Podcasts about apptentive

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Jeremiah Nelson (Motorola Solutions) to talk about becoming a good PM in a difficult environment. Product management is a job that requires teamwork, team effort, and collaborative planning to successfully launch and eventually sell a product. It can become a difficult task and extremely challenging but with the people in the team, nothing is impossible.    Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 07:46 When does product management become difficult? 10:46 What is the rubric that customers give you? 11:37 Indicators to help understand the customer's rubric 15:19 Who should not be a PM? 20:12 Every PM owns the decision regardless of how it's made 27:09 You are not your product 29:49 What makes a better PM for API and technical products? 36:07 Get a detailed understanding of how things function 42:02 Goal-setting methods for a new project 46:24 Take care of yourself first 48:54 Being a PM is about the team you create

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Soumeya Benghanem welcome Vipin K. Singh (FEVO), Parul Shorey (SeatGeek), Geetika Kapoor (Chewy), and Vikas Khandelwal (Qualtrics) to talk about how to land a PM role in the current economy. For those who are interested in changing to a PM role, these great panelists will share their personal experiences and advice on how to become a PM.   Disclaimer: All opinions of the speakers are their own.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 08:23 Landing a product manager role in the current economy 11:37 There are still PM jobs out there 14:14 Network your way to opportunities 17:55 Highlight your skills & build relationships 20:57 Prepare a lot, be concise in communication, & know your value proposition 23:01 Value proposition 25:20 Have a personal mission 26:24 How to become a better communicator 28:00 Book or practice material recommendations 31:53 How to evaluate job opportunities 38:28 Should you go wide or go narrow? 44:15 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Soumeya Benghanem welcome Patrick Waltz (HP), Dave Fleischman (Compass), and Sheena Dhanaraj to talk about why frameworks are valuable and why PMs should know them. Frameworks help PMs make strategic decisions, discover product ideas, and solve problems.   Disclaimer: All opinions of the speakers are their own.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 01:18 Why frameworks are valuable 06:33 Frameworks is a collection of principles 09:07 Getting things done 11:03 Assumption mapping 11:23 Working backwards 13:44 North star framework 15:37 Funnel mapping 20:27 Establishing a good North star 21:36 No one size fits all 24:50 Know your job 27:17 Have an idea and share it 29:22 When the framework goes wrong 34:49 How do you pick a framework? 36:46 What's a framework you'd love to be removed? 38:57 Psychological safety in teams 45:05 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Red Russak welcome Jerlisa "Juju" Fontaine (Oscar Health), Anne Julliene (Joan) Barcelona (Box), and Dimple Singhania (Walmart) to talk about what happens during the first few days as a PM. Transitioning into the role needs a lot of work on building connections with your team and other teams within the organization, continuous learning from your superior through shadowing, and making use of the soft skills you bring into the system to function seamlessly and adapt efficiently.     Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 10:14 What helped in transitioning to product management? 16:18 What helped the transition successful in the first few days? 24:22 Learn as much as you can from the people you shadow 36:26 How did you define success for your first month? 37:34 What did you wish you knew before you started your role? 45:48 What are the most necessary skills as a product person? 54:01 Concluding thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Arvind Dutta (Microsoft) to talk about roadmaps and prioritization. A roadmap isn't simply a to-do list that anyone can change or check off. It is a consolidated plan and execution that helps the product team prioritize and progress through the product development more organized and productive.    Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 03:05 Why roadmapping and prioritization are important 06:23 Who owns the roadmap? 09:11 Avoid turning the roadmap into a to-do list 16:39 Know the audience the roadmap is aimed at 24:09 Question-based approach roadmap 33:14 The product team should make the roadmap work for them 39:43 Other tools effective in implementing a roadmap 42:41 Providing updates to the upper management 48:39 Where the real value lies 51:02 The ability to prioritize and drive clarity through roadmap   

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Martie K. Burris (Salesforce) to discuss product management interview strategies. To land the best PM role in the best company, you have to master the art of acing any and all product management interviews. Listen in to the techniques experienced PMs use, their strategies that have worked, and their proven and tested frameworks.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 02:10 The Inclusive Product Management Accelerator program 06:10 PM interviews have evolved over time 09:11 What is the purpose of a PM interview? 13:36 Lead PM interviews focus more on the strategy   14:48 The type of questions to prepare for 17:25 Find resources and practice with other people 20:14 The Do's and Don'ts of PM interview 24:20 Summarize your answer at the end 26:03 Your framework should be your natural thought process  31:01 How to handle rejection 33:47 Is MBA a necessary requirement? 39:55 Strategies to get into the right interview 45:43 Interview people with empathy and listen more  48:45 Be mindful that people are trying to understand your thought process

Join us in Seattle for the Inclusive Product Management Summit on May 12th and May 13th. Info at https://summit.info.foster.uw.edu/   In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Martie K. Burris (Salesforce) to discuss product management interview strategies. To land the best PM role in the best company, you have to master the art of acing any and all product management interviews. Listen in to the techniques experienced PMs use, their strategies that have worked, and their proven and tested frameworks.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 02:10 The Inclusive Product Management Accelerator program 06:10 PM interviews have evolved over time 09:11 What is the purpose of a PM interview? 13:36 Lead PM interviews focus more on the strategy   14:48 The type of questions to prepare for 17:25 Find resources and practice with other people 20:14 The Do's and Don'ts of PM interview 24:20 Summarize your answer at the end 26:03 Your framework should be your natural thought process  31:01 How to handle rejection 33:47 Is MBA a necessary requirement? 39:55 Strategies to get into the right interview 45:43 Interview people with empathy and listen more  48:45 Be mindful that people are trying to understand your thought process

