Podcasts about Sainsbury

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Latest podcast episodes about Sainsbury

Retail Podcast
Five Things Friday UK - M&S, ONS Data Delay, TikTok GMV Max, Charlotte Tilbury Pop‑ups

Retail Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 5, 2025 11:55


M&S launches a dedicated resale shop on eBay (with Reskinned), the ONS delays July retail sales to 5 Sept, TikTok Shop's GMV Max becomes the only supported campaign type, Sainsbury's begins a facial‑recognition trial, Lush closes UK stores for a day in solidarity with Gaza, and Charlotte Tilbury drives experiential shade‑matching at John Lewis and Café Airbrush in Covent Garden. Simone Oloman joins to decode what matters for operators—right now. Show notes / references:In this UK edition of Five Things Friday, Alex and Simone Oloman cover six moves reshaping trading plans this month:Resale goes mainstream: M&S × eBay launches an official pre‑loved shop, powered by Reskinned—a cleaner, scalable route to circularity than DIY platforms. Operators: track supply inflows, voucher economics, and re‑commerce margin mix. Marks & SpencerDemand sensing > lagging KPIs: The ONS delayed the July 2025 retail sales release to 5 Sept for quality assurance; combine official series with real‑time social/returns data for better buys and markdowns. Office for National StatisticsSocial commerce hardens: TikTok Shop Ads → GMV Max only. Expect heavier automation; ensure attribution and returns accounting are wired for campaign‑level ROAS and net‑margin truth. TikTok For Business+1Safety vs privacy: Sainsbury's begins an 8‑week facial‑recognition pilot in Sydenham (London) and Oldfield Park (Bath); union support vs privacy‑rights pushback—governance, DPIAs, and signage matter. corporate.sainsburys.co.ukbigbrotherwatch.org.ukBrand activism with teeth: Lush shut UK shops, website and factories for a day—authenticity is an operational decision, not a slogan. Budget for impact and community response. LushExperience = acquisition: Charlotte Tilbury turns shade matching into a moment (John Lewis photo‑booths; Café Airbrush at Covent Garden). High‑touch, low‑friction sampling feeds CRM and lifetime value. British Beauty CouncilTheIndustry.beautyChapters / timestamps (mm:ss)00:00 – Welcome & format (fast 15)00:58 – M&S × eBay resale (why it's smart, how it scales)02:14 – ONS delay & the case for live demand signals03:50 – TikTok Shop GMV Max: what marketers must change04:32 – Sainsbury's: facial‑recognition pilot (safety vs privacy)06:05 – Lush: one‑day UK closures; what “authenticity” really costs06:55 – Charlotte Tilbury shade‑match activation (John Lewis)09:19 – Café Airbrush & Covent Garden Big Beauty10:00 – Wrap, next week teasers & CTAsShow notes / references:• M&S launches resale on eBay (Reskinned partnership): https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/media/press-releases/ms-launches-resale-ebay-give-clothes-another-life• ONS: July retail sales release delayed to Sept 5 (quality assurance): https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-statistics-office-delays-retail-sales-data-release-by-two-weeks-2025-08-19/• TikTok Shop Ads — GMV Max migration (official help): https://ads.tiktok.com/help/article/gmv-max-migration-tiktok-shop-ads• Sainsbury's facial‑recognition pilot (Sydenham & Oldfield Park): https://www.computing.co.uk/news/2025/sainsbury-s-begins-facial-recognition-trial-to-combat-shoplifting• Lush closes UK stores in solidarity with Gaza: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/sep/03/lush-closes-all-its-uk-stores-in-protest-over-starvation-in-gaza• Covent Garden — Big Beauty (4–14 Sept): https://www.coventgarden.london/experience/things-to-do/big-beauty-at-covent-garden/• Charlotte Tilbury pop‑up / shade‑match activations: https://theindustry.beauty/charlotte-tilbury-turns-covent-garden-into-cafe-airbrush-celebrating-complexion-launch/

Follow Him: A Come, Follow Me Podcast featuring Hank Smith & John Bytheway
Doctrine & Covenants 98-101 Part 1 • Dr. Derek Sainsbury • Sept 8-14 • Come Follow Me

Follow Him: A Come, Follow Me Podcast featuring Hank Smith & John Bytheway

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2025 81:38


What can we learn from the Saints' devastating losses in Jackson County, Missouri and how does that promise of the resurrection transform the story? Dr. Derek Sainsbury explores the harrowing events of 1833, the destruction of the Church's printing press, and the personal sacrifices of the early Saints as they sought to build Zion in one of the most difficult frontiers imaginable.SHOW NOTES/TRANSCRIPTSEnglish: https://tinyurl.com/podcastDC237ENFrench: https://tinyurl.com/podcastDC237FRGerman: https://tinyurl.com/podcastDC237DEPortuguese: https://tinyurl.com/podcastDC237PTSpanish: https://tinyurl.com/podcastDC237ESYOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/ScT0t5_BGuIALL EPISODES/SHOW NOTESfollowHIM website: https://www.followHIMpodcast.comFREE PDF DOWNLOADS OF followHIM QUOTE BOOKSNew Testament: https://tinyurl.com/PodcastNTBookOld Testament: https://tinyurl.com/PodcastOTBookBook of Mormon: https://tinyurl.com/PodcastBMBookWEEKLY NEWSLETTERhttps://tinyurl.com/followHIMnewsletterSOCIAL MEDIAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followHIMpodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastTIMECODE00:00 Part 1 - Dr. Derek Sainsbury01:32 August 1833 information03:41 Derek Sainsbury bio05:30 Presidential candidates assassinated06:38 Come, Follow Me Manual07:56 Death of first foreign missionary10:07 Indian Removal Act12:08 Mary Rollins and John Murdock16:05 Polarization of Jackson County20:13 The Promised Land 2.023:33 The Law of Consecration in Missouri25:01 Article by W. W. Phelps26:42 Zion in every book of scripture, except the New Testament28:03 Checking in with John Murdock (and Parley P. Pratt)36:46 John Murdock is the best of the Saints39:26 What happens to the Murdock children42:24 Innuendo and a lost letter45:06 Missouri and Kirtland needed emojis46:55 Leadership is easier without people48:45 Doctor Philastus Hurlbut “coverts”51:41 John Murdock's journal May 7, 183355:42 Dr. Sainsbury shares lessons from his own personal trials1:01:05 24-temple rendering1:05:09 Reasons they blamed the Mormons1:10:04 Results of meeting in Gilbert's store1:13:53 Mobbing and the Book of Commandments1:17:58 End of Part I - Dr. Derek SainsburyThanks to the followHIM team:Steve & Shannon Sorensen: Cofounder, Executive Producer, SponsorDavid & Verla Sorensen: SponsorsDr. Hank Smith: Co-hostJohn Bytheway: Co-hostDavid Perry: ProducerKyle Nelson: Marketing, SponsorLisa Spice: Client Relations, Editor, Show NotesWill Stoughton: Video EditorKrystal Roberts: Translation Team, English & French Transcripts, WebsiteAriel Cuadra: Spanish TranscriptsAmelia Kabwika: Portuguese TranscriptsHeather Barlow: Communications DirectorIride Gonzalez: Social Media, Graphic Design"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com

Follow Him: A Come, Follow Me Podcast featuring Hank Smith & John Bytheway
Doctrine & Covenants 98-101 Part 2 • Dr. Derek Sainsbury • Sept 8-14 • Come Follow Me

Follow Him: A Come, Follow Me Podcast featuring Hank Smith & John Bytheway

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2025 76:33


Dr. Derek Sainsbury continues to unpack D&C 98-101, blending historical context from the Saints' 1833 expulsion from Missouri with profound insights on suffering, sanctification, and resurrection, enriched by his own story of finding God's comfort amidst struggles.SHOW NOTES/TRANSCRIPTSEnglish: https://tinyurl.com/podcastDC237ENFrench: https://tinyurl.com/podcastDC237FRGerman: https://tinyurl.com/podcastDC237DEPortuguese: https://tinyurl.com/podcastDC237PTSpanish: https://tinyurl.com/podcastDC237ESYOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/Qrnf5NUvzwYALL EPISODES/SHOW NOTESfollowHIM website: https://www.followHIMpodcast.comFREE PDF DOWNLOADS OF followHIM QUOTE BOOKSNew Testament: https://tinyurl.com/PodcastNTBookOld Testament: https://tinyurl.com/PodcastOTBookBook of Mormon: https://tinyurl.com/PodcastBMBookWEEKLY NEWSLETTERhttps://tinyurl.com/followHIMnewsletterSOCIAL MEDIAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followHIMpodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastTIMECODE00:00 Part 2 - Dr. Derek Sainsbury01:34 Emily Partridge's journal regarding the mob02:24 Men offered themselves to save the Saints04:30 Looking to obtain the character of Christ06:36 What do we learn from the Saints being traumatized?09:38 An immutable covenant11:52 Francine Russell Benyan's “The Theology of Suffering”17:36 Suffering and marking with a green pencil21:35 Doing what the Lord did25:47 Richard G. Scott's “Trust in the Lord”28:39 God is with us through our suffering32:08 Doctor Hurlbut's damage and Joseph and Sidney's mission37:29 Little ‘s' savior39:24 Orson Hyde and Edward Partridge visit Governor Duncan40:31 Phil Dibble's miraculous account44:50 Mobs causing hundreds to flee creating a “trail of blood”47:57 Dr. Sainsbury's enormous personal trials and the fireflies56:06 The Lord commands patience59:04 Love and expectations from the Lord1:02:51 President Nelson's “Joy and Spiritual Survival”1:05:49 Hope in suffering and letters to the President 1:09:23 Testimony of Christ's ability to restore blessings1:10:35 A farmer and Rush Creek1:13:33 Gratitude for Sidney and Elizabeth Gilbert1:16:25 End of Part 2 - Dr. Derek SainsburyThanks to the followHIM team:Steve & Shannon Sorensen: Cofounder, Executive Producer, SponsorDavid & Verla Sorensen: SponsorsDr. Hank Smith: Co-hostJohn Bytheway: Co-hostDavid Perry: ProducerKyle Nelson: Marketing, SponsorLisa Spice: Client Relations, Editor, Show NotesWill Stoughton: Video EditorKrystal Roberts: Translation Team, English & French Transcripts, WebsiteAriel Cuadra: Spanish TranscriptsAmelia Kabwika: Portuguese TranscriptsHeather Barlow: Communications DirectorIride Gonzalez: Social Media, Graphic Design"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com

The Product Experience
Retention strategies for single-use products - Vivek Kumar (Investor and Advisor, Atlys)

The Product Experience

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2025 48:36


Product decisions built on daily-active metrics fall apart when your customers show up once a year, or once a decade. In this episode, Randy Silver talks to Vivek Kumar about building and growing low-frequency products, from property and tax to jobs and dating. Chapters04:25 — What makes a product “infrequent”? Episodic use and recall decay07:05 — Rethinking PMF: penetration and market share over retention curves10:36 — When iteration is slow: prioritising problems under seasonal cycles14:28 — BELT framework: behaviours, enduring vs transient problems, lock-ins21:56 — Spotting enduring problems: “what will still matter in 10 years?”24:11 — ICE framework overview for infrequent products26:03 — Engagement: active retention, complexity, single- vs constant-touch29:55 — Predictable vs unpredictable retention; referrals as a strategy31:06 — Lifetime retention: seeding frequency hooks (e.g., estimates, salary data)33:01 — Distinctiveness and brand: why CAC collapses when you own the memory33:48 — Control over experience: monetisation through end-to-end journeys36:13 — Research that works: ethnography, diary studies, “follow-me-home”40:22 — Example: discovering the real tax filing pain (document collection)43:04 — Ethics and value: “cures vs treatments”, utility vs entertainment productsFeatured Links: Follow Vivek on LinkedIn | Atlys | The Steps 'Grow and managOur HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.

