Podcast appearances and mentions of mike belsito

What happens when the product science principles are applied to a conference organization?  You get Product Collective, now called Mind The Product by Pendo.io. Through events like INDUSTRY: The Product Conference, along with resources such as a member hub and over 100 hours of past conference videos, product professionals across the globe find community, learn, and improve their work.  Rather than AI being the end-all-be-all answer, Mike hopes that AI will be used to integrate both qualitative insights from empathetic customer interactions and quantitative data. This evidence-based approach involves testing strategies through small experiments, learning from the outcomes, and aligning decisions with core values and customer outcomes for incremental growth.  Mike also reveals insights from his experience working with Bob Moesta on jobs-to-be-done interviews, highlighting the value of going deep in customer research to uncover valuable insights, and in his case, understand attendees' needs and improve the conference and/or community experience.  Takeaways include asking deeper questions, spending more time gathering that qualitative feedback so that you can go deeper, being curiously observant of jobs-to-be-done, and finding various modalities in which to gather continuous feedback from the “friendlies” and those who are more hesitant to capture a complete picture.  Resources Follow Mike Belsito on LinkedIn Explore the free resources and upcoming events at mindtheproduct.com Listen to Mike on Rocketship.fm Follow Holly on LinkedIn Visit the Product Science Group website Explore Product Science Workshops and Courses  Quotes from Mike Belsito (00:06:52) "The job that people hire your product for, you know, if you want to think of it, in jobs to be done context, it may not be what you think it is." - Mike Belsito (00:21:29) "Qualitative data is data. So being data driven doesn't mean that we're relying only on the reports and the analytics. It's not an either or. It's not quantitative versus qualitative. It's using them both together." - Mike Belsito (00:28:15) "It's not just what you've learned, but it's these relationships that are a real value to you." - Mike Belsito Lab Notes Lab Note 607.1: Depth is where you find Differentiation. Lab Note 607.2: Start with observation of the jobs-to-be-done. Lab Note 607.3: Use different modalities to get feedback from a range of people. 

Blake Squires began his journey in the mid-90s in Los Angeles, capitalizing early on the convergence of technology and media. He soon returned to his hometown of Cleveland to co-found Everstream with Steve McHale (episode 196) and Charlie Lougheed (episode 42, and also my co-founder at Axuall). Blake served as COO until Everstream's acquisition by Concurrent Computer Corp in 2005.Next, he co-founded Findaway, a global leader in digital audiobook distribution and creators of PLAYAWAY, a line of preloaded audiobook devices and products. Findaway was acquired by Spotify in 2022—a story shared by co-founder Mitch Kroll (episode 128) and early team member Mike Belsito (episode 52).In 2011, Blake launched Movable, a software and wearable platform built to "inspire movement." He also founded DoctorsOrders, an e-scripting tool for medical suppliers, which was acquired by Cardinal Health in 2018.Blake later partnered with inventor John Osher (of SpinBrush fame) to develop the Stubl/Shadow manual razor, acquired by Edgewell for its Schick brand. The duo also created a unique toothbrush licensed to Waken in the UK.In 2022, Blake co-founded Bloomfilter, an AI-powered process intelligence platform optimizing the product and software development lifecycle. We've heard Bloomfilter's story from his co-founder Andrew Wolfe on episode 134.By 2024, Blake had become a board partner at Greycroft and a “Fellow” at global design firm IDEO, recognized for his work supporting VCs and early-stage startups. Blake also serves as a founding advisor to the Ohio Angel Collective.As I mentioned up top, Blake's story truly is a Lay of The Land of Lay of The Land. He's deeply connected with Northeast Ohio's startup ecosystem—through this episode alone, we'll hear links to Lee Zapis (episode 7), John Knific (episode 199), David Levine (episode 132), AC Evans (episode 39), Ray Leach (episode 69), and many more.More than just well-connected, Blake is a visionary builder, inspiring leader, and accomplished serial entrepreneur with a rare ability to scale products, teams, and brands.00:00:00 - The Entrepreneurial Journey Begins  00:12:17 - Passion and the Intersection of Art and Business  00:15:09 - Defining Core Values in Entrepreneurship  00:18:27 - The Evolution of Big Mama Music  00:21:09 - Navigating Course Corrections in Business  00:23:23 - Finding the Next Problem to Solve  00:26:25 - Building a Values-Driven Company  00:28:09 - The Shift to Audiobooks and Market Insights  00:33:35 - The Role of Storytelling in Business  00:41:23 - Learning from Failure and Pivoting Strategies  00:43:22 - Scaling and Growth in Libraries  00:48:47 - Building a Strong Company Culture  00:49:08 - Lessons from Movable and the Importance of Partnerships  00:54:55 - Navigating the Healthcare Market  00:55:42 - Universal Truths in Entrepreneurship  01:01:07 - Transitioning to Advisory Roles and New Ventures  01:04:20 - Hidden Gem -----LINKS:https://www.linkedin.com/in/blakesquires/-----SPONSOR:Roundstone InsuranceRoundstone Insurance is proud to sponsor Lay of The Land. Founder and CEO, Michael Schroeder, has committed full-year support for the podcast, recognizing its alignment with the company's passion for entrepreneurship, innovation, and community leadership.Headquartered in Rocky River, Ohio, Roundstone was founded in 2005 with a vision to deliver better healthcare outcomes at a more affordable cost. To bring that vision to life, the company pioneered the group medical captive model — a self-funded health insurance solution that provides small and mid-sized businesses with greater control and significant savings.Over the past two decades, Roundstone has grown rapidly, creating nearly 200 jobs in Northeast Ohio. The company works closely with employers and benefits advisors to navigate the complexities of commercial health insurance and build custom plans that prioritize employee well-being over shareholder returns. By focusing on aligned incentives and better health outcomes, Roundstone is helping businesses save thousands in Per Employee Per Year healthcare costs.Roundstone Insurance — Built for entrepreneurs. Backed by innovation. Committed to Cleveland.-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and over 200 other Cleveland Entrepreneurs.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/

After more than a decade of stories, insights, and interviews from the world of tech, this is the final episode of Rocketship.FM… at least for now. In part one, host Mike Belsito opens up about the decision to hit pause on the show. Following the acquisition of Product Collective and diving deep into new responsibilities at Pendo and Mind the Product, time has become a rare commodity. And the little free time that is available? That's now reserved for what matters most — family. Plus, let's face it — Rocketship.FM was always more fun when co-hosting with Michael Sacca. But before signing off, part two of the episode revisits three of the most memorable episodes from over the years — moments that made Rocketship.FM what it is and remind us why storytelling in tech still matters. The show may be going on the shelf, but don't unsubscribe just yet… you never know when a surprise episode might drop. Thanks for listening. It's been an incredible ride.

In early 2022, the hype around NFTs was at its peak, and Mike Belsito found himself caught up in the frenzy—so much so that he and a lifelong friend decided to go all-in on a historic digital collectible: a 1-of-1 NFT of the legendary 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card. With a max bid of $60,000, they were ready to make a play, but the auction didn't quite go as planned. In this re-released episode, Mike recounts the excitement, the nostalgia, and the financial risks of the NFT gold rush. From the conversations with his friend and fellow collector to the surprising aftermath of the auction, this episode captures the highs, the lows, and the lasting lessons of an investment that never materialized. Plus, we explore what happened to that elusive Mickey Mantle NFT—and whether it was really worth it after all.

In this episode of Rocketship.FM, host Mike Belsito dives into the story that's shaking up the tech world: the TikTok ban in the United States. With a new year, a new administration, and growing geopolitical tensions, TikTok finds itself at the center of a national security debate. From bipartisan concerns over data privacy and Chinese ownership to the Supreme Court's decisive ruling and President Trump's potential role in TikTok's future, this story has it all—politics, culture, and the fate of a billion-dollar platform hanging in the balance. We'll unpack the key events that led to this moment, the ripple effects for creators and businesses, and the potential lifelines, like Kevin O'Leary's surprising bid to acquire TikTok's U.S. assets. What does this ban mean for the future of global platforms, and how does it redefine the intersection of technology and geopolitics? Tune in for a thought-provoking exploration of this pivotal moment in tech history.

In this episode of Rocketship.FM, host Mike Belsito sits down with Nesrine Changuel, a seasoned product manager with an impressive track record at Spotify, Skype, and Google, to explore the transformative power of emotional connection in product design. Nesrine's upcoming book, Delight, introduces the concept of the Delight Grid framework—a practical tool to help product teams prioritize features that not only solve problems but also resonate deeply with users. Through her research and real-world experience, she shares how to move beyond functional solutions to create products that genuinely delight. Join us for an exclusive sneak preview of Nesrine's insights, including actionable steps to start building emotional connections in your own products, the challenges teams face when adopting this approach, and how delighting your users ties directly to business outcomes. Whether you're leading a product team or simply passionate about creating user-centric experiences, this conversation will leave you inspired and equipped to elevate your product strategy.

In this episode of Rocketship.FM, we flip the script as Mike Belsito, Co-Founder of Product Collective, takes the guest seat to share his journey from entrepreneur to product leader. Interviewed by his longtime co-host Michael Sacca, Mike dives into the foundational skills every product manager needs, the importance of customer empathy, and how evolving tools like AI are reshaping the role. He also reflects on his early uncertainties and how building community and continuous learning helped him thrive. Whether you're an aspiring product manager looking to avoid common mistakes or a seasoned professional eager to revisit the essentials, this episode is packed with actionable insights. From navigating frameworks to balancing soft and hard skills, Mike offers a candid, relatable perspective on what it takes to succeed in today's fast-changing product landscape.

In this episode of Rocketship.FM, host Mike Belsito sits down with Katie Trauth Taylor, Founder and CEO of Narratize, to explore the journey behind creating an AI-driven platform that's empowering enterprises to communicate complex ideas faster and more effectively. Katie shares the frustrations that led her to launch Narratize and how her personal background as an innovator influenced the development of the platform. We dive into the hurdles she faced in the early days, how she secured enterprise clients like Boeing and Hearst, and what makes Narratize's AI capabilities uniquely suited for long-form, technical content.

In this episode, Mike Belsito sits down with Dan Blumberg, founder of Modern Product Minds and former product leader at The New York Times, LinkedIn, and Citi, to explore how product discovery works in traditional enterprises. While we often hear stories from cutting-edge tech startups, most product managers work at "normal" companies dealing with legacy systems, regulatory constraints, and established brand expectations. Dan shares practical insights on running effective discovery programs in these environments, including how to test ideas without risking brand reputation, why real commitment beats hypothetical feedback, and how to bring stakeholders along on the journey. Whether you're working in finance, media, or any traditional industry, this episode offers actionable frameworks and strategies for effective product discovery in the real world.

