Podcasts about roadmaps

Would you like access to our advanced agency training for FREE? https://www.agencymastery360.com/training How do you turn a $99 course, launched before it was even fully built, into a 7-figure coaching business? Today's guest did just that. And he's here to share why scrappier beats slick every time. If you've ever second-guessed launching messy, this episode will feel like validation. Brent Weaver is on the show talking about his start with UGURUS, the valuable learning that can come from starting before everything's in place, and why what came after selling his business wasn't exactly what he had expected. Today we kick off a two-parter with Brent Weaver, the founder of UGURUS, who went from building websites in high school to launching one of the most successful coaching programs for digital agency owners. If you've ever second-guessed your “build it as you go” approach — or wondered whether selling $99 courses online could ever turn into something real—this episode will feel like a shot of validation. In this episode, we'll discuss: Launching and selling without a net. The real reason Brent Weaver sold UGURUS. The unexpected, gut-punch part of selling.  Subscribe Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio Sponsors and Resources Wix: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by Wix Studio, the all-in-one platform designed to help agencies scale without the headaches. With intuitive tools, robust native business solutions, and low maintenance, Wix Studio lets your team focus on what matters most—delivering exceptional value to your clients. Ready to take your agency to the next level? Visit wix.com/studio and discover how Wix Studio can transform your workflow, boost profits, and strengthen client relationships. Building Something Before It's Built In 2012, Brent's agency was building on a tool called Business Catalyst, which led to a side project called BC Gurus, a blog for Business Catalyst users that eventually turned into a full-fledged business. That little blog became a membership site where his team posted business content on how to grow a Business Catalyst agency and, after selling his agency, was the seed for what eventually became UGURUS, a platform offering training and coaching to help agency owners close more deals and scale their businesses. Just as they were preparing to move forward with the site without the Business Catalyst element, as this tool had been discontinued, Brent found the name UGURUS had just gone up for auction. It all seemed serendipitous as they easily won this auction and the new stage of the business began. Lessons in Launching (and Selling) Without a Net Throughout their journey, Brent and his team learned something that every agency owner needs to hear: you don't need everything figured out before you start. And in fact, if you try to, you'll likely never launch at all. The early success of their $200 self-paced course helped them build an audience. But it wasn't until they started offering deeper, high-ticket coaching that things clicked into place. Selling a few $2,000 seats was way more scalable than chasing thousands of low-ticket customers. They did all of this without the luxury of a huge marketing budget or slick automation. Just hustle, relationships, partnerships, and a whole lot of belief in what they were doing. This is something Brent and Jason have both experienced. They agree it's better to go out, execute with what you have, and get feedback, rather than waiting for the perfect moment. Brent Weaver on Building, Selling, and What Came Next Brent and his team didn't start with a fully polished product. In fact, when they first launched their flagship 10K Bootcamp, they spent all their time selling it before creating it. In their view, if they couldn't sell it, they wouldn't build it. But they sold it. About 30 seats at $2,000 a pop. Of course, it did help that they weren't starting from scratch. They had a list of about 10,000 emails from their time running BC Gurus, which helped immensely. And then they had one week to create the first session. What followed was a whirlwind of late nights and Adobe Connect calls (for those who remember what that was) as Brent stayed one step ahead of each week's live session. It was clunky. It was imperfect. But it worked. Why? Because Brent was committed. He responded immediately to the slightest client dissatisfaction. He personally handled delivery. And he overdelivered wherever possible. That scrappy MVP became the foundation for a business that helped thousands of agencies get out of the feast-and-famine cycle. This kind of growth doesn't happen when you wait for the stars to align. It happens when you ship early, listen hard, and iterate fast. The $22,850 Lead Magnet That Took 6 Minutes to Create Let's talk about lead magnets that actually convert. The first product Brent ever sold was a gloriously titled “the $22,850 Website Proposal.” That wasn't a gimmick. It was a real client proposal that closed a big deal—with cross-sells, recurring revenue, and multi-location projects all baked in. Instead of building something fancy, he stripped out client details, dropped it into a Google Doc, and gave it away. Six minutes of work. Hundreds of thousands of downloads. The lesson? Your most valuable assets are often sitting in a dusty folder, not in your imagination. Proof beats polish every time. The Real Reason Brent Sold UGURUS So why sell a successful business? For Brent, it wasn't burnout—it was the pull toward a bigger vision. After buying out his co-founder and riding the COVID rollercoaster, things just weren't lighting him up anymore. Then came Cloudways—and more importantly, a series of conversations with their CMO, Santi. In a way, he was no longer getting what he wanted from the business, and the more he spoke with Santi, and saw what they were doing with their platform, the more he dreamed about turning that into an agency growth community. Hence, what started as co-branded webinars and strategy calls evolved into shared vision sessions. Eventually, Cloudways pitched an acquisition. The appeal? A chance to bring agency coaching to a massive platform with 13,000+ agency users. Brent saw an opportunity to merge purpose with scale and went all in. When the Buyer Gets Bought Here's the plot twist: just ten months after the acquisition, Cloudways got acquired by DigitalOcean, and suddenly UGURUS was a small fish in a billion-dollar pond. DigitalOcean was focused on AI, GPUs, and hardcore infrastructure—not coaching communities. So eventually, Brent's team and vision were sidelined. He stayed on. He fought for his team. But like he says—when you sell, it's no longer yours. And if the buyer shifts priorities, you've got to live with it. That's the tradeoff. Don't Sell Unless You Know What's Next The hard truth here is don't sell unless you know what you're waking up to the next day. Brent thought he had his next chapter lined up. He had a six-month transition plan. A roadmap. But then came the cultural disconnect. Engineering talk at happy hours. Roadmaps that had nothing to do with agency growth. The adventure he signed up for didn't look like what it became. That's the gut-punch part of selling. You can have a clean exit and still feel like you lost something. That's why clarity before the exit is non-negotiable. Next Time on Part Two: What really happens after the exit? Brent pulls back the curtain on post-sale culture shock, why some big opportunities fizzled, and how his next move with E2M caught even him by surprise. You won't want to miss this. Want to Build an Exclusive, Scalable Agency That Clients Line Up For? Our Agency Blueprint helps you identify growth bottlenecks, build community-driven strategies, and position your agency as a category of one.

Welcome to Episode 150 of The Artificial Intelligence Show—a special milestone that marks the launch of a brand-new series: AI Answers. In this episode, Paul Roetzer is joined by Cathy McPhillips to debut a fresh format designed to systematically answer the best questions we get during our live AI education sessions. Over the past few years, our free Intro to AI and Scaling AI classes have attracted more than 32,000 learners—and they've asked hundreds of smart, tough, practical questions. This new series tackles them head-on. Access the show notes and show links here Timestamps: 00:00:00 — Intro 00:08:32 — Question #1: How do you explain AI as a tool for transformation to someone who's unfamiliar or maybe even a little afraid? 00:10:44 — Question #2: Do you see learning to use AI effectively as the modern version of learning to type?  00:13:03 — Question #3: How realistic is it to create an actual AI roadmap?  00:16:29 — Question #4: Once you build a roadmap, should it be shared with the entire team?  00:18:48 — Question #5: Is it better to invest in ChatGPT or Microsoft CoPilot? 00:20:22 — Question #6: How do you make the case to leadership that a paid license to ChatGPT is worth it? 00:22:03 — Question #7:  I'm using multiple AI tools—but each one only does a few things well, and the costs are adding up. How do I better train and support my agents so the company becomes more AI-forward without overwhelming them? 00:25:49 — Question #8: In two years, how many GenAI platforms do you think will dominate the enterprise landscape? 00:27:40 — Question #9: Do you have any thoughts or concerns around using open-source LLMs in the enterprise AI stack? 00:30:39 — Question #10: How involved should the CEO be with an AI council? What kind of role makes the most impact? 00:33:25 — Question #11: Once you have an AI policy, where should you begin to use it to educate your team? 00:35:28 — Question #12: What's a solid KPI to track AI literacy or adoption? 00:38:42 — Question #13:  If you were building MAII from scratch, with what you know now—what would you do differently? 00:41:19 — Question #14: How do you actually bridge the gap between current capabilities and future roles? What's the smart move for career future-proofing? 00:49:15 — Question #15: What courses should kids in school be thinking about if they want to be prepared for an AI-infused world? 00:53:20 — Question #16: What are three things you'd suggest for helping teenagers use AI to accelerate learning, without just relying on it to do the work for them? 00:56:07 — Question #17: Is it better to create a specific GPT for each job task, or one mega-GPT that does content, strategy, internal reports, sales writing—all of it? 00:59:09 — Question #18: What do you think AI will do to the search marketing industry, especially paid search?  00:07:08 — Question #19: What excites you about AI? This episode is brought to you by the AI for B2B Marketers Summit. Join us on Thursday, June 5th at 12 PM ET, and learn real-world strategies on how to use AI to grow better, create smarter content, build stronger customer relationships, and much more. Thanks to our sponsors, there's even a free ticket option. See the full lineup and register now at www.b2bsummit.ai. Visit our website Receive our weekly newsletter Join our community: Slack LinkedIn Twitter Instagram Facebook Looking for content and resources? Register for a free webinar Come to our next Marketing AI Conference Enroll in our AI Academy 

Wenn in Produktteams das Verständnis fehlt, reden Menschen oft aneinander vorbei. Und manchmal reichen ein Stift und ein Flipchart, um das zu ändern. Olaf Bublitz kennt diese Situationen gut. Als erfahrener Agilist, Berater und Mitautor des neuen Buchs Visual Product Ownership setzt er sich seit Jahren dafür ein, visuelle Methoden in der Produktentwicklung gezielter und wirkungsvoller einzusetzen. In dieser Folge spricht er mit Tim über die Kraft der Visualisierung. Nicht als Deko oder hübsches Extra, sondern als echte Unterstützung für Klarheit, Zusammenarbeit und Entscheidungsfindung. Denn visuelle Methoden in der Produktentwicklung helfen dabei, komplexe Zusammenhänge sichtbar zu machen – über alle Ebenen hinweg: von der Strategie bis zur operativen Umsetzung. Olaf versteht unter visuellen Methoden nicht nur Zeichnungen oder Sketchnotes. Für ihn beginnt visuelles Arbeiten schon mit einem Canvas, einem Taskboard oder einer Map. Sobald Informationen so aufbereitet sind, dass man sie auf einen Blick erfassen und besprechen kann, entsteht ein gemeinsamer Fokus. Und genau darum geht es in der Produktentwicklung: Orientierung schaffen und Diskussion ermöglichen – ohne sich in Textwüsten zu verlieren. Viele der Methoden, die Olaf beschreibt, helfen dabei, Perspektiven nebeneinander sichtbar zu machen. Ob Eventstorming, Story Mapping oder Strategy Maps: Sie bringen Teams ins Gespräch – und lassen Unterschiede, Lücken oder Missverständnisse frühzeitig erkennen. Genau das ist der eigentliche Mehrwert. Denn visuelle Methoden in der Produktentwicklung machen nicht nur Dinge sichtbar. Sie machen Zusammenarbeit möglich. Es geht nicht darum, möglichst viele Methoden zu nutzen, sondern diese passenden auszuwählen – je nach Kontext, Ziel und Team. In seinem Buch fasst Olaf über 50 bewährte Methoden zusammen und stellt sie in sogenannten Strings dar: sinnvolle Verbindungen von Methoden entlang typischer Fragestellungen in der Produktentwicklung. So entstehen keine isolierten Visualisierungen, sondern ein durchgängiger visueller Arbeitsraum. Besonders spannend wird es, wenn Teams ihre gesamte Produktarbeit sichtbar machen – etwa in Form eines sogenannten "Obeya"-Raums. Olaf beschreibt, wie visuelle Methoden in der Produktentwicklung dabei helfen, verschiedene Ebenen miteinander zu verbinden: Ziele, Kennzahlen, Roadmaps, Backlogs, Abhängigkeiten. Alles sichtbar, strukturiert und zugänglich – ob physisch im Raum oder digital auf einem Miro-Board. Was zählt, ist der gemeinsame Blick. Die Folge ist eine Einladung: Visualisierung nicht als Stilmittel zu sehen, sondern als praktisches Werkzeug. Wer damit beginnt, kleine Elemente sichtbar zu machen – ein Ablauf, eine Idee, ein Engpass – schafft einen Einstieg. Und wer als Produktteam konsequent mit visuellen Methoden arbeitet, verändert nicht nur die Art, wie Entscheidungen getroffen werden. Sondern auch die Qualität der Zusammenarbeit. Frühere Folgen die zum Thema gut passen bzw. in der Episode genannt wurden: - Visual Leadership für Product Owner mit Sabina Lammert - Klarheit als Superpower für Produktmenschen mit Arne Kittler - Event Storming: Verständnis für komplexe Produkte schaffen mit Jürgen Meurer - Nutze Story Mapping, um mit Stakeholdern über Outcome zu sprechen - Wardley Mapping - Produktstrategie wie ein Schachspiel mit Florian Meyer - Impact Mapping - was zahlt wirklich auf unser Business Ziel ein? mit Büşra Coşkuner - Assumption Mapping Wer mit Olaf Bublitz in Kontakt treten möchte, erreicht ihn gut über sein LinkedIn-Profil. Die Website zum Buch findet ihr unter: visual-productownership.de. Welche visuellen Methoden nutzt ihr in der Produktentwicklung – und was funktioniert bei euch besonders gut? Wir Produktwerker freuen uns, wenn du deine Tipps und Erfahrungen aus der Praxis mit den anderen Hörerinnen und Hörern teilen möchtest. Hinterlasse gerne einen Kommentar unterm Blog-Artikels oder auf unserer Produktwerker LinkedIn-Seite.

