LaunchPod | Product Management Podcast
LaunchPod is a product management podcast hosted by LogRocket's CEO, Matt Arbesfeld, and VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton. They talk to product leaders about the issues they faced in their careers, how they found solutions to those issues, and how you can apply these solutions in your own day-to-day product role.
Episodes
This Product Leader Built Her Own PM OS with Claude Code: LIVE Demo | Parul Goel (ex-Indeed/PayPal)
We’ve got something different today: a live demo and walkthrough of how an actual product leader built a real, PM-focused tool with AI.
Our guest today put her proverbial money where her mouth is when she got sick of the AI hype and anxiety and grew tired of writing the same status update five different ways for five different audiences. So she decided to build her way out of the never-e
Speedrunning $0 to $180M: The Intrapreneur's Playbook | Gaurav Jaiswal, VP Product (ex-Pearson, SAP)
Everyone loves to romanticize the founder who starts from zero. But most successful product and digital leaders will likely find themselves using a slightly different flavor of that skill: intrapreneurship — building something new inside an established company...whether it be a business unit, go-to-market approach, product, or other.
Gaurav Jaiswal has done exactly this several times. A
How DoorDash Turned Food Delivery into a Local Commerce Platform | Vassili Samolis, VP of Product
To most people, DoorDash is an easy fix when you just need food. Our guest today would argue that's the least interesting thing they do.
Vassili Samolis has been VP of Product at DoorDash for 5 years and counting, leveraging lessons from Instagram & Pinterest to help turn a simple food delivery app into a high-trust local commerce platform for the more than one million merchants who
Beyond AI Theater: How a Real AI Product Team Looks Now | Eric Anderson, SVP Product (Datasite)
We’ve all been witness to how AI collapses the org chart: leaders are back to doing IC work, ICs are shedding the busy work, and teams are shipping features in two-week sprints that used to take a year.
Our guest today is Eric Anderson, SVP of Product at Datasite, the virtual data room platform where billion-dollar M&A deals get done. He walks us through how a real-life, AI-first tea
Feedback Is Just the Start: How Acting on It Increased Zipcar’s NPS by Over 50% | Nishaat Vasi, CPO
We’ve all been witness to how AI collapses the org chart: leaders are back to doing IC work, ICs are shedding the busy work, and teams are shipping features in two-week sprints that used to take a year.
Our guest today is Eric Anderson, SVP of Product at Datasite, the virtual data room platform where billion-dollar M&A deals get done. He walks us through how a real-life, AI-first tea
From Hostile to Rewired: How Descript's CEO Drives AI Adoption | Laura Burkhauser
Our guest today is Laura Burkhauser, CEO of Descript, the video editor that’s been AI-native long before “AI-native” was something you put in a pitch deck.
Laura's route to the CEO seat started as a customer. She loved the product enough to knock on founder Andrew Mason's door and ask to work on it. She joined to lead product, but only three years later she's succeeded the well-known fou
How AI Helped Me Ship 9 Months of Product in 5 Days | Sriram Iyer, SVP of Product (ex-Salesforce)
A program manager told Sriram Iyer it would take 6 to 9 months to ship the first slice of their new product. Sriram challenged the team to do it in just five days.
At first, they laughed. Then he rolled his sleeves up, dug in with the team, and they did it. 5 days, from Monday to Friday.
Sriram has spent his career walking into companies like Salesforce, Adobe, and Freshworks, and pulli
AI Agents Fail for 2 Reasons. Crowdsourcing Solved Both. | Julia Dalton, SVP Product (Capacity)
Long before “AI Agent” was the buzzword in every product discussion, Julia Dalton was already deep into solving the problems of coordinating thousands of worker agents, creating clear instruction prompts, and evaluating output quality.
Julia is SVP of Product at the AI-support automation platform, Capacity. Previously, she helped scale workflow orchestration at OneSpace, formerly known
April Dunford’s 1 Killer Question to Expose Weak AI Product Positioning [Repeat]
In this week's repeat episode, we’re joined by the undisputed queen of B2B positioning: April Dunford.
