manager (https://longform.asmartbear.com/posts/great-product-manager/)
Jason Cohen on Twitter (https://twitter.com/asmartbear)
More on Jason Evanish:
Get more product advice on Jason's blog (https://jasonevanish.com)
Follow Jason on Twitter (https://twitter.com/Evanish)
Get coaching from Jason or take his course (https://becustomerdriven.com)
Time Codes:
(1:47) - Jason’s background and the 4 areas of responsibility for a Product Manage
(7:22) - Are there any areas of responsibility that matter more than others?
(12:21) - With 1200 employees, how do you think about getting the right PM’s aligned?
(21:33) - Not spending enough time on the “why” of your product strategy
(27:40) - How should someone screen for a PM role to make sure they’re the best fit?
(32:53) - How should a Product Leader who is looking to hire PM’s account for the 4 roles and build out their teams?
(36:53) - What should a PM do when they feel spread too thin doing all 4 roles?
(45:07) - How should Product Leaders get the entire team to align on strategy, not just the PM’s?
(48:17) - Auditing your role as a PM to free up time
(53:46) - Where can people find you online?
30 Sept 2022
Welcome to Practical Product w/ Jason Evanish
Practical Product is the most actionable and practical podcast for B2B and SaaS Product Managers. This show is hosted by Jason Evanish, a Product Manager for over 12 years as a Founder, coach, and early-stage Product Leader.
Practical Product will talk about building a great strategy, avoiding pitfalls, balancing the many demands of a career in product management, and so much more. We have many awesome guests lined up, some you've heard of in the Product Management space and some lesser-known, yet very talented PM's that you should get to know.
Follow the show and get ready to learn the practical product advice you've been dying to hear.
Contact Practical Product w/ Jason Evanish
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