Führung leicht gemacht: Tipps & Tools für entspanntes, authentisches Leadership Damit die Richtigen bleiben ... Was dich in dieser Folge erwartet: Aufreger-Thema GEN Z: Was können wir von den Youngsters lernen? Selbst- und Fremdbild: Wie du herausfindest, ob dein Bild von dir selbst mit dem Eindruck deiner Mitarbeitenden übereinstimmt. Vertrauen aufbauen: Einfache Schritte, um Vertrauen in deinem Team zu stärken. Mindset & Selbstverantwortung: Drei Tipps, wie du als junge Führungskraft mehr Unternehmergeist entwickelst. Deinen Führungsstil finden: Eine Roadmap, um deinen eigenen Stil zu entwickeln und authentisch zu bleiben. Vertrauenscheck: So kannst du prüfen, ob dein Team dir wirklich vertraut. Diese Folge ist perfekt, wenn du lernen möchtest, Führung entspannt und mit Freude zu leben. Vielleicht erkennst du dich wieder oder bekommst neue Impulse, um Herausforderungen leichter zu meistern. GoodiesDie Roadmap für neue Führungskräfte: Starte erfolgreich in deine neue Rolle und erhalte wertvolle Unterstützung: Roadmap für neue Führungskräfte Klarheit für Führung in Changeprozessen: Hol dir alle Tipps, wie du in Veränderungsprozessen Klarheit behältst: Klarheit für Führung in Changeprozessen Führen als Pflegeleitungsteam: Starke Teams in der Pflegeführung – für ein harmonisches Duo: Führen als Pflegeleitungsteam Hör rein und hol dir die Tipps für eine erfolgreiche Führung in Changeprozessen! Ich habe für dich einen bunten Blumenstrauß an Tipps zusammengestellt, damit du nach dieser Folge weniger aufgeregt bist und mehr Klarheit hast – für dich selbst und dein Team. Du willst noch mehr Unterstützung? Dann schau dir meine Akademie an! Hier findest du praktische Kurse und Roadmaps, um deine Führungsfähigkeiten gezielt auszubauen: https://go.katja-schaefer.de/academy_starten Hol dir die Tipps, die du brauchst, um als junge Führungskraft durchzustarten – einfach, verständlich und praxisnah! Der Link zu mehr Info zur Akademie: https://go.katja-schaefer.de/academy_starten Folge direkt herunterladen

Struggling to turn digital ambition into real-world value? In this episode, we reveal a 10-step strategic framework to help corporate leaders, managers, and consultants master enterprise-scale digital transformation. From assessing digital capabilities to mapping transformation roadmaps and building compelling business cases, you'll learn how to lead with clarity and confidence. Gain practical insights and tools rooted in the Digital Capability Framework (DCF) and BTM² methodology. 

Welcome to another episode of the Private Equity Podcast. Today, I'm joined by Andrew Towne, Partner at Olympus Pines. We break down what it really takes to grow a portfolio company—hiring the right team, aligning goals, building execution plans, and pulling the right levers for revenue and EBITDA growth. If you're after a practical playbook on scaling businesses in the lower mid-market, this episode delivers.[00:00] Andrew Towne returns to discuss how to grow portfolio companies through team building, planning, and execution.[00:28] Success in business = aligned goals, right people in the right seats, clear plans, and proper tools/incentives.[01:55] Biggest failures come from misaligned goals. Everyone must row in the same direction.[02:26] Use role charters and RACI charts to align responsibilities and decision-making across the org.[04:22] Attracting top talent means clarity on role, expectations, comp, benefits, culture. Be transparent up front.[07:06] Retention comes down to delivering on promises, offering development, paying fairly, and giving feedback.[09:37] Managers should seek upward feedback – your team's opinion matters more than your boss's.[11:32] Evaluate talent by hard skills (resume, technical test) and soft skills (learning ability, judgment, self-starting).[14:53] Roadmaps keep execution on track – break down goals into sub-goals and timed milestones across the team.[17:38] Regular team accountability meetings ensure goals stay on track and interdependencies are met.[18:43] Training, tools, and incentives must align to role and company success – weight comp more to team wins.[20:39] You don't need fancy systems – role clarity and RACI charts can live in Word and Excel.[22:07] Deal sourcing: pick a sector, build your own target list, run a disciplined, high-integrity outreach campaign.[24:57] Be transparent with sellers – don't hide your intentions. Build trust from the first call.[26:16] Consider: can you build instead of buy? Sometimes starting from scratch is the better play.[27:37] Avoid shiny object syndrome – write down what matters to you first, then find sectors that match it.[30:37] Six top-line levers: optimize product mix, segment customers, fix pricing, retain the right customers, improve collections, manage working capital.[35:33] Hire execs aligned with the thesis – if transformation is needed, bring in people who've done it before.[38:56] Cost isn't just headcount – optimize procurement, renegotiate vendors, rethink distribution, and energy use.[41:58] Retooling and reskilling can outperform layoffs – invest in your people and slow unnecessary hiring.[42:56] Thanks to Andrew for sharing his portfolio playbook and growth strategies.[43:24] Subscribe for more episodes every week. Till next time – keep smashing it.Connect with Andrew Here.Subscribe for more episodes on  iTunes & SpotifyGot feedback or questions? Email Alex at alex.rawlings@raw-selection.com. Until next time—keep smashing it!

In dieser Folge sprechen Barbara Martin und Michael Röhle mit Thomas Wuttke über die Fallstricke agiler Transformationen – von Kommunikationslücken über strukturelle Hindernisse bis hin zur Bedeutung von Visionen, Fehlerkultur und Roadmaps. Ein ehrlicher Blick hinter die Kulissen agiler Projekte. Shownotes: 

Join Sue for an upcoming Live Virtual Workshop where you will learn from Sue practical tips & strategies to make a difference. In this episode, we will discuss: ✅ Hub provides morning "anchor points" for struggling students. ✅ Five-minute therapuddy session starts each child's day. ✅ Roadmaps offer consistent daily routines reducing anxiety. ✅ Scheduled regulation breaks replace reactive crisis management. ✅ Skill-building "springboards" develop individualized emotional regulation strategies. ✅ Consistent language across all staff creates safety. ✅ Teachers can focus on teaching instead of behavior management. Read more about this podcast in the show notes found via the link below suelarkey.com.au/how-to-set-up-my-classroom-for-my-students Join the Facebook group specifically for this podcast www.facebook.com/groups/suelarkeypodcastcommunity/ Join my Neurodiversity Network suelarkey.com.au/neurodiversity-network/ Follow my Instagram account for regular tips www.instagram.com/sue.larkey/ To learn more about teaching or understanding ASD, please visit my website below. elearning.suelarkey.com.au

Kilah Walters-Clinton, Director of Race, Equity, and Community Engagement for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services in Rhode Island, explains how ASTHO's Building Capacity to Advance Health Certificate Program has helped dozens across the country; Dr. Christine Muganda, Data and Analytics Team Leader at County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, details a new 2025 Model of Health; and the Navigating AI-Enabled Community Inclusive Preparedness webinar will occur on Thursday, April 17th at 2 p.m. E.T. ASTHO Web Page: Building Capacity to Advance Health Certificate Program County Health Ranking & Roadmaps Web Page: Explore health topics ASTHO Webinar: INSPIRE – Readiness – Navigating AI-Enabled Community-Inclusive Preparedness ASTHO Web Page: Subscribe  

Product management is a complex and multifaceted role that requires a delicate balance of strategy, organization, and communication. In order to effectively manage products from ideation to launch and beyond, product managers need the right tools at their disposal. This is where product management tools come into play.  Hubert Palan, the founder and CEO of Productboard, is a key figure in the evolution of product management tools, drawing from his extensive background as an engineer turned product manager. He recognized the pressing need for a dedicated platform that addresses the unique challenges faced by product managers, emphasizing customer-centricity and segmentation, a perspective shaped by his studies under Steve Blank at UC Berkeley.  Traditional tools like Jira and Asana, according to Palan, often fall short in catering to the nuanced needs of product management, prompting the creation of Productboard to fill this gap, which now serves over 6,000 clients including major players like Zoom and JPMorgan Chase. By leveraging visual communication tools and focusing on customer segmentation, Palan believes product managers can better understand and cater to their target audience, ultimately driving product success and organizational growth.  Resource Links Follow Hubert Palan on LinkedIn Follow Hubert Palan on X (formerly Twitter) Explore Productboard Learn about Steve Blank's Lean Startup philosophy Follow Holly on LinkedIn Visit the Product Science Group website Explore Product Science Workshops    Quotes from Hubert Palan: “Because at the end of the day you have to make a decision. Do I add another use case? Do I satisfy a new need, Do I expand the set of capabilities that my product has or do I double down on what the use case that I already have, but make them better or improve the usability? And that's every day.” Hubert Palan (18:06) “Frequently Personas are more like a design user Personas as opposed to Persona representing the business market segments that product managers need to think about. Because at the end of the day it needs to be a viable business, not just a product that satisfies needs of a specific user.” - Hubert Palan (21:16) “It's challenging and there's no shortcut, unfortunately. I mean, you have to do the workshops, you have to communicate frequently. You need to do the AMA sessions, you need to have the big 10-page document and then a summary of it. And it's constant communication, constant coordination.” - Hubert Palan (31:54)  Lab Notes Lab Note 603.1: Roadmaps are a conversation, not a one-way document.  Lab Note 603.2: Tools like roadmaps, customer interview snapshots, ideal customer profiles, competitive landscapes, and journey maps help leaders share context and set direction.  Lab Note 603.3: For more valuable personas, enrich them with data and an understanding of both behavior and business opportunities.  Lab Note 603.4: Find simple questions to identify who is best suited to get value from your product.  Ready to elevate your product leadership game? Dive deep into practical solutions for real-world product challenges. Register now: productsciencegroup.com/services View the transcript and the ⁠full episode description on the Product Science Podcast website here.⁠

The entire context of teaching and learning is changing at a speed and magnitude that no one in education has experienced. There's no simple playbook for the changes sweeping across the education profession, but new research confirms that a wider lens and good frameworks can help. Related Resources: SETI: A Framework for Managing Political Shifts in Education | EdWeek: How Trump's Cabinet Picks Could Affect K-12 Schools | Forbes: The Anti-Woke Venture Capitalists | The Guardian: Switching off: Sweden goes back-to-basics | EdWeek: 11 Critical Issues Facing Education | Houston Landing: School Districts Sue Tech companies | TPACK Updated | Why Context Matter More in 2025

The War and Treaty are a Grammy nominated duo who have released 6 records and EPs, starting out with independent releases before moving on to Rounder and now Mercury/Universal Nashville. They are the first black duo to be nominated for duo of the year at both the CMA's and the ACM's, where they've also performed, as well as performing and/or collaborating with the likes of Zach Bryan, Dierks Bentley, Brothers Osborne, Jason Isbell, John Legend, and Chris Stapleton.We talk with them about the importance of letting your own art move you, knowing your place in the history that you are making currently, starting their own management company - and even signing other artists, giving yourself the grace permission to come undone, and a whole lot more.Get more access and support this show by subscribing to our Patreon, right here.Links:The War and TreatyBuddy MillerDon WasUniversal NashvilleJohn LewisNew Orleans Jazz FestClick here to watch this conversation on YouTube.Social Media:The Other 22 Hours InstagramThe Other 22 Hours TikTokMichaela Anne InstagramAaron Shafer-Haiss InstagramAll music written, performed, and produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Become a subscribing member on our Patreon to gain more inside access including exclusive content, workshops, the chance to have your questions answered by our upcoming guests, and more.

In an earlier webinar, Construx's Earl Beede took on many organizations that create product visions with phrases like, be the world's best ‘x' or dazzle our customers. Not bad ideas but pretty much worthless in helping you make day-to-day decisions on what work is the most important for your business. This is a follow-up, with Earl and Mark Griffin delving a bit deeper into some of the questions that came up during the webinar.You can find the webinar here: https://youtu.be/yVA-k6aWE0k

Finance teams are a goldmine of insights, holding everything from precise forecasting data to strategic cost-management know-how. By collaborating with finance early and often, sales teams can anticipate potential hurdles, optimize pricing strategies, and negotiate from a position of strength — ultimately closing more deals, quicker. In this CFO panel, we invited two finance leaders — Danielle Cerisano, CFO at League, and Tyler Sloat, CFO and COO at Freshworks — to share how to scale operations and partner effectively with your finance department. 