The Pocket Stylist
Episode 219 - Top Autumn Wardrobe Tips for Busy Leaders

The Pocket Stylist

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 28, 2025 17:28


Autumn is here, and with it comes the challenge of staying polished, professional, and confident as the seasons shift. In this episode, I'm sharing my top wardrobe tips for busy leaders who want to look effortlessly stylish without wasting time in front of the wardrobe each morning.You'll discover:The power colours of the season (and how to wear them with authority).Which trend pieces to embrace in a professional way, from tailored wide-leg trousers to statement coats.Smart layering strategies to move seamlessly from meetings to dinners.The must-have accessories that instantly elevate your look.How to build a capsule wardrobe that saves time, reduces decision fatigue, and keeps you ready to lead.Whether you're stepping into the boardroom, presenting at a conference, or leading your team, these autumn style tips will help you feel confident, clear, and in control.✨ Because when your wardrobe works, you can focus on what really matters, your success.About the HostWorking with personal clients, Lisa is passionate to inspire & empower ambitious women to have a wardrobe that gives them the confidence & self belief to achieve & reach their goals whilst reflecting their personal brand.Lisa has contributed to editorials such as The Guardian, Times, Daily Mail, The Sun, Daily Express works as the Style expert for BBC & Heart Radio throughout the UK. Lisa has worked on media campaigns with Sainsbury's & Persil.Want to find the Podcast Picks? - sign up to my newsletter here;www.lisatalbot.co.ukLisa's website here:www.lisatalbot.co.ukThank you for listening, please remember to hit the follow button so you never miss an episode & leave a review if you enjoy find the podcast.Follow Lisa on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lisatalbot1/Follow Lisa on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Lisa-Talbot-Personal-and-Fashion-Stylist-106427762713796Follow Lisa on Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-talbot-b8291615/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Product Experience
Why we need to design products for machines - Katja Forbes (Executive Director, Standard Chartered Bank)

The Product Experience

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 27, 2025 46:15


In this episode of The Product Experience, Randy Silver and Lily Smith sit down with Katja Forbes, Executive Director at Standard Chartered Bank, design leader, and lecturer, to explore the fast-approaching world of machine customers.Katja shares why businesses must prepare for a future where AI agents, autonomous vehicles, and procurement bots act as customers, and what this means for product managers, designers, and organisations.Key takeawaysMachine customers are here already. From booking services for Tesla cars to procurement bots closing contracts, AI-driven commerce is no longer hypothetical.APIs are necessary but insufficient. Businesses need to think beyond plumbing and address trust, compliance, and customer experience for non-human agents.Signal clarity matters. Organisations must make their value propositions machine-readable to remain competitive.Trust will be quantified. Compliance signals, ESG proof, uptime guarantees, and reliability ratings will replace human gut instinct.New roles will emerge. Trust analysts and human–machine hybrid coordinators will be critical in shaping future interactions.Ethics cannot be ignored. Without careful design, agentic commerce could amplify consumerism and poor societal outcomes.Practical first step. Even small businesses can prepare by structuring their product and service data into machine-readable formats.Product managers must adapt. The skill to manage ambiguity, think systemically, and anticipate unintended consequences will be central to success.Featured Links: Follow Katja on LinkedIn | Katja's website | Sign-up for pre sale access to Katja's forthcoming book 'The CX Evolutionist'Our HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.

HUNGRY.
The Marketing Expert: How Nandos, Pret A Manger, Green & Blacks Make Consumers Addicted

HUNGRY.

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 25, 2025 133:52


Mark Palmer is a marketing genius, he's worked on the following brands Burger King, Nandos, Pret A Manger, Green & Blacks, Cawston PressHe's a total genius. You're going to love this episode!!!ON THE MENU:1. Tim Ferris Heuristic: “you are the sum of the difficult conversations you have with yourself”2. How To Have Hard Conversations with Sainsbury's, Tesco or Waitrose: Don't ignore the hard stuff, get straight to the point 3. How to Fire People Correctly: “Ruthless in decision making, generous in execution” 4. Pep Guardiola Brand Building Philosophy: Move your players around to fit the brand builders5. Green & Black Brand Building Strategy: Philosophy first, Product second, strategy third 6. Product before brand, you can layer a brand around a product 7. Seth Godin Positioning Rule: Competitors must become your colleagues 8. Anti-Fragile Customer Feedback: Why are you not buying us > Why are you buying us?9. Invest in creative UPSTREAM “get them to join the team, not just a freelancer”10. Biggest Challenger Brand Mistake: “Don't build a bad version of a corporate organisation”11. Byron Sharpe's Mental availability vs physical availability unpacked 12. Green & Blacks Scaffolding of Ideas: Niche Mainstream  ==============================================

The Product Experience
How to influence at board level - Kirsten Mann (CEO, Founder, Vizory, Prospection, Oracle)

The Product Experience

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 20, 2025 46:47


In this episode of The Product Experience, Lily Smith and Randy Silver are joined by Kirsten Mann, former CPO at Prospection and now startup founder and board member, to discuss how product leaders can play a vital role on company boards. Drawing from her own board experience and a research series interviewing founders and directors, Kirsten explains why product, culture, and customer insight must be central to boardroom conversations.Key Takeaways— Product's Place on Boards: Product is a strategic lever, boards should treat it with the same seriousness as financials.— Culture as a Strategic Asset: Culture emerged as the most frequently cited factor in board-level success—more than AI or tech.— From Operator to Overseer: Transitioning to a board role requires stepping back from execution and focusing on governance and strategic guidance.— Communicating with Boards: Product leaders must avoid jargon, speak in terms of customer problems, outcomes, and investment returns.— The Risk of Exclusion: If your product team isn't presenting to the board, that's a red flag.— Practical Preparation: Aspiring board members should build financial literacy, start with non-profit boards, and cultivate visibility through writing or public speaking.Chapters00:00 – Culture over strategy: Why getting culture right matters more than clever planning00:45 – Meet Kirsten Mann: Introduction and credentials01:45 – Career transition: From CPO at Prospection to board member, investor, and startup founder04:50 – Early board experience: Saving a youth club through governance and tech06:45 – Product's value on boards: Bringing customer and tech insight into strategic discussions08:00 – Oversight, not execution: Adjusting from exec roles to governance roles09:50 – Frustration sparks research: Why Kirsten began writing about product leaders on boards11:00 – Product strategy ≠ support: The board's risk-first mindset Our HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.

The Pocket Stylist
Episode 218 - Style as a Strategy, Why Ambitious Women Dress with Intention

The Pocket Stylist

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 20, 2025 17:57


Welcome to the new direction of The Pocket Stylist Podcast.In this episode, we're exploring why style isn't just about what you wear, it's about who you are and where you're going.If you're a woman in leadership, running your own business, or showing up in high-visibility spaces like the boardroom, stage, or media, this conversation is for you.I'm diving into how your wardrobe can work with you or quietly work against you and why aligning your style with your ambitions is one of the smartest moves you can make.

The Pocket Stylist
Episode 217 - Why Style is the Silent Player in Your Career Growth

The Pocket Stylist

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 14, 2025 21:04


When you're the face of your business, brand, or message, how you show up matters and not just what you say, but how you're seen. In today's episode, I'm talking about visibility with intention, how to dress when you're the woman at the front: the leader, the keynote speaker, the media guest, the boardroom voice.In today's episode, we're talking about something rarely said out loud but universally felt: the link between how you dress and how far you go. Style isn't about vanity, it's about visibility, credibility, and confidence. If you're building a career, a business, or a personal brand, your wardrobe is quietly playing a key role behind the scenes.You'll discover how the way you show up visually impacts the way you're perceived professionally and how to align your style with your success.What You'll Learn in This Episode:How your wardrobe can either support or sabotage your goalsWhy first impressions still matter especially in leadership or high-visibility rolesThe difference between clothes that fit and clothes that fit the woman you want to beHow style creates congruency between who you are, how you feel, and how others respondReal client examples where a style shift unlocked new confidence, visibility, and opportunitiesIf you'd like the Style Identity Workbook please drop me a message & I'll send it straight out to you.If you like The Pocket Styling Podcast, I'd love your vote please;Podcast Awardshttps://www.britishpodcastawards.com/votingAbout the HostWorking with personal clients, Lisa is passionate to inspire & empower ambitious women to have a wardrobe that gives them the confidence & self belief to achieve & reach their goals whilst reflecting their personal brand.Lisa has contributed to editorials such as The Guardian, Times, Daily Mail, The Sun, Daily Express works as the Style expert for BBC & Heart Radio throughout the UK. Lisa has worked on media campaigns with Sainsbury's & Persil.Want to find the Podcast Picks? - sign up to my newsletter here;www.lisatalbot.co.ukLisa's website here:www.lisatalbot.co.ukThank you for listening, please remember to hit the follow button so you never miss an episode & leave a review if you enjoy find the podcast.Follow Lisa on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lisatalbot1/Follow Lisa on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Lisa-Talbot-Personal-and-Fashion-Stylist-106427762713796Follow Lisa on Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-talbot-b8291615/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Product Experience
The story behind Spotify Canvas - Dariusz Dziuk (Product Lead, Spotify)

The Product Experience

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 13, 2025 30:13


In this episode of The Product Experience, Randy Silver speaks with Dariusz Dziuk, Product Lead for Music Expression at Spotify, about the origins and evolution of Canvas, the looping visuals that accompany music tracks. From early assumptions and first principles thinking to scaling and measuring marketplace success, he shares how a bold experiment turned into one of Spotify's most engaging features.Key Takeaways— Balancing Art and Science: Product management often lives between structured analysis and intuitive creativity—success lies in mastering both.— First Principles and Assumptions: Questioning defaults—like static, square cover art—can open doors to bold innovation.— Real Stakes Drive Real Creativity: Artist engagement with Canvas only truly emerged once the stakes felt genuine and public.— Marketplace Thinking: Canvas succeeded because it delivered value for all marketplace participants—creators, consumers, and the platform itself.— Innovation Through Structure: Weekly design sprints and rapid prototyping allowed Spotify's innovation lab to explore and discard ideas quickly, eventually landing on Canvas.— Scaling Insights: Measurable impact came later—higher engagement, saves, shares, and a new visual identity for music on Spotify.— Artist-Centric Focus: Prioritising the needs of the supply side (artists) can unlock cold start challenges and marketplace growth.Chapters0:00 – Marketplace Thinking at Spotify1:20 – Darius Jurek's Journey into Product2:45 – From Engineering to 0-to-1 Product Innovation4:00 – Is Product Management an Art or a Science?6:30 – The Brief: Connecting Creators and Fans8:20 – Building an Innovation Lab10:00 – Exploring Dozens of Ideas11:45 – Why Canvas Won Out13:10 – The Challenge of Validating a New Format16:00 – Questioning the Assumptions Around Cover Art19:00 – Real Stakeholder Feedback and Creative Buy-In21:00 – Marketplace Metrics of Success23:30 – Canvas and the Evolution of Music Discovery26:00 – Visual Design, Collaboration, and Artist Empowerment28:00 – Darius on Supplier-Led Product StrategyFeatured Links: Follow Dariusz on LinkedIn | Dariusz's website | Spotify | '#mtpcon @ Pendomonium 2024 Encore' recap Our HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.