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Soumeya Benghanem welcome Garrett Gross (Xemelgo) and JC Landivar (True Tickets) as they discuss the difference between being a startup founder and startup PMs and also corporate PMs. What makes startup founders unique and how can PMs transition to being a founder? Let's find out more from our panelists today!   Disclaimer: All opinions of the speakers are their own.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 06:15 Being a startup founder 09:46 What makes a startup founder unique? 11:40 From PM to founder  13:38 Influence without authority 15:17 Become a founder vs. become a product manager 24:41 What makes a startup PM? 32:12 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and  Soumeya Benghanem welcome Adam Grupp (Woodhaven Advisors), Greg Young (Collectors Universe), Sumathi Kadambi (Zillow), Marily Nika (Meta), and Sumantro Das (Mattress Firm) as they discuss the importance of decision making in the success of any project. The panel of experts, known and respected in their respective expertise, share valuable tips and insights on what it takes to come up with the right decision.   Disclaimer: All opinions of the speakers are their own.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 01:03 The different styles of decision-making 03:44 “Understand the right process and structure to use to frame up decisions.”  05:37 “The expensive and scary are the ones where it's a long-term commitment you can't change so easily.”  08:05 The cost of failing to make a decision and the fear of decision-making. 12:17 “Create your own metrics for your own product.”  14:57 What's your bold thought on decision-making?  16:37 Is data just confirming what you already know or do you have some wild changes based off of it? 20:02 Half of PM decisions are decisions they're not even conscious of 21:26 Build an ecosystem of experts within the company to help make decisions 24:24 Favorite decision-making matrix regularly used 27:01 Go-to method for sourcing new ideas or iterating mature and new products 34:23 Oftentimes, the best ideas come from unexpected places 37:15 Take what makes you successful but apply it in new places that can help make big changes 39:05 Be very clear on how everyone makes decisions 43:09 Decision-making takes time to build confidence on and to build the tool set 44:27 Some things are hard to let go but maybe they're not where our future is

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Soumeya Benghanem welcomes Arjun Subramanian as they discuss platform product management. This is one of the most challenging roles in product management as they are the ones who have to work closely with the engineering team to ensure that the product is well-maintained. For those PMs who are interested in this role, in order to be successful in this field, you need not only to understand the core technologies but be able to look at the long-term scalability of the product.   Disclaimer: All opinions of the speakers are their own.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 03:42 What is a platform product? 07:42 Platform as a channel of delivery 12:05 Building a platform too late 16:09 Platform economics 17:48 Metrics of success for platform 21:47 Measuring cost savings 25:05 Mean time to recovery 26:39 Funding the platform team 29:38 Who can be a platform product manager? 34:22 Platform PMs need to be more technical 36:50 Edutainment 38:25 Advice for PMs stitching technologies together into a single platform 42:21 Building a unified user experience 44:27 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and  Soumeya Benghanem welcome Charles Stewart (Autodesk) and Dimple Singhania (Walmart) as they discuss product managing internal tools. PMs should know about the internal tools that companies use to help automate workflows, store data information for security, and connect the different organizations in a company like marketing or finance.    Disclaimer: All opinions of the speakers are their own.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 09:42 Measuring success when building an internal tool 11:25 Associate satisfaction 12:38 Building a common language for people to use 14:05 Think about the employee experience 16:18 Take into account the consistency of human behavior 18:28 Communication channels for PMs 22:03 Creating a tool that works for the entire enterprise 24:19 Taking a product market mindset to internal tools 26:08 Build vs. buy 32:09 Competitive advantage in terms of build vs. buy 34:15 Compatibility with your own already built or bought tools 38:45 Product shift 42:23 Pushing forward with the modernization approach 45:52 The friction unique to internal tools 48:37 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman welcomes Darlene Miranda (DailyPay) as they discuss how to make customer obsession as a cross-functional practice. PMs gather data from their customers to help in product improvement and development, but how can a PM let everyone in the organization join this customer obsession?     Disclaimer: All opinions of the speakers are their own.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 03:28 Customer obsession 04:55 How customer obsessed are you? 06:35 When PMs don't do enough to make a customer obsession a cross-functional 08:08 Being obsessed with two different types of customers 10:20 Engineering in customer obsession  13:38 Marketing  15:16 Customer obsession from the support function 17:17 Tools and frameworks  21:05 The role of customer support 23:52 What is unique about customer obsession? 26:10 An organization that will help you become customer obsessed 28:05 Cross-functional practice in the early stages of a startup 31:22 How to know if a company is customer obsessed 33:58 Operations functions to maintain customer obsession 36:14 Security and fraud 38:48 Resources for making customer obsession a cross-functional practice 40:55 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Kevin Shah (T-Mobile) and Lisa Huang-North (Microsoft) to discuss why product managers need empathy when communicating with customers and while building their career, as well as finding the balance between being empathetic and product success.     Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 03:53 Empathy also matters in how you manage your career 07:36 Do you understand where you are in your personal journey? 10:13 We suffer from survivor bias 13:33 The lack of empathy to certain stakeholders or groups can show up in the execution 16:12 Don't focus on the persona and characteristics, focus on the needs and problems 22:15 Data communication depends on the channels already established 24:48 What's important to users vs what's important to the company 27:16 Try to understand where the misalignment is happening 28:06 Come back to the pain points you're trying to address 31:03 Feeling empowered and having an authentic PM mindset  34:10 An executive does not understand the customers as well as the PMs do 38:53 Myth: “I'm not a great sales person and that's why I think I'll be a great PM.” 43:02 Best relationship between sales and products are centered around culture 44:56 Product managers are artists and creators  49:19 Logically group your community and dedicate different efforts on each segment  56:17 Empathy is your superpower   57:49 Recommended resources for PMs to get better at being empathetic 01:01:16 Drawing a balance between empathy and profitability  01:04:23 Product management is a contact sport and also a team sport 01:09:45 Own the job and be resolute with your standards   01:11:34 You don't have to love something, but you have to be really curious about it