Al and Micah talk about Natsu-Mon 20th Century Summer Kid Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:02:30: What Have We Been Up To 00:12:54: Harvest Moon: Home Sweet Home 00:29:22: Game News 00:54:46: Natsu Mon 01:41:16: Outro Links Tales of the Shire Delay Fantasy Life i on Steam The Garden Path “Co-op” Update Spirittea “Phantom Friends” Update Sugardew Island Patch Paleo Pines Roadmap Echoes of the Plum Grove Roadmap Contact Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:30) Al: Hello, farmers, and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. My name is Al, (0:00:36) Micah: My name is Micah. (0:00:37) Al: and we are here today to talk about cartridge core games. (0:00:41) Micah: Yippee. (0:00:45) Al: Welcome back, Micah. It’s actually not been that long. It’s only been about two months. (0:00:47) Micah: Thanks. No, it really hasn’t. (0:00:50) Micah: Yeah, which is wild because it feels like it’s been. (0:00:54) Micah: A lot like the last two months has felt like an entire year, so. (0:00:58) Al: Yeah, the last month specifically. (0:01:00) Al: Uh, but we don’t need to talk about that. (0:01:02) Micah: Yeah, yeah, no, no, no, yeah, of course. (0:01:06) Micah: I it’s funny because I was like, why has it felt so in that moment just now? (0:01:10) Micah: I was like, why does it feel like it’s been so long? (0:01:12) Micah: And then it clicked. So yeah, we don’t need to discuss. (0:01:14) Al: Mm, I wonder, uh, sometimes, uh, yes. (0:01:21) Al: Uh, and we still, we still don’t have any news on the story of seasons for this year, (0:01:27) Al: which I’m still expecting something. (0:01:30) Al: It’s been a very long time, but, uh, who knows. (0:01:30) Micah: Yeah. I’m too, I hear you. I’m expecting to. Yep, it’s bound to happen. It’s only a matter of time. (0:01:35) Al: I’m just waiting for that announcement and then we’ll be like, right. (0:01:37) Al: This is when we’re scheduling it in. (0:01:42) Al: Well, yeah, we have Micah here this episode because we are (0:01:46) Al: finally going to talk about Natsumon 20th century summer kid. (0:01:50) Micah: - Yay. (0:01:50) Al: We have pride a few times to actually record, uh, and things keep changing, (0:01:53) Micah: We did. (0:01:55) Al: but we finally got there. (0:01:56) Al: They didn’t shadow drop a story of seasons and we have to (0:01:59) Al: record about that instead. (0:02:00) Al: I’ve only had one case where I’ve noticed some news drop while I’ve been recording, (0:02:01) Micah: Could you imagine that it was, (0:02:04) Micah: now was when we got the story of season news? (0:02:15) Al: mainly because I’m not tend to be looking at the places where news comes in to see these things, (0:02:20) Micah: - Sure. (0:02:21) Al: but yeah, it’s never know one of these days. So we’re going to talk about that. We’ve obviously (0:02:28) Al: got the regular news. (0:02:31) Al: But first of all, maker, what have you been up to? (0:02:34) Micah: Oh, just busy. (0:02:37) Micah: Just got a lot going on. (0:02:39) Micah: I have been as far as games, though, I’ve been playing some (0:02:45) Micah: monster hunter wilds beta in preparation for that (0:02:50) Micah: at the point that we’re recording. (0:02:50) Al: and still not out yet. (0:02:52) Micah: It is going to be out next week. It’s about a week. (0:02:57) Micah: So I’m excited for that. (0:03:00) Micah: I’m also, you know, at that point in my life (0:03:04) Micah: a little bit anxious about a release for a game that I’m very excited about, (0:03:08) Micah: because then that means that I have to figure out time to play it (0:03:15) Micah: and also worry about how hyper fixated I’m going to become with it (0:03:20) Micah: and what that’s going to do to all of the other responsibilities in my life. (0:03:24) Micah: But I’m very excited for it. (0:03:28) Micah: I’ve also been playing Pokemon, I’ve been doing more shiny hunting. (0:03:32) Al: Are you still on your gen? Is it gen 2s? That’s what you were doing, I think, last time. (0:03:34) Micah: I was doing I was doing Gen three last time I was talking about it. Yeah. (0:03:40) Micah: I am doing that. (0:03:42) Micah: So I have some friends in a community that do like full odds shiny hunting, (0:03:48) Micah: which. Which adds an extra level of challenge. (0:03:54) Micah: And I almost kind of find it like a little bit more relaxing (0:03:56) Al: Sadness. (0:04:00) Micah: relaxing because it’s like it’s it you (0:04:01) Al: Interesting. (0:04:04) Micah: you settle in for it you know like it’s something that you’re doing while (0:04:08) Micah: you’re doing other stuff or while you’re like talking to people or while you’re (0:04:10) Micah: watching something because you know that it’s gonna take a long time so it’s just (0:04:14) Micah: like you kind of settle in and do your do your encounters do your resets do (0:04:19) Micah: whatever it is and don’t don’t really think about it until you know three (0:04:25) Micah: months later when you finally get the shine (0:04:26) Al: I just find that I get bored when I do it. I tried Shaiman in BDSP and I did… I can’t (0:04:32) Micah: Mm-hmm (0:04:34) Micah: Yeah, yeah Yeah, that tends to be what happens and that’s a very normal and I respect you for that (0:04:35) Al: even remember what I got to like 2000 or something. I just got bored of doing it every day and so I (0:04:41) Al: just stopped. (0:04:49) Al: I don’t think anybody has ever called me normal, but thank you. (0:04:55) Micah: But I have a I have some friends that do they they do these you know challenges throughout the year (0:05:01) Micah: They’ll have like a like this last week was (0:05:04) Micah: Shiny alpha week and it was everybody hunts in for alpha Pokemon and legends Arceus or (0:05:13) Micah: February was unknown challenge month. So (0:05:17) Micah: It was you know (0:05:19) Micah: You shiny hunt for an unknown and then whatever letter unknown you get then you have to shiny hunt something that starts with that letter (0:05:26) Micah: So like if I get it an unknown M then I can go hunt like Magnemite or something, you know (0:05:32) Micah: So yeah, there’s just (0:05:34) Micah: like fun little challenges and things to do when I’ve got, you know, if I’m like rendering (0:05:40) Micah: something or I’m watching something or in a meeting and kind of listening, but also just like (0:05:48) Micah: need something, you know, it’s just a little background thing I can do every once in a while. (0:05:54) Al: Fair enough. (0:05:55) Micah: I have downloaded a Rude factory pixel cross and I have not played it yet. So I mean, it just came (0:06:00) Al: Nice. (0:06:02) Al: Well, I mean, it only came out yesterday, so that’s fair. (0:06:04) Micah: out. Yeah. But I got to download it and I’m ready to try it. I’m excited about the potential new, (0:06:12) Micah: you know, like the positive changes to it from the story of seasons version. (0:06:20) Al: Yeah, I’m very intrigued. I’ve done a little bit of it. This is one of the games that I’ve (0:06:25) Al: played today, maybe like half an hour or so. So I’ve got a few, you know, the standard (0:06:32) Al: tutorial puzzles and a few of the ones that actually make you think. And so I’ve not (0:06:37) Al: got to any of the extra stuff like the customisation that’s in this one. But I did read on Fogu (0:06:45) Al: on there, posted about it, and it looks like it is just kind of. (0:06:50) Al: background customisation. It doesn’t seem to actually affect anything, which is what (0:06:54) Al: I expected, but a little bit more detailed and interesting than the story of Seasons (0:06:55) Micah: Yeah, yeah. (0:07:01) Al: 1. And I’m intrigued and excited to try one of the boss levels that they have. Have you (0:07:06) Micah: Oh yeah, I’m interested in that. No, I haven’t. I haven’t seen anything about it. I actually didn’t know that there were any improvements to the story of season model of it until you had mentioned it when we were talking about it on the game of the year episode. (0:07:08) Al: not seen the boss level stuff? (0:07:16) Al: Mm hmm. Yeah. (0:07:24) Micah: So I’m excited to try any of it because I haven’t seen any of it yet. (0:07:28) Al: Yeah, so I guess the big things for you would be there’s colour puzzles and the boss ones (0:07:35) Al: are timed and if you do something wrong, which, come on, who does something wrong? You’re (0:07:44) Al: just doing it too fast. It takes time off, the timer. So the timed, they have to do it (0:07:45) Micah: Okay, gotcha. (0:07:52) Al: within a certain amount of time, because obviously, technically, they’re all timed, right? You (0:07:55) Al: can see how long it is. And it’s always fun in the first few ones. (0:07:56) Micah: Right. Yep. (0:07:58) Al: to see like, Oh, can I get this one done in 10 seconds? Or can I (0:08:03) Al: get this one done in five seconds? I think I have one in (0:08:05) Al: eight or something like that. That’s the fastest one I have (0:08:08) Al: this game. But yeah, making you do it within a certain amount of (0:08:13) Al: time is an interesting different way of doing it. They do have (0:08:16) Al: two play styles. So you can skip that part of it if you want to. (0:08:21) Al: But yeah, it’s interesting. The boss stuff. Yeah. (0:08:22) Micah: Skip the the oh the bus skip the boss stuff I see okay. Yeah, I really liked them (0:08:32) Micah: Shoot I can’t remember the name of it. It was (0:08:36) Micah: Picto quest that’s what it was (0:08:39) Micah: and that was the (0:08:41) Micah: Nonogram game on the switch that and probably on PC. I don’t know but I played it on the switch and it was (0:08:47) Micah: very light RPG style of nonogram (0:08:52) Micah: like it had a little bit, you know, it was just like (0:08:54) Micah: You’re going across a map and then you challenge a goblin or whatever and then it’s just like a 10 by 10 puzzle or something (0:09:02) Micah: And then you would get upgrades if you did certain things. So they had like some there were a couple that were like, oh, it’s a boss (0:09:08) Micah: Thing, you know like a boss puzzle and I really loved that idea. It just was so (0:09:15) Micah: Bare-bones, I think such a like early idea, you know, like fresh and early idea that (0:09:22) Micah: There wasn’t a whole lot to it. So, um, I I kind of hope that there are maybe more (0:09:30) Micah: Like use cases of that like that kind of, you know adding quests and stuff to it because that adds an extra level of (0:09:38) Micah: Interest that I would I would really enjoy (0:09:41) Al: Yeah, yeah, I’m not far enough into to see whether that is there or not. One thing I (0:09:45) Al: did find interesting is that the puzzles are laid out like a map. So it’s not, it’s not (0:09:50) Al: just like you play this one, then you play the next one. It’s like, these are the ones (0:09:53) Al: you can do. And to unlock others, you have to to beat ones in specific positions, which (0:09:58) Micah: Oh, interesting. (0:09:59) Al: I thought was an interesting way of doing it. So it’s not the I think as you go further (0:10:04) Al: out, the difficulty does increase, but it’s not just like, constant, I think I saw some (0:10:08) Al: that were further away from the middle that were not hard. (0:10:12) Al: They were slightly easier, that sort of thing. (0:10:15) Al: So, yeah, interesting. See how that continues. (0:10:15) Micah: sure. Cool. Yeah. Yeah. I’m excited to try it. I’ve also been playing a Hello Kitty Island (0:10:24) Micah: adventure. Of course. Yes. Yeah. I played some on the mobile. I played some on Apple (0:10:26) Al: - Good, good, good. (0:10:26) Al: Are you on the switch for you? (0:10:30) Al: You twice, what are your thoughts? (0:10:33) Al: All right, yeah. (0:10:33) Micah: Arcade when it came out. Yeah. And yes. One hundred percent. And I’m glad that I waited (0:10:35) Al: You did the same thing as me. (0:10:36) Al: You went, “This is a fun game. (0:10:38) Al: I want a controller.” (0:10:45) Micah: much better experience on the switch, like with a controller. Becky has been absolutely (0:10:52) Micah: enamored with it. It’s her primary game that she plays now. And we did some of the multiplayer (0:11:00) Micah: together. So that was an interesting experience. It was fun just like, you know, wandering (0:11:07) Micah: around together and like doing things. There wasn’t a whole. There’s not like a whole lot (0:11:10) Micah: you can do multiplayer wise, but yeah, it’s it’s it’s great. (0:11:15) Micah: It’s such a good. I don’t know. I really I really like it. I’ve been enjoying it. And then I played (0:11:21) Micah: a little bit of vowed, but I have played a lot yet. I don’t know if you have touched it. (0:11:26) Al: I’m aware of it because I listen to a lot of different gaming podcasts and videos and (0:11:33) Al: stuff like that. (0:11:34) Al: So I’m aware of it. (0:11:35) Micah: Yeah. I like Obsidian, who’s the developer. They did Fallout New Vegas and they’ve done a lot of like (0:11:35) Al: I don’t think it’s my thing, but I can see why people like it and it sounds interesting. (0:11:47) Micah: older RPGs and stuff like that. I’m a big Elder Scrolls fan, so there’s some level of like (0:11:56) Micah: hoping that it is in some way close to Elder Scrolls, given that it’s, you know, (0:12:02) Micah: a team that has experience with Bethesda. (0:12:05) Micah: And it’s fantasy and, you know, first person and all that. (0:12:09) Micah: I really like it so far, but it’s it’s not open world. (0:12:12) Micah: It’s very, you know, like it’s it’s sectioned off, (0:12:16) Micah: which I think makes sense for the game. (0:12:18) Micah: But it’s, you know, it’s on Game Pass. (0:12:21) Micah: So you can’t really can’t really complain, you know, (0:12:27) Micah: they’re paying for. (0:12:27) Al: I mean, when is when has that ever stopped gamers before? (0:12:30) Micah: Oh, 100 percent. (0:12:34) Micah: But yeah, it’s. (0:12:35) Micah: I can’t I can’t really see myself having like bought it if it wasn’t available on game pass when it when it launched, you know, so yeah, what about you other than pixel crust? (0:12:42) Al: Yeah, that is fair. (0:12:48) Al: Yeah, well, not a huge amount this this week. I think the big thing, though, which obviously I need to talk about to you, Micah, is Harvest Moon Homes, Sweet Home. I have hit credits in Harvest Moon Homes, Sweet Home. (0:12:56) Micah: Oh, that’s big. (0:13:03) Al: Yeah, it’s the (0:13:04) Micah: Are you ready to do that all over again when it comes down on the switch or whatever? (0:13:08) Al: I will not. (0:13:12) Al: Let’s not even try and pretend that, unless there’s some way to transfer my save over, (0:13:16) Micah: Oh, that’s big. (0:13:18) Al: I’m not doing the early game again. I had a couple of thoughts that I thought might be (0:13:23) Al: quite interesting. I presume you didn’t continue playing it after our episode. No. (0:13:26) Micah: I have not played really much of anything from it. (0:13:29) Al: So I think the things, a few things I found interesting having now completed the game, (0:13:35) Al: although I’m in that annoying bit where I’m like, do I finish all these achievements or not? Because (0:13:40) Al: I have all bar. (0:13:42) Al: Let’s just let me just I’ve got it up here. (0:13:44) Al: Let me just double check achievements. (0:13:46) Micah: Now are these like in-game achievements or is it like Apple arcade achievements or whatever? (0:13:51) Al: It’s it’s it’s it’s Apple Game Center. (0:13:54) Micah: Yeah, oh yeah, sorry game center, yeah (0:13:54) Al: It’s not arcade because it’s made for, but yeah, it’s game center. (0:13:58) Al: So I have 48 of 68 achievements. (0:14:03) Micah: Holy smokes (0:14:04) Al: And I think about 10 of those ones I don’t have are just like shipping 50 of (0:14:12) Al: one specific crop. (0:14:14) Al: So I’m at the point where I’m like, I’ve basically got 10 left to do. (0:14:19) Al: But they’re things like (0:14:22) Al: completing the crops encyclopedia, completing the fish encyclopedia. (0:14:26) Al: I have not once fished in this game. (0:14:30) Al: So I’m like, I don’t know if I want to do those, but it feels like I’m so close. (0:14:34) Al: But it also no. (0:14:37) Al: So, yeah, let’s see. (0:14:40) Al: That is my, here’s my, I was in. (0:14:42) Al: Interesting thing. So I finished chapter 10. That is the final chapter and only 2% (0:14:48) Al: of players have earned this achievement, according to Apple, 2% have completed. (0:14:52) Micah: That’s incredible, you know, there’s something really interesting about this to me that (0:14:59) Micah: What was the game before home sweet home? Was it one world? (0:15:02) Al: No, one world was before that, the one before that, it was winds of anthos. (0:15:03) Micah: No one world was the one before that. Oh (0:15:09) Micah: Wins of Anthos, that’s right. And you know, it’s funny because I very distinctly remember you saying I am (0:15:17) Micah: Returning this or trading it in or whatever, you know, like as soon as I get the opportunity to (0:15:20) Al: Yeah. Yeah. (0:15:22) Micah: And here we are you have hit credits on home sweet home, which is (0:15:27) Al: Well, can I just point out, I think both of us hit credits in one world. (0:15:31) Micah: Yes, we did, yeah (0:15:32) Al: And because, I think, mainly because we were fascinated as to where it was going to end up, (0:15:38) Al: I will say that’s not why I finished this game. It’s not because I was like, “Oh, (0:15:42) Al: I really need to know what happens with this story.” The story is basically non-existent, (0:15:46) Al: right? Like it’s basically just you’re, you’re, you’re making this. (0:15:50) Al: This town more, more, that’s it. Like you’re, you’re making people happy and you’re, you’re (0:15:54) Micah: More and more (0:15:58) Al: doing things and that’s it. Um, what I found really interesting that, you know, the area (0:16:03) Al: that was like left of your farm that looked like it was a gated off area that you could (0:16:07) Al: access later on in the game. You never unlock that. That’s not, that’s not a thing. Is that (0:16:09) Micah: Oh, yeah. (0:16:15) Al: meant to come in an update or something? It’s even called, it called Alba Park. (0:16:20) Micah: - You know, I don’t know. (0:16:20) Al: And, and there’s a gate there. Why can I not go that way? I’ve completed. (0:16:27) Micah: It’s gotta, it has to be, right? (0:16:29) Micah: Well, let me ask you this. (0:16:31) Micah: Have they updated it at all since? (0:16:34) Al: Just the just the one update that came out like what a week after we recorded our last episode, which added the controller support and the well ads cloud save but the cloud says broken still. (0:16:40) Micah: Okay, that was the only one. (0:16:47) Micah: Okay, great. (0:16:48) Al: That’s the only update that I’m aware of happening. (0:16:51) Micah: ‘Cause I distinctly remember, too, that there was, (0:16:58) Micah: it looked like there were going to be spaces (0:17:01) Micah: or like placeholders for other languages, for text. (0:17:05) Al: Oh, yeah (0:17:07) Micah: And I remember thinking, oh, this is probably gonna come (0:17:10) Micah: in an update, but if they never added that either, (0:17:14) Micah: there must be a bunch of things that were just like, (0:17:17) Micah: We’ll add this in an update at a later date. (0:17:21) Micah: And maybe now it’s either they just are no longer touching it or (0:17:27) Micah: it is uh they’re just saving all those updates for the console release maybe? (0:17:32) Al: So this is where I break your brain yet again, Micah, and tell you that it has only been six (0:17:37) Al: months since this game I came out. It was August. (0:17:38) Micah: What oh (0:17:42) Micah: Yeah, that’s right (0:17:43) Micah: I remember this you did this to me on the game of the year episode two and I like (0:17:48) Micah: That blows my mind that that it’s only been that long. It feels like this game was two years ago (0:17:54) Al: So I don’t know, yeah, it doesn’t feel weird for there to be like, if we got an update (0:17:57) Micah: And that’s not just because of the last month isn’t it (0:18:08) Al: in a month, I wouldn’t be surprised that would be like, roughly about the time from the release (0:18:12) Al: to the last update. I don’t know. I don’t know if I actually believe this is coming (0:18:16) Al: to console. I feel like we would have heard something by now, right? (0:18:17) Micah: Yeah (0:18:22) Micah: Yeah, I think so too I I think I think if (0:18:26) Micah: They announce a new (0:18:29) Micah: Heart of harvest moon game that is not this I think it’s officially dead at that point, right? (0:18:35) Al: Mm hmm. No, no. (0:18:35) Micah: Like there’s no way that they’re going back to it. They are putting all of their resources into whatever (0:18:42) Micah: The new thing is if that’s the case. So either we’re (0:18:47) Micah: we’ll get something from them sometime soon, but it will either be this coming to consoles or (0:18:55) Micah: Something new and then it’s just confirmation at that point that this is completely dead in the water (0:19:01) Al: Yeah, I just I’m fascinated by this area that that doesn’t exist like I was fully expecting to unlock it at some point and it and it hasn’t. (0:19:07) Micah: This is extremely interesting (0:19:11) Al: The other couple of things I find interesting so you do so we’d complained about how it felt like you should be able to, you know, set a bunch of actions and get them to like water these 10 plants in a row. (0:19:23) Al: It feels like that’s what the interface was built for, but that didn’t seem to be an example of that. You do unlock that later on, but you have to like progress this. (0:19:31) Al: But the disadvantage of that over your standard up upgrading your watering can and now you can do like 20 at once instead you have to like individually press on all 20 and then it doesn’t manually the disadvantage of that is it still takes the same amount of time in game to water even when you have the highest level watering. (0:19:32) Micah: Oh, okay. (0:19:56) Micah: - Oh. (0:19:57) Al: So, because it’s just doing them all individually. (0:19:59) Micah: Oh. (laughs) (0:20:01) Al: Right? You don’t have to manually let go that one and now that one, you can like swipe (0:20:05) Al: over them and go like, want you to do all these or in the case of the controller, you (0:20:09) Al: can just press and drag, but it takes so long. Whereas in other farming games, you upgrade (0:20:15) Al: the watering can and you hold it down and then you’ve watered it all immediately rather (0:20:19) Al: than having to wait for your character to like go and individually water all of these (0:20:23) Al: 20 things. Such a weird decision. (0:20:28) Al: The other one is the, I unlocked sprinklers. (0:20:31) Al: And boy are the sprinklers weird in this game. (0:20:35) Al: First of all, you only unlock the top level of sprinkler after you’ve finished the game, (0:20:41) Al: which is the only one worth doing. (0:20:43) Al: Because your first level of sprinkler is just your four spots, top, bottom, left, right. (0:20:49) Micah: Yeah. (0:20:49) Al: Never do them. They are never worth it. (0:20:52) Micah: Oh. (0:20:52) Al: And your second level of sprinkler is three by three, so you get eight spaces. (0:20:59) Al: Okay, but you’ll do (0:21:01) Al: not unlock that until I think it’s chapter 7 of 10. And by that point, you probably don’t need it. (0:21:07) Al: Like, you’ve probably got most of what you need. And then at the end of the game, (0:21:08) Micah: - You just passed the point of, yeah. (0:21:12) Al: you finally unlock the one that’s five by five. But the problem is, it doesn’t fit in the plots (0:21:18) Al: properly. So the bottom plot is six by five. So you put it in there, and you’ve got one line of (0:21:24) Al: five that doesn’t get watered by it. And you can’t and you can’t put the sprinklers outside of it. (0:21:31) Al: You either have 24 fed by one sprinkler and then five manual, or 24 by one sprinkler and (0:21:39) Al: four by another sprinkler. It’s like, I’m not going to do a whole other because those are expensive. (0:21:45) Al: You have like, I think it’s 12 different gems, including diamonds, which you can only get in (0:21:49) Al: the bottom level of mine. I’m not going to waste all of those gems for four watered spaces. (0:21:56) Micah: Well, yeah (0:21:57) Al: And then you’ve got the other ones are… I know. (0:21:58) Micah: What a weird oversight (0:22:01) Al: The other plots that you unlock are something by four, not by five. (0:22:10) Al: So you’re just you’re wasting time. So I have one, which is eight by five. (0:22:14) Al: And I’ve got two watering cans on that. Sorry, two sprinklers on that. (0:22:19) Al: So they’re using up two spaces, which by the way, feels a lot more of space in this game (0:22:23) Al: than it does in any other farming game, because you’ve got such restricted space to use. (0:22:29) Al: I’m like, if it was late. (0:22:31) Al: out differently, it would almost all be covered by one sprinkler. (0:22:36) Al: It’s just such a weird decision. I don’t understand why they’ve made these decisions. (0:22:37) Micah: Hey, yeah, that’s really strange (0:22:41) Micah: And it it makes me wonder if it was like, I don’t know (0:22:45) Micah: I can’t even really think of a scenario for why that would be the kid like maybe they (0:22:50) Micah: Just missed it or like they thought that maybe it was like automated (0:22:55) Micah: You know (0:22:57) Micah: Calculations or something and it was just wrong for that. I don’t know (0:23:01) Micah: It’s it just feels like it would be something that someone would catch and be like, oh (0:23:05) Micah: We either have to like (0:23:07) Micah: Change the size of this plot a little bit or change the, you know, the ratio of spaces that this sprinkler covers, I don’t know, it’s odd. (0:23:17) Al: I think it would have been better to be like a sprinkler covers a row and then when you unlock (0:23:27) Al: the higher ones they cover more rows. So it would mean that you could have like one that would cover (0:23:33) Al: four rows and that would mean you could have one sprinkler for a section and you put it at the side (0:23:38) Al: so it doesn’t use up a crop space because crop spaces are so limited here and it would feel just (0:23:43) Al: much less frustrating in terms of the numbers. They’ve just taken (0:23:47) Al: a sprinkler in a normal farming game and put it into this game that is not done in (0:23:52) Al: a normal way because they’ve thought about it completely differently. (0:23:54) Micah: - Yeah, that’s very odd. (0:23:57) Al: The final thing I have to say is that I don’t know what we did we talk about the soil health (0:24:03) Al: in our episode. I can’t remember if we did. I don’t think we did because I don’t think (0:24:05) Micah: Hmm, I don’t remember I don’t think we did (0:24:09) Al: I don’t think we’d either of us had come across that. So soil health degrades in the get in this (0:24:15) Al: this game, which is (0:24:16) Micah: Okay. I don’t know that I even witnessed that on my, in my own. (0:24:17) Al: very much like a realism wins over fun part of this game. (0:24:24) Al: Yeah, so it does happen. (0:24:26) Al: You just probably aren’t noticing it because you don’t get told about it until (0:24:30) Al: you unlock a better fertilizer maker later on. (0:24:30) Micah: Oh, okay. (0:24:34) Al: And then they’re like, oh, your soil health. (0:24:37) Al: If you click on this fertilizer maker, you can see your soil health. (0:24:40) Al: You’re like, oh, everything is sad. (0:24:44) Al: And so you basically have to, after a– (0:24:47) Al: after a harvest of things, you have to let it sit for a bunch of days. (0:24:51) Al: And when I say a bunch of days, I mean, it feels like it’s like half a month. (0:24:54) Al: You have to let it sit for to go back to its full soil health. (0:24:58) Al: Or you can use some compost to speed it up, (0:25:01) Al: but the compost is like really awkward to craft or cost 2,500 per compost. (0:25:08) Al: It is so expensive. (0:25:10) Al: And so you spend the time rotating which plots you’re actually using for crops (0:25:16) Al: and not actually (0:25:18) Al: do anything about it, and it’s not actually doing what you want to do, and this is very much like, I understand you’re going for realism here, because that is what happens in real life, you have to rotate your crops, you have to rotate your soil, blah blah blah blah blah, but I’m not doing this for realism, right, like, it makes… (0:25:32) Micah: Yeah, if there’s I mean, I respect to the to some degree, (0:25:41) Micah: the the idea of making the the mechanics feel like they work (0:25:48) Micah: realistically the way that it would in the real world. But (0:25:50) Micah: like, if nothing else in the game really feels like it is (0:25:54) Micah: adhering very strictly to realism, then you know, I don’t (0:25:59) Micah: know that that’s really, I’m not really. (0:26:03) Micah: For realistic mechanics and I’m playing a harvest moon or like a story of seasons game, you know, like I don’t know. (0:26:10) Al: It’s always a balance for these things, where that very much is on the “no, I don’t want this” part of (0:26:12) Micah: Right. (0:26:17) Al: the thing. Oh, there’s one thing I just remembered. Horses, right? Neither of us have gotten far enough (0:26:23) Al: to buy a horse in the last episode. You can buy horses, you cannot ride the horses around the town. (0:26:24) Micah: Oh. Okay. What is the point? What do you do with them? Okay. Okay. All right. Again, maybe (0:26:34) Al: You can ride it around the paddock, but that’s it. Why would you do that? For fun, that’s it. (0:26:40) Al: That’s literally the only purpose. Why would you bother doing that? I have no idea. No idea. (0:26:46) Micah: something that was intended to be added and the future of it. Just never. (0:26:50) Al: But why can you… I don’t understand how you can ride it in one area and not in another area. (0:26:56) Al: It just has a wall, and you can’t go through it. Why? (0:27:02) Micah: It’s fascinating. I I don’t know him. Maybe there’s just some like maybe they couldn’t (0:27:10) Micah: get the pathing right or something and they just were like I will fix this later. I don’t know. (0:27:15) Micah: There’s there’s a lot in that game that feels to me like we’ll fix it later. (0:27:18) Al: Oh, that’s it, actually. So you know the press on the map and it will automatically go there. (0:27:25) Micah: Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. So that’s either okay. (0:27:26) Al: I bet that doesn’t work with horses. That’ll be why you can’t do it. (0:27:33) Micah: We’ll fix it later or we can’t figure it. We can’t figure it out. So we’re just (0:27:38) Micah: not going to include it at all. One of the two. (0:27:39) Al: Yeah. Bizarre. Bizarre decision. But there we are. It was good enough for me to finish apparently. (0:27:50) Al: And I guess tune in next time to see whether I will continue trying to finish the achievements. (0:27:57) Micah: I wish you the best of luck, Godspeed. (0:28:02) Al: I’m definitely going to do the 50 of each crop one because that I’m nearly done with that. (0:28:07) Al: I literally have everything growing for that. Like in a week in game, that woman will be done. (0:28:14) Micah: Yeah. Well, I wish you the best of luck. (0:28:16) Al: But I don’t. (0:28:20) Micah: It currently I just was out of curiosity. (0:28:22) Micah: I wanted to see on the Google Play Store. (0:28:24) Micah: It currently has a three point two out of five, which is. (0:28:27) Al: that feels fair yeah I would say that feels fair (0:28:28) Micah: A thousand reviews. (0:28:31) Micah: Yeah, I kind of feel like maybe that is accurate. (0:28:35) Micah: Oh, it says it was updated on December 10th. (0:28:38) Al: yeah that was that update it dropped like two days after we recorded that was the one with the (0:28:40) Micah: Oh, was it? (0:28:43) Micah: - Oh. (0:28:44) Micah: - Got it, got it, got it. Okay. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah, interesting. I guess we’ll see what happens. (0:28:45) Al: cloud save and the controller support which is the only reason i’m playing the game because of (0:28:51) Al: controller support I couldn’t keep playing it on the touch screen but the controller support is (0:28:55) Al: It’s actually pretty good. (0:28:57) Al: Well, there we go. (0:29:01) Al: I rushed this week to make sure I’d finished so I could talk to you about it, because I (0:29:05) Al: was like, I’m so close, I must finish before I talk to Micah. (0:29:09) Al: So there we go. (0:29:10) Micah: I’m impressed that you completed it and I’m proud of you and (0:29:10) Al: Hit credits in that game. (0:29:14) Al: Well, yeah, it’s better than, it’s better than Sugardew Valley, Sugardew Island, sorry. (0:29:15) Micah: I hope that it was worth it. (0:29:19) Micah: It wasn’t intended to sound as meat as it did. (0:29:27) Al: Well, the problem is, it’s like five bits into the game news. (0:29:28) Micah: Is that a, is that a segue? Is that a, (0:29:31) Micah: I can’t tell if that was an intentional segue or not. (0:29:37) Al: So let’s just go through the, let’s talk about some news. (0:29:39) Micah: Okay. All right. (0:29:42) Al: Tales of the Shire has been delayed again. (0:29:45) Micah: Yeah. (0:29:46) Al: Can I just say, please stop putting a date on your game, right? (0:29:49) Micah: Yeah. At this point, at this point, just like wait until you are close enough (0:29:49) Al: Just stop it. (0:29:54) Micah: that you can say, Hey, it’s coming in a couple of weeks, you know? (0:29:59) Micah: Cause that’s always like a kind of a fun surprise too. (0:30:02) Micah: When something has a sudden release date like that, uh, I, yeah. (0:30:08) Al: Yes, it is murder for organizing a podcast about games but yes, I will agree I can see why people would find that fun. Yeah. (0:30:13) Micah: - True, yeah. (0:30:16) Al: It’s now coming out on the 29th of July. So, well, maybe we’ll see. That’s what they’re currently saying, but we’re on our third release date so far so let’s see what happens. (0:30:26) Micah: Yeah, I was looking at some of the, you know, against my better judgment, some of the discourse (0:30:35) Micah: under this post, just to see what, how people felt about it. Because my initial reaction whenever (0:30:40) Micah: there’s a delay like this is, okay, that’s, you know, if you need more time, take the time, (0:30:46) Micah: work on it, perfect it, whatever. And that was, I feel like maybe a good 40 to 50% of the sentiment (0:30:55) Micah: and the other. (0:30:56) Micah: 50 to 60% was in the kind of camp of worry that because this is the second time that they’ve delayed it that if things maybe are not going great development wise but I feel like. (0:31:11) Al: Yeah, I never understand that because it’s like, no, people are just being overly optimistic about (0:31:17) Al: these things. As someone who works in, not in game development, but in software development, (0:31:18) Micah: Mm-hmm (0:31:21) Micah: Yeah, oh, yeah (0:31:21) Al: that happens all the time, right? People will be like, oh, this is when it needs to happen. (0:31:26) Al: And then other people will be like, it’s not going to happen by then, but it gets set as the date (0:31:31) Al: anyway. And then the day comes around and it hasn’t happened. And it’s like, you can’t make (0:31:35) Al: it happen, right? Like, there’s only a certain amount you can actually do. And adding more people (0:31:40) Al: belong does not actually improve. (0:31:41) Al: And sometimes it just takes more time. (0:31:44) Al: Like I could, I find this, you know, with, with, with Pokemon every time, right? (0:31:49) Al: Where people are like, Oh, they just need to add more people. (0:31:52) Al: Adding more people does not speed up development times. (0:31:54) Micah: - Mm-hmm. (0:31:55) Al: Adding more people quite often slows things down. (0:31:58) Al: It’s not worth it. (0:31:59) Al: Right. (0:32:00) Al: And sometimes you just need the time. (0:32:02) Al: I just, you can clearly see this as a fight between marketing and development. (0:32:07) Al: Um, I don’t think, I don’t think it’s a sign of like serious (0:32:08) Micah: 100%. I don’t think so either. I think people’s gut reaction is to look at, you know, other games (0:32:18) Micah: that have gone into development hell and have never made them their way out. And that’s the (0:32:24) Micah: concern. And I, you know, I, it seemed, especially for the people that were kind of that had this (0:32:31) Micah: sentiment or it’s coming from a place of like concern because they’re excited for the game, (0:32:36) Micah: You know I’m like (0:32:39) Micah: concern because they want it to be really good which is like better than you know just saying like well I don’t you know this game’s doomed or whatever you know I’m just like not really just being a doomer about it just to be a doomer but I do think from my personal experiences with stuff like this too I do think that if they were looking at something that does (0:33:08) Micah: close to like a development hell they would probably not put a second release date on it it probably would be something along the lines of we need a little bit more time to work on it and we’ll update you in the future and then at that point we probably would hear maybe a couple things and then nothing ever again but because they are putting a release date on it it makes me think that you know maybe there’s if it hits a if we get another delay after this then yeah I think it’s time to be a little bit (0:33:38) Micah: concerned about it you know it I think because they have a release date that if they missed a second release date or a third release date now if they miss it then there’s gonna be you know it’s there’s a lot more stake in that which like you know kind of contradicts what we’re saying about like just don’t put a release date on it but (0:34:00) Al: I guess the problem is those are two different things. We’re talking about just in general, (0:34:04) Al: don’t give a release date unless you actually know when it’s coming out. I guess it’s difficult (0:34:10) Al: when you’ve given a release date and now you’re like, oh, we don’t know now that I get worries (0:34:16) Al: people. And so I get why they kind of have to do that now because otherwise people are going to (0:34:20) Al: start, as you say, assuming the worst. But I’ve said it so many times, I do not think people (0:34:30) Al: put a release date on it until you are at most a month away. Give us a year, sure, (0:34:37) Al: because when people go, oh, we need some more time, it’s going to be next year. People are (0:34:41) Al: generally fine with that, especially if you’re near the end of the year, they expect that that’s (0:34:44) Al: going to happen. And then when you’re like, oh, I’m pretty confident, then you can say, oh, (0:34:50) Al: it will happen in the second half or the quarter three or whatever. But don’t give us a date until (0:34:54) Micah: Yeah, yep, definitely. (0:34:56) Al: you know it’s if you wouldn’t release it today don’t get (0:35:00) Al: as a date because it’s not gonna happen and like there are so few companies that do that (0:35:00) Micah: Right. (0:35:06) Al: they give you a date and it comes out on that date and you know one of the big ones is pokemon (0:35:12) Al: and it doesn’t always work out well for them right they give you a date six months out and (0:35:14) Micah: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think Nintendo stuff in (0:35:17) Al: they release on that date and then it’s not a great game i’m so excited to see what happens (0:35:21) Micah: Yeah, yep (0:35:23) Micah: Gosh (0:35:25) Micah: You know Pokemon days next week. So I guess we’ll see what happens with (0:35:31) Micah: with (0:35:32) Micah: You know it when they’ve got a little bit more time to cook it. We’ll see what happens (0:35:36) Al: Well, there’s a big assumption there that they actually have taken more time, (0:35:40) Al: because we don’t actually know when the when development started on this game. (0:35:40) Micah: Yeah, that’s true. You’re right. (0:35:44) Micah: You know, and this, this applies to Tales of the Shire too, I think, but, but also for Pokemon. (0:35:49) Micah: We’re also, something to take into account is that we’re in the midst of the, of a, um, generation (0:35:58) Micah: jump where like, you know, maybe that’s not necessarily the case as much for Tales of the (0:36:03) Micah: Shire, but I could see it being a possibility where they know that a large user base for cozy (0:36:11) Micah: games like this is on the switch. (0:36:14) Micah: Or on handheld, maybe like the Steam Deck or something like that. (0:36:20) Micah: And if they’re taking time because they know a little bit more about like maybe, I don’t (0:36:28) Micah: know, a release window for Switch 2 or they’re trying to, you know, co-develop a Switch and (0:36:31) Al: Well, that’s an interesting point. (0:36:37) Micah: Switch 2 version so that they can release it on both, you know, some of that stuff tends (0:36:42) Micah: to throw a wrench in the (0:36:44) Micah: things that is kind of like not expected. (0:36:48) Al: For most games, I would say there’s no way that that is part of this delay, but I feel like (0:36:57) Al: I could see them have it like I could see that if they are I could see they could already have (0:37:02) Al: a switch to dev kit because we know that some developers do that has been leaked. There are (0:37:04) Micah: - Mm-hmm, yep. (0:37:06) Al: developers that have it. Indies almost certainly won’t have it like there might be maybe some a (0:37:12) Al: couple of big indies like maybe silk song for example is maybe that team cherry that’s what (0:37:18) Al: isn’t it maybe they have one I could maybe see for example concerned ape having one (0:37:26) Al: I could see these developers having one and so maybe that’s part of it that is a big possibility (0:37:34) Al: I would say for most people it wouldn’t be the case but I could I could see Nintendo (0:37:38) Micah: Oh, yeah, 100 percent. (0:37:39) Al: I could see Nintendo going yeah no the the people that are developing a cozy game (0:37:44) Al: about Lord of the Rings, yeah, let’s make sure that they are ready for this. (0:37:46) Micah: Yeah, it’s the token property and it’s the what a workshop like that’s there’s a lot this. (0:37:48) Al: Yeah. (0:37:56) Micah: They’re not, you know, small money. So, but, you know, and if it is that they’re taking time to, to be able to have that ready for in the event of, you know, switch to or whatever they’re working on that. (0:38:12) Micah: get and that gives them the opportunity to make sure that it’s (0:38:16) Micah: a steam deck verified and stuff like that, that really (0:38:20) Micah: improves that experience for their core audience, I think. I (0:38:25) Micah: mean, they, you know, there’s always going to be people who (0:38:27) Micah: are playing on PC or PS5 or Xbox or whatever, but cozy games, I (0:38:34) Micah: think it’s pretty safe to say the, the, you know, the core of (0:38:40) Micah: the audience is, is playing either on the switch or handled (0:38:44) Micah: to some degree so. (0:38:46) Micah: Um, I could see that being a, again, we won’t know until it’s, till we see something (0:38:55) Micah: come of it. (0:38:56) Micah: Maybe there’s, uh, you know, things coincide, like we can kind of piece together, but yeah, (0:39:03) Micah: I guess we’ll see. (0:39:04) Micah: We’ll see what happens when July 29th rolls around. (0:39:08) Al: Yeah, I mean you never know we might I would say we don’t necessarily have to wait till then because if it is our switch to thing (0:39:08) Micah: I’m very excited for it though. (0:39:15) Al: There will 100% be some games announced in April (0:39:18) Micah: Oh, sure, yeah. (0:39:20) Al: They’ll be like, you know (0:39:22) Al: Stardew Valley is going to be a switch to version that does this or whatever and maybe this will be one of them (0:39:29) Al: Who knows? I’m not saying this will definitely happen. You’ve not heard it here first. We’re not saying (0:39:35) Al: The Tales of the Shire is going to be switched to… (0:39:38) Al: but I could see it happening and I’m excited for A-1. (0:39:44) Micah: - Yeah, me too. (0:39:45) Micah: I’m also excited just for this game in general. (0:39:47) Micah: I’m very excited for this game. (0:39:50) Al: Next we have, okay, I think it’s just meant to be fantasy. (0:39:55) Al: Is it Fantasy Life I? (0:39:56) Al: Is that how you’re meant to say these games? (0:39:58) Al: Because I know this is a series of games, (0:40:00) Al: but I don’t know if it’s just Fantasy Life I. (0:40:02) Micah: This is the first one that has I in the title. So I yeah, this is this is a new experience (0:40:06) Al: Oh, is it really? (0:40:08) Al: Amazing. (0:40:09) Al: Okay, perfect. (0:40:11) Al: No notes. (0:40:12) Al: Fantasy Life I, the girl who steals time, (0:40:15) Al: we have a release date for this. (0:40:18) Al: So it’s coming on the 21st of. (0:40:20) Al: May and also it’s now coming to Steam and PlayStation and Xbox. (0:40:26) Al: So it was previously meant to just be on Switch and I believe it was a 3DS game. (0:40:32) Al: The previous one. (0:40:33) Micah: it was they also had a mobile game that did not do too great um you know they did the the uh (0:40:36) Al: Oh, surprise, surprise. (0:40:42) Micah: classic level five maneuver of just kind of abandoning it once it you know didn’t really (0:40:49) Micah: take off the way they’d hoped it did so uh it is no longer functional as a as a mobile game so uh (0:40:54) Al: Well, this is only this, if you ignore the mobile game, this is only the second game (0:41:01) Micah: Yes. Yeah. There was a. (0:41:04) Micah: Like a the way that it released in Japan was it was fantasy life and they did fantasy life link which added extra stuff to it. So it was like, you know, a definitive version of it and then we got the West got the like full release of it. (0:41:20) Micah: So there’s some like kind of weird stuff with it, you know, but yeah, this is ultimately just the second one. (0:41:28) Micah: One of the best games on the 3DS in my opinion. (0:41:33) Micah: It’s a fantastic game. (0:41:34) Al: And this, I did not realize that this was the Yokai and Professor Leighton people. (0:41:40) Micah: It is. (0:41:41) Al: So there you go. (0:41:42) Micah: Yep. Level five big fan level five. (0:41:42) Al: Now we know. (0:41:44) Micah: I’m a little bit apprehensive about anything that they’re doing from this point on because they have been very deep in the generative A.I. (0:41:55) Al: Ow. (0:41:57) Micah: You know, they did like a they recently showed off their. (0:42:03) Micah: I guess spiritual successor to Yokai Watch, which is something hotel. I can’t remember some haunted hotel property and pretty much the entire trailer was like generative A.I. (0:42:14) Al: Is that holy hardware man? (0:42:15) Micah: So I am. Yes, that’s it. That is it. (0:42:19) Micah: So I’m hoping that because this was prior to their big like this game existed prior to their big like push into generative A.I. that like hopefully it doesn’t, you know. (0:42:33) Micah: I don’t know. We’ll see. We’ll see. I have a very strong love hate relationship with level five at this point. (0:42:38) Micah: So I’m very excited and also nervous about this because I love fantasy life. (0:42:47) Micah: It’s such a good game on the 3DS, but hopefully it’s good. (0:42:51) Al: Yeah, it looks interesting. I like the graphics and everything, (0:42:57) Al: and I’m excited to try it out when it releases in May. (0:43:00) Micah: It’s got cross play - which is (0:43:03) Al: Yes, across everything. Multiplayer across play. Very cool. (0:43:04) Micah: Always excited for cross play (0:43:08) Micah: Monster hunter is doing that. I’m very hopeful that this is the future of (0:43:15) Micah: Multiplayer in general that everybody’s gonna be doing cross play (0:43:18) Al: Yes, I can understand when you’ve got a competitive game, you don’t want keyboard and mouse players (0:43:26) Al: playing with controller players, but the problem with that argument is always, well, you can (0:43:32) Al: be a controller player on a PC. (0:43:36) Al: And so you can’t restrict that. (0:43:39) Al: So why restrict the other things? (0:43:41) Al: I do think if they do something like that, I like when they do options. (0:43:46) Al: You can either be just with people on… (0:43:48) Al: your system, or you can be with anyone. (0:43:51) Al: And in this case, it doesn’t really matter because it’s just co-op, right? (0:43:54) Al: It does not a competitive, you know, every millisecond counts type of game anyway. (0:44:00) Micah: Yeah jock i’m actually shy about that I guess because it’s not a like normal thing these days (0:44:01) Al: It also has two-player local co-op. (0:44:11) Al: No, it’s cool. (0:44:12) Micah: so that’s pretty neat (0:44:14) Al: And next we have the garden path have released their co-op update. (0:44:20) Al: So you can probably guess what that brings to the game. (0:44:24) Micah: Would you say that it’s co-op? (0:44:26) Al: Yes. (0:44:29) Al: Interestingly, so if you actually look in the patch notes, (0:44:32) Al: the first update is players can now hold hands in multiplayer (0:44:36) Al: by selecting the emote in the emote selector. (0:44:38) Al: like her. I love how they’ve put in the effort to allow you to hold (0:44:41) Al: hands. There you go. I haven’t played this game. That’s all (0:44:42) Micah: I love that. (0:44:50) Micah: - Yeah, I haven’t either, so it looks interesting. (0:44:56) Micah: I mean, I really like the art style and stuff. (0:44:59) Micah: I just, yeah, it hasn’t been on my radar enough. (0:45:02) Al: Well, a game that has been on our radar, but probably not as much as we originally thought it might, is Spirit Tea. (0:45:10) Al: They have released their Phantom Friends update, which brings you can now have Spirits as Pets, which is a fun little addition. (0:45:19) Al: I think if you’re enjoying that game, this will be a nice little addition to that. (0:45:24) Micah: It looks very cute (0:45:25) Al: Also, as always with the Spirit Tea update, there’s new Spirits and Quests as well. (0:45:26) Micah: It’s a cat spirit (0:45:31) Al: Bye. (0:45:32) Al: Oh yes, Sugardew Island. (0:45:35) Al: So I would. (0:45:36) Micah: - We made it. (0:45:37) Micah: - We got, we got there. (0:45:39) Al: Goodness me, I wouldn’t normally bring up an update this small for a game, (0:45:45) Al: especially a game like Sugardew Island, which I don’t think should exist. (0:45:49) Al: But they have updated a few things that I complained about in my last episode (0:45:55) Al: when I reviewed it, so I felt like I should bring those up because if those (0:46:00) Al: specific things and not (0:46:02) Al: everything else that I said about the game with the reasons that you’re not playing it, (0:46:05) Al: then maybe you will now. So selling items in the shop no longer requires energy. Hurray. Fantastic. (0:46:13) Al: Just what we want. And you can now craft energy bars so you don’t have to go and just buy them. (0:46:19) Al: You can craft them, which is good because that was a weird decision not to allow you to eat (0:46:24) Al: anything you grow. But as I say in my show notes here, it is still not. (0:46:32) Al: A good game. So there we go. (0:46:35) Micah: I- I’m so curious, I’m just so cu- oh there’s a demo so I guess I don’t need to be that curious. (0:46:43) Al: Yes, the demo is out now. If you want to try it, feel free. (0:46:43) Micah: I can just try it. (0:46:47) Micah: I- I feel like I have to, it’s just so fascinating to me and how like anti-SugarDew Island you are makes me want to try it. (0:46:56) Al: This is the thing, I don’t like being negative about games. (0:47:02) Al: And I was talking in the Slack to some of the patrons and I was like, I don’t think (0:47:06) Al: I’ve ever been this negative about the game that I’ve covered on the podcast. (0:47:11) Al: And it’s like, every example that people brought up about a game I was negative about, it was, (0:47:15) Al: I don’t like this, but it’s not for me. (0:47:19) Al: Other people will. (0:47:20) Al: I understand it. (0:47:21) Al: It’s like, I did not like my time at Porsche, but that was because I really didn’t like (0:47:24) Al: how the crafting worked. (0:47:26) Al: If we’re ignoring all of the Switch issues with that game. (0:47:30) Al: You know, and all the, like, the Harvest Moon’s… (0:47:33