In this revealing episode of Rocketship.FM, host Mike Belsito pulls back the curtain on a significant milestone: Product Collective's acquisition by Pendo. Mike shares the origin story of Product Collective, from its humble beginnings as a passion project to its growth into a cornerstone of the product community. He candidly discusses the challenges of running a bootstrapped company and the exciting possibilities that come with joining forces with a larger entity like Pendo. The episode features an exclusive interview with Todd Olson, CEO of Pendo, who provides insights into the company's commitment to community building and its vision for the future of product management. Together, Mike and Todd explore how this acquisition will impact the broader product community, discussing plans for expanded events, increased resources, and a more connected global network of product professionals. This episode offers listeners a unique behind-the-scenes look at a major industry move and its potential to shape the future of product management education and community.

In the fast-paced world of tech startups, product leadership is crucial—but when is the right time to bring on a full-time Chief Product Officer? This episode of Rocketship.FM explores the emerging role of the fractional CPO, a game-changing solution for early-stage companies seeking experienced product leadership without the full-time commitment or cost. Join host Mike Belsito as he sits down with Nick McEvily, a seasoned fractional CPO, to discuss the benefits of this flexible approach to product leadership. Discover when it's appropriate to consider a fractional CPO, how they can impact your organization's culture and strategy, and what to look for when hiring one. Plus, get an exclusive checklist to help you determine if your startup is ready for fractional or full-time product leadership. Whether you're a founder navigating the early stages of growth or a product professional curious about fractional roles, this episode offers valuable insights into the evolving landscape of product management.

In this unique episode of Rocketship.FM, host Mike Belsito explores the cutting-edge intersection of AI and product management. The show kicks off with an introduction to Google's Notebook LM, a groundbreaking AI research assistant. Then, in a twist, we present an AI-generated summary of the most recent edition of INDUSTRY: The Product Conference, showcasing key takeaways on team structures, customer focus, AI integration, and essential human skills in product development. This episode offers a unique blend of human insight and AI capabilities, providing listeners with a forward-looking perspective on the evolving landscape of product management. Rocketship.FM is brought to you by Evergreen Podcasts.

In this episode of Rocketship.FM, host Mike Belsito dives into the common mistakes product managers and leaders make when developing product strategies. Featuring expert insights from Roman Pichler, a renowned product management coach and author, the episode uncovers critical pitfalls to avoid and best practices to embrace in crafting effective product strategies. From the importance of aligning with overall business goals to the necessity of evidence-based decision-making, Roman shares his wealth of experience to guide listeners through the intricacies of product strategy development. This episode is a must-listen for product professionals looking to refine their strategic approach, foster collaboration across teams, and create product strategies that drive success in today's fast-paced digital landscape. This episode is sponsored by: Virtual Edition of INDUSTRY: The Product Conference: Join hundreds of Product Managers and Product Leaders from all around the world for a day-long virtual conference experience -- including keynote sessions, interactive discussions, virtual networking and more. Purchase your pass before September 15th, and you can register for just $99 (saving 50% off of the day of show rate). Wix Studio: Designed for agencies, freelancers and enterprises, Wix Studio lets professional web designers and developers unleash their creativity—faster and better than ever. You can create high-end sites at scale while harnessing the robust infrastructure and business solutions that already come with Wix.  Rocketship.FM is brought to you by Evergreen Podcasts.

In this episode of Rocketship.FM, we dive into an often overlooked but crucial aspect of product management: working effectively with internal partners and stakeholders. Join host Mike Belsito as he interviews John Haggerty, a seasoned product leader and coach, who shares insights on how product managers can build stronger relationships within their organizations. Learn why treating internal collaboration like a product itself can lead to better outcomes, and discover practical strategies for: Conducting "internal partner discovery" Segmenting and customizing communication with different stakeholders Measuring the success of your internal partnerships Avoiding common pitfalls in stakeholder management Whether you're a new product manager or a seasoned leader, this episode will equip you with valuable tools to enhance your influence and effectiveness across your organization. Don't miss this opportunity to level up your internal partnership skills and drive better product outcomes. This episode is sponsored by: Virtual Edition of INDUSTRY: The Product Conference: Join hundreds of Product Managers and Product Leaders from all around the world for a day-long virtual conference experience -- including keynote sessions, interactive discussions, virtual networking and more. Purchase your pass before September 15th, and you can register for just $99 (saving 50% off of the day of show rate). Wix Studio: Designed for agencies, freelancers and enterprises, Wix Studio lets professional web designers and developers unleash their creativity—faster and better than ever. You can create high-end sites at scale while harnessing the robust infrastructure and business solutions that already come with Wix.  Rocketship.FM is brought to you by Evergreen Podcasts.

In this captivating episode of Rocketship.FM, host Mike Belsito sits down with Rahul Vohra, founder and CEO of Superhuman, to explore the company's groundbreaking journey into AI-powered email. Vohra shares insights on how Superhuman recognized the potential of AI early on and made the bold decision to pivot their entire product strategy. He details the challenges of integrating AI features, from assembling the right team to developing a new "theta mode" of operation that accelerated their innovation process. Product managers and leaders will gain valuable lessons on prioritizing emerging technologies, balancing existing product roadmaps with disruptive innovation, and measuring the success of AI features. Vohra's candid discussion about Superhuman's three-phase approach to AI implementation - from on-demand features to always-on capabilities and agentic AI - provides a roadmap for product teams looking to harness the power of artificial intelligence in their own offerings. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of AI and product development in the fast-paced world of tech. This episode is sponsored by: Virtual Edition of INDUSTRY: The Product Conference: Join hundreds of Product Managers and Product Leaders from all around the world for a day-long virtual conference experience -- including keynote sessions, interactive discussions, virtual networking and more. Purchase your pass before September 15th, and you can register for just $99 (saving 50% off of the day of show rate). Wix Studio: Designed for agencies, freelancers and enterprises, Wix Studio lets professional web designers and developers unleash their creativity—faster and better than ever. You can create high-end sites at scale while harnessing the robust infrastructure and business solutions that already come with Wix.  Rocketship.FM is brought to you by Evergreen Podcasts.

In this episode of Rocketship.fm, host Mike Belsito dives deep into the challenging world of tech job hunting with Phyl Terry, author of "Never Search Alone: The Job Seeker's Playbook." With nearly half of US tech workers looking for new roles in 2024, this timely discussion offers invaluable insights for navigating the current job market. Phyl shares the three big ideas behind the book and "Never Search Alone" movement: understanding your candidate market fit, the power of job search councils, and mastering collaborative interviewing and negotiation. Listeners will gain practical advice on how to approach their job search strategically, from forming support groups to negotiating beyond just salary. The episode concludes with ten actionable steps listeners can take immediately to enhance their job search, making it a must-listen for anyone in tech considering their next career move. Whether you're a product manager facing unexpected layoffs or simply looking for a change, this episode provides the tools and mindset needed to tackle the job market with confidence. This episode is sponsored by: Virtual Edition of INDUSTRY: The Product Conference: Join hundreds of Product Managers and Product Leaders from all around the world for a day-long virtual conference experience -- including keynote sessions, interactive discussions, virtual networking and more. Purchase your pass before September 15th, and you can register for just $99 (saving 50% off of the day of show rate). Wix Studio: Designed for agencies, freelancers and enterprises, Wix Studio lets professional web designers and developers unleash their creativity—faster and better than ever. You can create high-end sites at scale while harnessing the robust infrastructure and business solutions that already come with Wix.  Rocketship.FM is brought to you by Evergreen Podcasts.

In this insightful episode of Rocketship.fm, host Mike Belsito sits down with Bruce McCarthy and Melissa Appel, co-authors of "Aligned: Stakeholder Management for Product Leaders." The conversation delves into the often challenging world of stakeholder management, offering practical advice for product managers and leaders looking to navigate complex organizational dynamics. Throughout the episode, McCarthy and Appel share valuable strategies from their book, covering topics such as understanding organizational structures, building rapport with stakeholders, and managing roadmap changes. They emphasize the importance of treating stakeholders as individuals, aligning goals, and fostering trust through effective communication and collaboration. This episode provides listeners with actionable insights to enhance their stakeholder management skills and drive product success. This episode is sponsored by: Virtual Edition of INDUSTRY: The Product Conference: Join hundreds of Product Managers and Product Leaders from all around the world for a day-long virtual conference experience -- including keynote sessions, interactive discussions, virtual networking and more. Purchase your pass before September 15th, and you can register for just $99 (saving 50% off of the day of show rate). Gigantic: Upskill your team with real-world, practical video-based training on topics like Product Strategy, Product Leadership, AI for Product Managers, and more. Rocketship.FM is brought to you by Evergreen Podcasts.

In this episode, host Mike Belsito sits down with Elliott Poppel, a product leader who's experienced both sides of the tech world - from managing products at Meta (formerly Facebook) to founding his own startup, General Collaboration. Elliott shares his journey, highlighting the stark contrasts in resources, decision-making processes, and product development approaches between tech giants and startups. Listeners will gain valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities each environment presents for product managers. Elliott discusses how his experiences at Meta shaped his approach to founding General Collaboration, particularly in areas like user research and making calculated bets on product features. Whether you're considering a move from a big tech company to a startup (or vice versa), or simply curious about the differences, this episode offers a wealth of practical advice and real-world perspectives on navigating product management across diverse tech landscapes. INDUSTRY: The Product Conference: Join hundreds of Product Managers and Product Leaders this September 23-25, 2024 for INDUSTRY. Save $100 when you use the code Rocketship. Or, use the code RocketshipVIP before August 1st -- and double your discount (and receive more bonuses!) Gigantic: Upskill your team with real-world, practical video-based training on topics like Product Strategy, Product Leadership, AI for Product Managers, and more. Rocketship.FM is brought to you by Evergreen Podcasts.