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Poorvi Shrivastav (HubSpot) to talk about how to smoothly transition from being an individual contributor to a leadership role. Aside from the tips and guides one can learn and practice while in transition, never lose focus on putting people first.     Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 01:29 Transition from an individual contributor (IC) to Manager 07:43 Who directly reports to you? 08:51 The biggest transition from being an IC to a manager 11:02 3 things you need to succeed in the management role 16:20 Be very clear about the credit that belongs to you 20:13 Tips on how to transition in your first few days 25:29 Focus on outcome, but think about the process too 31:11 How to ace an interview for a leadership role 41:20 When you start leading a team that you are part of 47:38 How do you manage delegation? 50:00 Transition from an IC to management course 52:02 Focus on people first

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast,  marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Josh Haftel (Adobe) and Ben Waddle (Expedia) to talk about creating a product out of an idea by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable ones for a faster turn around and quickly get customer feedback, and how product managers need to work with their team instead of managing it.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 01:10 A PMs job is finding clarity and then creating alignment 06:35 The Discovery and Framing framework 09:58 Always start at the fundamentals 15:01 Take the big things down and break them down 17:47 Fail quickly then go into future iterations 19:53 What kind of experimentation should you be doing? 25:31 Pick a problem that you might have some passion for   28:12 Come up with hypotheses about why something's going to work versus why it's not going to work 30:39 Look for skills that your team currently don't have 33:34 Understand who you need to influence and tailor your work products accordingly 38:38 Start with what outcomes matter to the audience you're speaking to 42:52 The fastest way to get something into the hands of the customers 45:30 Break down big assumptions into smaller ones 50:23 Partner with your team to arrive at the best solution 52:55 As a product manager, you don't manage anybody

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and  Soumeya Benghanem welcome Charles Wartemberg (Netflix) and Pamela Fleury (Harvard) as they discuss the best practices during discovery. Gathering feedback and data from customers is very important in managing products so a good PM should be able to know how to get this data and implement it for product improvement.   Disclaimer: All opinions of the speakers are their own.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 06:31 How much time to spend on discovery? 10:30 Recommended resource about discovery work 15:16 The alignment and getting everyone on the same page 18:27 Leveraging product sense 21:03 What does discovery look like in a lot of customer environments? 22:52 Truly understanding the why versus seeing how the market responds 33:59 A product inside a product 40:30 Product marketing team working with the overall marketing team 44:54 Career in product management 53:56 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and  Soumeya Benghanem welcome Julie Seto (Microsoft) and Aneesha Kommineni (Google) as they discuss how human-centered design and engineering can help PMs. Learning more about HCDE is one of the important skills a good PM should have because it lets PMs better understand what the people need and help make a more efficient design.   Disclaimer: All opinions of the speakers are their own.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 06:31 How is HCDE related to other concepts 08:15 Similarities and differences 11:17 Tips for hiring people who have different biases 13:21 Combine different research methodologies 15:06 Design culturally neutral experiences 15:55 Why is human centered design important to learn? 19:20 The use of HCDE in your job 25:33 Tension between human centered design and business objectives 30:02 Differences in applying HCDE in a B2B vs B2C product 37:50 Considering geographical and cultural aspects while designing the product in enterprise 41:50 Resource or bootcamp recommendations 44:44 When someone says no about your human centered design feature 47:52 Universal design vs human centered design 49:06 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and  Soumeya Benghanem welcome Jennifer McGill Walker (Pearson) and Chris Hess, Ph.D. (Pearson) as they discuss the best practices in interviewing a customer. Good PMs need to be able to know the best way and approach to reach out to customers to understand their feedback and concerns that can help to improve a product or service.   Disclaimer: All opinions of the speakers are their own.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 01:45 The importance of discovery 03:22 Interacting with customers will lead back to why you're doing what you do 04:27 Types of interactions with customers 06:34 The interaction format depends on the goal 08:26 Constantly talk with customers 10:37 Use Zoom for recording 12:50 Check your confirmation bias 14:02 Start a earlier than the actual interview when selecting your sample size 15:24 Work on the art of questioning 17:28 Being representative of the population as a whole & be comfortable with silence 19:04 Bring in other people from your team 21:52 Biggest threat to discovery work is time 26:54 Talk about what you've learned & learn from other 29:03 Setting up your work calendar  34:15 How to approach a customer? 35:54 Overcoming suspicion 39:01 Scheduling customer interviews & reaching out manually or automatically 48:13 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Soumeya Benghanem welcome Alex Selby (Amazon) and Swati Goel (Facebook) to talk about time management. Today's focus is on how much time PMs need to allocate for structured and creative meetings, checking with customers to gather data on existing products, and breaking down your day strategically so you'll have time to refresh your thoughts and replenish your creativity.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 02:17 Why is time management and productivity important? 07:02 Breaking down your day with time bucketing 09:45 For PMs, unstructured, unfocused time is critical 11:47 Block out an hour for yourself everyday 14:29 Deciding how much time to put into strategy versus execution 18:45 Business priorities and where you're product is at 20:41 From 90/10 to 60/40 time allocation with customers 28:33 Look for product adjacent roles or tasks that you can take on 33:20 Pick up patterns from the first customers and bring back to the team for planning 36:03 Learn more about the Inclusive Product Management Accelerator program 38:01 The writing culture in meetings is an artifact while building a product 42:07 Balance between outcome driven structured meetings and allowing creativity 44:23 Allow for creative sessions but facilitation is still needed 48:25 Start conversations with a wide approach first 49:20 Choose which meetings are mandatory for you 51:31 Time management takes a little bit of practice 53:02 How often should PMs check on customers 56:55 “Be specific and strategy in spending your time.” - Alex Selby 57:51 Listen to How to Be More Productive (Ep. 243)