Great product decisions don't just happen, they're crafted with careful thought and strategy. In this episode of Product Confidential, Phil Hornby, a seasoned product leader, dives into the critical aspects of product management, with a focus on decision-making and how AI is reshaping these processes. He reflects on the evolution of his book and the importance of thoughtful decision-making that balances data, evidence, and intuition. Phil also highlights the role of human accountability in decision-making, even as AI tools become more prevalent. He discusses the shift from feature-based to problem-based roadmaps, the need for tailored roadmaps to meet diverse audience needs, and the efficiency of streamlined roadmapping processes. Additionally, Phil emphasizes the value of discovery roadmaps in managing uncertainty and ensuring clarity throughout product development.Takeaways✅ Making a good product requires extensive discovery and research.✅ AI will become a standard tool in product management, but human decision-making remains crucial.✅ High-quality decisions are more important than labeling decisions as good or bad.✅ Data alone does not inform decisions; it must be interpreted alongside evidence and intuition.✅ Reflection on past decisions is key to improving decision-making skills.✅ Different organizations may prioritise intuition or data differently in their decision-making processes.✅ Combining data, anecdotes, and intuition leads to better decision-making outcomes.✅ The role of product managers will evolve as AI tools enhance productivity. Understanding your own emotions versus intuition is crucial.✅ Explicit thinking helps in making informed decisions.✅ Roadmaps should evolve from features to problems.✅ Tailoring roadmaps for different audiences enhances communication.✅ Efficient roadmapping should not consume excessive time.✅ Discovery roadmaps help clarify the unknowns in product development.✅ Visual storytelling can improve roadmap engagement.✅ Different views of roadmaps cater to various stakeholders.✅ Aligning roadmaps with strategic goals is essential for success.✅ Choosing the right tools for the conversation is key. Books mentioned:✨ Clear Thinking by Shane Parrish: https://a.co/d/fqtrIO1✨ Data Story by Nancy Duarte: https://a.co/d/cI22QNSFind Phil Hornby here:Website: https://www.forproductpeople.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhornby/Read Phil's book:It Depends: https://www.forproductpeople.com/content/books/it-dependsIf you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review—it helps others discover Product Confidential!