April is the best-selling author of the seminal book "Obviously Awesome" and the new hit "Sales Pitch." She has spent 25 years as a startup executive and consultant, helping companies stop guessing and start winning. If you have ever struggled to explain exactly why customers should pic
AI Isn't Breaking PM Teams. Overload is. Explained by Stanford PhD & CPO Jen Wang (Framework)
Our guest today, Jen Wang, holds a PhD from Stanford in behavior sciences, judgment, and decision-making. She built her product career at ThredUp, and now serves as Chief Product Officer and go-to-market lead at Framework.
That combination — behavioral scientist plus operating CPO — gives her a rare lens into the most urgent question in product leadership right now: how do you lead and b
The Analytics Gap Most eCom Teams Don’t Know They Have | Raul Parquet, Dir. eCom (Princess Cruises)
Raul Parquet is the Director of Ecommerce at Princess Cruises, where he’s helping to lead them into a more digital future where visa requirements, multi-destination itineraries, and endless customization options are something customers can actually complete online.
In this episode, Raul shares:
The unglamorous but vital elements of a complete eCommerce analytics stack, and the table-st
How to Avoid AI FOMO like Patagonia | Angela Clark, VP Digital
I keep meeting teams across the country that are facing intense pressure to shoehorn AI into every feature, often without a coherent thesis on the problem it’ll solve. But what if the smartest move in the AI gold rush is to actually slow down?
Angela Clark, VP of Digital at Patagonia, is doing exactly that. At a brand known for its fierce commitment to the planet, Angela is applying that
The Anti-Headcount Billion-Dollar eCom Playbook | David Cost, CDO (Rainbow Shops)
How many engineers does it take to run the ecommerce site for a retail company that does over a billion dollars in revenue per year?
Well, if you’re Rainbow Shops, the answer is just 2.
Most ecommerce teams assume scale requires more engineers, more tools, more complexity. Chief Digital Officer David Cost has built something many people in ecommerce would say isn't possible — a lean, f
The World’s Safest Driver Isn’t Human. Can Waymo Stop Traffic Deaths? | Chinmay Jain, Dir. Product
40,000 people a year die from traffic accidents in the US. Our guest today is Chinmay Jain, Director of Product Management on Waymo's Driving Behavior team, who is working to make that number 90% smaller.
In this episode, Chinmay shares:
How he thought through leaving YouTube at its peak to join a moonshot company that could have civilization-level impact
Waymo’s actual AI eval process
The Cortisol UI: How We Fix FinServ’s Empathy Problem | Melissa Douros, CPO (Green Dot)
Most financial products are optimized for transactions, not human emotion. For many people, this transforms an already fraught topic into pure anxiety.
Our guest today is building banking for what she calls the Cortisol UI.
Melissa Douros has spent over 26 years in financial services, starting in debt collection and now serving as the Chief Product Officer at Green Dot. Early on, she le
The $500M Lesson from Amazon’s Homepage Redesign | Rahul Chaudhari (ex-Amazon, Kohl’s)
How do you redesign the most visited e-commerce webpage in the world? Rahul Chaudhari helped reshape the Amazon homepage during his years as a product leader there, before becoming VP of Product and Technology at Kohl's.
In this episode, Rahul shares:
Amazon’s “customer backwards” approach - and how he used it to unlock half a billion dollars of value on the Amazon homepage
The secret
Smarter AI Models Won't Fix Your Deployment | Maryam Ashoori, VP PM/Eng (IBM, Watsonx)
In this episode, we’re joined by Maryam Ashoori, VP of Product and Engineering at IBM’s Watsonx platform. With a background that includes 2 master's degrees in AI, a PhD in Systems Design Engineering, and named on over 30 patents at IBM, she’s been on the bleeding edge for over a decade. Currently leading the charge on Agentic AI and AI Governance at IBM, Maryam is a bridge between the th
Using AI to Preserve 140 Years of History at the LA Times | Deepika Manglani, VP Product (LA Times)
In this episode, we’re joined by Deepika Manglani, VP of Product and Program Management at the LA Times. Deepika’s career in media spans over 15 years, culminating in her current role, where she’s bringing the 140-year-old institution into the future.