Today, in the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, Jeff and Red welcome our panel of experts on product management to talk about becoming a product manager coming from a different background. The shift in interest from your educational background or career to becoming a customer-oriented problem solver opens a path to become a great PM. Listen in and join them as they share their minds, experiences, and expertise on what helps aspiring PMs to  successfully join this competitive ecosystem.     Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 01:20 PMs from non-traditional background bring in new thinking and perspectives 06:15 Learning product management from best practices from a global perspective 10:47 True or false: “If you don't know how to code you can't be a good PM.”  12:55 Coding may not matter in most environments, it could in smaller startups 16:03 Is being a scrum master a traditional path to becoming a PM? 18:35 Scrum masters tend to work inside of development chops 21:56 UX designers should have an artistic expertise 23:50 Try low resolution experimentation, don't be afraid to try something that looks horrible 26:00 An example of low-res that works 31:26 The Product Management Life Cycle model 33:20 Educate yourself if you want to break into product management 34:37 Understand what's required for the job and what do you have in terms of skills 36:54 The language we use differs in different ecosystems 39:19 Find out how does a product life cycle work 40:09 To connect with companies and industries, tap on the networking side 44:10 Managing physical, digital, and software products 47:16 Customer care and problem solving opens a path to product management 48:43 Stay curious and always ask questions 50:11 The person who understand the customers the most matters 51:16 Build site projects, invest in networking, and volunteering opportunities 