Während Apple hat nächste Woche ein neues Familienmitglied vorstellt, lässt sich OpenAI Zeit. Anthropic hat sich angeschaut wie wir AI nutzen und prognostiziert $34,5 Milliarden Umsatz in 2027. Arm baut Chips für Meta. Für Chris schauen wir uns endlich die Zahlen von AppLovin an. Dazu gibt es noch Earnings von Reddit, TheTradeDesk, Airbnb, Adyen. Entdecke die Angebote unserer Werbepartner auf doppelgaenger.io/werbung. Vielen Dank! Philipp Glöckler und Philipp Klöckner sprechen heute über: (00:00:00) Apple (00:02:50) OpenAI (00:05:15) Anthropic (00:17:30) Arm (00:19:30) AppLovin (00:27:45) Reddit (00:37:20) Adyen (00:40:00) TheTradeDesk (00:43:10) Robinhood (00:50:00) Coinbase (00:50:40) Airbnb (00:58:50) Datadog (00:59:00) Boulevard Corner Shownotes OpenAI verschiebt sein o3-KI-Modell zugunsten einer „einheitlichen“ Version für die nächste Generation TechCrunch Anthropic prognostiziert rasantes Wachstum auf 34,5 Milliarden Dollar Umsatz im Jahr 2027 The Information Der „Index“ von Anthropic verfolgt die KI-Wirtschaft Axios Arm sichert sich Meta als ersten Kunden für ehrgeiziges neues Chip-Projekt Reuters Google Maps zeigt tatsächlich „(Golf von Amerika)“ an, während Google ... lilyraynyc