The Pocket Stylist
Episode 216 - How to Show Up When You're the Woman Everyone's Watching

The Pocket Stylist

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 7, 2025 19:48


When you're the face of your business, brand, or message, how you show up matters and not just what you say, but how you're seen. In today's episode, I'm talking about visibility with intention, how to dress when you're the woman at the front: the leader, the keynote speaker, the media guest, the boardroom voice.Whether you're stepping onto a stage, into a photoshoot, or simply showing up to lead, your wardrobe should speak before you do with confidence, clarity, and alignment.What You'll Learn in This Episode:Why your audience sees you before they hear you — and what that means for your styleCommon style mistakes I see in visible women (and how to avoid them)The three questions I ask my clients before every public appearanceHow to strike the right balance between authority, approachability, and authenticityThe power of a consistent style message across platformsIf you'd like the Style Identity Workbook please drop me a message & I'll send it straight out to you.If you like The Pocket Styling Podcast, I'd love your vote please;Podcast Awardshttps://www.britishpodcastawards.com/votingAbout the HostWorking with personal clients, Lisa is passionate to inspire & empower ambitious women to have a wardrobe that gives them the confidence & self belief to achieve & reach their goals whilst reflecting their personal brand.Lisa has contributed to editorials such as The Guardian, Times, Daily Mail, The Sun, Daily Express works as the Style expert for BBC & Heart Radio throughout the UK. Lisa has worked on media campaigns with Sainsbury's & Persil.Want to find the Podcast Picks? - sign up to my newsletter here;www.lisatalbot.co.ukLisa's website here:www.lisatalbot.co.ukThank you for listening, please remember to hit the follow button so you never miss an episode & leave a review if you enjoy find the podcast.Follow Lisa on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lisatalbot1/Follow Lisa on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Lisa-Talbot-Personal-and-Fashion-Stylist-106427762713796Follow Lisa on Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-talbot-b8291615/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Product Experience
Why RACI makes collaboration worse - Jenny Wanger (Product Operations Consultant)

The Product Experience

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 6, 2025 41:18


In this episode of The Product Experience, Lily and Randy dive into the nuanced world of team collaboration with Jenny Wanger, product ops consultant. Jenny challenges the overuse of RACI matrices in product teams, arguing they often obscure deeper organisational issues rather than solve them. They discuss better alternatives, the root causes behind requests for RACI, and the value of prioritising human relationships over rigid frameworks. Chapters0:00 – The accountable vs. responsible dilemma0:37 – Meet Jenny Wanger: Product ops and Reforge1:20 – RACI: A quick explainer3:16 – Why RACI falls short in product teams7:00 – Infantilisation and territorialism9:18 – The flaws in the terminology10:14 – The consulted conundrum11:05 – RACI as a conversation starter12:01 – Better alternatives: Rapid and others14:20 – When RACI might be useful18:01 – Team dysfunction and RACI misuse23:00 – A case study in resolving collaboration issues26:00 – RACI as scaffolding, not infrastructure28:02 – AI, documents, and relationships30:05 – Diagnosing the real problem behind a RACI request32:38 – Job descriptions vs. RACI35:25 – Everyone's a bit of everything37:04 – Focusing on mission and collaboration39:57 – Final thoughts and where to find Jenny's workKey Takeaways— RACI isn't a cure-all: It often signals deeper dysfunction like poor team structure, unclear mission, or lack of trust.— Healthy teams don't need RACI: When collaboration and communication are strong, formal frameworks become redundant.— Use RACI as scaffolding: Let it initiate conversations, but don't enshrine it as a permanent solution.— Language matters: Terms like “accountable” and “responsible” are often confused, making the framework less clear than intended.— Consider better alternatives: Frameworks like RAPID offer more clarity around decision-making without creating silos.— Prioritise relationships over roles: Documents don't build culture—conversations and mutual understanding do.Featured Links: Follow Jenny on LinkedIn | Jenny's RACI feature at her website | Dave Johnson's page at The Pragmatic Agilist Our HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.

Risky or Not?
806. Chicken From a Bag With Chicken in the Seam

Risky or Not?

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 4, 2025 11:38


Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks from eating cooked chicken from a bag where one piece of chicken was caught in the bag seam. Dr. Don - not risky

SheerLuxe Podcast
The Entrepreneur Who Turned Rejection Into A €100m Success Story | SheerLuxe Conversations

SheerLuxe Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2025 53:48


In this episode of SheerLuxe Conversations, Georgie Coleridge Cole is joined by Gary Lavin, founder of VITHIT, the UK's leading health drink brand. Gary's journey is nothing short of inspiring: after a rugby injury ended his career at just 24, he spotted a gap in the market for healthier drink options, leading to the creation of VITHIT. The two discuss the challenges he faced along the way, including losing his home during the recession and being forced to sell bottles out of a van. Gary also shares the pivotal moments that led to the rebranding of VITHIT and how he turned a struggling business into a success story generating over €100m in retail sales across 15 countries, all without outside investment. He also dives into the importance of branding, the innovative ingredients in VITHIT and the strategies he used to get his product on the shelves at places like Boots and Sainsbury's. With insights on entrepreneurship, resilience and the health revolution, this episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in business and wellness.AD | VITHIT | https://www.vithit.com/ Subscribe For More | http://bit.ly/2VmqduQ Get SheerLuxe Straight To Your Inbox, Daily | http://sheerluxe.com/signup PANEL GUESTSGeorgie Coleridge Cole | https://www.instagram.com/gcoleridgecole/?hl=en Gary Lavin | https://www.instagram.com/vithitdrinks/?hl=en Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Product Experience
Rerun: What most companies get wrong about product discovery - Frances Ibe (SVP of Product, Tide)

The Product Experience

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2025 26:50


We revisit our conversation with Frances Ibe, Chief Experience Officer at Tide. Frances shares invaluable insights on her journey from developer to product leadership and how to avoid common pitfalls during the discovery process.Chapters01:07 – Meet Frances Ibe02:05 – Common Discovery Pitfalls03:34 – Embedding Continuous Discovery04:51 – The Myth of Talking to 20 Customers06:38 – What is a Data Prototype?08:03 – Building Confidence in Product Bets10:42 – Sharing Insights Across the Business13:52 – Keeping Sprint Reviews Engaging15:49 – Discovery Through Observation17:21 – Responding to Data-Driven Disruption18:30 – The Power of Storytelling20:49 – Training Teams in Storytelling22:36 – Maintaining Message Consistency23:48 – Collaborating Across Disciplines25:01 – Francis' Game-Changing AdviceFeatured Links: Follow Frances on LinkedIn | Tide | 'Six things we learned at the Pendomonium and #mtpcon roadshow - London 2024' feature by Louron PrattOur HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.

The Product Experience
How to embrace the uncertain future of product — Erica Wass (Product Consultant)

The Product Experience

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 23, 2025 39:06


Erica Wass, Principal Product Consultant at Brainmates, joins the Product Experience podcast to share pragmatic tools for building strategic foresight into your roadmap. From horizon scanning to backcasting, this episode explores how product teams can harness future-focused techniques—bolstered by generative AI—to improve decision-making, resilience, and impact.Chapters:0:00 – Why foresight matters in product1:00 – Introducing Erica Wass2:30 – How product is changing3:45 – The value of strategic foresight5:00 – Clarifying the term and its importance7:00 – Who owns foresight in the product org10:00 – Techniques: Horizon scanning, scenario planning, backcasting14:30 – Horizon scanning in action: Google & Android16:00 – Scenario planning for resilience21:00 – Tips on running scenario sessions23:45 – Backcasting: Vision-first roadmapping26:00 – Using AI to accelerate foresight30:00 – Product team dynamics in the AI era33:00 – Mistakes to avoid and balancing action with foresight37:00 – Wrap-up and takeawaysKey Takeaways— Horizon scanning helps teams identify early, weak signals that may grow into significant trends.— Scenario planning enables resilience by preparing teams for a range of plausible futures.— Backcasting flips traditional planning by working backward from a long-term goal to define near-term milestones.— Generative AI can democratise access to foresight tools—when used with critical thinking and proper validation.— Product professionals should take a proactive role in guiding strategic conversations, regardless of their title.— Avoid extremes with AI: neither fear it nor over-rely on it. Use it as a pairing partner rather than a replacement.Our HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.

Recipe for Greatness
How Phizz is Leading the UK's Hydration, Vitamin and Electrolyte Boom | Dan Cray

Recipe for Greatness

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 18, 2025 32:45 Transcription Available


Daniel Cray, an Australian entrepreneur and CEO of Phizz, pivoted from advertising to create a revolutionary three-in-one hydration, vitamin and electrolyte tablet that's now one of the UK's fastest-growing wellness brands. He shares his journey from bootstrapping with three friends to leading a category-defining company used by Premier League teams and travellers worldwide.• After discovering travellers lose up to six litres of water during flights, Dan identified hydration's broader impact beyond just athletic performance• Partnered with a neuroscientist co-founder to develop a scientifically-backed formula that enhances brain performance through proper electrolyte balance• Initially secured partnerships with Emirates Airlines, W Hotels and Premier League teams to build credibility while bootstrapping• Made the bold decision to relocate from Australia to London despite having no UK connections or secured funding• Transformed from a £250,000 revenue business to nearly £10 million by transitioning from brand partnerships to retail distribution• Maintained scientific integrity by including glucose in their formula despite "sugar-free" trends, as it's essential for optimal hydration• Successfully positioning Phizz as a category leader in "hydration enhancers" – creating an entirely new retail category in UK stores• Recently expanded into Middle East and European markets with plans for continued international growthCheck out Phizz in major UK retailers including Boots, Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury's, or online with Amazon.Support the show

The Product Experience
How to balance safety and speed in healthcare products - Brigitte West (Director of Product, DrDoctor)

The Product Experience

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 16, 2025 40:47


Featured Links: Follow Brigitte on LinkedIn | DrDoctor | European Commission Public Health 'Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare' featureOur HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.