In this episode, Deepika shares:
How her team is using AI to preserve a unique trove of historical data, over 12 million pages of news a
Designing for Attention: How CrossFit Builds Product for Community-Led Growth | Ben McAllister, CPTO
In this episode, we’re joined by Ben McAllister, the Chief Product and Technology Officer at CrossFit, and one of the most thoughtful product leaders I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with.
Ben’s path is anything but linear: with a degree in physics, a short stint in consulting, and time spent as a creative director at a design agency before moving into senior product roles at Under Arm
How AI Can Eliminate the “Chaos Tax” in Enterprise Software | Karthik Viswanathan (TalAiro)
In this episode, we’re joined by Karthik Viswanathan. Formerly a product leader at AT&T, Macy’s, and Optum, he’s now the founder of TalAiro, an HR tech startup that is rethinking the operating system for recruiting.
Karthik argues that the hidden failure of the modern tech stack is forcing the user to serve as a “manual integration layer. He explains how the push to "unbundle" featur
April Dunford’s 1 Killer Question to Expose Weak AI Product Positioning
This week, we’re joined by the undisputed queen of B2B positioning, April Dunford.
April is the best-selling author of the seminal book "Obviously Awesome" and the new hit "Sales Pitch." She has spent 25 years as a startup executive and consultant helping companies stop guessing and start winning. If you have ever struggled to explain exactly why customers should pick you over the other
Is Dashboarding Dead? How AI Is Changing Analytics UX | Robert Henkhaus, VP of Product (Enverus)
From U.S. Army sniper to VP of Product, Robert Henkhaus knows a thing or two about high-stakes decision-making. Today, he’s a product leader at Enverus, the software platform guiding billions of dollars in global energy capital.
Fresh off Enverus’ acquisition by Blackstone, Robert joins us to discuss how to innovate when the pressure is on.
In this episode, we cover:
Why "Black Box" A
Why AI Agents Are the Future of ERP | Bret Tushaus, VP Product (DelTek) - Repeat
In this repeat episode of LaunchPod, originally published on Aug 12, 2025, we’re talking with Bret Tushaus, VP of Product at Deltek.
In this episode, we discuss:
How Deltek built Dela — an AI agent framework powering everything from smart summaries to autonomous accounting
Why AI is rewriting the role of Product Management, and what leaders need to know now
How Bret’s team leveled up t
Lessons from the Launch that Became a Silicon Valley Punchline | Berni Fisher, VP Product (Appcues)
This week, we sat down with Berni Fisher, VP of Product at Appcues and a self-described "first principles goddess." Berni goes deep on what it was really like behind the scenes during the notorious 2012 Apple Maps launch, the triple threat problem at ButcherBox where they exist at the intersection of grocery, eCommerce, AND SaaS, and more.
In our conversation, Berni discusses:
Survivin
Why Top-of-Funnel Traffic is Dead (& How TED is Replacing It ) | Tricia Maia, Head of Product (TED)
Today, we’re joined by Tricia Maia, Head of Product at TED. We all know TED Talks — but behind the scenes, TED is undergoing a massive product transformation to adapt to a post-AI media landscape. In this episode, Tricia Maia, Head of Product at TED, pulls back the curtain on how they’re solving the “discovery” crisis facing digital media today.
Tricia shares:
Why “views” are dead: Exp
Make the C-Suite Think Like a Startup (Without Getting Fired) | West Stringfellow, VP Product (ex-Target, Blackhawk)
Today, we’re joined by West Stringfellow, currently VP of Product at Blackhawk Network and former VP of Innovation at Target.
In this episode, West shares:
How he went from stealth startups to leading innovation at a company with over $77 billion in annual sales
The methods he uses to manage up and influence leadership in order to achieve the outcomes necessary to create successful org
Why PMs are Leveling up into AI Product Engineers | Sarah Jacob Singh, CPTO (Medbridge)
Today, we’re joined by Sarah Jacob Singh, CPTO at Medbridge, a digital healthcare platform.
In this episode, Sarah shares:
Why AI means all companies have to act like startups again, with product more tightly integrated from engineering all the way to go-to-market
How many Product Managers are evolving into Product Engineers - building prototypes, shipping code, and helping developer t
A Serial Founder’s Guide to Pivots, Exits, and AI | Raj Singh, VP of Product (Mozilla)
Today, we’re joined by serial entrepreneur Raj Singh. His multiple exits have landed him in product leadership roles at companies like Salesforce.com, and, most currently, as a VP of Product at Mozilla, where he’s leading the team creating new AI products for SMBs.