As helpful as they can be, product roadmaps are not always enough. To closely align a group of products and ensure that they all move in the same direction, you'll benefit from a portfolio roadmap. In this episode, I explain what a product portfolio roadmap is. I share a template to help you build your own outcome-based portfolio roadmap. I show how you can connect your portfolio roadmap to the portfolio strategy and use it to direct the product roadmaps, and I describe who should be involved in developing the plan.

Post-Gazette sports columnist Paul Zeise reacts to the day in Pittsburgh sports news live around 5 p.m. Eastern. What can GM Omar Khan, coach Mike Tomlin and the Steelers learn from the group of QBs remaining in the NFL playoffs? What should we expect from those players in the AFC and NFC championships this week? Will Josh Allen and the Bills finally get the better of Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs? Can Jayden Daniels and the Commanders keep their meteoric rise going against Jalen Hurts and the Eagles? And what does it all mean as the futures of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields hang in the balance? Later, Paul gives his thoughts on what we've learned about the AFC North from HBO's "Hard Knocks" and Joey Porter Jr.'s vow to improve. Then Post-Gazette Pirates insider Noah Hiles joins the show to react to Piratesfest and GM Ben Cherington's inability to make many moves of note in MLB free agency so far.

Extra long episode this week as we dig through a bunch of 2025 roadmap news for all our favorite MMORPGs. That and more on this episode of the New Overlords Podcast with Sema and @MaxTheGrey. MP3 Direct Download Link YouTube Link Catch us in Discord at http://newoverlords.com/discord for notes on when we record live and … New Overlords Podcast 541: 2025 MMO Roadmaps Read More » The post New Overlords Podcast 541: 2025 MMO Roadmaps first appeared on NEW OVERLORDS.

Olga Kordonouri, MD - Confronting the Silent Progression of Type 1 Diabetes: Rationales and Roadmaps for Early Detection and Proactive Intervention

Olga Kordonouri, MD - Confronting the Silent Progression of Type 1 Diabetes: Rationales and Roadmaps for Early Detection and Proactive Intervention

In this episode, I walk you through building your online yoga or wellness business in 2025 with two complete month-by-month roadmaps. Whether you're just starting out or ready to scale, you'll learn exactly what to focus on each month to create sustainable growth.These strategic roadmaps cover two different business paths: a low-ticket to signature course route perfect for those just getting started, and a high-ticket to low-ticket funnel designed for people who already have an audience and are ready to scale up.This isn't about following a rigid formula – it's about having a clear framework that you can adapt to your unique vision and lifestyle. Your gifts and teachings deserve to reach more people, and with the right strategy and support, you can create a thriving online business that gives you the freedom and impact you dream of.➡️ Join the Blissful Biz Academy, the all-access pass for yoga teachers who are ready to create, launch and scale digital courses and build their dream online business.

What's the secret to building better products? Letting engineers drive the vision.This week, host Ben Lloyd Pearson interviews Austin Spiegel, co-founder and CTO of Sift Stack, who previously spent years leading engineering teams at SpaceX. Austin reveals how SpaceX's unique engineering culture, which eliminated the product management layer,  influenced his approach to building Sift Stack, including the implementation of a forward-deployed engineering team.Learn how this approach leads to faster development cycles, happier customers, and more innovative products. Austin also argues that we're entering a new era where the most valuable engineers aren't just skilled coders, but also savvy business thinkers. He believes that as software development becomes easier due to the proliferation of AI, engineers who can connect their technical expertise with a deep understanding of customer needs and market trends will have a significant competitive advantage.Show Notes:2025 Engineering Benchmarks Insights WebinarRead The secret to better products? Let engineers drive visionFollow Sift Stack on LinkedInSupport the show: Subscribe to our Substack Leave us a review Subscribe on YouTube Follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn Offers: Learn about Continuous Merge with gitStream Get your DORA Metrics free forever

Let's talk about the complexities of finding happiness as parents of children with disabilities.    - Find roadmaps or embrace the present? -  When are Roadmaps important? -  What are the 6 important check points before delving into Radical Acceptance?      

Tito's back, catching you up on his hiatus, the new set, and the upcoming changes in hearthstone!

In this episode, Bradley reflects on recent travels and the significance of having a clear roadmap in business. Drawing from his long drives, flights, and personal experiences, he shares how business journeys, like travel, are rarely straightforward. You'll face inevitable detours and decisions, requiring constant recalibration to stay on course.Bradley discusses creating a tangible roadmap with a three-year vision, one-year objectives, and quarterly targets. This framework not only guides you toward long-term goals but also serves as a tool to realign when challenges arise, helping you keep your business on track.Thanks to our sponsors...BlueprintOS equips business owners to design and install an operating system that runs like clockwork. Through BlueprintOS, you will grow and develop your leadership, clarify your culture and business game plan, align your operations with your KPIs, develop a team of A-Players, and execute your playbooks. Download the FREE Rainmaker to Architect Starter Kit at https://start.blueprintos.com! Autopilot Recruiting is a continuous recruiting service where you'll be assigned a recruiter that has been trained to recruit on your behalf every business day. Go to www.autopilotrecruiting.com to get started.Coach P found great success as an insurance agent and agency owner. He leads a large, stable team of professionals who are at the top of their game year after year. Now he shares the systems, processes, delegation, and specialization he developed along the way. Gain access to weekly training calls and mentoring at www.coachpconsulting.com. Be sure to mention the Above The Business Podcast when you get in touch.TodayApp is a corporate approved app that allows you to build custom activities and track all your commissions and bonus structures, and integrates perfectly with your CRM. It can even manage your employees' time, track production, have a leaderboard with metrics, and more. Contact Today App and for a custom demo and let them know you heard about them on The Above The Business Podcast. https://todayapppro.com/Club Capital is the ultimate partner for financial management and marketing services, designed specifically for insurance agencies, fitness franchises, and youth soccer organizations. As the nation's largest accounting and financial advisory firm for insurance agencies, Club Capital proudly serves over 1,000 agency locations across the country—and we're just getting started. With Club Capital, you get more than just services; you get a dedicated account manager backed by a team of specialists committed to your success. From monthly accounting and tax preparation to CFO services and innovative digital marketing, we've got you covered.Ready to experience the transformative power of Club Capital? Schedule your free demo today at club.capital and see the difference firsthand. Don't forget to visit club.capital and mention you heard about us on the Above The Business podcast!

In this episode of Cutting Edge: Web Content Development, host Jonathan Ames is joined by Tanu Javeri, Global Head of Search at Foundry, to explore the critical role of internal linking in SEO success. They discuss strategic approaches to internal linking, balancing user experience with search engine requirements, and practical tips for implementing effective internal linking strategies across large websites.

GET "GovClose" CERTIFIED: Earn up to $400K a year as a freelance GOVERNMENT CONTRACT CONSULTANT: https://www.govclose.com/sales-certification Hire A Trained Government Conrtracting Expert: https://govclose.com/contracts-training FREE BOOK: Download the "Government Contract Planner" For Free at https://www.dodcontract.com SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@dodcontractacademy/?sub_confirmation=1   This episode explores Gavin's journey to securing government contracts including cold calling, and his strategies for early engagement and rigorous market research. This episode offers practical advice and real-life examples of businesses navigating the complexities of government contracts for significant cost savings. 00:00 Introduction to Government Contracting Success 00:13 Meet Gavin Tice: From Sales Coach to GovClose Advisor 01:13 The Journey to Winning Government Contracts 02:42 Gavin's Background and Role in Government Contracting 04:44 Applying GovClose Learnings to Real-World Scenarios 06:48 Exploring Consulting Opportunities 07:59 Wins and Strategic Roadmaps in Government Sales 09:51 Support and Interaction in the GovClose Program 11:14 Engaging with Diverse Groups 12:00 Consulting Business Insights 12:42 The Unique Value of Government Contracting 13:05 Pricing and Expertise in Consulting 13:29 The Importance of Asking the Right Questions 13:53 Evaluating Skillsets and Competition 14:30 Navigating the Government Contracting Niche 15:24 The Value of Investing in Yourself 16:28 Practical Applications and Job Interviews 17:27 Business Development Projects 17:56 Market Research and Roadmaps 20:22 Concluding Thoughts and Next Steps

Industrial Talk is onsite at Accruent Insights and talking to Kristi Flores, CMO at Accruent about "It's all about listening and solving today's customer's challenges". Scott MacKenzie hosts an industrial talk podcast episode featuring Christie Flores, head of marketing and SVP of partner programs at Accruent. Christie discusses the importance of customer engagement and collaboration at the Accruent Insights 2024 conference in San Antonio, highlighting the event's significance for the company and its 500 attendees. She emphasizes the company's focus on innovation, user-friendly products, and cloud-first strategy. Christie also mentions the integration of AI and machine learning, supported by Ford of, to enhance business operations across various departments. The conversation underscores the value of community, networking, and continuous improvement in technology. Action Items [ ] Connect with Kristi Flores, SVP of Marketing and Partner Programs at Accruent, on LinkedIn or through the company website to discuss Accruent's solutions and how they can help your business. [ ] Explore how Accruent is leveraging AI and cloud technology to enhance their products and services, and understand how these capabilities can benefit your organization. [ ] Participate in Accruent's future user conferences and events to stay engaged with the company's product roadmap, provide feedback, and collaborate with other customers. Outline Accruent Insights 2024 Overview Scott MacKenzie introduces the podcast and welcomes listeners, emphasizing the importance of industrial professionals and their contributions. Scott mentions the current event, Accruent Insights 2024, held in San Antonio, Texas, highlighting its significance and the company's impact. Kristi Flores, the head of marketing and SVP of partner programs, joins the conversation, expressing her excitement about the event. Scott and Kristi discuss the venue's suitability for bringing people together, contrasting it with last year's venue at the Gaylord. Kristi Flores' Role and Event Importance Kristi introduces herself, detailing her responsibilities as the head of marketing and SVP of partner programs. Scott inquires about how Christie and her team distill the insights from the event into actionable items for customers. Kristi explains the various ways information is gathered, including one-on-one meetings and larger conferences, emphasizing the value of customer feedback. Kristi shares an example of a meeting where customer ideas sparked significant breakthroughs, highlighting the power of collaboration. Roadmaps and Innovation Scott asks about the roadmaps for each platform and solution, seeking clarification on how they are communicated to customers. Kristi describes the holistic vision for the company, focusing on connected ecosystems and efficient workflows. She provides examples of how products like Red Eye Maintenance are integrated to enhance customer experience. Kristi emphasizes the company's commitment to innovation, mentioning disruptive technologies like current space intelligence. User Experience and Cloud Strategy Scott and Kristi discuss the importance of user experience, aiming for intuitive interfaces that minimize clicks and provide immediate insights. Kristi highlights the company's focus on making products user-friendly and predictive, enhancing customer efficiency. Scott inquires about the company's transition to a cloud-first strategy, and Kristi confirms the...