In this eye-opening episode, Mike Belsito sits down with Jason Fried, CEO of 37 Signals, to discuss their revolutionary "Once" family of products. Fried explains how 37 Signals is challenging the dominant SaaS model by reviving the concept of paying once to own software forever. The conversation includes the (re-)launch of Campfire, a group chat tool, and Writebook, a simple online book publishing platform, both offered under this unique model of "you host it, you own it." Listeners will gain insights into the rationale behind this bold move, including the technical challenges of self-hosted software and the potential for customers to modify and build upon the products they purchase. Fried also shares his thoughts on software pricing, the importance of business viability, and the luxury of offering free products. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in alternative business models and the future of software distribution. INDUSTRY: The Product Conference: Join hundreds of Product Managers and Product Leaders this September 23-25, 2024 for INDUSTRY. Save $100 when you use the code Rocketship. Or, use the code RocketshipVIP before August 1st -- and double your discount (and receive more bonuses!) Gigantic: Upskill your team with real-world, practical video-based training on topics like Product Strategy, Product Leadership, AI for Product Managers, and more. Rocketship.FM is brought to you by Evergreen Podcasts.

In this episode of Rocketship.FM, we dive deep into one of the most monumental tech failures in recent history - the CrowdStrike glitch that brought the world to a standstill. From grounded flights to disrupted emergency services, we explore how a single software update caused chaos on a global scale, affecting millions of people and businesses worldwide. Join host Mike Belsito as he breaks down the incident, featuring recordings of commentary from industry experts and CrowdStrike's own CEO. We'll examine the far-reaching consequences of this digital disaster, discuss the critical importance of robust quality assurance in tech, and extract valuable lessons for product managers and tech leaders. Don't miss this eye-opening exploration of what happens when our reliance on technology meets an unexpected glitch. This podcast is brought to you by: INDUSTRY: The Product Conference: Join hundreds of Product Managers and Product Leaders this September 23-25, 2024 for INDUSTRY. Save $100 when you use the code Rocketship. Or, use the code RocketshipVIP before August 1st -- and double your discount (and receive more bonuses!) Gigantic: Upskill your team with real-world, practical video-based training on topics like Product Strategy, Product Leadership, AI for Product Managers, and more. Rocketship.FM is brought to you by Evergreen Podcasts.

In this episode of Rocketship.FM, host Mike Belsito talks through the crucial skill of leading without authority with guest Jocelyn Davis, author of The Art of Quiet Influence. Drawing from ancient Eastern wisdom and modern leadership research, Davis offers invaluable insights for product managers and leaders who must guide teams and influence stakeholders without formal power. The episode explores three key themes: participation, power, and progress, providing practical strategies for building genuine engagement, aligning interests, and maintaining momentum in product development. Listeners will gain a fresh perspective on influence, learning how to convert adversaries to allies, support others' initiatives, and navigate conflicts effectively. Davis challenges traditional notions of authority, emphasizing the power of consistent effort, upstream focus, and engaged presence in driving sustainable progress. This episode is a must-listen for product professionals seeking to enhance their leadership skills and create lasting impact in their organizations, offering timeless wisdom adapted for the modern product management landscape. This podcast is brought to you by: INDUSTRY: The Product Conference: Join hundreds of Product Managers and Product Leaders this September 23-25, 2024 for INDUSTRY. Save $100 when you use the code Rocketship. Gigantic: Upskill your team with real-world, practical video-based training on topics like Product Strategy, Product Leadership, AI for Product Managers, and more. Rocketship.FM is brought to you by Evergreen Podcasts.

In this episode of Rocketship.FM, host Mike Belsito explores the rapid evolution of AI in product development through an engaging conversation with Francois, the Chief Product Officer of Amplitude. Francois shares insights into Amplitude's journey of integrating AI features into their analytics suite, including the challenges and unexpected learnings they encountered along the way. The discussion revolves around the new mantra "move fast and build AI," emphasizing the importance of speed and experimentation in the current AI-driven landscape. Throughout the episode, Francois offers valuable advice for product teams navigating the AI revolution. He stresses the importance of focusing on customer problems rather than being enamored by technology, and encourages a mindset of continuous learning and experimentation. The conversation also touches on the need for calculated risk-taking, the pitfalls of over-reliance on frameworks, and the potential for AI to become an essential ingredient in every product. Francois leaves listeners with a powerful message about embracing discomfort, maintaining a growth mindset, and always striving for impact in this rapidly changing technological era. This podcast is brought to you by: INDUSTRY: The Product Conference: Join hundreds of Product Managers and Product Leaders this September 23-25, 2024 for INDUSTRY. Save $100 when you use the code Rocketship. Gigantic: Upskill your team with real-world, practical video-based training on topics like Product Strategy, Product Leadership, AI for Product Managers, and more. Rocketship.FM is brought to you by Evergreen Podcasts.

In this episode of Rocketship.FM, host Mike Belsito dives into essential career advice for product managers, featuring insights from Jackie Bavaro, co-author of "Cracking the PM Interview" and "Cracking the PM Career." The episode explores strategies for advancing in your product management career, including the importance of finding a balance between being a diligent worker and an overly vocal self-promoter. Jackie emphasizes the need to create a personal career roadmap, partner effectively with your manager, and stay current with emerging technologies like AI. The conversation also covers practical tips for networking, addressing short-lived job experiences during interviews, and navigating career transitions into new industries. Jackie introduces the PEARL framework for discussing challenging work experiences and highlights common career mistakes to avoid. Throughout the episode, Mike and Jackie stress the importance of taking an active role in career development, building strong relationships with managers, and continuously seeking growth opportunities in the ever-evolving field of product management. This podcast is brought to you by: INDUSTRY: The Product Conference: Join hundreds of Product Managers and Product Leaders this September 23-25, 2024 for INDUSTRY. Save $100 when you use the code Rocketship. Gigantic: Upskill your team with real-world, practical video-based training on topics like Product Strategy, Product Leadership, AI for Product Managers, and more. Rocketship is brought to you by Evergreen Podcasts.

In this episode of Rocketship.FM, host Mike Belsito takes listeners behind the scenes of Shopify's latest product launch. Featuring an exclusive interview with Glen Coates, Shopify's VP of Product, the episode explores the company's innovative approach to introducing new features and products through their biannual "Editions" events. Coates shares insights into Shopify's product development process, the challenges of maintaining a startup mentality in a large organization, and the theme of their latest release: "Unified." The conversation also covers the growing impact of AI on e-commerce, with Coates discussing Shopify's integration of AI-powered tools like Shopify Magic and Sidekick. He offers valuable advice for product teams looking to incorporate AI into their own products and services, emphasizing the importance of starting small and focusing on simplifying tasks for users. The episode concludes with Coates' thoughts on the future of AI in commerce and key takeaways for product managers navigating this rapidly evolving landscape. This podcast is brought to you by: INDUSTRY: The Product Conference: Join hundreds of Product Managers and Product Leaders this September 23-25, 2024 for INDUSTRY. Save $100 when you use the code Rocketship. Gigantic: Upskill your team with real-world, practical video-based training on topics like Product Strategy, Product Leadership, AI for Product Managers, and more. Rocketship is brought to you by Evergreen Podcasts.

In this episode, Mike Belsito sits down with Bob Moesta, one of the early pioneers of the Jobs to Be Done framework, to dive deep into what Jobs to Be Done is all about. Bob shares his wealth of knowledge on how to truly understand your customers by looking at the world through their eyes and examining the progress they are trying to make in their lives when they "hire" a product. From key concepts like struggling moments, pushes, pulls, and anxiety to best practices for conducting in-depth customer interviews, Bob provides a masterclass on Jobs to Be Done. While sharing examples from his work with companies like Basecamp and Intercom, Bob emphasizes that Jobs to Be Done is a powerful tool in the product manager's toolbox for uncovering insights that lead to designing better product experiences. This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to build products that customers will love. This podcast is brought to you by: INDUSTRY: The Product Conference: Join hundreds of Product Managers and Product Leaders this September 23-25, 2024 for INDUSTRY. Save $100 when you use the code Rocketship. Gigantic: Upskill your team with real-world, practical video-based training on topics like Product Strategy, Product Leadership, AI for Product Managers, and more. Rocketship is brought to you by Evergreen Podcasts.

