About the show
LaunchPod is a product management podcast hosted by LogRocket's CEO, Matt Arbesfeld, and VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, where they talk to product leaders about the issues they faced in their careers, how they found solutions to those issues, and how you can apply these solutions in your own day-to-day product role.
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Episodes
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.