After a disruptive summer Pat & Geoff sit down and talk over the summer releases from games workshop along with some awesome new offerings from Modiphius. Mass Effect the board game looks awesome and actually reasonably priced?! Join our Patreon: https://patreon.com/thepaintingphase Merch: https://thepaintingphase.creator-spring.com Help Support the channel with our affiliate links: UK: https://elementgames.co.uk/?d=10835 EUROPE: https://taschengelddieb.de/?affiliate=tpp UK & EU: https://affiliates.waylandgames.co.uk/idevaffiliate.php?id=1214 US: use code paintingphase to get 10% off at https://www.goblinshut.com/ H&S Airbrush: https://harder-airbrush.net/?sca_ref=5530415.aOjOVt339C Gaahleri airbrush: https://www.gaahleri.com/?ref=Thepaintingphase Follow us: https://www.instagram.com/thepaintingphase/ https://www.instagram.com/geoffsavory/ https://www.instagram.com/pileofshamepaints/ @fauxhammer Where we get our music: https://artlist.io/Patrick-75781 Contact us: thepaintingphase@gmail.com

Emily speaks with cybersecurity expert Terry Zimniak about balancing security spending with business development and the importance of penetration testing and backup plans. Terry shares insights from his shift from technical roles to overseeing security, including how strategic partnerships like Ascension Health's acquisition come with risks. They also discuss the role of frameworks like NIST CSF and the growing threat of AI in phishing and deepfake scams.Links Mentioned:Terry Zimniak's WebsiteCybersecurity Frameworks and Guides:          ◦ NIST Cybersecurity Framework          ◦ FTC Cybersecurity Guidance for Small BusinessesClarity Call with EmilyFree Resources:Strategic Planning Checklist Chief of Staff Skills Assessment ChecklistA Day in the Life of a Chief of StaffChief of Staff ToolkitGet in touch with Emily:Connect on LinkedInFollow on YouTubeLearn more about coaching Sign up for the newsletterClarity Call with Emily Who Am I?If we haven't yet before - Hi

Join host Matt Edmundson on the eCommerce Podcast as he discusses customer success roadmaps and monetising subscriber lists with Scott Overbeck from Seacoast Consulting Group. Discover how strategic alliances can boost your business growth and learn practical tips for leveraging your existing customer base.---Key Takeaways:1. Leverage Strategic Alliances: Scott emphasises the importance of forming strategic alliances between businesses with complementary resources. This involves creating mutually beneficial arrangements that can include products, services, operational assets, or customer databases. By doing so, businesses can tap into new revenue streams and enhance their offerings without the need for significant additional investment.2. Understand the Customer Journey: Scott advises businesses to map out the customer journey to identify what customers want before, during, and after their purchase. By understanding this journey, businesses can offer additional products or services that align with their customers' needs, thereby increasing customer satisfaction and revenue through cross-selling and upselling.3. Monetise Existing Assets: Scott highlights the value of a business's existing subscriber list as a significant asset. He suggests using this list to introduce complementary products and services through strategic alliances, thereby generating additional revenue. This approach capitalises on the trust already established with customers, making it a cost-effective way to increase profits.---If this episode of the eCommerce Podcast piqued your interest make sure to check out everything that gets done over here on the eCommerce Podcast, a space dedicated to eCommerce Wow!

In this episode of the Feel Strong Podcast, host Justin McClintock speaks with Dr. Nick Perugini, the founder of More Than Movement, a facility in Philadelphia blending exercise education and physical therapy. Dr. Nick discusses how his approach shifts from tissue-based diagnoses to a focus on functional outcomes, while reframing clients' mindsets to empower them. The conversation explores the integration of physical therapy and strength-based solutions, presenting a forward-thinking model for healthcare. Dr. Nick also emphasizes the importance of personalized roadmaps for clients, guiding them from rehabilitation to ongoing fitness journeys. Whether you're a fitness enthusiast, physical therapist, or someone dealing with chronic pain, this episode offers insights into how tailored programs and client education can drive long-term success. Expect to Learn: How combining physical therapy and fitness can enhance long-term health outcomes. The benefits of focusing on functional outcomes over traditional diagnoses. Why mindset and client education play a crucial role in physical therapy. How individualized programs lead to greater client empowerment. The value of addressing chronic pain with long-term, sustainable solutions. Episode Breakdown with Timestamps: [00:00:00] - Introduction: Justin introduces Dr. Nick Perugini and the theme of physical therapy integrated with strength and fitness. [00:04:45] - More Than Movement: Dr. Nick explains the philosophy behind his practice and why he avoids traditional labels like "physical therapy." [00:11:52] - Roadmaps and Client Journey: How Dr. Nick creates individualized roadmaps for clients, guiding them from pain relief to lifelong fitness. [00:25:13] - Mindset and Client Education: The significance of reframing clients' beliefs around injury, movement, and progress. [00:38:17] - Chronic Pain Management: Strategies for addressing complex, long-term pain and helping clients regain control over their health. [00:43:49] - Conclusion: Wrap-up with Dr. Nick's contact information and final thoughts on sustainable fitness. Checkout the Guest: Website: https://morethanmvmnt.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickperugini.dpt/?hl=en Instagram (Business): https://www.instagram.com/morethanmvmt.pt/?hl=en Email: Nick@morethanmovement.com Find Out More About Feel Strong Fitness: Website: https://www.feelstrong.me/  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM3MamtiSM-SbXv853clOIA  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/feelstrongfit/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/feelstrongfit  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/feel-strong/support

Irina Hollatz stops by the podcast to explain what RightWFM does, and why it is important to challenge the norm.  The discussions also leans towards how software development takes place, and how Calabrio approaches the multiple demands of creating dynamic software that people actually want to use.

If you grew up in an age before the internet, you remember a time when maps were a thing. The map would chart out the way to get where you were going. Someone did the work to figure out how to get from A to B. But here's the thing—the map was only as helpful and reliable as the maker of the map. The same is true in life. We ask all sorts of people for advice, but the answers you get are only as trustworthy as the people you choose to trust. 1 Kings 12 Speaker: Kevin Stiles

If you grew up in an age before the internet, you remember a time when maps were a thing. The map would chart out the way to get where you were going. Someone did the work to figure out how to get from A to B. But here's the thing—the map was only as helpful and reliable as the maker of the map. The same is true in life. We ask all sorts of people for advice, but the answers you get are only as trustworthy as the people you choose to trust. 1 Kings 12 Speaker: Tim Sullivan

If you grew up in an age before the internet, you remember a time when maps were a thing. The map would chart out the way to get where you were going. Someone did the work to figure out how to get from A to B. But here's the thing—the map was only as helpful and reliable as the maker of the map. The same is true in life. We ask all sorts of people for advice, but the answers you get are only as trustworthy as the people you choose to trust. 1 Kings 12 Speaker: Bob Kadlecik

Jordan Dalladay is a product strategist and leader who works with startup founders to help them turn ambitious ideas into market successes. He specializes in "dragging a vision kicking and screaming into reality" with his consultancy, inherent ventures. His hot take? We should invert our approach to product roadmapping. Instead of listing features to build, create a "risk-based product strategy" that outlines all the assumptions and potential pitfalls that could prevent success. This approach helps teams prioritize learning and experimentation, validating their riskiest assumptions first and dragging their vision into reality more effectively. Find Jordan on LinkedIn and you can check out his firm, inherent ventures. If you'd like to appear on Hot Takes, please grab a time! Related episodes you should like: OKRs: The Gateway Drug to Agility & Good Product Management (Jeff Gothelf, Product Management Consultant & Co-author "Lean UX" ) Adventures in Product Management (Dan Olsen, Author "The Lean Product Playbook") Fighting Fires in B2B Product Management (Rich Mironov, Author "The Art of Product Management") Your Product is a Joke - How to use Improv Comedy Principles in Product Management (Amogh Sarda, Co-founder @ Eesel) Putting Customers at the Heart of your Product Decisions (Hubert Palan, Founder @ Productboard) Servitising Product Management & Setting Up Product Teams For Success (Jas Shah, Product Consultant) Build What Matters with Vision-Led Product Management (Rajesh Nerlikar, Author "Build What Matters") Build Better Products at Scale with Product Operations (Melissa Perri & Denise Tilles, Product Consultants & Co-authors "Product Operations")

If you grew up in an age before the internet, you remember a time when maps were a thing. The map would chart out the way to get where you were going. Someone did the work to figure out how to get from A to B. But here's the thing—the map was only as helpful and reliable as the maker of the map. The same is true in life. We ask all sorts of people for advice, but the answers you get are only as trustworthy as the people you choose to trust. 1 Kings 12 Speaker: Kevin Ozolins

If you grew up in an age before the internet, you remember a time when maps were a thing. The map would chart out the way to get where you were going. Someone did the work to figure out how to get from A to B. But here's the thing—the map was only as helpful and reliable as the maker of the map. The same is true in life. We ask all sorts of people for advice, but the answers you get are only as trustworthy as the people you choose to trust. 1 Kings 12 Speaker: Aaron Patton

BONUS: Mastering Product Management in a Remote World, Insights from Tuple's Head of Product, Eli Goodman NOTE: We want to thank the folks at Tuple.app for being so generous with their stories, and supporting the podcast. Visit tuple.app/scrum and share them if you find the app useful! Remember, sharing is caring!   In this episode, Eli Goodman, Head of Product at Tuple, shares insights from his extensive experience in software development and product management. Having transitioned from engineering management to product leadership, Eli reveals the key strategies Tuple uses to develop its remote pair programming service, which is trusted by companies like Figma and Shopify. Tune in to discover how Tuple handles remote team dynamics, customer-driven development, and balances tech debt with client needs, all while maintaining a customer-centric focus. Introduction to Tuple and Why It's Unique Tuple, a remote pair programming service designed by engineers, solves a pain point that its founders, all pairing enthusiasts, experienced firsthand. They were unsatisfied with generic screen-sharing tools that disrupted the flow of coding collaboration. Tuple's product philosophy is about staying "one inch wide, one mile deep" to ensure the tool stays focused on enhancing the pairing experience without getting in the way. "The details matter. Generic screen-sharing tools just don't cut it for productive pairing." Managing a Remote Team at Tuple Managing a distributed team across the U.S. and Europe comes with its challenges. Eli highlights the importance of alignment and ensuring everyone is on the same page, despite working remotely. He emphasizes the role of Product Owners as "connective tissue" and the power of connecting team members with key initiatives. Through personal conversations, Eli uncovers what motivates his team, allowing him to support them without micromanaging. "What makes you proud? What brings you shame? Understanding these emotions helps uncover what drives our team." Ensuring Effective Communication in a Remote Environment Effective communication is the backbone of remote work, and Eli shares some of the practices that have helped Tuple's team stay aligned and collaborative. From using spontaneous pairing sessions to fostering a culture of checking in, Tuple has created a remote work environment where conversations are naturally sparked, and collaboration is effortless. "We have more space in our schedules for spontaneous pairing, which keeps collaboration flowing." Lessons Learned from Pairing Remotely One of the key insights Eli shares is how Tuple has evolved its remote pairing process. In the past, pairing might have felt like a formal meeting, but now it happens more spontaneously. Tuple's app facilitates this by offering the metaphor of a phone call—engineers can call each other at any time, making collaboration easy, especially when someone is deep into a task and needs quick support. "At Tuple, engineers only have three meetings a week, leaving the rest of the time open for pairing and creative work." Pairing Beyond Programming Tasks While pairing is typically associated with programming, Eli explains how Tuple uses pairing for other activities, like design or planning sessions. This practice has extended beyond coding, fostering a culture where team members collaborate on various tasks that benefit from shared perspectives and live problem-solving. "We've expanded pairing beyond coding, using it for activities like design reviews and project planning." Balancing Customer Feedback with Product Vision Responding to customer feedback is vital, but it can also lead to losing focus. Eli explains how Tuple balances this by capturing as much feedback as possible, using tools like Product Board to keep track of customer requests. However, instead of building every requested feature, Eli focuses on synthesizing broader patterns and emotional triggers that align with Tuple's long-term vision. "Focus on discovery as a product person. Understand the emotional context behind customer feedback—that's what drives great products." Tuple's Ideal Customer and Core Value Tuple's ideal customers are teams that value deep collaboration through pair programming. The platform's most important offering is the ability to make remote pairing seamless and intuitive, something traditional tools fail to deliver. "Tuple is built for teams that believe in the power of collaboration and want a tool that enhances their pairing experience, not disrupts it." Roadmapping: How to Prioritize the Right Work in Product Development Looking ahead, Eli shares Tuple's plans to continue investing in quality and lowering the barriers to remote pairing. One exciting potential direction includes creating a "social layer" within the app to help users feel more connected with their teammates. Another idea is incorporating non-human pairing agents that could assist with specific tasks. "We want to see if we can make it feel like you're right there with your teammates, lowering the barriers to start pairing." Recommended Resources Eli recommends The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick, a must-read for anyone working in product management. The book teaches how to talk to customers in a way that gets honest, useful feedback rather than polite responses that don't help improve the product. "I thought caring about people was enough to talk to customers, but The Mom Test taught me what not to do during customer interviews." About Eli Goodman Eli Goodman has been working on software teams for 17 years. He's been a full-stack developer and engineering manager at both large and small companies, including Etsy and Headspace. A few years ago, Eli transitioned to product management and is now the Head of Product at Tuple, a remote pair programming service used by companies such as Figma, Shopify, and many others in the software industry. You can link with Eli Goodman on LinkedIn, or email Eli at Eli@Tuple.app.