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Red Russak welcome Bryan Cottle (AWS), Scott Wofford (Amazon), and Joan Barcelona (Box) as they discuss how you can make an internal transfer into product management. If you're someone who is interested in jumping into product but not sure if you should apply for internal opportunities, the three panelists for this episode will share to you some great tips on how you can do so and why it's easier to transfer internally into a product role.   Disclaimer: All opinions of the speakers are their own.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 05:55 Internal transfer vs. transferring to a different company 07:13 How to transfer internally into product management 08:46 Demonstrating that you understood the product 10:51 Other things you can do before transferring internally 13:18 When and how to talk about your goal to be in product 16:53 What experience can you highlight? 22:03 Assessing the PM role 26:14 Tools and resources to help skill development 28:53 Project manager to product role 31:34 Think about your North Star 33:39 Degree or certification to help get into product  41:52 Book recommendations 43:23 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Red Russak welcome Peter Kazarian (Yahoo), Ryan Caddell (SounderMind), and Carolyn Carter (Wayfair) to talk about being a growth product manager and how to grow as one. Being a growth PM matters because their focus is to identify the key growth opportunities and growth strategies for businesses and improve business metrics.   Disclaimer: All opinions of the speakers are their own.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 06:31 Growth PM vs. other PMs 09:03 Growth PM vs. marketing 14:03 Metrics of growth PMs 15:08 Ask their KPI 16:35 Is growth PM consumer focused? 18:31 Are growth PMs replacing sales? 20:41 Well designed products doesn't need sales 22:33 How to make growth happen through testing & optimization 25:12 Understand your secondary KPIs 28:43 Retargeting  33:22 What to do during a conversion problem? 38:31 Difference between product marketing manager, growth PM, and PM  42:16 There's no vision involved 47:50 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and  Soumeya Benghanem welcome Anna Marie Clifton to talk about prioritizing people over product. A good PM should be able to manage products, people, and of course, both. A team has its own unique members and managing these people is an important part of a PM's job.   Disclaimer: All opinions of the speakers are their own.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 09:11 Influence without authority 11:42 What works in a different company won't work in another one 13:59 Building trust relationships 16:26 Everyone is motivated by very different things 19:07 Framework or exercise for working with people 27:16 Clearly Product Book Club podcast 29:44 Politics in the workplace 30:54 Understand the unwritten rules 33:07 Frameworks are a waste of time 37:02 Definition of framework 39:02 Framework are for beginners 41:53 Managing young stakeholders 46:07 How to talk to people who disagrees 48:55 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Soumeya Benghanem welcome Vipin K. Singh (FEVO), Parul Shorey (SeatGeek), Geetika Kapoor (Chewy), and Vikas Khandelwal (Qualtrics) to talk about how to land a PM role in the current economy. For those who are interested in changing to a PM role, these great panelists will share their personal experiences and advice on how to become a PM.   Disclaimer: All opinions of the speakers are their own.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 08:23 Landing a product manager role in the current economy 11:37 There are still PM jobs out there 14:14 Network your way to opportunities 17:55 Highlight your skills & build relationships 20:57 Prepare a lot, be concise in communication, & know your value proposition 23:01 Value proposition 25:20 Have a personal mission 26:24 How to become a better communicator 28:00 Book or practice material recommendations 31:53 How to evaluate job opportunities 38:28 Should you go wide or go narrow? 44:15 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Soumeya Benghanem welcome Emily Fishkind (Microsoft) and Richa Rai (F5) to talk about the importance of inclusivity in product development. Understanding inclusion in product management will help PMs build products that are accessible to everyone in the market and can help business growth.   Disclaimer: All opinions of the speakers are their own.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 08:22 Inclusion in product management 11:04 Everything is evolving 12:58 Creating a sense of belonging, empathy, and cultural awareness 15:41 Calling people in than calling people out 18:34 3 recommendations for inclusive future in product management 21:09 Where to know more about inclusivity? 22:54 Is it a challenge or an opportunity? 28:44 Focusing on the margin 29:29 Inclusive language 30:46 Removing a non-inclusive term 34:16 Inclusion as you design your products and program 39:49 Advice to PM new to inclusivity 43:49 How to embed inclusion into your objectives? 45:34 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak  and  Soumeya Benghanem welcome Zenifar Hathiari (Amazon) to talk about collecting and utilizing customer usage data. As a PM, you have to be able to understand usage data and use this information to help improve the product, analyze customer reception and satisfaction level for future iteration and final product output.     Disclaimer: All opinions of the speakers are their own.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 03:18 Importance of data 07:39 Customer usage data 08:45 When to dive into customer usage data 11:11 Data sources 12:51 Customer vs. product data 14:58 Visualizing the data 16:44 How sales data is affects product 20:23 Quantitative and qualitative data 23:29 Utilizing customer usage data 27:22 Optimal amount of people to include in your framework 31:43 Advice for PM new to data 33:52 Favorite go-to data points 37:31 Data vs. real life 39:38 Usage or qualitative data first? 42:16 Third party data 43:38 Taking action on customer usage data 45:30 Balancing the need for speed and mitigating risk and collecting data 46:43 Book recommendations 47:48 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Soumeya Benghanem welcome Patrick Waltz (HP), Dave Fleischman (Compass), and Sheena Dhanaraj to talk about why frameworks are valuable and why PMs should know them. Frameworks help PMs make strategic decisions, discover product ideas, and solve problems.   Disclaimer: All opinions of the speakers are their own.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 01:18 Why frameworks are valuable 06:33 Frameworks is a collection of principles 09:07 Getting things done 11:03 Assumption mapping 11:23 Working backwards 13:44 North star framework 15:37 Funnel mapping 20:27 Establishing a good North star 21:36 No one size fits all 24:50 Know your job 27:17 Have an idea and share it 29:22 When the framework goes wrong 34:49 How do you pick a framework? 36:46 What's a framework you'd love to be removed? 38:57 Psychological safety in teams 45:05 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman welcomes Charlton Washington, MBA (Johnson & Johnson) and Jake Wallack (Axon) to talk about hardware product management. As a PM, you might have to choose between hardware vs. software. Knowing the difference between the two fields, the process involved, and the varying customer needs will allow PMs to get familiar with the systems should they wish to transition from hardware to software and vice versa.   Disclaimer: All opinions of the speakers are their own.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 05:42 Metrics of success in hardware 08:22 Hardware vs. software 09:52 Other metrics  12:40 Meeting the needs of different consumers 16:06 Inclusivity is necessary 18:59 Product management in hardware vs. software 21:11 Hardware has longer development cycles 24:42 Hardware or software as a PM? 26:47 More long term strategy 27:40 Check your skills and experience 28:40 Single threaded leadership 31:07 Stakeholder management with hardware vs. software 33:55 Stakeholders are more directly involved in product 35:01 What can make people in hardware PM angry? 38:16 Transition from software to hardware 40:11 How to navigate hardware PM in the medical space 42:16 Resources for PM 45:40 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Red Russak welcome Giselle Mota (ADP) to talk about product inclusion and product equity. With product inclusion, users feel seen and feel that their needs are met. This is why inclusion is an important aspect PMs must have and learn and how they can incorporate this in their products.     Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 06:15 Definition of inclusion 09:54 Making the business case 11:47 Educate to ensure product inclusion 15:21 Product inclusion is not just in the language but also data that's used 19:20 How to test inclusivity 22:38 Product management is an iterative process 27:36 Book recommendations 29:23 Is there anything unique about product inclusion and equity? 31:52 Mainstream user vs. extreme user 33:55 Factors that are accelerating inclusivity 36:38 Improving AI voice 39:08 Roles dedicated to product inclusion and product equity 47:21 Advice for product managers to be more equitable and inclusive 50:11 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Dontae Delgado (Compass) and Siddhartha Rabindran (Microsoft) to discuss managing assumptions and start ranking them from the top most important to the least important, and build a framework around it to help develop the product. Assumptions, when correctly utilized and tested in the right environment exponentially helps product leaders find success.    Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 01:42 The importance of managing assumptions and risk management 03:46 It's easy to become comfortable with the flows of the product 05:11 Clarity plays an important role in managing assumptions 08:44 The different classifications of assumptions 10:45 Approach is the most important part of addressing assumptions 13:55 Assumption prompts to make assumptions explicit 15:52 The build versus buy evaluation 19:53 After generating assumptions, start ranking them 23:36 Critical path is about the solution and the framing 24:25 Proper documentation is key to effective communication 27:17 Situations that could happen when assumptions aren't made 29:45 Reference books and resources for assumption management 37:04 How do you go about validating assumptions? 40:31 The product team considers four important things: product, market, channels, and business model 43:42 Producer and consumer framework in critical in managing expectations 47:31 Building a culture of domain empathy 50:28 Assumptions are an integral part of everything we do 54:13 Assumptions are linchpin to product success 55:29 Some assumptions, when utilized correctly or incorrectly, either hurt or help the products