In this episode of Rocketship.fm, hosts Michael Sacca and Mike Belsito take listeners through an in-depth examination of the pivotal business concept known as product market fit. They begin by acknowledging that, despite frequently using the term, they haven't fully dissected its meaning in previous episodes. They outline the importance of product market fit, describing it as a critical transition point that can propel a startup from uncertainty to being a market leader or at least demonstrating market alignment. They emphasize how this fit can indicate a growing customer base and stronger ties between the product and its users, and discuss the continuous process of iterating a product based on customer feedback and evolving market demands. Throughout the episode, we'll dissect the idea of product market fit, explaining it as a kind of complex puzzle where each piece represents an aspect of the product's journey towards market acceptance. They identify the key components of achieving product market fit: a quality product that aligns with market demands, its relevance and affordability to the target audience's needs, and a good market actively seeking the product's solutions. The hosts highlight the importance of customer feedback, describing how it should be actively sought, received, and used - not to immediately fulfill every customer's request, but to genuinely listen, interpret needs, and then create a comprehensive solution. They underscore that achieving product market fit is not a one-time event but a continuous process that involves constant adaption and refinement. Finally, we'll share insights on common metrics used to measure product market fit, such as customer retention rates and net promoter scores, while pointing out the necessity of customizing these metrics to fit the unique context of a product and its market. They also touch upon challenges faced in the quest for product market fit, using stories and clips from notable figures like Peter Reinart from Segment and the late Clayton Christensen. These anecdotes highlight the real-world struggles and breakthroughs companies encounter as they shift from pushing their product to a market that's not responding, to being in demand by the market itself—underscoring the episode's key takeaway of what finding product market fit truly entails. This podcast is brought to you by: Go to http://porkbun.com/RocketshipFM24 to get $1 off your next desired domain name at Porkbun! Miro: Go to Miro.com/podcast and get your first three Miro boards free forever. Hubspot: Listen to The Science of Scaling wherever you get your podcasts. Gigantic: Learn more about Gigantic's Product Leadership course, Generative AI, Product Management course, Executive Leadership course & Web3 for Marketing course, AI Product Management Course, and Customer Research and Discovery Course at Gigantic.is Leadpages: The Easiest Way to Grow Your Sales. Check out their landing page templates today. Rocketship is brought to you by The Podglomerate. This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy.  Since you're listening to Rocketship, we'd like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows surrounding entrepreneurship, business, and careers like Creative Elements and Freelance to Founder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Belsito and Michael Sacca reflect on the common occurrence in the consumer tech industry where new competitor products emerge to overshadow original popular products, citing examples like the iPhone overtaking the Blackberry and Facebook surpassing MySpace. They discuss the rarity of a new competitor product being priced significantly higher than the original, such as the iPhone compared to the Blackberry's price point. This conversation leads them to introduce the main focus of the episode: the Apple Vision Pro, priced at a staggering $3,500, which is ten times more expensive than its closest competitor. They tease a discussion on the early reception of this product and whether it justifies its hefty price tag. In this episode, Belsito and Sacca delve into the intriguing narrative of the Apple Vision Pro, a revolutionary product that has already sparked intense debate and captured the attention of tech enthusiasts worldwide. Priced significantly higher than its closest competitor, they aim to explore the implications of its astronomical price tag, its impact on the consumer market, and the early reactions shaping public opinion. This insightful discussion promises to uncover the factors behind Apple's latest innovation and its potential to redefine the future of consumer technology. This podcast is brought to you by: Miro: Go to Miro.com/podcast and get your first three Miro boards free forever. Hubspot: Listen to The Science of Scaling wherever you get your podcasts. Gigantic: Learn more about Gigantic's Product Leadership course, Generative AI, Product Management course, Executive Leadership course & Web3 for Marketing course, AI Product Management Course, and Customer Research and Discovery Course at Gigantic.is Rocketship is brought to you by The Podglomerate. *** Previous Guests include Seth Goden, Christian Idioti, Ash Maurya, Dan Shapiro of Glowforge, Lolita Taub, Amy Hood of Hoodzpah, Amanda Goetz, Helen Tran, Ben Parr, Mac Conwell, Charli Marie Prangley of ConvertKit, Kandis O'Brian, Laura Roeder, Brenna Loury of Doist, Lopa van der Mersch of Rasa, Ken Norton, Randy Silver, Sanjiv Kalevar of OpenView Venture Partners, Dan Olsen, Jay Clouse, Melissa Perri, Dheerja Kaur of Robinhood, Rahul Vohra of Superhuman, Rich Mironov, Ben Foster, ChatGPT, Ron Weiner of Earth Class Mail. *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy.  Since you're listening to Rocketship, we'd like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows surrounding entrepreneurship, business, and careers like Creative Elements and Freelance to Founder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, hosts Michael Sacca and Mike Belsito dive into the intricacies of a product that has sparked both admiration and frustration among its users: Asana. As they unpack Asana's evolution, they explore its inception by co-founders Justin Rosenstein and Dustin Moskovitz, with Dustin's departure from Facebook marking the genesis of a vision for modernizing project management. From its beta days to the 2011 public launch, Asana's rapid growth and intuitive interface captured the hearts of users, boasting a retention rate of over 75% within a year. But it wasn't just about project management; Asana's flexibility saw users employing it for myriad purposes, reflecting the product's adaptability and appeal. Despite stiff competition, Asana's strategic decisions, including offering the product free for teams of up to 30 people, solidified its position in the market. Fast forward to the present day, where the spotlight shines on Asana's latest innovation: Automation. With insights from Anna Marie Clifton, the mastermind behind this transformative feature, listeners gain a behind-the-scenes look at the product development process. Anna's departure from Coinbase underscores her commitment to reshaping the future of work through Asana. Through strategic alignment and narrative development, Anna and her team set out to tackle the age-old problem of "work about work." Focusing on streamlining workflows and addressing pain points such as cumbersome handoffs, Asana's Automation feature promises to revolutionize how teams collaborate and communicate. Join Sacca and Belsito as they navigate the Asana Automation journey, uncovering the driving forces behind this game-changing innovation and its potential to redefine productivity in the modern workplace. Tune in for an insightful discussion that explores the intersection of product development, user experience, and the ever-evolving landscape of work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tune in to the latest episode of Rocketship.FM as hosts Mike Belsito and Michael Sacca dive into the exciting world of tech products and innovations. In this episode, they explore recent developments from the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and discuss the latest trends shaping the tech landscape. From deepfake robocalls impersonating political figures to groundbreaking AI-powered devices like the rabbit r1, listeners will gain insight into the ethical implications and practical applications of cutting-edge technology. Join Belsito and Sacca as they dissect notable products showcased at CES, including Apple's Vision Pro mixed reality headset, Samsung's Galaxy S-series, and the innovative transparent TV. They also explore the potential impact of smart health devices like Beamo and the Evie Smart Ring, as well as unconventional gadgets like the Samsung Music Frame and a smart smoker. Through engaging conversation and insightful analysis, listeners will discover how these products are reshaping consumer behavior and revolutionizing daily life. Don't miss out on this episode of Rocketship.FM, where Belsito and Sacca share their perspectives on the latest tech trends and discuss the exciting possibilities that lie ahead in the ever-evolving world of technology. Whether you're a tech enthusiast, product manager, or simply curious about the future of innovation, this episode offers valuable insights and captivating discussions that are sure to inform and inspire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the first episode of 2024, hosts Mike Belsito and Michael Sacca kick off the new year with a fresh format. Introducing a segment on Product News and featuring insightful interviews, they dive into the evolving realm of Product Operations. With a special focus on the recently published book "Product Operations: How Successful Companies Build Product at Scale" by Melissa Perri and Denise Tillis, the hosts explore the origins, necessity, and future trends of Product Operations. Unpacking recent industry news, they discuss the strategic shifts at InVision and Pitch. Join the conversation as they uncover the crucial role of Product Operations in supporting product managers, enabling scalability, and driving impactful results for businesses. This podcast is brought to you by: Miro: Go to Miro.com/podcast and get your first three Miro boards free forever. Hubspot: Listen to The Science of Scaling wherever you get your podcasts. Gigantic: Learn more about Gigantic's Product Leadership course, Generative AI, Product Management course, Executive Leadership course & Web3 for Marketing course, AI Product Management Course, and Customer Research and Discovery Course at Gigantic.is Rocketship is brought to you by The Podglomerate. *** Previous Guests include Seth Goden, Christian Idioti, Ash Maurya, Dan Shapiro of Glowforge, Lolita Taub, Amy Hood of Hoodzpah, Amanda Goetz, Helen Tran, Ben Parr, Mac Conwell, Charli Marie Prangley of ConvertKit, Kandis O'Brian, Laura Roeder, Brenna Loury of Doist, Lopa van der Mersch of Rasa, Ken Norton, Randy Silver, Sanjiv Kalevar of OpenView Venture Partners, Dan Olsen, Jay Clouse, Melissa Perri, Dheerja Kaur of Robinhood, Rahul Vohra of Superhuman, Rich Mironov, Ben Foster, ChatGPT, Ron Weiner of Earth Class Mail. *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy.  Since you're listening to Rocketship, we'd like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows surrounding entrepreneurship, business, and careers like Creative Elements and Freelance to Founder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we sit down with Jerry Colonna. Jerry is an American venture capitalist and professional coach who played a prominent part in the early development of Silicon Valley. He is known as the CEO whisperer and is famous for being Alex Blumbergs executive coach at Gimlet captured for the Startup podcast. Jerry get's personal with Mike Belsito about his own failures and helps to put our work accomplishments and our personal worth into perspective. This podcast is brought to you by: Shopify: Start selling on Shopify today. Go to Shopify.com/Rocketship now. Ampla: Go to getampla.com to fill out your five minute application today. Rocketship is brought to you by The Podglomerate. *** Previous Guests include Seth Goden, Christian Idioti, Ash Maurya, Dan Shapiro of Glowforge, Lolita Taub, Amy Hood of Hoodzpah, Amanda Goetz, Helen Tran, Ben Parr, Mac Conwell, Charli Marie Prangley of ConvertKit, Kandis O'Brian, Laura Roeder, Brenna Loury of Doist, Lopa van der Mersch of Rasa, Ken Norton, Randy Silver, Sanjiv Kalevar of OpenView Venture Partners, Dan Olsen, Jay Clouse, Melissa Perri, Dheerja Kaur of Robinhood, Rahul Vohra of Superhuman, Rich Mironov, Ben Foster, ChatGPT, Ron Weiner of Earth Class Mail. *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy.  Since you're listening to Rocketship, we'd like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows surrounding entrepreneurship, business, and careers like Creative Elements and Freelance to Founder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

And just like that, we have hit episode 100! It's been a surreal experience hosting this show about innovation with guests from Sopheon and other companies and industries in the innovation space. It's been a joy to be part of your day whenever you tune in on our latest episode. If you're new to the show or innovation, and this is your first episode, I curated a short list of shows as a starter pack for you. In this episode, I share some of my favorite episodes for special reasons. I describe my experience during a recent innovation event in Copenhagen and what I realized about the people in the innovation space. I explain why these shows aren't exactly the best of the best but simply personal favorites. I highlight a few that I think are worth listening to. I also discuss our unique guests and the people I look forward to having in the future. "This is not necessarily the A-list or the 'best of,' but more of a starter set." - Paul Heller This week on Innovation Talks: ●     What I did in Copenhagen recently and my thoughts on the 100th episode●     The starter list of episodes to listen to●     Why choosing from the many guests we've had is challenging●     The reasons why some of these episodes are dear to me Resources Mentioned: ●     Episode 3: The Impact of Software Eating the World on Product Innovation with Greg Coticchia●     Episode 21: Unique challenges of innovation in the Aerospace and Defense industry●     Episode 28: A deeper dive into Portfolio Management with Noel Sobelman●     Episode 30: Innovation in the Chemical Industry with HC Eppich●     Episode 31: Taking a systematic approach to the product management process●     Episode 33: Necessity for Innovation Accounting ●     Episode 34: Corporate Startups and the Importance of Entrepreneurial Thinking●     Episode 36: Circular Economy in the Chemical Industry●     Episode 37: Sustainable Innovation Through Green Chemistry●     Episode 39: RE:Think Innovation with Carla Johnson●     Episode 40: Evidence-Based Innovation Portfolio Management●     Episode 43: Rapid Learning Cycles●     Episode 46: Realm of Sustainability●     Episode 47: Ambidexterity in Business Innovation ●     Episode 53: Dual Innovation with Ralph-Christian Ohr ●     Episode 57: The AIM Institute with Dan Adams part one●     Episode 58: The AIM Institute with Dan Adams part two●     Episode 59: Knowledge in Innovation with Steve Rogers●     Episode 62: Building a culture of innovation with Cris Beswick part one●     Episode 63: Building a culture of innovation with Cris Beswick part two●     Episode 69: Innovation for a Volatile World with Bill Beane●     Episode 71: The roadmapping process●     Episode 76: Getting started with JTBD and more with Mike Belsito●     Episode 78: Project governance do's and don'ts with Noel Sobelman●     Episode 80: Roadmapping dos and don'ts with Mike Belsito ●     Episode 82: B2B innovation in energy and climate with Daniel Elizalde●     Episode 96: The Journey to World-class Innovation with Noel Sobelman This Podcast is brought to you by Sopheon Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Innovation Talks. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify | iHeart Be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes on social media to help us reach more listeners like you. For additional information about new product development or corporate innovation, sign up for Sopheon's newsletter, where we share news and industry best practices monthly! The fastest way to do this is to go to sopheon.com and click here. 

