Survive & thrive in the product growth revolution | Aakash Gupta, CPO, Product Growth (Apollo.io, threadUp, Epic Games)

October 15th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  41 mins 36 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Aakash Gupta, CPO of Product Growth, the world's largest newsletter on product growth, with over 110K subscribers.

Aakash has held an extensive array of product leader roles, spanning from Director of Growth at threadUp, Lead Product Manager at Epic Games, Head of Product Growth at Affirm, to most recently serving as VP of Product at Apollo.io before launching Product Growth.

Today, our guest is Aakash Gupta, the author of Product Growth, the world's largest newsletter on product growth, with over 140K subscribers.

Aakash has held an extensive array of product leader roles, spanning from Director of Growth at threadUp, Lead Product Manager at Epic Games, Head of Product Growth at Affirm, to most recently serving as VP of Product at Apollo.i.

On today's episode, LogRocket's VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, talks to Aakash about the different archetypes of product leaders and how those leadership types influence the teams around them; what Aakash's three big wake-up calls were throughout his career that drove him to become a better product leader as his career progressed; and how product growth has become an increasingly imperative role within an organization and how to optimize it.

Building Product School from boostrapped to 2M members | Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia, Founder & CEO, Product School

October 8th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  45 mins 51 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia, Founder and CEO of Product School.

A seasoned startup founder and CEO, Carlos founded NetDay and Floqq before founding Product School in 2014. Since founding Product School, Carlos has grown his product training community to over 2 million product professionals, produces ProductCon, a multi-city product conference hosted every year, wrote the Amazon best-seller, The Product Book, and hosts the Proddys, an annual awards event honoring the best software products.

On today's episode, LogRocket's VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, talks to Carlos about how he went from a software engineer to successful founder; the changing dynamics of product roles, including strategies for scaling a business and the future potential of AI in product management; and why community engagement and continuous learning is beneficial to success.

Ditch Founder Mode, go Team Mode | David LoPresti, Dir. U-Haul Apps (U-Haul)

October 1st, 2024  |  Season 1  |  40 mins

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is David LoPresti, Director of U-Haul Apps at U-Haul.

With experience in a wide variety of areas, including operations management, customer service, sales, and marketing, David has grown his career at U-Haul over the past two decades. He began his tenure as a service manager before transitioning to web sales and, later, program management. David then became director of Moving Help, a U-Haul service, before taking over the U-Haul Apps program.

On today's episode, LogRocket's VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, talks to David about balancing operational excellence and innovation to maintain market leadership, why “founder mode” isn't the end-all-be-all of creating the best product or solution, and how he has scaled and innovated multiple U-Haul programs to drive transformation and success as a leader.

So here it is, our conversation with David Lopresti.

Build a company, not a T-Rex | Rich DiTieri, Sr. Dir., EF (Startup Institute, Pintley, Stack Education)

September 24th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  41 mins 33 secs

business, digital product, digital product experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Rich DiTieri, Senior Director of Digital Product at Education First.

Rich has a broad-spanning career from working in tech, founding startups, and managing product. He founded the company Pintley, one of the fastest-growing craft beer communities that was hailed by the New York Times as “the Pandora of Beer.” He continued on to become CEO of the Startup Institute, a professional training and coaching program in Boston, and co-founded Stack Education, a marketplace that promotes more efficient, productive, and speedy clinical trials.

On today's episode, LogRocket's VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, talks to Rich about the importance of fostering a passionate work culture with the concept of “go slow to go fast”; what he learned founding a successful craft beer startup to address a key market need; and why aligning mission, roles, and teams is critical for career success.

Transforming and modernizing brands with Scott Lux, EVP

September 17th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  38 mins 52 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Scott Lux, Vice President of Global E-commerce and Technology at Esprit, a retail apparel and fashion company.

Scott started his career in financial consulting at Fidelity before transitioning to program and product management at Infospace. From there, Scott moved into product management roles at companies like Chase, VML COMMERCE, L’Oreal, and American Express. Prior to joining Esprit, he led digital marketing and e-commerce initiatives at Diesel, John Varvatos Enterprises, Intermix, VIDEOSHOPS, and Eberjey.

On today's episode, LogRocket's VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, talks to Scott about the evolution of e-commerce and how it has effected commerce as a whole; how SaaS has both improved e-commerce but has brought with it complexities like site performance and tackling a new user experience; and how to build a cohesive brand in a competitive landscape, underlining the importance of adapting to new customer touchpoints.

Less gas, more brakes, ship fast with Ben Newell, Product Executive

September 10th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  42 mins 7 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Ben Newell, A product executive who has launched products into B2B and B2C environments for the last 25 years.

Ben spent the first 17 years of his career at Sabre, where he started as a software developer and later owned product portfolio strategy. He transitioned to VP product to launch LTK, before moving onto Stitch Fix. His latest role was VP Product at Miovision, a traffic management platform for cities.

On today's episode, LogRocket's VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, talks to Ben about the importance of psychological safety on product teams, how belief in success creates stronger teams, and how a foundation of solid product management principles is essential before graduating to more complex tactics.

The end of MVPs and prioritizing accountability with Jason Penkethman, CPO (Repeat)

September 3rd, 2024  |  Season 1  |  42 mins 8 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Jason Penkethman, Chief Product Officer at Simpro Group, business software for trade professionals.

Prior to working at Simpro group, Jason worked in product management, engineering, and leadership roles through a range of industries, including mobile devices, data services, SaaS, and automotive IoT.

On today's episode, LogRocket's VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, talks to Jason about emphasizing the importance of a go-to-market perspective, customer interaction, the importance of accountability, and leadership challenges like team alignment and data-driven decisions.