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Saumil Shrivastava (UiPath) and Mark Cramer (Meta) to talk about the death to PRDs. What is a PRD and can it be removed from a company? How can this tool help a PM's job and what is its relationship with backlogs? A PM should be able to understand the importance of PRD and how it can be a starting point to get anything done.    *Disclaimer: “All opinions of the speakers are their own.”   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 05:13 What is a PRD? 08:15 PRDs are the starting point to get anything done 09:25 Have a goal 11:41 Format doesn't matter 12:28 Strategy documents 14:55 A part in PRDs that can be removed 17:20 Backlogs 19:16 Strategy depends on the size of the team 21:22 Relationship between PRDs and backlogs 24:59 Shifting focus from PRD to backlog overtime 27:18 Purpose is different 29:31 Backlogs are a PMs domain 30:43 Project managers and engineering manager on backlogs 33:46 Sometimes effectiveness is more important than efficiency 36:30 Advice for beginners in PRD 39:13 Find a mentor 40:39 Your job is not about the tool 42:42 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Red Russak welcome Ben Waddle (Expedia Group) and Shivam Goyal (Tellus) to talk about how PMs can properly set goals. A good PM must know how to set goals and be able to identify how the team can achieve it, whether it's too ambitious or difficult to reach, and the right percentage goals the team should be hitting. Goal setting is a good skill for a PM because it motivates you towards your outcome and gives you clarity on what you want to achieve.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 04:46 Why is goal setting important? 05:55 What happens when you're not effective at setting goals 06:43 Know the reason why you're setting a goal 07:26 Goals should be outcome oriented 08:18 Making sure everyone is aligned on the goal 09:21 Being specific is important 11:05 Anti-goals 13:23 The problem with setting a super ambitious goal 15:54 What is the right percentage of goals you should be hitting? 23:03 Who should be involved in goal setting 26:00 Technology for goal setting 32:53 Use a system that you are comfortable with 35:41 Does remote work change how you communicate towards goals? 38:21 When to abandon a goal 43:22 A good goal before COVID 46:53 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Rajvi Bhatt (Walmart Global Tech), Prathyusha (Usha) Cheruku (UnitedHealth Group), and Arvind Dutta (Microsoft) to talk about how to write a good PRD. Do good PMs need to know how to write PRDs or product requirement documents? PRDs can be useful and a great way to help capture important information about your product in one place, so a good PM should learn how to write one as it is one of the most important documents a PM could create.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 02:31 What a PRD is? 04:46 PRDs are mechanisms to help stakeholders 07:29 What can go wrong in PRD? 10:09 PRDs are sometimes useless 12:20 Difference between PR/FAQ and PRD 14:10 Backlogs in PRD 16:29 One pagers  18:24 PRDs are a way to accomplish the goal of building a product 19:15 How PRDs help a product manager 22:20 Different documentations and how they change 27:31 Version controlling 28:28 Focus on the persona 29:09 Include a clear problem statement 32:21 Do you need a degree to become a PM? 34:42 Have interest and familiarize yourself towards the product role 36:04 Non-technical people can still be a PM 38:41 Adding new features in PRD 40:54 Ideas are part of an agile product development process 42:18 Adapting to an existing PRD 46:30 Document new ideas 48:38 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Swapna Malekar (Microsoft) and Tony Poon (R-zero) to talk about whether having OCD is a superpower or a curse when it comes to being a PM. Product managers have to wear a different hat everyday, but if you're someone who pays too much attention to detail or gets too obsessed with data, how can you become a good PM?   The use of "OCD" a shorthand for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder within this episode is intended in the colloquial framing of concepts such as first principles thinking, deep curiosity and obsession with the customer, product or problem. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your mental health professional or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your condition. Never disregard professional advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read or heard on the How to Succeed in Product Management.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 08:42 Is OCD a superpower or a curse for a PM? 10:39 Obsessive about being curious 12:11 The first principles thinking 13:25 Having too much attention to detail 15:50 Product managers being obsessed with data 17:22 How too much attention to detail can get in the way of product development 19:48 Application within the discovery & data analytics vs. solution & execution phase 26:58 PM having OCD 28:24 You can't predict what a PM's job will be everyday 29:20 Working with someone who has OCD 31:59 Time versus outcome 34:25 Becoming a PM post-COVID era 39:29 Being open to feedback 42:15 Retargeting becomes a collaborative work 46:16 Final thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Murtaza Chowdhury (Amazon Web Services) to discuss Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) - a goal-setting framework for outlining and planning product objectives up to the targeted results. OKR helps product managers plan and create frameworks which are shared within the team to set clear goals to align all efforts.    Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 00:42 Objective and Key Results (OKRs) and the need for alignment for outcomes and defining them 05:24 The benefits of the OKR approach 08:32 Have an objective that speaks for the company vision 11:53 Set a vision but don't be too tactical in your approach  15:25 A sense of priority among the OKRs  19:22 Setting the objectives and key results 24:56 Everyone in the team is involved in the product team 26:44 OKR should be broken down into organizational level, team level, and then micro-teams level 28:34 Everyone working on the team has a say on the product development 31:04 User stories are what ties everything together 35:23 Solving team problems through prioritization and alignment 40:16 Everyone in the team is involved in creating the OKR 44:06 Should PMs stay in the background and let micro-teams solve the problem? 48:45 The 3 elements of an effective OKR 51:08 Set objectives that are futuristic, inspirational, and highly ambitious 52:47 Use OKRs with purpose