I went to the recently concluded INDUSTRY: The Product Conference. There were a lot of attendees from the products and innovations industry. They talked about product strategy, product development, data and analytics, and customer development. However, the most memorable aspect of the event is how some of them talked about the importance of retaining a company's humanity and customer-centric approach as they scale. In today's episode, I discuss what I learned from attending Industry: The Product Conference. I highlight the speakers I liked and the topics they focused on. I explain why being first in the market is not essential to finding success. I describe the importance of establishing your company's vision from the customer's perspective. I also detail an experience my son had with a recent business transaction that was entirely digital. "Your vision needs to be rich—it needs narrative and depth, not one-liners in a paragraph." - Paul Heller This week on Innovation Talks: ●     The speakers at the conference and guests I'd like to have●     Why 95% of products fail●     Why it's not critical to be first to market in innovation●     Interesting and relatively unknown facts about Instagram●     Expressing your business's vision from the customer's point of view●     The problems the digital world helps solve regarding customer interaction Resources Mentioned: ●     Roadmapping Dos and Don'ts with Mike Belsito●     Derek Redmond's Emotional Olympic Story - Injury Mid-Race | Barcelona 1992 Olympics This Podcast is brought to you by Sopheon Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Innovation Talks. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify | iHeart Be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes on social media to help us reach more listeners, like you. For additional information on new product development or corporate innovation, sign up for Sopheon's newsletter where we share news and industry best practices monthly! The fastest way to do this is to go to sopheon.com and click here.

Mike Belsito is the Co-founder of Product Collective, an independent online community for product management professionals. The community serves over 40,000 product management professionals in helping each other create the best products for their consumers. Mike has over ten years of experience in various startup companies, having held positions as an employee and executive. Mike [...] The post Roadmapping Dos and Don'ts with Mike Belsito appeared first on Sopheon.

Mike Belsito is the Co-founder of Product Collective, an independent online community for product management professionals. The community serves over 40,000 product management professionals in helping each other create the best products for their consumers. Mike has over ten years of experience in various startup companies, having held positions as an employee and [...] The post Roadmapping Dos and Don'ts with Mike Belsito appeared first on Sopheon.

Mike Belsito is the co-founder of Product Collective, an online hub that serves over 30,000 technology product management professionals. The community provides tools and resources—and hosts virtual and in-person meet-ups—for those in the innovation industry. Mike is also the co-host of Rocketship.FM, a podcast for product managers, entrepreneurs, and anyone in tech. They [...] The post Getting started with JTBD (jobs-to-be-done) and more with Mike Belsito appeared first on Sopheon.

Mike Belsito is the co-founder of Product Collective, an online hub that serves over 30,000 technology product management professionals. The community provides tools and resources—and hosts virtual and in-person meet-ups—for those in the innovation industry. Mike is also the co-host of Rocketship.FM, a podcast for product managers, entrepreneurs, and anyone in tech. They [...] The post Getting started with JTBD (jobs-to-be-done) and more with Mike Belsito appeared first on Sopheon.

Welcome to an episode with Rocketship.FM hosts, Michael Sacca and Mike Belsito. Michael Sacca is the General Manager at Dribbble.com and co-founder of Rocketship.FM. He was the President at Crew, the freelance design and development marketplace, and former parent company of Unsplash, the popular stock photo website. At Crew he secured key partnerships with Squarespace and the BDC before leading the company through it's acquisition by Dribbble in 2017. His writing has been featured in the Harvard Business Review and his popular product management podcast has been written about in Inc, Forbes, The Huffington Post and Entrepreneur respectively.  Mike Belsito is the author of Startup Seed Funding for the Rest of Us and co-founder of Product Collective which organizes INDUSTRY: The Product Conference, one of the largest and top-rated product management conference series anywhere in the world. Mike has been named one of the Top 40 influencers in the field of Product Management on several occasions. Mike also serves as a Faculty member of Case Western Reserve University in the department of Design and Innovation, and is Co-Host of Rocketship.FM. Rocketship.FM is a podcast for entrepreneurs and is part of the Podglomerate network, a podcast company that produces and distributes exciting new shows. In this episode, Michael and Mike spoke about their career journey and how Rocketship.FM and Product Collective started. We will learn more about user personas and jobs to be done framework that most product people apply to better understand their users. Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

Our conversation this week is with Mike Belsito who is the Co-Founder of Product Collective — an organization he started here in Cleveland back in 2015 which now boasts a thriving community for over 30,000+ product management professionals —  and Co-Organizer of INDUSTRY: The Product Conference & New York Product Conference, two of the top rated conferences for product people anywhere.For his leadership at Product Collective, Mike has been named one of the Top 40 influencers in the field of Product Management on several occasions. Mike also serves as a Faculty member of Case Western Reserve University in the department of Design and Innovation, and is Co-Host of one of the top startup podcasts online, Rocketship.FM.Prior to Product Collective, Mike spent over a decade in startup companies as an early employee, Co-Founder, and Executive. Mike's businesses and products have been featured in national media outlets such as the New York Times, The Atlantic, CNN, NPR, and elsewhere. Mike is also the Author of Startup Seed Funding for the Rest of us, one of the top startup books on Amazon.This is a fascinating deep dive into the world of product management and the business of community and conferences.————Connect with Mike on LinkedInLearn more about Product CollectiveFollow Product Collective on TwitterFollow Mike on TwitterFollow rocketship.fm on Twitter————Learn more about Jeffrey Stern @ https://jeffreys.pageConnect with Jeffrey Stern on Linkedin or on TwitterFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter and on LinkedIn

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 189, an episode with Rocketship.FM hosts, Michael Sacca and Mike Belsito. Michael Sacca is the General Manager at Dribbble.com and co-founder of Rocketship.FM. He was the President at Crew, the freelance design and development marketplace, and former parent company of Unsplash, the popular stock photo website. At Crew he secured key partnerships with Squarespace and the BDC before leading the company through it's acquisition by Dribbble in 2017. His writing has been featured in the Harvard Business Review and his popular product management podcast has been written about in Inc, Forbes, The Huffington Post and Entrepreneur respectively.  Mike Belsito is the author of Startup Seed Funding for the Rest of Us and co-founder of Product Collective which organizes INDUSTRY: The Product Conference, one of the largest and top-rated product management conference series anywhere in the world. Mike has been named one of the Top 40 influencers in the field of Product Management on several occasions. Mike also serves as a Faculty member of Case Western Reserve University in the department of Design and Innovation, and is Co-Host of Rocketship.FM. Rocketship.FM is a podcast for entrepreneurs and is part of the Podglomerate network, a podcast company that produces and distributes exciting new shows. In this episode, Michael and Mike spoke about their career journey and how Rocketship.FM and Product Collective started. We will learn more about user personas and jobs to be done framework that most product people apply to better understand their users. Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

Global Product Management Talk is pleased to bring you the next episode of... The Everyday Innovator with host Chad McAllister, PhD. The podcast is all about helping people involved in innovation and managing products become more successful, grow their careers, and STANDOUT from their peers. About the Episode:  In this episode, instead of me interviewing a guest, I’m being interviewed. Mike Belsito, co-organizer of the INDUSTRY conference for software product managers, interviewed me a few weeks ago for an INDUSTRY webinar. We both found the discussion very valuable and I’m sharing it with you on this podcast as well.   The topic is: Are your misconceptions about product management holding your career back?   Product management has a longer history than many people realize, dating formally back to the 1930s. The first professional association for product managers that is still in existence, PDMA, began in 1976. While the discipline is not new, several misconceptions exist about what product management is and what product managers do. In this discussion, I’ll help you find the best place for you to contribute to creating products and services customers love so your career will take off.   Check out the Virtual INDUSTRY conference coming up on April 20 and 21 by going to industryconference.com. I’m not receiving any commission from INDUSTRY, just recommending it because it is good.

How product managers can avoid false beliefs and revive their careers In this episode, instead of me interviewing a guest, I'm being interviewed. Mike Belsito, co-organizer of the INDUSTRY conference for software product managers, interviewed me a few weeks ago for an INDUSTRY webinar. We both found the discussion very valuable and I'm sharing it […]

How product managers can avoid false beliefs and revive their careers In this episode, instead of me interviewing a guest, I’m being interviewed. Mike Belsito, co-organizer of the INDUSTRY conference for software product managers, interviewed me a few weeks ago for an INDUSTRY webinar. We both found the discussion very valuable and I’m sharing it […]

Global Product Management Talk is pleased to bring you the next episode of... The Everyday Innovator with host Chad McAllister, PhD. The podcast is all about helping people involved in innovation and managing products become more successful, grow their careers, and STANDOUT from their peers. About the Episode:  I am changing the name of the podcast to Product Mastery Now. The new name is coming soon. You don’t need to do anything to keep listening, but it will show in your podcast player not as The Everyday Innovator but as Product Mastery Now. The logo will look the same—just the name is changing.  This episode has two of my favorite things. First, our guest is discussing how he got started with Jobs-to-be-Done and how you can use this valuable tool yourself. Second, he is also the co-founder of Product Collective and the co-organizer of INDUSTRY, the conference for software product managers. INDUSTRY has a virtual conference coming up on April 20 and 21 and it is worth checking out by going to IndustryConference.com.  Our guest is Mike Belsito. Before his current work, he had a number of product roles and experiences, giving him insights that can help us.

A framework for product managers to dig deep into their customers' needs I am changing the name of the podcast to Product Mastery Now. The new name is coming soon. You don't need to do anything to keep listening, but it will show in your podcast player not as The Everyday Innovator but as Product Mastery […]

A framework for product managers to dig deep into their customers’ needs I am changing the name of the podcast to Product Mastery Now. The new name is coming soon. You don’t need to do anything to keep listening, but it will show in your podcast player not as The Everyday Innovator but as Product Mastery […]

How do you build a product community from scratch? Mike Belsito shares how he and his partner launched the Product Collective and INDUSTRY conference in 2015 as well as some tips for how they’ve pivoted to make the virtual version of their event such a success. If you enjoy helping people and continuous learning, this episode is a can’t-miss! 

