The zone of benefit with Oji Udezue, Principal (Part 2)

June 25th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  25 mins 21 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

Today, we continue our conversation with Oji Udezue, Principal at ProductMind, product expert, author, and an innovation-focused, multi-disciplined business leader.

Oji has had an extensive and successful career, spanning his time as CPO of Typeform, Head of Product for Creation and Conversation at Twitter, CPO of Calendly, and Head of Product at Atlassian.

On today’s part two of Oji’s two-part episode, we talk about his experience working on Twitter's creator initiatives, the concept of 'forest time,' a practice of stepping back to gain strategic perspective, and Oji's insights on product-led growth (PLG), emphasizing the importance of solving customer problems and adaptive business strategies.

The zone of benefit with Oji Udezue, Principal (Part 1)

June 18th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  30 mins 38 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Oji Udezue, AI product expert, author, and an innovation-focused, multi-disciplined business leader.

Oji has had an extensive and successful career, spanning his time as CPO of Typeform, Head of Product for Creation and Conversation at Twitter, CPO of Calendly, and Head of Product at Atlassian.

On today's part one of a two-part episode, LogRocket's VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, talks to Oji about his upcoming book, 'Building Rocket Ships;' the complexity of product management due to its multi-disciplinary nature requiring skills in engineering, design, psychology, and economics; and the 'Zone of Benefit' concept, which helps assess market disruptiveness and emphasizes the need for a high value to price ratio to drive change in customers.

Digital transformation in fleet management with Fatima Howes, VP

June 11th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  42 mins 44 secs

Today, our guest is Fatima Howes, Vice President Of Product Management and CX Design for Fleet Telematics at Azuga, a subsidiary of Bridgestone.

Before joining Bridgestone, Fatima served in product leadership roles at Assignar and Procore Technologies, both construction management software companies. She didn't always work in software, however; Fatima started as an analyst in public affairs and transitioned to software and product through a sales development representative role.

On today's episode, LogRocket's VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, talks to Fatina about her strategies for managing by exception, prioritizing customer needs, and finding common denominators among different stakeholders such as drivers, fleet managers, and insurance companies. The discussion also highlights the shift from traditional product management to a more holistic approach involving co-creation, risk modeling, and design management.

Navigating product teams and tech stacks with Nancy Wang, SVP

June 4th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  41 mins 20 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Nancy Wang, Senior Vice President, Product Operations at Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV), a market leader in the vacation ownership industry.

Nancy spent the last decade of her career working at Alert Logic, a comprehensive cybersecurity portfolio now owned by Fortra, beginning as a lead system engineer. Nancy worked her way up to principal engineer before taking on product management responsibilities and, ultimately, becoming Vice President of Technical Product Management. In her tenure, Nancy led the Alert Logic MDR product’s scale from 0 to 80 million MRR within two years.

On today's episode, LogRocket's VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, talks to Nancy about how she leveraged her engineering background to excel in product roles, her strategic approach to building and leading a comprehensive product operations team at HGV, and the importance of planning, transformation, open-mindedness in acquisitions, and continual improvement.

Risk-taking with tech giants with Steve Chazin, VP

May 21st, 2024  |  Season 1  |  30 mins 30 secs

ai, product design, tech landscapes, user centered product design

Today, our guest is Steve Chazin, Vice President of Products at Alarm.com, a technology company that focuses on intelligently connected property. He has been in product since his first job building technology for Raytheon.

Steve then became Senior Director, Marketing & Account Executive and Systems Engineer at Apple, where he worked for nearly a decade. He’s remained in tech since then and has worked in various leadership roles at companies such as Avid, Ellucian, Salesforce, Symantec, Cisco, and more.

On today's episode, LogRocket's CEO, Matt Arbesfeld, talks to Steve about his experience working at Apple, competing with Final Cut Pro, and his current role at alarm.com. They discuss the importance of user-centered product design, the impact of AI in home security, and the value of staying intellectually curious in a rapidly evolving tech landscape.

Navigating M&A decision-making with Ben Hackett, SVP

May 14th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  28 mins 34 secs

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

Today, our guest is Ben Hackett, Senior VP of Product Management at Accolade, a personalized healthcare company for employers health plans, government agencies, and consumers. He began his career as a product manager at Blacktee Systems, an integrated technology services firm, before transitioning to LabKey Software.

Prior to joining Accolade eight years ago, Ben co-founded jydo, an IoT platform that helped facility managers manage, monitor, and control thousands of conference room devices.

On today's episode, LogRocket's CEO, Matt Arbesfeld, Ben shares insights on decision-making in M&A deals, cultural alignment in acquisitions, and the role of AI in medicine.

Aligning the physical and digital with Christine Kuei, Dir. of Product Management

May 7th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  29 mins 37 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Christine Kuei, Director of Product Management at Forever 21. Christine started her career in email marketing at Experian, and her natural curiosity about digital customer behavior propelled her transition into product management. Christine has since worked in a range of industries including B2B SaaS, ecommerce and fintech, and led product organizations at Chipotle and PetSmart before moving to Forever 21.

On this episode, LogRocket's VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, talks to Christine about the challenges and strategies involved in aligning digital transformations with physical customer experiences, using user research to enhance customer loyalty, tackling product management obstacles, and optimizing team dynamics for successful outcomes.