The NoVA Open Roadmap presentation came and went and… we have thoughts. We look at what was promised, what was delivered, and what wasn't delivered. What are the possible implications […] The post Episode 308: Roadmaps and Monkey Paws first appeared on Preferred Enemies - A Warhammer 40K Podcast.

Michael and Tim have a good chat with Jeff and Dono from Henchmen Painting, we talk about all the new stuff that's come out since Dec 23, Roadmaps, Painting Courses (23-24 November in Sydney) as well as a bunch of other topics such as and including Warhammer 40k Second Edition, Primarchs, D&D, Painting, and Heresying.Investigate our Corporate Dirtbags!Versatile Terrainhttps://www.versatileterrain.co.uk/Grimdark Terrainhttps://grimdarkterrain.com/Crystal Fortresshttps://www.crystal-fortress.com/Skeleton Games and Terrainhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW9xvWgc18i-_a5WfcMeBWwBlack Label Painting https://www.facebook.com/blacklabelpaintimg/Quartermasterhttps://itunes.apple.com/au/app/quartermaster-5/id879731050EOH PATREON:https://www.patreon.com/eyeofhoruspodcast30K GLOBAL EVENT CALENDAR:https://www.facebook.com/groups/147669179268284/

BONUS: From Output to Outcome, The Customer-Focused OKRs with Jeff Gothelf In this BONUS episode, we dive deep into the world of OKRs with Jeff Gothelf, co-author of the newly released book, Who Does What By How Much? A Practical Guide to Customer-Centric OKRs. Jeff is a product management expert, author, and keynote speaker, renowned for his contributions to building better products and fostering innovation within organizations. In this episode, Jeff discusses the evolution of OKRs, their impact on teams and organizations, and how to adopt this framework effectively. The Motivation Behind the Book "We needed to change how companies approach goal-setting to focus on outcomes rather than outputs." Jeff shares the journey that led him and his co-author Josh Seiden to write this book. They began with Lean UX, a practical guide for designers that expanded into other company areas (see this podcast episode with Josh Seiden about that book). However, as they worked more with clients, they noticed a disconnect between the goals set by leadership and the methods used by teams to achieve those goals. This realization inspired them to tackle the challenges companies face with goal-setting, particularly with OKRs, which they observe, are widely used but often misapplied. The Shift from Output to Outcome "In a post-OKR world, success is measured by what customers do differently when we solve the problem the right way." Jeff explains the fundamental difference between traditional goal-setting methods and OKRs. Traditional methods focus on output—what gets produced. In contrast, OKRs emphasize outcomes, or how customer behavior changes as a result of solving a problem correctly. Jeff highlights the importance of this shift in mindset, especially in software-driven organizations where success isn't just about delivering a product but about making a meaningful impact on users. Overcoming the "Do the Thing" Mentality "Start by asking your boss, 'What do you expect our users to do differently?'" One of the challenges in implementing OKRs is moving teams away from a mentality focused on simply completing tasks. Jeff suggests starting conversations with leadership by discussing the impact and benefits of feature requests, shifting the focus from just doing the thing to achieving a specific outcome. He also advises starting with a pilot team to ease into this new way of working, emphasizing the need for customer-centric, outcome-based OKRs. Embracing Experiments Without Fear "We saved the organization money by invalidating assumptions—this is a success, not a failure." Jeff addresses the common fear teams have about experimenting and potentially failing. He shares examples from his work with teams who, after finding their hypotheses invalid, were initially afraid to communicate this to leadership. However, by reframing these experiments as cost-saving successes, Jeff shows how organizations can shift their perspective and embrace experimentation as a critical part of innovation. Structuring OKRs for Customer-Centricity "We reverse-engineer the problem and identify the human who cares about having that problem solved." Jeff delves into the importance of structuring OKRs around customer needs. He recommends starting by defining the problem teams are trying to solve and understanding the people who are affected by that problem. Encouraging teams to dig deeper into the actual human experiences they aim to improve ensures that the OKRs are not only business-focused but also enhance customer experiences and relationships. Redefining Roadmaps with OKRs "OKR-based roadmaps replace feature lists with behavior change hypotheses." For OKRs to work effectively, Jeff explains that organizations must also rethink their roadmaps. Traditional roadmaps often list features to be built, but with OKRs, the focus shifts to committing to specific outcomes and behavior changes rather than delivering features. This change requires a new approach to planning and prioritization, one that aligns with the goals set by OKRs. Starting the OKR Adoption Process "Adopt a cycle of OKRs, experiments, and goal-based roadmaps to ease the transition." Jeff provides practical advice for organizations looking to start using OKRs. He outlines a cycle that includes setting OKRs, conducting experiments, and adjusting roadmaps based on the learnings from those experiments. He also emphasizes the importance of clear communication from teams, including sharing what they've learned and how they've adjusted their course based on that knowledge. Jeff's approach is tested and proven, with much of the content first shared on his blog. The OKR Book To dive deeper into customer-centric OKRs, you can order Who Does What By How Much? A Practical Guide to Customer-Centric OKRs on Amazon. For additional resources and insights, visit OKR-BOOK.com and JeffGothelf.com. About Jeff Gothelf Jeff Gothelf is a product management expert, author, and keynote speaker known for his impactful work in building better products and fostering innovation cultures. He is the co-author of Lean UX and Sense & Respond, and advises executives and organizations on business agility, digital transformation, and human-centered design. Jeff's latest project is co-authoring Who Does What By How Much? A Practical Guide to Customer-Centric OKRs. You can link with Jeff Gothelf on LinkedIn and connect with Jeff Gothelf on Twitter.

In this Unschooling Mom2Mom Podcast, I want to tell you about some billboards and roadmaps - all pointing you toward unschooling the kids this year!Let's go through a few together as you start your road trip toward unschooling. UNSCHOOLING 101 Mini-CourseIf you'd like to dive a little deeper, here's the link I mentioned. Remember, it starts on Monday and goes for 10 days!Billboards and roadmaps - all pointing you toward unschooling the kids this year!https://www.unschoolingmom2mom.com/product/Unschooling-101Read the Transcript: Unschooling Billboards & RoadMapshttps://www.unschoolingmom2mom.com/unschooling-billboards-and-roadmaps_____________________________________________________Reach out if you need help figuring out how unschooling can work for your family! You don't have to do this alone!Free Email List with weekly unschooling resourcesLike what you're hearing? Want to buy Sue a cup of coffee? Now you can! Buy Me a Coffee Creating Confidence Membership Group Podcast listeners can join without the sign up fee - so use this link! Jumping Into Unschooling Course (for new unschoolers) Math WITHOUT Curriculum Course (for those worrying about unschooling math!) Private 1:1 Coaching with Sue www.UnschoolingMom2Mom.com

It's another episode of our segment User Stories, where we (hopefully) help some folks on Reddit. This week we're looking at whether Product folks should care how Engineering breaks out the items on their backlogs, how panicking in an emergency can lead to worse outcomes, whether anyone ever gets "good" at making roadmaps, and the struggles of an IT director with overbearing colleagues. Join the discussion on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/AcceptanceCriteria/ And on the Discord: https://discord.gg/2Tyj8H9MFF The post E037: How not to panic in a crisis, the varieties of roadmaps, and other Reddit questions first appeared on Acceptance Criteria.

What is Sex? Exploring New Perspectives and Roadmaps to Pleasure | The Partnership Podcast Ep. 83 LEARN HOW TO DEFINE SEX BY CLICKING HERE https://www.sexedforyou.com/freeconsult In Episode 83 of The Partnership Podcast, Lauren and Trey dive deep into the question, "What is sex?" Before their insightful conversation begins, they explore the triggers that left Trey unsettled that morning. Lauren offers a compassionate perspective on understanding his frustration, rooted in past hurts from female figures. As they unpack their definitions of sex, Lauren introduces a fresh view of pleasure, while Trey shares personal stories of erotic encounters and how they shaped his understanding. Stay tuned as Trey unveils his transformative new definition of sex. 04:13 Watch Trey be horrified by the baby's iPad! 09:15 Why is choosing more important than doing? 11:05 What is an important question to ask yourself after a night of no sleep? 15:00 Why do men treat their wives like their mothers? 22:00 Why is sexual communication so hard? 24:56 What is sex? 26:00 How do you define sex? 29:30 For sex, are roadblocks the things you think you have to do? 35:34 Why do we go to critism of self in sex? 41:20 What are the top reasons for lack of arousal? 45:58 Why is "Just take me!" a less sexy thing than, "Here's how I want you to take me."? 49:43 How do you define a great sexual experience? 51:02 What contexts make sex great? What is sex to you? Let us know in the comments section below! About Us: Trey and Lauren are partners living in Central Virginia where Lauren owns and operates, SEX ED FOR YOU. She provides comprehensive sexuality education and curricula to individuals, couples, parents, and organizations. Through a biopsychosocial approach, Sex Ed for You works to restore positive and respectful approaches to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as increase the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence. (WHO) Sexual health is fundamental to the overall health and well-being of individuals, couples and families, and to the social and economic development of communities and countries. (World Health Organization) When individuals are blocked from sexual health they are stunted from developing a sense of sensual play and enjoyment. • Learn more about Sex Ed for You at https://www.sexedforyou.com • Schedule a FREE CONSULT with Lauren today: https://www.sexedforyou.com/freeconsult • Sign up for Sex Ed for You's Mailing List https://www.sexedforyou.com/email • If you're a femme, check out Lauren's monthly membership program, HEMLOCK!⁠ https://sexedforyou.com/hemlock • Learn more about partnered communication best practices on Sex Ed For You's Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/sex_ed_for_you/ • Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos about sex, partnership, communication, and love: https://youtube.com/@thepartnershippodcast Reminders: This is not a "how to" podcast, but rather a "how they" podcast. Please listen to our opinions and then come to your own! Learn from our mistakes or give our techniques a try! It's all up to you. Lauren is NOT a therapist. She is a Certified Holistic Sexuality Educator. #SexualWellness #RelationshipTalk #EmotionalHealing #PartnershipPodcast #Sexuality #MentalHealth #Triggers #PersonalGrowth #UnderstandingTrauma #PodcastEpisode #HealthyRelationships #Pleasure #NewPerspectives #EroticStories #SexualDefinitions #LoveAndConnection --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thepartnershippodcast/support

Welcome back to Making Bank. In today's episode, we have a compilation of previous episodes with Rowena Gates, John Madsen, Glenn Dawson, Dr. Anthony Balduzzi, Drew Canole, Nicholas Bayerle and Jim Kwik and in this episode, you will hear tips and tricks from top entrepreneurs about the guide to success.   (3:25) Rowena Gates We enhance protein function by facilitating their proper folding, as proteins must adopt a specific 3D structure to be effective. Our technology modifies the cellular water environment, optimizing it to support the proteins in achieving their correct conformation.  (8:54) John Madsen Many people, especially high-performing businessmen, turn to diets like intermittent fasting, keto, or paleo because of their clear rules and initial success. However, these diets often plateau, leaving them puzzled about their stalled progress. For lasting success, focus on balanced nutrition and long-term lifestyle changes. (13:03) Glenn Dawson Health doesn't have to be your number one focus—you're not a professional athlete. No one expects you to bench press 300 lbs or run a 4.3-second 40-yard dash. Instead, aim for a balanced approach that fits your lifestyle.   (19:33) Dr. Anthony Balduzzi Success starts at home, beginning with your environment. By creating a space that supports physical, financial, emotional, and spiritual well-being, everything else will fall into place.Focus on building a nurturing environment to thrive in all areas of life.   (24:01) Drew Canole As an entrepreneur, you should invest as much time in your health as you do in pursuing a Lamborghini or the latest car. Your health is the foundation of your success. Prioritize your well-being to achieve sustainable success. (29:07) Nicholas Bayerle If health is your number one priority, no one can stop you from breathing, drinking, sleeping, eating, and exercising. You already do four out of five of these every day, even if you're unhealthy. Take control and make conscious choices to improve your well-being. (33:35) Jim Kwik It's easy to complicate things, especially as entrepreneurs who know so much about a subject. Real genius lies in making things simple and doable so you can stay consistent. If your routine involves 30 different supplements and complex steps, it's often not sustainable. Focus on simplicity and consistency for lasting success. Tags: @iamjohnmadsen  @realglenndawson  @fitfatherproject  @drewcanole  @nicholasbayerle  @jimkwik

Welcome back to Making Bank. In today's episode, we have a compilation of previous episodes with Rowena Gates, John Madsen, Glenn Dawson, Dr. Anthony Balduzzi, Drew Canole, Nicholas Bayerle and Jim Kwik and in this episode, you will hear tips and tricks from top entrepreneurs about the guide to success.   (3:25) Rowena Gates We enhance protein function by facilitating their proper folding, as proteins must adopt a specific 3D structure to be effective. Our technology modifies the cellular water environment, optimizing it to support the proteins in achieving their correct conformation.  (8:54) John Madsen Many people, especially high-performing businessmen, turn to diets like intermittent fasting, keto, or paleo because of their clear rules and initial success. However, these diets often plateau, leaving them puzzled about their stalled progress. For lasting success, focus on balanced nutrition and long-term lifestyle changes. (13:03) Glenn Dawson Health doesn't have to be your number one focus—you're not a professional athlete. No one expects you to bench press 300 lbs or run a 4.3-second 40-yard dash. Instead, aim for a balanced approach that fits your lifestyle.   (19:33) Dr. Anthony Balduzzi Success starts at home, beginning with your environment. By creating a space that supports physical, financial, emotional, and spiritual well-being, everything else will fall into place.Focus on building a nurturing environment to thrive in all areas of life.   (24:01) Drew Canole As an entrepreneur, you should invest as much time in your health as you do in pursuing a Lamborghini or the latest car. Your health is the foundation of your success. Prioritize your well-being to achieve sustainable success. (29:07) Nicholas Bayerle If health is your number one priority, no one can stop you from breathing, drinking, sleeping, eating, and exercising. You already do four out of five of these every day, even if you're unhealthy. Take control and make conscious choices to improve your well-being. (33:35) Jim Kwik It's easy to complicate things, especially as entrepreneurs who know so much about a subject. Real genius lies in making things simple and doable so you can stay consistent. If your routine involves 30 different supplements and complex steps, it's often not sustainable. Focus on simplicity and consistency for lasting success. Tags: @iamjohnmadsen  @realglenndawson  @fitfatherproject  @drewcanole  @nicholasbayerle  @jimkwik