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Soumeya Benghanem welcome Matthew Landry (Cisco Meraki) to talk about what makes a good PM in the networks and security field. A good PM is someone who is intellectually curious and one who has an element of unhappiness with the status quo because in this field you will have to formulate strategies as you collect information while satisfying the end users or customers.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 04:21 How metrics change in different technology industries 06:12 Metrics in networks and security 11:10 The need to deliver value and build instrumentation 15:02 Trade off between collecting information vs. satisfying the customers 24:24 What makes a growth PM 27:59 Defining the product management roles 31:47 Switching across different subdisciplines of product management 34:24 What kind of person fits the product management role? 39:25 When to know if this is not right for you 41:33 Collaboration between multiple departments

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem collaborates with Women in Product members Parul Shorey (Compass) and Rekha Raghu (Smartsheet) to talk about adapting to changes, dealing with changes in processes, management, or system, managing teams throughout the new structure, and just use change as an opportunity to continuously learn.      Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 02:03 In collaboration with Women in Product, let's talk about why adapting to change as PM is important 06:27 For PMs to survive and for the company to flourish, you need to learn to adapt to change 11:41 Changes can be internal, customer, market, and product 12:39 What to do when upper management wants to change strategy or direction 18:08 Tips for PMs on adapting to changes 23:52 Identify the product's mission and goals when dealing with changes 28:08 When is it time to change the north star? 30:10 Your metrics are going to tell if you're progressing in the way you want to 35:26 Coaching teams to navigate through changes 37:58 Managing teams is not a scale game 41:16 Take a break to think about the situation before acting on the change 44:07 PMs on evolving best practices and management terminologies  47:32 If there is change fatigue, there is something wrong with the process 49:25 Look at change as an opportunity  51:06 Pms shouldn't overuse the sense of urgency 52:57 Change is what you really want other people to achieve

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Kunal Nayyar (Stripe) to talk about effectuation. PMs and other product leaders often build their team and identify frameworks once a problem is identified. With effectuation, PMs identify what resources are available and formulate solutions based on the resources at hand. It's a reverse framework, nonetheless, it's effective.     Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 04:49 What is effectuation? 10:12 It's all about what side of the coin you're looking at 15:49 The affordable loss principle 19:28 When is it okay to do an affordable loss? 30:09 The security compliance bar set by the industry 33:12 How much leeway do regulated industries have? 35:13 A space for team members to work on any idea 40:02 Help your team imagine the future that doesn't exist 43:31 Our concluding thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Jenne Pierce (University of Washington) and Jason Jaingue (Walmart Global Tech) to talk about flourishing in the eCommerce space. The most important metric for all PMs trying to break through in the eCommerce industry and for those who are already in the space is to become a customer. The level of obsession to customer experience is what makes or breaks a product manager's success.   *Guests are speaking on their own behalf and all opinions expressed are their own.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 08:49 Calculating the lifetime value  12:38 NPS is the first focus in eCommerce 14:42 The actual experience of customers determines it all 18:27 Understanding how to dig into usage metrics 25:24 3 key marketing area trends  33:07 Best in class from a product approach and strong product teams 37:22 Distinction between eCommerce and social commerce 40:56 Handling SEO change in relation to road mapping 45:28 Seeing results when you extend over into eCommerce 47:46 Obsession over customer journey and staying flexible 50:29 Our concluding thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Soumeya Benghanem welcome David Lau (Mojang Studios) and Raul Salcedo (Fluent, Inc) to talk about what makes a good PM in the gaming industry. A good PM is someone who is intellectually curious and one who consumes the products because being a PM in this field means you are dealing with consistency in product engagement and formulating strategies to sell within the game.     Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 04:10 Why should somebody outside of gaming care about this conversation? 06:07 Tracking metrics for gaming customers 15:44 The minimal lovable product 21:51 Tensions between engagement and monetization 30:10 Good PMs understand engagement, acquisition, and monetization 38:44 The 80/20 rule when developing apps 44:12 Setting different types of thresholds when people are overplaying   53:08 Our concluding thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Sandeep Patnaik (Microsoft) and Bala Sahitya (Meta) to talk about managing up as a critical skill for PMs. As a PM, especially if you're new to the role, how can you excel in your job? The most important foundation you need to work on is to manage up so you can build solid and helpful relationships, gain significant experiences for career growth, and extend the coverage of your role in preparation to level up.    Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 01:16 Why do aspiring PMs need to know how to manage up? 03:59 Managing up versus managing stakeholders 08:54 The best practices for how you could manage up 19:11 What does success look like as it relates to managing up?  24:05 It's not the data value, it's how you present it 29:23 When should you escalate? 37:48 Controversial opinion: The PM is the CEO of the product 42:10 Are product managers really necessary? 48:08 Our concluding thoughts  

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Nate Westheimer (Amazon) to talk about leadership principles. Identifying structures that work best for you and your product goals is the best step to finding success. This includes the skills to handle escalations within the team and how to escalate fast to not lose momentum.    Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 06:19 4 things you can learn from Amazon 10:05 Handling an escalation 17:33 The working backwards principles 21:47 The PR FAQs approach 31:02 You can't be inflexible  38:51 Sometimes thinking ahead is extremely helpful   43:55 Read The Cold Start Problem 47:15 Concluding thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Red Russak welcome Jerlisa "Juju" Fontaine (Oscar Health), Anne Julliene (Joan) Barcelona (Box), and Dimple Singhania (Walmart) to talk about what happens during the first few days as a PM. Transitioning into the role needs a lot of work on building connections with your team and other teams within the organization, continuous learning from your superior through shadowing, and making use of the soft skills you bring into the system to function seamlessly and adapt efficiently.     Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 10:14 What helped in transitioning to product management? 16:18 What helped the transition successful in the first few days? 24:22 Learn as much as you can from the people you shadow 36:26 How did you define success for your first month? 37:34 What did you wish you knew before you started your role? 45:48 What are the most necessary skills as a product person? 54:01 Concluding thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Valery (Larry) Karpiyevich (Store No. 8) to talk about why soft skills matter in product management. Technical knowledge, background, and field experience are key points to have but the ability to motivate, unite, and keep the team working together despite challenges and difficulties along the way is as valuable as any other skill.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 08:52 The importance of soft skills for PMs 14:36 Listen without judgment  16:36 Ways to improve your listening skills 24:23 How to support your team's mental health 35:21 Tools and frameworks to drive inclusivity 38:40 Style and frameworks for managing stakeholders 46:21 Our concluding thoughts