One of the key things to do in any product lifecycle is to review if it’s meeting your user’s needs. The last time we sat down to do this for the podcast, we decided to use the Jobs To Be Done approach, which led to a key question: how might we power up our JTBD [...] Read more » The post Getting Started with JTBD – Mike Belsito on The Product Experience appeared first on Mind the Product.

Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) has become one of the most discussed frameworks among product people. Yet while it's simple in nature, JTBD is often misunderstood, making it difficult for some to begin applying it. In this episode, we'll discuss what JTBD is and how to get started.

In the first episode of the Augusto Digital Insights podcast, Brian Anderson interviews Mike Belsito, founder of the INDUSTRY conference in Cleveland, Ohio and co-host of Rocketship.fm. Mike considers himself a product person that just so happens to manage a totally different type of product: a community and a conference. He explains that his journey into product management started before he even knew it. When his start-up failed, several companies approached him—one for a director of product strategy role. Mike remembers Googling “what does a director of product strategy do?”. He hadn’t gone to school for it, so he felt he wasn’t qualified. But the company laughed and said, "Oh no, Mike, nobody went to school for product management. You'll be fine." As he began reading books, listening to podcasts and talking to other product people, he realized there was a potential niche for a community centered on product management. That idea sparked the launch of INDUSTRY and the Product Collective. 2021 will be the seventh edition. Mike goes on to explain that a product person doesn’t sell solutions but rather pulls out the problems customers are experiencing and guiding them to new solutions. He defines the product mindset as a hypothesis that needs to be validated by getting as close to customers as possible. He shares that the best relationships between product managers and engineers are when there’s an immense level of trust. The product manager has to demonstrate that they deserve trust by being able to speak the engineers’ language, ask enough questions, and understand what tech stack they’re operating. On the flip side, engineers need to have a natural level of curiosity about what needs to be built and the business implications of it all. We thank Mike Belsito for his time on the Augusto Digital Insights podcast and wish him the best with Rocketship.fm and the INDUSTRY conference! Augusto Digital focuses on custom software design and development, cloud computing, and support solutions to enable our clients to realize their digital vision in Healthcare, financial services, logistics, and manufacturing.

Sign up today for the INDUSTRY conference and get 20% off using promo code: path2product20 The Industry Conference - Sign Up Here On today's episode, I got to sit down with Mike Belsito, Co-Founder of Product Collective and Co-Organizer of INDUSTRY: The Product Conference, and co-host of the Rocketship.fm podcast! Here's what we discussed: Mike has been involved with early-stage startups since 2005 Right now, Mike is the Co-Founder of Product Collective and the INDUSTRY conference Mike is the co-host of Rocketship.fm podcast. Check it out! And he also teaches as an Adjunct Professor What Jobs Theory is and Jobs-to-be-Done Why customers don't buy our products, they're hiring our products to solve a problem The influence of one of the inventors of Jobs-to-be-Done, Bob Moesta Baby steps you can take in your jobs-to-be-done journey The pushes and pulls of the "struggling moment" How anxiety and inertia plays a big role in hiring your product for their job Why Empathy drives the Jobs-to-be-done framework Check our the resource Mike mentioned below: The Wired Group for JTBD Training and Resources Shape Up Book by Basecamp (free digitally or paperback option) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/productmanagementlessons/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/productmanagementlessons/support

We've been talking a lot about well known product failures, but at this point in the series, we're going to take a little pause. Today, we remember that there are very real people behind these failures. These people have feelings and the failures they’ve experienced, they’ve probably affected them in different ways. Today we sit down with Jerry Colonna. Jerry is an American venture capitalist and professional coach who played a prominent part in the early development of Silicon Valley. He is known as the CEO whisperer and is famous for being Alex Blumbergs executive coach at Gimlet captured for the Startup podcast. Jerry get's personal with Mike Belsito about his own failures and helps to put our work accomplishments and our personal worth into perspective. BIG NEWS We've officially launched the Rocketship Premium Podcast feed! Join today for $5/month or $40 annually, and get access to exclusive bonus shows of Rocketship, previews of new seasons, and an ad free version of every episode of the podcast. Check it out today by clicking here. This episode is brought to you by: Product Institute is an online course for new and tenured product managers. Head to productinstitute.com and enter the code ROCKET at checkout, you'll receive $200 off your subscription. Logi Analytics is the leading platform for embedded analytics. Take your dashboard and reports to the next level. Rocketship listeners get free access to the Logi Analytics library of product demos by going to logianalytics.com/rocketship. Augusto Digital. Augusto Digital is a product engineering team that creates web, mobile, and cloud based digital products. Rocketship listeners get $1,000 off by going to augusto.digital/rocketship. Rocketship is brought to you by The Podglomerate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone fails at some point in their career. Small failures, big failures. We're going to cover them all on this season of Rocketship. Today Michael Sacca and Mike Belsito are going to discuss some of their own product failures - from eFunneral, to Crew to Brandisty they've learned a lot from these mistakes. BIG NEWS We've officially launched the Rocketship Premium Podcast feed! Join today for $5/month or $40 annually, and get access to exclusive bonus shows of Rocketship, previews of new seasons, and an ad free version of every episode of the podcast. Check it out today by clicking here. This episode is brought to you by: Gusto, making payroll, benefits, and HR easy for modern small businesses. Rocketship listeners get three months free at gusto.com/rocketship. DigitalOcean, the cloud platform that makes it easy for startups to launch high-performance modern apps and websites. Learn more about DigitalOcean and apply for Hatch at do.co/rocketship. App & Flow. If you're a startup founder, App & Flow will help you build an app that's ready for takeoff. Rocketship listeners get 25% off of their first month by going to rocketshipfm.appandflow.com. Augusto Digital. Augusto Digital is a product engineering team that creates web, mobile, and cloud based digital products. Rocketship listeners get $1,000 off by going to augusto.digital/rocketship. Rocketship is brought to you by The Podglomerate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do you consider a product? Us product managers, past or present, are probably quick to point to our trusty smartphones, our favorite apps, and even our own software but Mike Belsito thinks otherwise. He considers everything a product. Like many product managers we've interviewed in the past, Mike accidentally stumbled onto this role. He jokes that becoming a product manager was probably the next step after being a failed startup founder, but ironically, he's the co-founder of the Product Collect

Mike Belsito, Co-Founder of Product Collective, joins Rebecca Kalogeris, Pragmatic Institute’s VP of Marketing and Sales, to discuss the roots of the world-famous INDUSTRY conference and how he propelled it to become one of the largest product management summits in the world.