Unfiltered a wine podcast
Part 4 of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Wine: Ep 227 – Legacy, Land & Ethical Wine: Julia Moore of Bosman Family Vineyards

Unfiltered a wine podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 14, 2025 54:18


In this episode, we are talking with Julia Moore, Communications Specialist at Bosman Family Vineyards, a South African winery at the forefront of ethical wine production and regenerative farming. With a 26% worker-ownership model, award-winning viticulture, and deep investment in education and inclusion, Bosman is redefining what sustainability in wine truly means. We explore the impact of shared ownership, the challenges and beauty of farming as a community, and the power of giving future generations opportunities beyond the vineyard. From vine nurseries to old vine Chenin Blanc, this conversation is rich in knowledge and purpose. Two wines are tasted during the episode: the affordable Generation 8 Chardonnay, supporting early childhood education projects, and the prestigious Optenhorst Chenin Blanc, sourced from the third-oldest Chenin vines in South Africa. Whether you're interested in equitable business models, viticulture innovation, or wines with purpose, this episode delivers inspiration in every sip. Episode Guide (Chapters) [02:30] - How Julia approaches wine storytelling as a communicator [04:47] - How the land shapes the vines [07:51] - The role of climate and vine age [09:30] - Ethical working and community impact [11:35] - Shared ownership: transforming life on the farm [14:25] - Vision for youth and long-term opportunity [17:32] - How many people live on the farm as a community [18:57] - Tasting Generation 8 Chardonnay — a fresh, unoaked white wine with expressive fruit and minerality. Available at Sainsbury's £9 (UK). [21:20] - How its sales support Bosman's education projects [26:19] - What happens in the vine nursery during winter [30:46] - Clonal selection and rootstock combinations [33:23] - Bosman named Winery of the Year in the Platter's Wine Guide [36:08] - Tasting Optenhorst Chenin Blanc 2023 — from 72-year-old dry-farmed bush vines. Around £25-30 per bottle. [38:59] - The story and power of old vines [41:06] - Pricing and exclusivity of Optenhorst; why it's a rare and age-worthy wine [49:01] - What the wine industry must do for equity and representation [51:46] - Bosman Family Vineyards and more information

The Product Experience
Why should we care about building accessible products? - Dee Miller (Director, Product Strategy & Insights, Adobe)

The Product Experience

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 9, 2025 37:14


In this episode of The Product Experience, Lily Smith and Randy Silver speak with Dee Miller, Director of Product Strategy and Insights for Product Equity at Adobe. Dee shares her personal journey into inclusive design, and discusses how Adobe is moving beyond accessibility compliance to build genuinely usable, inclusive, and emotionally accessible products. Featured Links: Follow Dee on LinkedIn | The Adobe Accessibility Checker | Listen to previous The Product Experience episode: 'Building Accessible Products' with Jonathan Hassell (CEO & Founder, Hassell Inclusion) Our HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.

Secret Mum Club with Sophiena
The Secret Swear Club

Secret Mum Club with Sophiena

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 8, 2025 46:10


The ladies are throwing their names in the hat to join the Secret Swear Club after one listener reveals a genius (and slightly unhinged) new tradition to swerve their child's judgmental side-eye. Meanwhile, Dottie's been yelling about itchy legs in the middle of Sainsbury's, and one listener's caught in a parenting pickle with their sister. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fruitful Life
Benji Davies: Nurture Your Potential

Fruitful Life

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 8, 2025 89:27


Benji Davies is a picture book writer and artist. In his work he aims to capture how it feels to be a child. By immersing themselves in the stories he writes and illustrates, Benji hopes that children will find a quiet confidence with which to navigate the noise and bustle of the real world.Since hailed a modern classic, his first self-penned picture book, The Storm Whale, won the inaugural Oscar's Book Prize and was Dutch Picture Book Of The Year. His second, Grandad's Island, garnered similar plaudits, winning the children's book category of the AOI World Illustration Awards and being crowned Children's Book of the Year at the Sainsbury's Children's Book Awards. In 2020 he won Oscar's Book Prize for a second time with Tad, a story about a tadpole making its way in the big, wide pond. All three of these books have been adapted for the stage.

History of South Africa podcast
Episode 230 - From Knysna's Burning Forests to Tolstoy's War and Peace: The World in 1869

History of South Africa podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 6, 2025 18:27


This is episode 230, From Knysna's Burning Forests to Tolstoy's War and Peace: The World in 1869. Globally, the end of the sixth decade of the 19th Century was full of fire and brimbstone, and some technology, social change, significant moments. The construction of the the Port Nolloth-O'okiep railway line is one notable tech development, but on the down side, the Southern Cape experienced a devastating fire that began in early February in the Meiringspoort area of the Swartberg Mountains, destroying numerous homesteads and ancient yellowoods. More about this in a few minutes. IN the United States, Elizabeth Cady Stanton testified before the U.S. Congress, thus becoming the first woman to do so, and later in 1869, Stanton and Susan B. Anthony formed the National Woman Suffrage Association. Sainsbury's opened in Drury Lane in London in May, Boston University was founded in the same month. A month later, John Hyatt patented celluloid in Albany New York, a product created by mixing nitrocellulose and camphor — thus creating the basis for the coming film revolution. Like all good ideas, Hyatt had actually bought the original patent from Englishman Alexander Parkes who couldn't figure out how to make money from his invention. It's amazing how many inventions were co-opted by entrepreneurs after the inventor struggled to make a buck out of a good idea. Take the common computer mouse, invented by Stanford Research Unit student Douglas Engelbart in the early 1960s. In the late 1970s, almost two decades after the mouse's invention, Apple's Steve Jobs saw a mouse being demonstrated along with what was called graphical user interface, GUI, at Xerox labs in Palo Alto California. November the 17 however, was probably one of the most significant dates in the calendar when it came to the Cape, because that was the date that the Suez Canal was completed. For the first time in history, ships could now sail through the canal, linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, shortening the voyages between Europe and the far east by months. In Cape Town, there was fear and loathing about the Canal. And so, to South Africa, let's retrace our steps to February 1869. It began, as such stories often do, with a wisp of smoke on the horizon. According to the local newspapers, the fire that would become known ominously as the Great Fire of 1869 was first spotted on the 8th February. The conditions were perfect for a catastrophe. Southern Cape berg winds, searing, north-westerly to north-easterly gusts, swept down from the heights. Born of a low-pressure system sliding from west to east, they could reach gale-force strength, tearing through valleys like invisible predators. By the time the flames were first seen near Knysna, the air shimmered with heat, the humidity was almost non-existent, and the vegetation which was parched after years of relentless drought, stood waiting, tinder-dry.But in February 1869, the fire dominated every horizon. From its first sparks, it began a horrifying march: sweeping west towards Swellendam, east to Uitenhage, and threading through the Langkloof valley north of the Outeniqua Mountains. Then, inexorably, it spilled down towards the coast, devouring all in its path, Great Brak River, Victoria Bay, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay.

TOP CMO
Dr. Squatch Bought for $1.5B?! Why Unilever Is Betting on Bros & Soap | Branded Weekly

TOP CMO

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 4, 2025 26:12


Nike's back to its roots. Unilever just paid $1.5B for a soap brand. Cloudflare declared war on AI. Oh, and Pamela Anderson is suddenly a branding icon again.This week, Ben Kaplan and Tom Cain unpack the smartest (and strangest) marketing moves across the globe:Nike ditches lifestyle for core athleticismDr. Squatch and the billion-dollar soap gameCloudflare vs. AI crawlers — is the internet changing?Sainsbury's market share surpriseCelebrity endorsements vs real influenceTesla's fully driverless deliveryNASA streams on NetflixAnd the rise of an AI-generated rock band?Smart takes. Big brands. No fluff.

Sliced Bread
Toast - Homebase

Sliced Bread

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 3, 2025 25:08


Homebase was once one of our leading home improvement chains so, why did it have to close all of its stores?The BBC Business journalist Sean Farrington investigates.Alongside him is the entrepreneur Sam White, who at the end of the show has to reach her own conclusions, based only on what she has heard and her own business acumen.Homebase was established by the supermarket chain Sainsbury's and a Belgian retailer which was already running a DIY business in Europe and America. The first Homebase store opened in Croydon in 1981 and it had to be temporarily closed by the police after visiting crowds caused a traffic jam. The chain expanded across the UK and had more than 300 stores. It went through some highs, and some serious lows, with various owners but what ultimately caused the closure of its shops?Sean and Sam hear from expert guests including:- Allison Foster, curator of the Sainsbury Archive, which is based at London Museum Docklands- Dave Elliott, a former Trading Director then later Commercial Director at Homebase under different owners- Matt Walton, senior data analyst at GlobalDataWhile Homebase's standalone stores are toast, the brand continues to trade online under new ownership. Homebase garden centres and products are also being included within branches of The Range. Produced by Jon Douglas, Toast is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.You can email the programme at toast@bbc.co.ukFeel free to suggest topics which could be covered in future episodes.

Sliced Bread
Toast - Homebase

Sliced Bread

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 3, 2025 25:08


Homebase was once one of our leading home improvement chains so, why did it have to close all of its stores?The BBC Business journalist Sean Farrington investigates.Alongside him is the entrepreneur Sam White, who at the end of the show has to reach her own conclusions, based only on what she has heard and her own business acumen.Homebase was established by the supermarket chain Sainsbury's and a Belgian retailer which was already running a DIY business in Europe and America. The first Homebase store opened in Croydon in 1981 and it had to be temporarily closed by the police after visiting crowds caused a traffic jam. The chain expanded across the UK and had more than 300 stores. It went through some highs, and some serious lows, with various owners but what ultimately caused the closure of its shops?Sean and Sam hear from expert guests including:- Allison Foster, curator of the Sainsbury Archive, which is based at London Museum Docklands- Dave Elliott, a former Trading Director then later Commercial Director at Homebase under different owners- Matt Walton, senior data analyst at GlobalDataWhile Homebase's standalone stores are toast, the brand continues to trade online under new ownership. Homebase garden centres and products are also being included within branches of The Range. Produced by Jon Douglas, Toast is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.You can email the programme at toast@bbc.co.ukFeel free to suggest topics which could be covered in future episodes.