How to build product like Linear with Nan Yu, Head of Product

August 27th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  39 mins 36 secs

business, digital experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Nan Yu, Head of Product at Linear, a purpose-built tool for planning and building products. Prior to working at Linear, Nan worked at Mode, Abstract, Everlane, and Bank of America.

On today’s episode, Nan talks to LogRocket’s VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, about being intentional with organizational design, prioritizing tasks that make product special while minimizing unnecessary complexity, and what is so important about heirloom tomatoes

Run product like sales runs sales with Justin Anovick

August 20th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  39 mins 31 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Justin Anovick, experienced product leader who has served in senior product roles at Episerver, Optimizely, Syndigo, and many more.

On today’s episode, Justin talks to LogRocket’s VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, about the importance of bridging the gaps between sales and product teams; adopting data-driven methodologies to optimize product development; and why constant communication is imperative to aligning with sales.

So, here it is, our conversation with Justin Anovick.

Perfect is not the answer with Shira Gershoni

August 13th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  26 mins 46 secs

business, digital product experience, ecommerce, product management, saas, technology

Today, our guest is Shira Gershoni, seasoned product management executive, with 15 years of experience in eCommerce and SaaS product development across North America and Europe. Shira started her career in web development and later transitioned to technical product management while at Eternity-IT, followed by leadership positions at NeoGames, Soluto, and Asurion.

On today’s episode, Jennifer talks to LogRocket’s CEO and Head of Product, Matt Arbesfeld, about the significance of focusing on creating omnichannel experiences, why using AI enhances user experiences and making data-driven decisions, and how a culture of iteration in product is more impactful than aiming for perfection.

The success of fractional leadership with Jennifer Moore

August 6th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  25 mins 49 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Jennifer Moore, a seasoned product executive who has built and launched customer-centric, data-inspired solutions for over 20 years within B2B SaaS and financial services. She currently currently runs a comprehensive consulting services firm, Strategies that Spark, and serves as the Chief Product & Growth Officer for her clients.

Jennifer began her career as a technical writer at a Series A startup, Oakley Networks. She then transitioned to project management at Wells Fargo and Zions Bancorporation before moving into product management and the B2B SaaS industry. Most recently, she led product and design teams at companies such as Workfront (acquired by Adobe), Pluralsight, and various startups.

On today’s episode, Jennifer talks to LogRocket’s CEO and Head of Product, Matt Arbesfeld, about what she learned about product moving between different industries like finance and SaaS; the significance of domain expertise; focusing on team dynamics and incremental process improvements; and how she uses consulting to help companies grow their product initiatives.

Paper to pixels: navigating product regulation and UX with Carolyne Moran, VP

July 30th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  20 mins 11 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology, ux

Today, our guest is Carolyne Moran, VP of Product Management and UX at OneSpan, a digital identity and anti-fraud solutions company.

Carolyne began her career in logistics and product management at Airborne Entertainment, where she managed direct-to-consumer mobile promotions. Carolyne then transitioned to managing mobile apps and UX at Yellow Pages/Pages Jaunes – Canada, a digital media and marketing company. She later joined eSignLive by VASCO, which was acquired by OneSpan in 2015.

On today’s episode, Carolyne talks to LogRocket’s CEO and Head of Product, Matt Arbesfeld, about the importance of collaborating across product and UX teams; why being customer-obsessed and incorporating customer feedback is crucial; and the challenges of developing product in a highly regulated industry.

Building iconic customer experiences with Susan Stavitzski, Principal PM

July 23rd, 2024  |  Season 1  |  36 mins 55 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Susan Stavitzski, Principal Product Manager at CarMax, and was previously the director of product at Hatch, a small software startup.

Susan's career didn't follow a straight trajectory in product management, however — she originally started in marketing, where she developed an obsession with talking to customers.

On today's episode, Susan talks to LogRocket's VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, about the importance of creating an iconic customer experience, both online and in-store; engaging in continuous customer feedback and field research, including practical examples and strategies her team employs, such as self-service appraisal models and rapid prototyping; and the significance of product marketing.

Driving B2B SaaS innovation with Josh Schoonmaker, Global VP

July 16th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  41 mins 13 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Josh Schoonmaker, Global Vice President, Product Management, Commerce at Optimizely. Josh started his career at HP, where he worked for just over a decade, and then transitioned to working at eBay as a program manager. He served in product leadership roles at Tozny and Consolidated Supply Co. before joining Optimizely in 2020.

On today’s episode, Josh discusses Optimizely’s recent achievements, including their recognition by leading analysts and their $400 million ARR milestone; the importance of composability in their products; the integration of B2B sales experience into product excellence; and the significance of a holistic customer experience.

Managing product through an IPO and beyond with Charles Battle, Head of Product

July 9th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  37 mins 3 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Charles Battle, Head of Product at Ibotta, a Denver-based performance marketing platform known for its cash-back offers and digital coupons.

Charles leads a 50-person product organization that oversees various disciplines, including product management, product design, product analytics, and UX research. Charles started his product management career at TouchTunes Interactive Networks and has since worked for several financial technology companies, such as American Express, LendingTree, and Guaranteed Rate.

On today’s episode, Charles shares his experience with Ibotta's recent IPO and their strategic pivot from a direct-to-consumer cashback app to a performance marketing company. He discusses the impact of the IPO on the team, the importance of prioritization and focusing on problem-solving in product development, and how the company validated and executed their new strategy.

Big bets, tech giants, and design North stars

July 2nd, 2024  |  Season 1  |  24 mins 17 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

While those of us in the US are taking time this week away from work, we're bringing you some of our favorite snippets from LaunchPod.

On today's episode, you'll hear from Kristin Dorsett about prioritizing big bets, Steve Chazin about how working at Apple in the 90s with Steve Jobs transformed how he managed product, and Roman Gun about workback plans focused on a design North star.