Ash Maurya on Rocketship.FM, Richard Cheng on the Drunken PM, Jeff Gothelf on Boss Level, the mutual learning model on Troubleshooting Agile, and Amy Edmondson on Lead From The Heart. I’d love for you to email me with any comments about the show or any suggestions for podcasts I might want to feature. Email podcast@thekguy.com. This episode covers the five podcast episodes I found most interesting and wanted to share links to during the two week period starting May 27, 2019. These podcast episodes may have been released much earlier, but this was the fortnight when I started sharing links to them to my social network followers. ASH MAURYA ON ROCKETSHIP.FM The Rocketship.FM podcast featured Ash Maurya with hosts Michael Sacca and Mike Belsito. They started by talking about the lean canvas. Ash described the lean canvas as a one-page business planning tool that acts as an alternative to spending time writing a large document and exists because, when we start a new business, we know very little about it. The lean canvas was derived from Alex Osterwalder’s business model canvas and optimized for early-stage entrepreneurs. Ash says the lean canvas addresses the innovator’s bias of spending too much time thinking and talking about the solution. It asks questions like: Who are your customers? Who might be the early adopters? Why would they use your solution? How will you get your solution in front of those customers? How will you defend against competition? Where does the money come from? What is the revenue stream? Ash then described writing a follow-up book to Running Lean called Scaling Lean because readers of the first book wanted a better way to satisfy stakeholders looking for financial forecasts. He sees Running Lean as a book for the entrepreneur-to-customer conversation and Scaling Lean as a book for the conversation between the entrepreneur and other stakeholders. The usual way of sizing a market is by estimating revenue from what percentage of a market one thinks one can take, which Ash calls working top-down. Instead, Scaling Lean works bottom-up by modeling the inputs to customer value (such as a pricing model and a lifetime value model) and using this customer value model to produce a revenue estimate. Scaling Lean encourages a staged launch for your business. He compares this with Tesla’s rollout of the Model 3 by testing the riskiest assumptions of the business model by producing the Roadster, Model S, and Model X first. They talked about Fermi estimation and how you can use it to invalidate a model in as little as five minutes. Regarding inputs to such estimates, he says pricing is the most critical, followed by potential lifetime of a customer. He then says you test your estimate against the minimum success criteria, that is, the minimum number (revenue, impact, etc.) for the years invested in the startup to not have been a waste of time. You use this to build your traction model and, with each milestone, you think in terms of achieving ten times what you achieved in the previous milestone. Returning to the Tesla example, the Model S was intended be sold at ten times the quantity of the Roadster and the Model 3 is intended to sell at ten times the quantity of the Model S. Regarding the order in which to address risk, he says to think of the game Jenga (where you try to find where the stack is strongest and move pieces from there) and do the opposite. You want to build the riskiest parts first. He also shared a metaphor for preferring a focus on the customer’s problem over a solution-focus. He describes a solution-focus as building a key and then looking for a door it will open. Problem-focus, by contrast, is like finding a door that needs to be opened and trying to build a key for it. Apple Podcasts link: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/interview-ash-maurya-of-lean-canvas-on-scaling-lean/id808014240?i=1000437174185 Website link: https://omny.fm/shows/rocketship-fm/interview-ash-maurya-of-lean-canvas-on-scaling-l-1 RICHARD CHENG ON THE DRUNKEN PM The Drunken PM podcast featured Richard Cheng with host Dave Prior. They talked about product ownership anti-patterns such as a product owner treating the dev team like they’re her vendor or like they report to her. This puts you in a situation where the team is incentivized to keep the PO happy rather than tell her the unvarnished truth all the time. In these situations, the dev teams don’t tell the PO about problems right away and the later the PO finds out, the fewer options she has for addressing them. Instead, Richard says we need a safe environment where the dev team and PO can be open and candid with each other. They talked about whether or not building prototypes is agile and Dave admitted that he is not a big subscriber to Henrik Kniberg’s “skateboard - bicycle - motorcycle - car” model of incremental development and, if he knows he’s going to have a car in the end, he would prefer you build a steering wheel so he can give feedback on it. Richard pointed out that the danger of this line of thinking is that you get a tendency to build vertical layers instead of horizontal slices. Richard doesn’t want a technical person as his product owner since he believes that technical people favor these vertical layers. I take issue with the idea that a “technical person” is automatically assumed to have no “product thinking” skills. I think a better way to put it is to say he doesn’t want someone who lacks the training in lean startup and product management skills in the PO role, regardless of their technical skills. Other than that, I’m in total agreement with Richard here, especially regarding how the same line of thinking that leads to software being delivered in vertical layers also leads to vertically-layered organizational design. Apple Podcasts link: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-perfect-product-owner-w-richard-cheng-cst/id1121124593?i=1000436943035 Website link: https://soundcloud.com/drunkenpmradio/richard-cheng-the-perfect-product-owner-april-2019 JEFF GOTHELF ON THE BOSS LEVEL PODCAST The Boss Level podcast featured Jeff Gothelf with host Sami Honkonen. They started with a discussion of humility and the idea of having strong opinions, weakly held. Jeff says we need to admit that the ideas we put forward, even our strategic vision, are just our best guesses. When a leader puts out such a vision, she needs to open up room for her team to discuss and push back on those ideas. Sami added that this change in thinking coincides with a change in terminology to be a better fit for a world of uncertainty where words like roadmap get replaced with words like assumption, belief, bet, and experiment. They then addressed the topic of collaboration. For Jeff, organizing for collaboration means organizing in cross-functional teams and he says that even digital native organizations often get this wrong. He also says that these teams need to be empowered to make their own sprint-level decisions as they are closest to the information and, if they get it wrong, they can correct it in the next sprint. Jeff thinks the motto of every organization today should be to say that they are, in Astro Teller’s words, “enthusiastic skeptics,” excited to figure out the next improvement to their product or service. Sami asked about how organizations can change so that they begin to value continuous learning. Jeff says that we’re fighting a hundred years of manufacturing mindset that says, “The more stuff we make, the more value we deliver to our customers.” In this mindset, people see customer site visits and having engineers talk to customers as somehow less productive. He says that companies resist changing this mindset for two reasons: 1) it feels like it takes authority away from leaders; and 2) incentive structures: we don’t pay people for discovery work or collaboration or agility; we pay them for heroism and for delivery. Jeff says that this is the reason organizations fail to become agile or digitally transform: they buy all the books and training, change language and team structures, build tribes, chapters, guilds, and squads, but they don’t change the performance management system. They still measure people on the old way of working. Apple Podcasts link: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/jeff-gothelf-on-sense-and-respond/id1041885043?i=1000437033229 Website link: https://www.bosslevelpodcast.com/jeff-gothelf-on-sense-and-respond/ THE MUTUAL LEARNING MODEL ON TROUBLESHOOTING AGILE The Troubleshooting Agile podcast, with hosts Jeffrey Fredrick and Douglas Squirrel, featured a three-part series on the mutual learning model. The first two episodes covered the first three values of the mutual learning model: informed choice, transparency, and curiosity. The third episode covered accountability and compassion. It started with a definition of accountability from the article “Eight Behaviours for Smarter Teams” and Squirrel told a story about the origin of the word “accountability” from the time of Henry II. Jeffrey described how his relationship of accountability was transformed when he watched a talk by Kent Beck called, “Ease At Work.” Kent talked about accountability as a personal obligation to render an account of his own thoughts and feelings and how this changed Kent’s experience at work. Jeffrey sees this kind of accountability as being important for having a learning culture at work and supporting the previous two values of transparency and curiosity. Jeffrey talked about the connection between accountability and compassion, saying that when people are accountable to one another, it is a lot easier to be compassionate because you start to understand more of what went into their actions and the positions they’re arguing for. Jeffrey then pointed out a place where he finds a lack of compassion for the people in power. They also included a discussion of having compassion for yourself. Apple Podcasts link: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/mutual-learning-model-accountability-and-compassion/id1327456890?i=1000437494515 Website link: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/mutual-learning-model-accountability-and-compassion AMY EDMONDSON ON LEAD FROM THE HEART The Lead From The Heart podcast featured Amy Edmondson with host Mark Crowley. Amy defined a “psychologically safe workplace” as one in which people believe they can bring their full self to work, speak up, and have their ideas, questions, and concerns welcomed. She says workplaces with high psychological safety are uncommon and organizations often have pockets of both low and high psychological safety. They talked about Google’s use of Amy’s psychological safety research to figure out what makes for high team performance. Mark made a distinction between psychological safety and physical safety and Amy responded that the two kinds of safety actually have a strong relationship. She cited the airline industry discovering through the investigation of black boxes that the majority of crashes involved somebody recognizing a concern and not being heard. She then clarified a common misconception about psychological safety. She said that when she refers to a workplace as being psychologically safe, she doesn’t mean that those in such a workplace are free from criticism or pushback or always feel good about themselves. She actually means the opposite. Psychologically safe workplaces have a high degree of candor. She contrasted this with college campuses that hold “safe spaces” where you cannot say anything that may remotely hurt someone’s feelings. Mark asked why we hold back on candor. Amy says it is a combination of how we’re socialized and how our brains work. We are highly tuned in to other’s impressions of us, particularly in hierarchical contexts. She says that many managers don’t create the conditions for psychological safety because they tend to mimic the behavior of the managers they’ve had in the past and haven’t stopped to connect their own experience of when they’ve done their best work to their management or leadership style so that their employees can do their best work. She says this tendency is a reflex and the problem is that, every now and then, this reflex is given a faulty signal that it works. For example, managing through fear can work in the short term when the task is simple and prescribed, clearly measured, and done individually. But very little of our work today has those attributes: it is complex, collaborative, and requires ingenuity to do it well. Under those conditions, fear doesn’t work. They talked about what you would look for in a candidate for a management position to ensure you get someone who can create a psychologically safe environment. She says that you want to look for people with high emotional intelligence. They should care about other’s opinions and needs but have enough self-awareness to know that their own life doesn’t depend on approval from others. You’re looking instead for passion, curiosity, and drive. Mark brought up a Deloitte study that said that 70% of people choose not to speak up about a problem at work even when they believe that not addressing it will harm the company. Amy says this is not because people rationally weigh the odds but is an unconscious act of spontaneous sense-making and temporal discounting in which we overweight an immediate event and underweight future events. Managers can address this, she says, by being willing to name the challenges faced and by asking questions. Mark asked about what we can learn from the case studies she has written about: the Wells Fargo fraudulent accounts scandal and Volkswagen emissions scandal. Amy asks us to imagine that the goals that the Wells Fargo and Volkswagen executives set for their organizations were not understood to be ridiculous at the outset and may have been intended as stretch goals. She says that when you are eager to set stretch goals, you need to have open ears. Being able to sell eight financial services products per customer is a hypothesis. Being able to create a green diesel that passes emissions tests in the US is a hypothesis. There is nothing wrong with setting these as stretch goals as long as you also encourage the people selling and developing these products to report all of the data that is coming back from the field and you adjust the goals based on this data. Apple Podcasts link: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/amy-edmondson-why-psychological-safety-breeds-exceptionally/id1365633369?i=1000431400656 Website link: https://www.blubrry.com/leadfromtheheartpodcast/42334779/amy-edmondson-why-psychological-safety-breeds-exceptionally-high-performing-teams/ FEEDBACK Ask questions, make comments, and let your voice be heard by emailing podcast@thekguy.com. Twitter: https://twitter.com/thekguy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithmmcdonald/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thekguypage Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_k_guy/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheKGuy Website:

Mike Belsito is the Co-Founder of Product Collective which organizes INDUSTRY, one of the largest product management summits anywhere in the world. He has a wealth of knowledge in the startup community as well, having authored the book 'Startup Seed Funding for the Rest of Us: How to Raise $1 Million for Your Startup - Even Outside of Silicon Valley' Show links: https://productcollective.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can find Michael Hudak's book on amazon - Fortify Your Data: A Guide to the Emerging Technologies Check us out at fortifyyourdata.com! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Opening song clipped from Red Skies by Windows 96 - https://windows96.bandcamp.com/

Teresa Torres helps digital product teams adopt continuous product discovery practices including a regular cadence of customer interviews, rapid prototyping, and assumption testing. She emphasizes strong critical thinking a strong connection between what the teams are learning in their research activities with the product decisions that they are making. Mike Belsito interviews her today to discuss how teams can begin practicing continuous discovery, how to get buy-in from management and why the best product teams are talking to their customers every week (if not every day).  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do you consider a product? Us product managers, past or present, are probably quick to point to our trusty smartphones, our favorite apps, and even our own software but Mike Belsito thinks otherwise. He considers everything a product. Like many product managers we’ve interviewed in the past, Mike accidentally stumbled onto this role. He jokes that becoming a product manager was probably the next step after being a failed startup founder, but ironically, he’s the co-founder of the Product Collective: an organization that puts together one of the largest product management summits in the world: INDUSTRY. This week on Product Love, I sat down and talked to Mike Belsito about the conference he’s organizing, and why he believes that everything is a product.

Mike Belsito is a product guy who's passionate about building the Product Collective community, and is co-founder of INDUSTRY the product conference where product managers from around the world can learn to build, launch and scale world-class software products.  Now a top influencer, listen to Ep38 as Mike describes how his early career in sports management and entrepreneurship unknowingly prepared him with the multi-faceted skills required for product and now conference management. http://productcollective.com/ http://industryconference.com/ https://www.amazon.com/Startup-Seed-Funding-Rest-Us-ebook/dp/B00UC7OU2A http://rocketship.fm/ https://findaway.com/ http://www.techpint.org/ www.blocklandcleveland.com 04:04s Mike’s definition of product management 6:14s Product management vs. project management 8:55s Going to school for sports management 11:15s Pursuing an MBA and initiating a corporate sponsorship program 14:06s Diving into entrepreneurship and becoming a “Findawayer” 16:15s Leaving Findaway to start eFuneral.com 19:00s Selling eFuneral and finding Product Management 21:30s Finding an opportunity in product management and self educating 22:28s Writing “Startup seed funding for the rest of us” 23:15s Finding the right angle / focus on product 24:58s Product Collective, a community for product people 27:02s Niching down on software product managers 31:30s The importance of product management for high growth software companies 33:50s Building the conference from the ground up - build it and make them come 40:35s Product management responsibilities and customer focus 43:04s First impressions of Blockland Cleveland organization and conference 50:12s The challenge of keeping up with technology 51:50s Never setting a strong 3 to 5 year roadmap 56:04s Discovering how quickly you become an influencer in your industry “We created Industry for software product managers. 90% of the people that come to our conference, they have product in their title one way or the other.” “I was so deep into eFuneral, what does a failed founder due next?” Enjoy this episode? Share it with friends! Click Subscribe in iTunes!