Herbert Smith Freehills Podcasts
CRTea EP7: The UK's new consumer protection regime: practical insights and commercial impact

Herbert Smith Freehills Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 3, 2025 21:26


On 6 April 2025 the UK's new consumer protection regime came into force. The changes, introduced under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, include a new direct enforcement regime for the CMA as well as a number of changes to the substantive law, aimed at improving and modernising consumer rights in order to ensure they keep pace with market developments, in particular the trend towards online retail and advertising. In this podcast we take you through the key features of the new, enhanced regime and we are joined by guest speaker Amy McMeekin, Head of Competition and Consumer Law at Sainsbury's, who provides some insights on the impact of the changes for businesses.

AJ Bell Money & Markets
New rumours about Cash ISA allowance cut, and paying tax as a Vinted seller

AJ Bell Money & Markets

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 3, 2025 48:32


This week's episode of the Money & Markets podcast explains why Sainsbury's and Greggs are experiencing different fortunes. [00:48] Charlene Young addresses the latest rumours about income tax and a potential cut to Cash ISA allowances. [06:12] Dan Coatsworth explains why Lifetime ISAs are back on the political agenda. [13:36] New data suggests there is a serious problem of takeover news being leaked before official announcements. Dan dives into this topic. [18:55] If you're one of the growing number of people selling goods on Vinted or Ebay, Charlene considers the level of sales that attract the tax man's attention. [22:40] As schools prepare to break up and people take time off work for their summer break, the podcast reveals a worrying scam aimed at holidaymakers. [25:50] The clock is ticking on the end of Trump's 90-day tariff negotiations, so Dan considers what could happen next and how markets might react. [28:59] This week's special guest is someone directly impacted by the new tariff regime. Greg Eckel invests in Canada and he talks to Tom Sieber about the impact of Trump's policies and the long-term prospects for Canadian stocks. [32:46]

The Product Experience
The only rules you need for leading commercial product teams - Faith Forster (CPO, Legl)

The Product Experience

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2025 39:15


In this episode of The Product Experience, Lily and Randy speak with Faith Forster about the art of aligning product work with commercial outcomes. From redefining velocity as a function of customer value to implementing impact models that quantify ROI, Faith outlines practical frameworks to help product teams think commercially without compromising user value. She also explores the evolving role of AI in product development, the necessity of syncing planning cycles with business units, and why happy teams are the cornerstone of faster, better delivery.Key takeawaysVelocity = Value: Product velocity isn't about coding speed—it's about reducing time to customer value to improve ROI and lower opportunity cost.Impact Modelling: A disciplined approach to estimating commercial outcomes before development helps product teams understand and justify their work.AI Integration: Teams are expected to primarily use AI tools within three months to boost delivery speed and build organisational capability.Viability from Day One: Pricing and revenue potential must be considered from the outset—not after feature completion.Cross-Functional Alignment: Successful planning requires synchronising product cycles with finance, sales, and marketing calendars.Happy Teams, Better Results: Reducing friction between design, engineering, and product roles directly impacts delivery speed and feature quality.Chapters00:00 – Redefining velocity: Why speed isn't just about code01:05 – Faith's journey from Dex to Legal03:02 – Introducing the commercial value talk04:51 – Understanding the P&L from a product lens08:07 – Why team cost-awareness matters10:00 – Building better impact models12:25 – Increasing ROI through value velocity16:37 – The AI imperative: Adoption, anxiety, and accelerationOur HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.

Pull up a Chair with Bina Mehta
Insight 20: What's the link between heatwaves and empty supermarket shelves?

Pull up a Chair with Bina Mehta

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2025 9:08


Sainsbury's Chair, Martin Scicluna, reflects on how the supermarket is facing into the challenges of climate change – from long-term contracts that support British farmers to grow sustainably, to deploying AI to forecast sales and reduce food waste. This episode is part of Pull Up a Chair's ‘Insights' series, featuring bite-sized perspectives and advice from podcast guests.

TIME FOR A RESET
91 - Elevating Marketing to Strategic Leadership with Claire Moyles, Marketing Director at Sainsbury's Bank

TIME FOR A RESET

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 1, 2025 32:57


"Fundamentally, I'd like to hit the reset button on how we break down silos within organisations so that we can work collaboratively to solve for brilliant customer journeys and brilliant customer experiences." - Claire Moyles, Marketing Director at Sainsbury's Bank

Mercado Abierto
Europa: Lo más destacado en el Viejo Continente

Mercado Abierto

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 1, 2025 6:57


Renault, L'Oréal, InPost y Sainsbury, bajo la lupa de Araceli de Frutos, asesora del fondo Alhaja Inversiones.

The Leading Voices in Food
E277: Food Fight - from plunder and profit to people and planet