Navigating B2B and B2C dynamics with Matt DiBari, CPO

April 30th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  29 mins 29 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Matt DiBari, CPO at SpotHero. He has spent the majority of his career working in the automotive industry, the first decade of which was at CDK Global. Matt also served in senior product management and leadership roles at Cars.com before transitioning to SpotHero in 2019.

On today's episode, LogRocket's CEO, Matt Arbesfeld, talks to Matt about the differences between B2B and B2C approaches, the importance of strategic investment, personalization projects, and provides valuable advice for aspiring product managers.

Redefining product development in SMB fintech with Alo Mukerji

April 23rd, 2024  |  Season 1  |  36 mins 56 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Alo Mukerji, VP of Product at WaveHQ, which develops money management software for small business owners.

Driven by a genuine love for small and midsize businesses, Alo has worked in product leadership roles at Constant Contact, Buildium (acquired by RealPage), Toast, and Privy (acquired by Attentive). Alo’s specialties include creating frictionless product experiences and increasing revenue through pricing models and new product lines.

On today's episode, LogRocket's VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, talks to Alo about driving innovations at a fintech company, focusing on SMBs, and the importance of rapid innovation.

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

April 16th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  42 mins 8 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

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.

Product success through community engagement with Michael Liss, VP

April 9th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  44 mins

business, digital experience, product management, technology

Today our guest is Michael Liss, Vice President of Product at the New York Post.

Michael has been at the Post for the last 10 years, and has worked in several sectors of media throughout his career, including book publishing, digital marketing, journalism, and media production. In his current position, Michael plays a leading role in all digital initiatives for New York Post, Page Six, and Decider.

On today's episode, LogRocket's VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, talks to Michael about product management in media, the importance of the user and editorial experiences, and how bolstering community engagement was successful for the Post.

Product vision and alignment with Sandy Huang

April 2nd, 2024  |  Season 1  |  25 mins 21 secs

business, digital experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Sandy Huang, Vice President of Product Management at GoodRx.

Sandy has worked in tech for most of her career, beginning at small startups such as MusicNow, which was later acquired by AOL, as well as WeddingChannel, which was acquired by The Knot. She then moved on to companies including Shutterfly, Minted, Jive Software, and Flipboard.

Before joining GoodRX, Sandy worked at Amazon as Head of Product, where she led the global visual search and discovery team for Amazon Shopping, and led the Alexa team developing experiences and content.

In this episode, LogRocket's CEO and Head of Product, Matt Arbesfeld, talks to Sandy about the importance of alignment in product management, ways to collaborate with stakeholders, and insights from her experiences at Amazon working on projects like Alexa and Global Search and Discovery.

Outcomes over outputs with Karla Fiske, VP

March 26th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  36 mins 13 secs

business, digital experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Karla Fiske, Vice President of Product Management at Tebra.

Having previously led customer-centric product orgs at Experian, Arbonne, and Chipotle, Karla stepped in as the first VP of Product for Tebra’s Patient Experience division in June 2022 and quickly garnered cross-functional support for a unified product roadmap designed to mesh two merging companies into an end-to-end SaaS healthcare solution for SMBs.

On today's episode, LogRocket's VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, talks to Karla about her experience with mergers, particularly her role in integrating platforms at Tebra; the significance of communication, objective setting, and focusing on outcomes over outputs; and the 'product placemat' strategy to prioritize and communicate projects effectively across departments to minimize escalations and align organizational objectives.

Revolutionizing small business banking with Herman Man, CPO

March 19th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  25 mins 41 secs

banking, business, digital experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Herman Man, Chief Product Officer at Bluevine, where he’s building the next-generation digital banking platform for small businesses.

Originally a computer scientist and engineer by trade, Herman quickly earned a reputation as “one of the few developers with a personality,” throwing himself headfirst into solving complex technical problems for business users who crave simplicity in their fintech solutions. In addition to leading the product function at Bluevine, he also oversees design, which he says ensures a seamless experience for customers and empowers the wider organization to approach problem solving from a user-centered perspective.

On today's episode, LogRocket's CEO and Head of Product, Matt Arbesfeld, talks to Herman about how he used his background in engineering to build his career in product, what it's like building a product for the banking industry and the challenges that come with that industry, and how startups can use feedback to disrupt bigger competitors.

Navigating regulations with customer-centricity with Sai Vishnubhatla, CFA

March 12th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  36 mins 33 secs

business, digital experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Sai Vishnubhatla, Head of P&C Innovation at USAA, and, at the time of recording, previously VP of Product at Hippo Insurance, where he led the product management teams responsible for launching products across acquisition, growth, and activation, as well as for building best-in-class pre- and post-purchase customer experiences

On today's episode, LogRocket's VP of Marketing Jeff Wharton, talks with Sai about how Sai decided to pursue his CFA and how it impacted how he looks at product, what it's like working in a highly regulated industry, and how to simultaneously and effectively serve customers and the business at large.

Big product bets with Kristin Dorsett, CPO

March 4th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  32 mins 58 secs

business, digital product experience, product management, technology

Today, our guest is Kristin Dorsett, Chief Product Officer at Viator, a Tripadvisor company and online marketplace for travel experiences.

On today's episode, LogRocket's VP of Marketing Jeff Wharton talks with Kristin about how knowing her customer well helped her forge a path into product management, cultivating a portfolio of different strengths, how she plans and executes big-bet projects, and how she leveraged voice-of-the-customer data to drive impactful product changes.

Kristin was previously in product leadership at Tripadvisor and, earlier in her career, held several roles at HomeAway developing products and services for vacation rental owners and property managers.