The Product Manager is the person responsible for overseeing how products are developed, launched, and brought to the marketplace. With so many different types of products, the Product Manager role varies quite a bit. Because the product world is so fragmented, it’s become increasingly difficult for a Product Manager to get a handle on what’s relevant and useful so that they can learn and grow professionally. Join us for #productized18 to learn about the latest trends.

Teresa Torres helps digital product teams adopt continuous product discovery practices including a regular cadence of customer interviews, rapid prototyping, and assumption testing. She emphasizes strong critical thinking a strong connection between what the teams are learning in their research activities with the product decisions that they are making. Mike Belsito interviews her today to discuss how teams can begin practicing continuous discovery, how to get buy-in from management and why the best product teams are talking to their customers every week (if not every day).  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We go behind the scenes as Bob Moesta, the co-creator of the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) Framework completes a full interview with Matt Ragland of ConvertKit on why he attended INDUSTRY 2017. In part three we discuss what Mike Belsito learned from this interview and what they've changed because of it.  Whether you’re interested in JTBD or you’re already conducting JTBD interviews, learning from one of the masters is one of the best ways to improve your technique.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike is the Co-Founder of Product Collective which organizes INDUSTRY, one of the largest product management summits anywhere in the world. For his leadership at Product Collective, Mike was named one of the Top 40 influencers in the field of Product Management. Prior to Product Collective, Mike spent the past 12 years in startup companies as an early employee, Co-Founder, and Executive. Mike's businesses and products have been featured in national media outlets such as the New York Times, The Atlantic, CNN, NPR, and elsewhere. Mike is also the Author of Startup Seed Funding for the Rest of us, one of the top startup books on Amazon. Learn more about Mike’s work and join the startup community at productcollective.com. To find out more about Laura and her speaking, coaching, and other hosting work visit her website at: powershour.biz . You can also find Laura on twitter @thatlaurapowers, on Facebook @thatlaurapowers and on instagram at laurapowers44.

Surprise! It’s a bonus episode of Product to Product‘s second season, a podcast for / by product people! As we continue to explore the human side of product this season, we’ve paired up with Mike Belsitoand Michael Sacca (same first name!), the hosts of Rocketship.FM, for this episode. Rocketship is a podcast that dives into everything from product to growth, design to management and everything in between. This past season on Rocketship, the entire season was devoted to product and growth. And one of the topics Mike and Michael did a deep-dive into were the tools product people apply to understand their users better—specifically user personas and jobs to be done. Since Mike and Michael did so much research on the topics, and interviewed a bunch of people using these frameworks, they shared their insights into what they learned from the episodes. Our colleague, Eleni, picked their brains on what differentiates these two frameworks, how to apply these concepts, and why jobs to be done has become the popular tool on the block. You can subscribe to Product to Product on iTunes, Google Play or Spotify, or get the latest episodes delivered to your inbox by subscribing here.

Mike Belsito is the Co-Founder of Product Collective which is a community for product people. In addition to co-founding and developing this community, he also co-founded and organized INDUSTRY: The Product Conference, where product managers with world-class products gather together to share their insights and learn so they can build, launch, and scale their creations.   Quotes To Remember: “How can you position yourself differently?” “If you have a good attendee experience, then the other things tend to follow.” “How are people going to find out about you?” “You do the things that don’t scale, and figure out what works so you can scale them up later on.” “Don’t be discouraged if your first event isn’t profitable.”   What You’ll Learn: Why it’s important to follow people in your field, and learn from them Learn to market your event to find the right attendees How to find your ideal audience, and how to reach out to them Why “cold calling” individual potential customers is still valuable How to keep review and improve on your events, by noting things that you’d like to change   Key Links From The Show: productcollective.com Mike's Email industryconference.com Mike’s Twitter   Recommended Books: Rework by Jason Fried Content Inc by Joe Pulizzi The Monk and The Riddle by Randy Komisar

Mike Belsito wants us all to become better product managers. Tune in to meet the man behind Industry: The Product Conference.

Knowing the pain points of your audience and experimenting with content are two things that you need to learn in order to build a fanbase. On this episode, we are here with Mike Belsito. He is an author and a conference producer. He has been featured in Inc. magazine, CNN, PBS, and the New York Times. He also shares valuable tips on how to build your audience from scratch. You have to serve your following well, even if it’s small, by providing what they need so they could become super fans. When you have super fans, the number of people joining your audience can escalate quickly. Get all the resources for this episode and listen to more at https://www.thrivinglaunch.com

Mike Belsito thought he wanted a career in sports management, but found himself loving starting new things. His first job was working as employee #1 for a startup, and he has never looked back. Today he is the co-founder of Product Collective. They founded the company in 2014 as a way to help product people all over the world connect, collaborate, and generally be inspired. As product people themselves, they found they were wanting to find places where they could meet other product people. They looked around and were surprised to find a lack of a product community that gathered in one place often, especially outside of Silicon Valley. And so Product Collective was born. Product Collective’s first initiative was INDUSTRY: The Product Conference, which initially took place in 2015. In its first year, INDUSTRY attracted 250 attendees from 21 states and 7 countries. Just one year later, attendance nearly doubled — with attendees from both years represented from larger enterprises and venture backed startups alike, including IBM, Intuit, Oracle, Shopify, GoDaddy, LeadPages, and others. Today, Product Collective educates and connects product people in many more ways, including through Product Brief (our weekly newsletter) and Product Lunch (our monthly webinar series). Their mission is to redefine and shape the future of product management, and it’s one that they know they can’t do alone. Mike and his team hope you’ll join Product Collective to be a part of this evolution. Check out this episode of "Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do" to hear Mike's journey.  http://www.productcollective.com

Mike is the Co-Founder of Product Collective, a community for product people and Organizer of INDUSTRY: The Product Conference, where product managers and others building, launching, and scaling world-class products gather. Sponsors: Billy Gene: Join Billy Gene on his free training where he’s going to show you the same process he’s used working with some of the world’s largest franchises to get ROI on Facebook ads. Claim your spot today at INeedThisTraining.com! Host Gator:  With Host Gator, having a website is easy AND affordable. Take your website from dream to reality: visit hostgator.com/fire for 60% off today!

Mike Belsito is a lot of things.  He is the co-founder of Product Collective, co-organizer of a conference called Industry, founder of eFuneral, author of Startup Seed Funding for the Rest of Us: How to Raise $1 Million For Your Startup - Even Outside of Silicon Valley, and co-host of the podcast Rocketship.fm.   This episode is not my standard Q&A format. After a friendly introduction from a mutual connection, I asked Mike to grab a coffee.  Being a podcaster himself, and comfortable in front of a mic, I asked if he would mind if I throw my recorder on the table.  This episode is the resulting coffee date.   Links: productcollective.com @belsito on Twitter - https://twitter.com/belsito?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Mike's book - https://www.amazon.com/Startup-Seed-Funding-Rest-Us/dp/0692391444/ref=la_B00UELF5M8_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494201029&sr=1-1

Mike Belsito (@belsito) talks with Ryan O'Donnell about being a CEO focused on growth and how he prioritizes growth and growth experiments at his company. Ryan also has a special announcement for Rocketship.fm listeners so stay tuned! SPONSOR: Prezi Bus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on the show we look into two main concepts of growth, the guiding light and your products magic moment. We hear from Alex Shultz, Tim Draper, & Andrew Chen. Michael Sacca and Mike Belsito also discuss some of the growth efforts they've been experi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura Powers talks with Mike Belsito, author of Startup Seed Funding for the Rest of Us: How to Raise $1 Million for Your Startup – Even Outside of Silicon Valley. Mike also started the company efuneral and then sold it. Mike has been involved in startups for 11 years from being the first employee to starting his own startup then being a part of other startups as an executive. They raised a $1 million and ran the company for three years before selling the company. First question to ask yourself is do you need investors or should you just bootstrap it? Is this a business designed to raise capital? Do you need to? The goal then is to prove out if it’s worthwhile. Also think in the eyes of the investor - is this a company that is an investable co? If you do want to get investors, it is important to build something to show investors and investors do not invest anymore solely on ideas. Either build a prototype or a video prototype. When thinking about investors, think about your dream team? What are the skills sets of or qualities that you want your investors to have? The purpose of investors is not only to invest capital but also to steer and support the business in terms of strategy and other resources. You can then seek these people out through Angellist.co or Linkedin. First check to see if you have any connections with those you would like to connect with. If you don’t you can reach out through Linkedin, Angellist, email, twitter, etc. When you are talking to investors, remember you only need 1. You might talk to 100 investors and get 1 that says yes. I asked Mike what are some common mistakes that early startups make in relation to investing and he said, too often, companies will stay in their Geographic area rather than branching out to other locations. He also talked about the importance of understanding the motivation for the investor. Investors have to understand there is the possibility they will never see the money again. Sophisticated investors will want to know questions on business model, business plan, etc. If you want to learn more and read Mike’s blog on the topic, you can go to his website outsidethevalley.com. You can also go to his website productcollective.com or attend his conference called Industry in September 15 and 16 in Cleveland, Ohio, website insdsum.com. You can also follow him on twitter @ebelsito. You can follow Laura on twitter @thatlaurapowers and you can learn more about Laura, her coaching, and business and empowerment resources at www.powershour.biz.

Mike Belsito is an entrepreneur and author based in Cleveland, Ohio. In this episode, we discuss his startup adventure, what he learned and why he decided to write a book to help others raise money for their businesses. Mike is also in the interesting role of "Entrepreneur in Residence" for the town of Lakewood, Ohio.We talk about what that means and why more cities should have this kind of program.

Mike Belsito wrote a new book called Startup Seed Funding for the Rest of Us. Here's the description: You have aspirations for creating a startup company that will change the world, but need startup capital in order to make that happen. Where do you start? How can you raise serious funding when you don't have many connections or live outside of a major startup community like Silicon Valley. This week we also discuss this great concept and cover interesting topics like privacy and security for your iPhone, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Mike Belsito, author of Startup Seed Funding for the Rest of Us, talks about his experiences raising over $1 million in Ohio. He also shares the story of his first startup, eFuneral and the lessons he learned about raising capital, and spending it wisely. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Morris Wheeler & Mike Belsito join Nick on The Full Ratchet to discuss raising & investing capital outside of the Valley, including: What are the key challenges to raising outside of the valley? Does Crowdfunding for equity lower the barriers to raising for smaller market startups What advice would you have for...   To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

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