The Leading Voices in Food

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 27, 2025 25:27


Today we're talking with health and nutrition expert Dr. Stuart Gillespie, author of a new book entitled Food Fight: from Plunder and Profit to People and Planet. Using decades of research and insight gathered from around the world, Dr. Gillespie wants to reimagine our global food system and plot a way forward to a sustainable, equitable, and healthy food future - one where our food system isn't making us sick. Certainly not the case now. Over the course of his career, Dr. Gillespie has worked with the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition in Geneva with UNICEF in India and with the International Food Policy Research Institute, known as IFPRI, where he's led initiatives tackling the double burden of malnutrition and agriculture and health research. He holds a PhD in human nutrition from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Interview Summary So, you've really had a global view of the agriculture system, and this is captured in your book. And to give some context to our listeners, in your book, you describe the history of the global food system, how it's evolved into this system, sort of warped, if you will, into a mechanism that creates harm and it destroys more than it produces. That's a pretty bold statement. That it destroys more than it produces, given how much the agriculture around the world does produce. Tell us a bit more if you would. Yes, that statement actually emerged from recent work by the Food Systems Economic Commission. And they costed out the damage or the downstream harms generated by the global food system at around $15 trillion per year, which is 12% of GDP. And that manifests in various ways. Health harms or chronic disease. It also manifests in terms of climate crisis and risks and environmental harms, but also. Poverty of food system workers at the front line, if you like. And it's largely because we have a system that's anachronistic. It's a system that was built in a different time, in a different century for a different purpose. It was really started to come together after the second World War. To mass produce cheap calories to prevent famine, but also through the Green Revolution, as that was picking up with the overproduction of staples to use that strategically through food aid to buffer the West to certain extent from the spread of communism. And over time and over the last 50 years of neoliberal policies we've got a situation where food is less and less viewed as a human right, or a basic need. It's seen as a commodity and the system has become increasingly financialized. And there's a lot of evidence captured by a handful of transnationals, different ones at different points in the system from production to consumption. But in each case, they wield huge amounts of power. And that manifests in various ways. We have, I think a system that's anachronistic The point about it, and the problem we have, is that it's a system revolves around maximizing profit and the most profitable foods and products of those, which are actually the least healthy for us as individuals. And it's not a system that's designed to nourish us. It's a system designed to maximize profit. And we don't have a system that really aims to produce whole foods for people. We have a system that produces raw ingredients for industrial formulations to end up as ultra processed foods. We have a system that produces cattle feed and, and biofuels, and some whole foods. But it, you know, that it's so skewed now, and we see the evidence all around us that it manifests in all sorts of different ways. One in three people on the planet in some way malnourished. We have around 12 million adult deaths a year due to diet related chronic disease. And I followed that from colonial times that, that evolution and the way it operates and the way it moves across the world. And what is especially frightening, I think, is the speed at which this so-called nutrition transition or dietary transition is happening in lower income or middle income countries. We saw this happening over in the US and we saw it happening in the UK where I am. And then in Latin America, and then more Southeast Asia, then South Asia. Now, very much so in Sub-Saharan Africa where there is no regulation really, apart from perhaps South Africa. So that's long answer to your intro question. Let's dive into a couple of things that you brought up. First, the Green Revolution. So that's a term that many of our listeners will know and they'll understand what the Green Revolution is, but not everybody. Would you explain what that was and how it's had these effects throughout the food systems around the world? Yes, I mean around the, let's see, about 1950s, Norman Borlag, who was a crop breeder and his colleagues in Mexico discovered through crop breeding trials, a high yielding dwarf variety. But over time and working with different partners, including well in India as well, with the Swaminathan Foundation. And Swaminathan, for example, managed to perfect these new strains. High yielding varieties that doubled yields for a given acreage of land in terms of staples. And over time, this started to work with rice, with wheat, maize and corn. Very dependent on fertilizers, very dependent on pesticides, herbicides, which we now realize had significant downstream effects in terms of environmental harms. But also, diminishing returns in as much as, you know, that went through its trajectory in terms of maximizing productivity. So, all the Malthusian predictions of population growth out running our ability to feed the planet were shown to not to be true. But it also generated inequity that the richest farmers got very rich, very quickly, the poorer farmers got slightly richer, but that there was this large gap. So, inequity was never really properly dealt with through the Green Revolution in its early days. And that overproduction and the various institutions that were set in place, the manner in which governments backed off any form of regulation for overproduction. They continued to subsidize over production with these very large subsidies upstream, meant that we are in the situation we are now with regard to different products are being used to deal with that excess over production. So, that idea of using petroleum-based inputs to create the foods in the first place. And the large production of single crops has a lot to do with that Green Revolution that goes way back to the 1950s. It's interesting to see what it's become today. It's sort of that original vision multiplied by a billion. And boy, it really does continue to have impacts. You know, it probably was the forerunner to genetically modified foods as well, which I'd like to ask you about in a little bit. But before I do that, you said that much of the world's food supply is governed by a pretty small number of players. So who are these players? If you look at the downstream retail side, you have Nestle, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, General Mills, Unilever. Collectively around 70% of retail is governed by those companies. If you look upstream in terms of agricultural and agribusiness, you have Cargill, ADM, Louis Dreyfus, and Bunge. These change to a certain extent. What doesn't change very much are the numbers involved that are very, very small and that the size of these corporations is so large that they have immense power. And, so those are the companies that we could talk about what that power looks like and why it's problematic. But the other side of it's here where I am in the UK, we have a similar thing playing out with regard to store bought. Food or products, supermarkets that control 80% as Tesco in the UK, Asta, Sainsbury's, and Morrisons just control. You have Walmart, you have others, and that gives them immense power to drive down the costs that they will pay to producers and also potentially increase the cost that they charge as prices of the products that are sold in these supermarkets. So that profit markup, profit margins are in increased in their favor. They can also move around their tax liabilities around the world because they're transnational. And that's just the economic market and financial side on top of that. And as you know, there's a whole raft of political ways in which they use this power to infiltrate policy, influence policy through what I've called in Chapter 13, the Dark Arts of Policy Interference. Your previous speaker, Murray Carpenter, talked about that with regard to Coca-Cola and that was a very, yeah, great example. But there are many others. In many ways these companies have been brilliant at adapting to the regulatory landscape, to the financial incentives, to the way the agriculture system has become warped. I mean, in some ways they've done the warping, but in a lot of ways, they're adapting to the conditions that allow warping to occur. And because they've invested so heavily, like in manufacturing plants to make high fructose corn syrup or to make biofuels or things like that. It'd be pretty hard for them to undo things, and that's why they lobby so strongly in favor of keeping the status quo. Let me ask you about the issue of power because you write about this in a very compelling way. And you talk about power imbalances in the food system. What does that look like in your mind, and why is it such a big part of the problem? Well, yes. And power manifests in different ways. It operates sometimes covertly, sometimes overtly. It manifests at different levels from, you know, grassroots level, right up to national and international in terms of international trade. But what I've described is the way markets are captured or hyper concentrated. That power that comes with these companies operating almost like a cartel, can be used to affect political or to dampen down, block governments from regulating them through what I call a five deadly Ds: dispute or dispute or doubt, distort, distract, disguise, and dodge. And you've written very well Kelly, with I think Kenneth Warner about the links between big food and big tobacco and the playbook and the realization on the part of Big Tobacco back in the '50s, I think, that they couldn't compete with the emerging evidence of the harms of smoking. They had to secure the science. And that involved effectively buying research or paying for researchers to generate a raft of study shown that smoking wasn't a big deal or problem. And also, public relations committees, et cetera, et cetera. And we see the same happening with big food. Conflicts of interest is a big deal. It needs to be avoided. It can't be managed. And I think a lot of people think it is just a question of disclosure. Disclosure is never enough of conflict of interest, almost never enough. We have, in the UK, we have nine regulatory bodies. Every one of them has been significantly infiltrated by big food, including the most recent one, which has just been designated to help develop a national food stretch in the UK. We've had a new government here and we thought things were changing, beginning to wonder now because big food is on that board or on that committee. And it shouldn't be, you know. It shouldn't be anywhere near the policy table anyway. That's so it's one side is conflict of interest. Distraction: I talk about corporate social responsibility initiatives and the way that they're designed to distract. On the one hand, if you think of a person on a left hand is doing these wonderful small-scale projects, which are high visibility and they're doing good. In and off themselves they're doing good. But they're small scale. Whereas the right hand is a core business, which is generating harm at a much larger scale. And the left hand is designed to distract you from the right hand. So that distraction, those sort of corporate CSR initiatives are a big part of the problem. And then 'Disguise' is, as you know, with the various trade associations and front groups, which acted almost like Trojan horses, in many ways. Because the big food companies are paying up as members of these committees, but they don't get on the program of these international conferences. But the front groups do and the front groups act on in their interests. So that's former disguise or camouflage. The World Business Council on Sustainable Development is in the last few years, has been very active in the space. And they have Philip Morris on there as members, McDonald's and Nestle, Coke, everybody, you know. And they deliberately actually say It's all fine. That we have an open door, which I, I just can't. I don't buy it. And there are others. So, you know, I think these can be really problematic. The other thing I should mention about power and as what we've learned more about, if you go even upstream from the big food companies, and you look at the hedge funds and the asset management firms like Vanguard, state Capital, BlackRock, and the way they've been buying up shares of big food companies and blocking any moves in annual general meetings to increase or improve the healthiness of portfolios. Because they're so powerful in terms of the number of shares they hold to maximize profit for pension funds. So, we started to see the pressure that is being put on big food upstream by the nature of the system, that being financialized, even beyond the companies themselves, you know? You were mentioning that these companies, either directly themselves or through their front organizations or the trade association block important things that might be done in agriculture. Can you think of an example of that? Yes, well actually I did, with some colleagues here in the UK, the Food Foundation, an investigation into corporate lobbying during the previous conservative government. And basically, in the five years after the pandemic, we logged around 1,400 meetings between government ministers and big food. Then we looked at the public interest NGOs and the number of meetings they had over that same period, and it was 35, so it was a 40-fold difference. Oh goodness. Which I was actually surprised because I thought they didn't have to do much because the Tory government was never going to really regulate them anyway. And you look in the register, there is meant to be transparency. There are rules about disclosure of what these lobbying meetings were meant to be for, with whom, for what purpose, what outcome. That's just simply not followed. You get these crazy things being written into the those logs like, 'oh, we had a meeting to discuss business, and that's it.' And we know that at least what happened in the UK, which I'm more familiar with. We had a situation where constantly any small piecemeal attempt to regulate, for example, having a watershed at 9:00 PM so that kids could not see junk food advertised on their screens before 9:00 PM. That simple regulation was delayed, delayed. So, delay is actually another D you know. It is part of it. And that's an example of that. That's a really good example. And you've reminded me of an example where Marian Nestle and I wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times, many years ago, on an effort by the WHO, the World Health Organization to establish a quite reasonable guideline for how much added sugar people should have in their diet. And the sugar industry stepped in in the biggest way possible. And there was a congressional caucus on sugar or something like that in our US Congress and the sugar industry and the other players in the food industry started interacting with them. They put big pressure on the highest levels of the US government to pressure the WHO away from this really quite moderate reasonable sugar standard. And the US ultimately threatened the World Health Organization with taking away its funding just on one thing - sugar. Now, thankfully the WHO didn't back down and ultimately came out with some pretty good guidelines on sugar that have been even stronger over the years. But it was pretty disgraceful. That's in the book that, that story is in the book. I think it was 2004 with the strategy on diet, physical activity. And Tommy Thompson was a health secretary and there were all sorts of shenanigans and stories around that. Yes, that is a very powerful example. It was a crazy power play and disgraceful how our government acted and how the companies acted and all the sort of deceitful ways they did things. And of course, that's happened a million times. And you gave the example of all the discussions in the UK between the food industry and the government people. So, let's get on to something more positive. What can be done? You can see these massive corporate influences, revolving doors in government, a lot of things that would argue for keeping the status quo. So how in the world do you turn things around? Yeah, good question. I really believe, I've talked about a lot of people. I've looked a lot of the evidence. I really believe that we need a systemic sort of structural change and understanding that's not going to happen overnight. But ultimately, I think there's a role for a government, citizens civil society, media, academics, food industry, obviously. And again, it's different between the UK and US and elsewhere in terms of the ability and the potential for change. But governments have to step in and govern. They have to set the guardrails and the parameters. And I talk in the book about four key INs. So, the first one is institutions in which, for example, there's a power to procure healthy food for schools, for hospitals, clinics that is being underutilized. And there's some great stories of individuals. One woman from Kenya who did this on her own and managed to get the government to back it and to scale it up, which is an incredible story. That's institutions. The second IN is incentives, and that's whereby sugar taxes, or even potentially junk food taxes as they have in Columbia now. And reforming the upstream subsidies on production is basically downregulating the harmful side, if you like, of the food system, but also using the potential tax dividend from that side to upregulate benefits via subsidies for low-income families. Rebalancing the system. That's the incentive side. The other side is information, and that involves labeling, maybe following the examples from Latin America with regard to black octagons in Chile and Mexico and Brazil. And dietary guidelines not being conflicted, in terms of conflicts of interest. And actually, that's the fourth IN: interests. So ridding government advisory bodies, guideline committees, of conflicts of interests. Cleaning up lobbying. Great examples in a way that can be done are from Canada and Ireland that we found. That's government. Citizens, and civil society, they can be involved in various ways exposing, opposing malpractice if you like, or harmful action on the part of industry or whoever else, or the non-action on the part of the government. Informing, advocating, building social movements. Lots I think can be learned through activist group in other domains or in other disciplines like HIV, climate. I think we need to make those connections much more. Media. I mean, the other thought is that the media have great, I mean in this country at least, you know, politicians tend to follow the media, or they're frightened of the media. And if the media turned and started doing deep dive stories of corporate shenanigans and you know, stuff that is under the radar, that would make a difference, I think. And then ultimately, I think then our industry starts to respond to different signals or should do or would do. So that in innovation is not just purely technological aimed at maximizing profit. It may be actually social. We need social innovation as well. There's a handful of things. But ultimately, I actually don't think the food system is broken because it is doing the wrong thing for the wrong reason. I think we need to change the system, and I'll say that will take time. It needs a real transformation. One, one last thing to say about that word transformation. Where in meetings I've been in over the last 10 years, so many people invoke food system transformation when they're not really talking about it. They're just talking about tweaking the margins or small, piecemeal ad hoc changes or interventions when we need to kind of press all the buttons or pull all the levers to get the kind of change that we need. And again, as I say, it was going to take some time, but we have to start moving that direction. Do you think there's reason to be hopeful and are there success stories you can point to, to make us feel a little bit better? Yeah, and I like that word, hope. I've just been reading a lot of essays from, actually, Rebecca Solnit has been writing a lot about hope as a warrior emotion. Radical hope, which it's different to optimism. Optimism went, oh, you know, things probably will be okay, but hope you make it. It's like a springboard for action. So I, yes, I'm hopeful and I think there are plenty of examples. Actually, a lot of examples from Latin America of things changing, and I think that's because they've been hit so fast, so hard. And I write in the book about what's happened in the US and UK it's happened over a period of, I don't know, 50, 60 years. But what's happened and is happening in Latin America has happened in just like 15 years. You know, it's so rapid that they've had to respond fast or get their act together quickly. And that's an interesting breed of activist scholars. You know, I think there's an interesting group, and again, if we connect across national boundaries across the world, we can learn a lot from that. There are great success stories coming out Chile from the past that we've seen what's happening in Mexico. Mexico was in a terrible situation after Vicente Fox came in, in the early 2000s when he brought all his Coca-Cola pals in, you know, the classic revolving door. And Mexico's obesity and diabetes went off to scale very quickly. But they're the first country with the sugar tax in 2014. And you see the pressure that was used to build the momentum behind that. Chile, Guido Girardi and the Black Octagon labels with other interventions. Rarely is it just one thing. It has to be a comprehensive across the board as far as possible. So, in Brazil, I think we will see things happening more in, in Thailand and Southeast Asia. We see things beginning to happen in India, South Africa. The obesity in Ghana, for example, changed so rapidly. There are some good people working in Ghana. So, you know, I think a good part of this is actually documenting those kind of stories as, and when they happen and publicizing them, you know. The way you portrayed the concept of hope, I think is a really good one. And when I asked you for some examples of success, what I was expecting you, you might say, well, there was this program and this part of a one country in Africa where they did something. But you're talking about entire countries making changes like Chile and Brazil and Mexico. That makes me very hopeful about the future when you get governments casting aside the influence of industry. At least long enough to enact some of these things that are definitely not in the best interest of industry, these traditional food companies. And that's all, I think, a very positive sign about big scale change. And hopefully what happens in these countries will become contagious in other countries will adopt them and then, you know, eventually they'll find their way to countries like yours and mine. Yes, I agree. That's how I see it. I used to do a lot of work on single, small interventions and do their work do they not work in this small environment. The problem we have is large scale, so we have to be large scale as well. BIO Dr. Stuart Gillespie has been fighting to transform our broken food system for the past 40 years. Stuart is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow in Nutrition, Diets and Health at theInternational Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). He has been at the helm of the IFPRI's Regional Network on AIDs, Livelihoods and Food Security, has led the flagship Agriculture for Nutrition and Health research program, was director of the Transform Nutrition program, and founded the Stories of Change initiative, amongst a host of other interventions into public food policy. His work – the ‘food fight' he has been waging – has driven change across all frontiers, from the grassroots (mothers in markets, village revolutionaries) to the political (corporate behemoths, governance). He holds a PhD in Human Nutrition from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 

Damnation Versus
The Site Build

Damnation Versus

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2025 98:54


James, his fellow Trees organisers, trusted crew and a small army of 40 volunteers have descended on Upcote Farm in preparation for scores of bands and 15,000 music lovers who will follow suit in two weeks' time.But what exactly goes into prepping a massive outdoor festival? From who puts in the Sainsbury's order to feed and water the entire team on day one, to who clears the sticks from the forest, to counting power points and checking batteries in the power tools, James breaks down EVERY job and the timescale the have to complete them before the campsites open on July 9.Just don't give him a mouldy fridge! We go again, every Thursday morning.