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Jeremiah Nelson (Motorola Solutions) to talk about becoming a good PM in a difficult environment. Product management is a job that requires teamwork, team effort, and collaborative planning to successfully launch and eventually sell a product. It can become a difficult task and extremely challenging but with the people in the team, nothing is impossible.    Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 07:46 When does product management become difficult? 10:46 What is the rubric that customers give you? 11:37 Indicators to help understand the customer's rubric 15:19 Who should not be a PM? 20:12 Every PM owns the decision regardless of how it's made 27:09 You are not your product 29:49 What makes a better PM for API and technical products? 36:07 Get a detailed understanding of how things function 42:02 Goal-setting methods for a new project 46:24 Take care of yourself first 48:54 Being a PM is about the team you create

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Red Russak welcome Marily Nika (Imperial College London) and Matt Hulett (PetMeds) to talk about what it takes to become an AIPM. Do you need a technical background to become one? Do you need to be an engineer? Or do you have to be both an engineer and MBA holder? Our panel today shows us why we need to become ready to switch to a new skill set and learn to take on a different role when we it comes to machine learning and product management.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 04:22 What does AI or ML mean for PMs? 10:41 You don't need a technical background to become an AIPM 13:50 How to become ready to switch to a new skill set 18:16 What are the characteristics that makes you a good AIPM 30:45 Which would you  like to work best with? 33:47 Work on things that you're passionate about 42:26 Do you need an MBA to be a great PM? 45:25 If we are all generalists, how do we bring niche products to life? 49:52 Building confidence to ask thoughtful questions

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Divya Sreekumar (Meta) and Clay Robinson (Mamenta) to talk about collating information  both from customers and within the organization to unravel hiend use wants and needs. By asking the right questions and having the right people onboard, addressing customer needs can become more effective.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 08:31 Collating product backlog 10:34 Getting the right data and filtering the noise 16:08 PMs find the unarticulated wants and needs  18:36 Either you're doing too much or too little when gathering info 26:41 Take yourself up from the HOW and switch to the WHY 34:06 How do you break into the PM space? 40:09 How do you speak up when you feel you're not empowered to

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Kavita Kamani (Microsoft) and Howard Ro (Tesla) to discuss the life cycle of product development, where to focus your attention to in whichever product development phase, identifying what should be considered valuable and what's not, and tackling product management while maintaining a work-life balance.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 02:27 The importance of the product development life cycle 06:29 Two points of view on the general concept of a product life cycle 09:09 Five D's of a product life cycle 15:25 Asking a lot of questions help determine exactly where to focus on 17:57 Getting a clear idea if a problem is worth solving 19:47 Initial ideation and operating without boundaries 21:14 When there is tension and no easy answer 27:12 Different organizations have different structures and different expectations 31:11 Within the applications, what is truly valuable and what is not? 34:22 Focus on what's the core problem and what you're going after 39:26 Ensure that everybody is aligned to the common goals 43:16 Find a balance between the user outcome and stakeholder outcome 48:51 Bringing focus back to what you need to do 51:05 Work-life balance: assess or associate your happiness with impact 58:52 If you want to succeed as a PM, own the job 01:00:04 Don't try to be everything for everyone

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Tom Leung (Goggle, Fireside Product Management Podcast) to talk about what makes a successful PM. Is it the number of products that went live? Is it the position you currently hold in the company? Is the head count of other PMs under your team? There are several ways to measure the success of Product Managers. What matters most of the time is the skills that you have when take on the role and what will you bring to help scale up the business.   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 08:43 What would success look like for a PM? 12:41 Metrics that matter to your own career success 14:26 PMs don't have a common starting point but have common qualities 17:29 In order to be considered for the PM role… 23:14 Should you be measured by how many products you push live? 32:47 When its the business that makes the decisions 38:35 Skills to become a good PM 44:26 Misaligned with your end counterpart 50:08 PM is an apprenticeship discipline

In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board members Red Russak and Soumeya Benghanem welcome Pooja Ghera (Providence) to talk about inclusivity in leadership. The golden question, when it comes to inclusivity is, do you need to have a value of inclusivity before you start hiring or should hire a team that will create an inclusive culture within the organization? What does inclusive leadership truly mean?   Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.   What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 07:54 What does inclusive leadership mean to you? 11:08 You need to be inclusive first before hiring an inclusive workforce   15:34 Collaboration and cultural intelligence  20:58 Inclusive leadership when you do and don't have authority 24:15 How you're listening is also diverse 25:49 Finding a pocket of ignored customers 31:37 Resources to learn user segments to build user buckets 39:54 How do you justify the impact for only one user? 42:15 Focus on diversifying your own team 44:48 Ensure that hiring is about alignment of values 48:57 Be humble and aware of your bias