The Product Experience
How to pick the right product tools for your team - Moshe Mikanovsky (Product Coach)

The Product Experience

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 25, 2025 40:24


In this episode of The Product Experience, Lily and Randy sit down with Moshe Mikanovsky—product coach, educator, and host of the Product for Product podcast—to explore what makes an effective product management toolkit. From identifying the real problems in your workflow to choosing and implementing tools that stick, Moshe outlines a pragmatic, user-centric approach to tool selection. Chapters:2:59 – From Engineering to Product Management5:25 – Why Choosing Tools is Hard8:11 – Elements of a Product Stack10:49 – From Roadmaps to Analytics14:01 – A Framework for Selecting Tools18:01 – Comparing Tools Beyond Features21:18 – Test and Validate Your Tool Choices26:01 – Why Implementation is Critical28:04 – What's Changing in Product Tools29:26 – AI and the Future of Product Management32:01 – Keeping Your Stack Modern34:29 – Making the Case for Budget & ROI37:23 – When ROI Forces a Change38:45 – Final Thoughts & Listener Call to ActionFeatured Links: Follow Moshe on LinkedIn | Moshe's Product Manager Toolkit | PostHogOur HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.

The Product Experience
How to build a Product-Led Operating Model that sticks - Jen Swanson (CEO, Tuckpoint Advisory Group)

The Product Experience

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2025 39:05


Transformations are hard, and too often, they fail to deliver on their promise. In this episode of The Product Experience, Lily and Randy speak with Jen Swanson, CEO of Tuckpoint Advisory Group, to unpack why transformation initiatives falter and what it truly takes to succeed.Key Takeaways— Transformation requires intentionality: Real transformation isn't accidental or surface-level; it must be deliberate, comprehensive, and backed by leadership.— Avoid ‘transformation theatre': Pretending to change—without restructuring ownership, processes, or collaboration—is worse than doing nothing at all.— Start with honest orientation: Knowing your starting point is essential before plotting a path forward.— Executive involvement is non-negotiable: Transformations can't be delegated. Leadership must model the change and communicate relentlessly.— Product-led is about mindset, not just teams: Everyone should operate within the product model, but not all need to be on product teams.— Pace matters: Organisations must assess their capacity for change and determine the right balance between ambition and sustainability.— Give grace for the learning curve: People need space to be bad at new things before they get good—psychological safety is essential.Chapters0:00 – Introduction & the myth of sneaky transformations1:01 – Jen's background and path into product2:53 – What transformation really means5:53 – Defining honest orientation8:00 – What is transformation theatre?12:09 – When real change feels fake13:04 – The importance of executive commitment16:04 – Why transformations fail19:11 – Common catalysts for transformation22:06 – Product-led vs product thinking25:00 – Who's in the opOur HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.

Pull up a Chair with Bina Mehta
Episode 32 – Martin Scicluna, Chair, Sainsbury's plc

Pull up a Chair with Bina Mehta

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2025 32:55


In the latest episode of the ‘Pull up a Chair' podcast, Bina is joined by Martin Scicluna, Chair of Sainsbury's plc. Martin reflects on years of experience in executive and non-executive roles. He shares his perspectives on how resilient businesses are against today's most pressing challenges, how Britain's supermarkets can support industries to thrive, and how technology can turn the tide on food poverty.

The MadTech Podcast
MadTech Daily: WhatsApp to Introduce Ads; Sainsbury's to Launch AI-Powered Retail Media Platform

The MadTech Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2025 2:06


In today's MadTech Daily, we cover WhatsApp introducing ads, Sainsbury's launching an AI-powered retail media platform, Disney adding Amazon to DRAX, and Ad Net Zero expanding emissions standards across media channels.

On The Scent
A Fragrant Chat With Richard E Grant plus Delving Into The World of Baylis & Harding

On The Scent

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2025 41:10


#AD We want our homes to smell great all the time, with a scent wardrobe to match every mood. Baylis & Harding's Signature Hand Wash collection lets you do just that: luxurious, affordable, and perfectly crafted to elevate your everyday. We were so happy to partner with Baylis & Harding for this episode, and to talk about our absolute favourites in their Signature collection…Both of us love the Sweet Mandarin & Grapefruit Hand Wash, a refreshing citrus blend with mandarin, grapefruit, soft florals and warm amber. We also adore the creamy, indulgent Jojoba, Vanilla & Almond Oil Hand Wash, rich with vanilla and sandalwood, plus the sophisticated Black Pepper & Ginseng Hand Wash, spicy with black pepper, bergamot and cedarwood. Nicola's picks include the fresh and floral Jasmine & Apple Blossom Anti-Bacterial Hand Wash, combining wild jasmine with crisp apple and peach, and the soothing Wild Lavender & Geranium Hand Wash, with eucalyptus, citrus, lavender and cedarwood. Suzy's favourites are the warm, woody Vetiver, Cedar & Lemongrass Anti-Bacterial Hand Wash, blending vetiver, juniper berries and moss, and the vibrant Peony, Lychee & Vanilla Hand Wash, a romantic mix of peony, pear, lily, rose, lychee and vanilla. Each hand wash is £2.25 and available at Waitrose, Amazon, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons and Ocado. Discover more at @baylisandhardingplc and baylisandharding.com PLUS, in this episode, after our deep dive into scenting our world and moods, we're thrilled to bring you an interview with @richard.e.grant – actor, author, broadcaster and founder of @jackperfume – about how he was ‘led by his nose' all his life, and eventually created his own fragrance house (hugely influenced by his own scent memories). Don't miss it!

The Product Experience
What does it take to build successful products now? Ezinne & Oji Udezue (co-Authors at ProductMind, ex-CPOs of Calendly, Typeform & WP Engine)

The Product Experience

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 11, 2025 47:04


What does it mean to build world-class products in the age of AI? In this episode, Randy Silver talks to Ezinne and Oji Udezue, co-authors of Building Rocketships, a playbook for building high-growth companies in today's fast-evolving tech landscape. Together, they unpack what product looks like now, how AI changes collaboration, and why ambition, clarity, and disciplined execution matter more than ever.Key takeaways— Building world-class products starts with clear ambition and choosing big, meaningful problems— AI isn't replacing PMs, it's changing the way product work gets done—especially in how we collaborate— Vibe coding enables faster iteration and clearer communication through prototyping in code— The product manager's job is to lead teams and help the organisation build the right thing, not just anything— Clarity, focus, and leadership buy-in are essential to successful transformation, even in legacy organisations— Product teams need to shift from writing specs to orchestrating systems that drive customer and business outcomes— Every product person should master the full arc: solving today's problems, helping customers succeed, and spotting future opportunitiesChapters 0:00 The "should PMs code?" debate1:54 First product roles and how the book came to life4:49 The mission behind Building Rocketships7:13 Why the book is for leaders and their partners10:01 Differences between world-class teams and everyone else13:35 What ambition really looks like17:10 How clarity transforms legacy companies23:10 AI, vibe coding, and the new spec: working prototypes30:10 Redefining the product team's role in the AI age35:02 What skills PMs actually need to thrive now42:54 The one mistake PMs can't afford to makeFeatured Links: Follow Ezinne on LinkedIn | Follow Oji on LinkedIn | ProductMind | Buy their new book 'Building Rocketships: Product Management for High Growth Companies'Our HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.

The Keto Vegan
#93 The Ultimate Keto Vegan Burger Slaw – Celeriac Edition

The Keto Vegan

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 5, 2025 6:05


The Product Experience
Rerun: Building fun products at scale: Inside King Games with Todd Green (CEO, King)

The Product Experience

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 4, 2025 35:52


This week on The Product Experience, we revisit a great conversation with Todd Green, now President of King – the studio behind Candy Crush. Todd shares how he thinks about building products that are not only globally successful but enduringly fun. Todd takes us behind the curtain on what it really takes to build for mass audiences, create fun at scale, and grow empowered product teams.Key takeawaysFun can't be optimised: Building successful games (or products) requires capturing something visceral. Metrics help, but “fun” starts as a feeling, not a number.Audience motivation matters more than demographics: Instead of targeting by age or gender, King focuses on why people play – whether it's for calm, connection or challenge.Legacy products need product management too: The real work starts when a product survives beyond launch. King invests heavily in balancing new features with legacy complexity.Good product leaders own the business: At King, product leads (executive producers) are responsible for P&L – it's a full-stack role across delivery, team, and outcomes.Sharing insights is a team sport: King has full-time roles and informal networks dedicated to transferring learning between game teams.Ethical responsibility is core: King prioritises player wellbeing and long-term satisfaction – not just engagement – as a business principle.Building great managers is a product in itself: Todd sees first-line manager development as one of his top priorities for sustaining culture and performance.Key chapters  00:00 – Intro and Todd's promotion 01:40 – Todd's media roots and time at Fremantle 06:15 – Digital bibles and global format sharing 10:50 – Lessons from the Susan Boyle YouTube moment 13:40 – Shifting to King and the discovery of fun 18:30 – Motivations beyond boredom 22:45 – Building for a massive, diverse audience 26:40 – The product structure at King 30:10 – Keeping Candy Crush fresh after years at the top 35:05 – When to launch a new game 38:50 – Ethics and responsibility in game design 42:20 – Why qual and quant both matter 45:10 – How King shares knowledge across teams 48:00 – The hiring landscape and talent challenges 51:00 – Growing new managers and inclusive leadership 54:10 – Closing thoughts and Todd's reflectionsOur HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.

Do you really know?
Are budget food brands really worth the savings they offer?

Do you really know?

Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2025 5:07


In September 2023, UK consumer watchdog Which published research showing just how much cheaper budget brands can be. One striking example was the price of rice at Asda. Shoppers could get 1kg of Asda Just Essentials rice for 52 pence, while the store's standard own-brand Easy Cook Long Grain White Rice was £1.80 for the same quantity. That's 246% more. Similar cases were found at supermarkets like Sainsbury's, Tesco and Morrison's, on staple foods like baked beans, spaghetti and tea bags. The cost of living crisis has seen a lot of people switch to budget food brands in order to save. And an early 2023 survey by Attest found that 70.2% of Brits plan to stick with own-label brands, rather than reverting to premium options. What counts as a budget food brand? Are the products of good enough quality? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions! To listen to the last episodes, you can click here: ⁠Why is funflation causing us to spend more on live entertainment?⁠ ⁠Are gas cookers dangerous?⁠ ⁠How do I know if I'm allergic to gluten?⁠ A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance. First broadcast: 26/11/2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Product Experience
How Stack Overflow is competing with AI - Jody Bailey (CPTO, Stack Overflow)

The Product Experience

Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2025 36:00


AI has changed the way developers work—and Stack Overflow is right at the centre of that shift. In this episode, Jody Bailey, CPTO at Stack Overflow, shares how the platform is adapting to AI, protecting its community, and embracing new revenue streams. We explore how LLMs are reshaping developer behaviour, why canonical answers still matter, and what it takes to keep trust, quality and community alive in the age of instant AI-generated code. If you're working on dev tools, building with AI, or just wondering how to keep your product relevant through disruption, this one's for you.Key takeawaysAI is both a disruptor and an enablerEngagement is shifting, not disappearingCommunity remains the core assetAI doesn't kill quality—it challenges itPrompt engineering is the new entry-level skillInnovation is iterative—even with AIStack is designing for tomorrow's engineersJody's vision is long termChapters00:00 – intro to Jody Bailey and his role at Stack Overflow03:30 – impact of AI and shift in how developers search for answers07:45 – Stack's new business model: licensing data to LLMs10:15 – protecting community-contributed data and enforcing attribution13:20 – changing nature of search and the role of AI17:00 – trust, verification, and the evolving user experience21:10 – internal AI experiments and lessons learned25:00 – balancing community, learning, and AI-powered answers28:20 – new skills required for developers in an AI world31:40 – evolving engineering roles and the future of team structures36:10 – making Stack Overflow accessible for the next generation39:50 – what Jody's most excited about for the futureFeatured Links: Follow Jody on LinkedIn | Stack Overflow | ‘Yes, Artificial Intelligence Has A Creative Side, Sort Of' feature at ForbesOur HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.

The Product Experience
Learn what made Intercom throw away it's playbook - Paul Adams (CPO, Intercom)

The Product Experience

Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2025 37:43


Intercom's CPO Paul Adams joins The Product Experience to talk about how the company has radically transformed its approach in the wake of AI's acceleration. From ripping up roadmaps and reorganising teams to reinventing pricing models, Paul shares what it really takes to adapt—fast.Key takeaways"You're not selling users anymore. You're selling work."AI has shifted Intercom's business model from seat-based to outcome-based pricing—charging per resolution, not per person."We ripped up our strategy five days after ChatGPT launched."Intercom made a bold, immediate pivot to reorient its product and vision around AI, including launching a new website and scrapping existing roadmaps."The only thing that's persisted is our principles."While teams, triads and structures were dismantled, Intercom kept its core product principles intact—like 'start with the problem'."This isn't evolution—it's a new species of company."Intercom now compares itself to AI-native startups, not its former self. It has rebuilt the product team into flexible, role-fluid workstreams."People have left because it's not for them."The pace of change has human costs. Leadership must communicate directly and honestly to support people through radical transformation."I worry I'll be left behind too."Even senior leaders are actively relearning—Paul admits to using tools like Replit and Lovable to stay current with AI-native UX trends.Chapters00:00 – Opening thoughts: fear of being left behind in the AI era00:18 – Introduction to the episode and Paul Adams01:00 – Paul's journey from Google and Facebook to Intercom01:51 – What it's like to witness Intercom evolve over 11+ years02:22 – The energy and disruption brought on by AI03:17 – From seat-based to value-based pricing: the big shift05:06 – Why AI made Intercom rethink everything, fast07:58 – Sales team challenges: retraining to sell a new model09:43 – The business impact: Fin's rapid growth and dual-model tension11:02 – What it means to “sell work” instead of licences12:58 – New kinds of jobs emerging around AI tooling14:45 – Ripping up process: how Intercom builds products now16:00 – Competing with AI-native startups, not legacy Intercom17:49 – The one thing that stayed: Intercom's product principles18:54 – Why starting with the problOur HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.

The Product Experience
How to build the right product culture during transformation - Joca Torres (Product Consultant)

The Product Experience

Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2025 37:38


In this episode of The Product Experience podcast, we sit down with Product Consultant Joca Torres, whose work at Gympass is featured in Marty Cagan's book Transformed. Joca shares the four core principles of successful digital transformation—principles he's applied in both high-growth startups and century-old corporations.We unpack what it really takes to shift a company from a delivery mindset to a product-led culture, the traps of discovery theatre, and how empowered teams actually behave. Key takeaways— Discovery should be fast and focused. Avoid drawn-out discovery phases that confirm what you already know. Good discovery is grounded in existing insights and validated quickly.— The Four Principles of Product Culture:Deliver Early and Often – Frequent releases drive learning and responsiveness.Focus on the Problem – Avoid premature solutions. Spend time understanding what really needs solving.Deliver Results – Products are a means, not an end. Success is measured in impact, not output.Ecosystem Mindset – Recognise the full range of users and stakeholders. Product is about balancing value across them.— Transformation is behavioural, not technical. Digital tools are important, but they won't matter if people and processes don't change with them.— Executive sponsorship is essential. Cultural shifts only take hold when the leadership team actively supports and models them.— Beware of product theatre. Following the right rituals doesn't mean you're creating value. Focus on outcomes, not optics.— Empowered teams are responsible teams. True empowerment means owning the problem, the solution, and the results. It isn't for everyone.Chapters00:00 – The Problem with “Discovery”01:00 – Introducing Joca Torres02:30 – A Surprising Need for Digital Transformation04:00 – What Makes a True Digital Transformation08:00 – The Four Pillars of Change13:00 – Thinking Beyond the End User17:00 – From Feature Delivery to Outcome OwnershipOur HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.

Writer's Routine
M.G. Leonard, author of 'Hunt for the Golden Scarab' - British Book Award Winner discusses making your work stand out, an ideal working day, and living your research

Writer's Routine

Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2025 56:49


M.G. Leonard is the author of 16 children's books, which have won heaps of awards. She was awarded Sainsbury's Childen's Book of the Year, and the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year 2021. Meanwhile, as a child at school, she was told she'd never become a published author - that she simply wasn't smart enough.Before becoming a writer, she managed bands, ran an indie record label, and worked as a professional actor with some of the biggest names around. She now uses her performance experience to help her write, by reading her work aloud to get the flow and editing that way. Maya started writing her first children's book to overcome a lifelong phobia of insects. So, to get past her fear of beetles, she wrote about them, turning the story 'Beetle Boy' into a bestseller, and now has over 100 of them. She has co-written the 'Adventures on Trains' series with Sam Sedgman, published 'The Twitchers Quartet', along with other books for young readers. Her newest novel is 'Hunt for the Golden Scarab', it's the first in the 'Time Keys' series, which tells the story of Sim who discovers his Mum has the power to open doors through time.You can hear about the cabin she's had made to stop her lazy children from interfering, also about the way writing and publishing for children has changed rapidly and why, and we discuss how she dives into extremely thorough research.Support the show at - patreon.com/writersroutineko-fi.com/writersroutineGet a copy of the book - uk.bookshop.org/writersroutineSubscribe to the newsletter - writersroutine.substack.com@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Product Experience
Tools and techniques to scale product teams - Charlotte King (Lead Product Manager, eBay)

The Product Experience

Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2025 34:46


As startups grow, product teams often find themselves caught between speed and structure. In this episode of The Product Experience, Charlotte King, Lead Product Manager at eBay, shares practical insights from her work leading teams through this transition at companies including Moonpig, Flipdish, and ThoughtWorks. Charlotte unpacks how to define product's role during scaleup, build team structure around strategic value, and use tools like Wardley Mapping and Team Topologies to support organisational change. She also introduces the DHM model (Delightful, Hard to copy, Margin-enhancing) and discusses how to make strategy tangible for cross-functional teams. This conversation is especially useful for product leaders, heads of product, and founders navigating scale.Chapters1:13 – Charlotte's background2:36 – Product's role in startups, scaleups and enterprises4:35 – What product teams need to succeed during scale6:42 – Defining product's role as the company grows9:00 – Using Wardley Mapping to assess team maturity14:30 – Creating and communicating guiding principles20:30 – Using the DHM model to prioritise value25:48 – Structuring teams with Team Topologies29:03 – Multidisciplinary collaboration in practice30:41 – Lessons from leading transformation32:30 – Final reflections and takeawaysFeatured Links: Follow Charlotte on LinkedIn | eBay | Wardley Maps | What we learned at #mtpcon London 2025' feature by Kent McDonald and Louron PrattOur HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.

The Product Experience
Everything you need to know about impact-first product teams - Matt LeMay (Product Consultant and Advisor)

The Product Experience

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2025 48:51


In this episode on The Product Experience, we welcome back Matt LeMay—author, consultant, and champion of no-nonsense product thinking. We dig deep into the ideas behind his new book Impact First Product Teams and explore how teams can focus on what really matters: delivering business impact.Featured Links: Follow Matt on LinkedIn and his website | Buy Matt's new book 'Impact-first Product Teams' | Sudden Compass | Randeep Sidhu's episode on The Product Experience: 'Lessons from building the UK's test and trace app'Chapters00:00 – The Myth of Rational Business01:03 – Matt's Accidental Journey into Product02:20 – What Are “Impact-First” Teams, Really?04:50 – Why OKRs Are Often Just Theatre07:12 – Best Practices ≠ Business Value10:00 – Who's on the Product Team, and Why It Matters12:30 – Dealing With Cross-Team Goal Conflicts15:00 – Culture Change via Strategic Goal Alignment17:00 – Proactive Conversations About Impact20:00 – Commercial Awareness for Product Teams24:00 – Platform Teams & Measuring Amplified Impact27:00 – What Do Good Impact-First Teams Look Like?31:00 – Customer-Centricity vs. Business Impact34:00 – Discovery, Metrics & Mission-Critical Goals36:00 – Culture, Strategy & Individual Leverage41:00 – BAU vs. Innovation: Set Clear Expectations44:00 – The Ego Trap in Product Work46:00 – Matt's Final Zinger on Capital and FeelingsOur HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.