In this episode, Raj shares:
How his companies navigated multiple pivots, with innovations from ChatGPT and Zoom leading m
When CPO Becomes CMO: The Expanding Role of Product Leaders | Karen Chao (Flowspace)
Today, we’re joined by Karen Chao, Chief Product Officer at Flowspace, an ecommerce logistics platform, where she’s also taken on a role as head of marketing. Previously, Karen held product leadership roles at Apple, Replicon, Innit, and more.
In this episode, Karen shares:
How she ended up running Marketing on top of Product, and how bringing these two functions under one leader has i
When AI Makes Engineering Too Fast for Product Teams | Oji Udezue (ex-Typeform & Calendly)
On today’s episode of LaunchPod, we’ve got something special for you. Normally, you’d have to join us in person at one of the dinners we host for product leaders to hear this talk from Oji Udezue. But the response has been so great, we had to bring him onto the show again.
Oji has previously held product leadership roles at Typeform, Twitter, Calendly, and Atlassian. Today, he’s joining
Product Lessons from a $3B Bootstrapped eCom Platform | Trevin Chow, CPO (Big Cartel)
Today, we’re joined by Trevin Chow, Chief Product Officer at Big Cartel, an ecommerce platform for independent creators to turn their art into income. Previously, Trevin held product leadership roles at Nike, Microsoft, Axon, and more.
In this episode, Trevin shares:
How they thread the needle between brand history and innovation — respecting a 20+ year legacy while still driving towar
How Tinder Swiped Right on Customer Experience | Curtis Stevens (ex-Tinder)
Today, we’re talking with Curtis Stevens, who, until recently, was Tinder’s Director of Product Consumer Insights, and prior to that held product leadership roles at Qualtrics, Amazon, and more.
In this episode, Curtis shares:
How AI can actually be a tool for human connection
His process behind Tinder’s transformation into customer-centricity, with real, measurable results
How to bala
The Hidden AI Revolution in Construction | Rajitha Chaparala (Procore)
On today’s episode, we’re talking with Rajitha Chaparala, VP of Product at Procore, a construction management solution and one of the most successful examples of vertical SaaS out there today.
In this episode, we discuss:
How Rajitha and her team are using LLMs to streamline complex processes like requests for information (RFIs), project revisions, and construction site walkthroughs
Wh
Linear’s Secret to Building Powerful AI Products | Nan Yu, VP of Product (Linear)
Today, we’re joined again by Nan Yu, Head of Product at Linear.
In this episode, Nan shares:
Why you’re wrong to think of AI as a way to reduce costs -- and why the real value is in enabling new work that was previously impossible
The 3 must-haves he’s deduced from across the most successful AI products to produce consistently great outcomes for users
The behind-the-scenes details of
Reinventing SaaS: Zuora's AI Transformation | Karthik Chakkarapani and Shakir Karim (Zuora)
Today, we’re joined by Shakir Karim (Senior VP of Product) and Karthik Chakkarapani (CIO & Senior VP of Corporate Operations) from Zuora.
In this episode, Shakir and Karthik discuss:
Why they believe AI is a bigger inflection point than web, mobile, or cloud
Their internal AI agent workflow that automatically resolves thousands of service requests instantly, freeing teams to focus
The Secrets Behind a 30x AI Product Team | Zac Hays, CPO (Luxury Presence)
Today, we’re joined by Zac Hays, CPO at Luxury Presence, a fast-growing real estate tech platform that made a huge bet on AI adoption across the company..
In this episode, we discuss:
Luxury Presence's 30x Value Principle and how they rethought goals and projects to have exponential-level impact
The AI design sprint process that allowed the company to 20x product velocity
How their man
Zapier’s AI Transformation Playbook with Phil Lakin (Zapier)
Today, we’re joined by Phil Lakin, Head of Enterprise Innovation at Zapier.
In this episode, we discuss:
How Phil built No-Code Ops into a thriving community and SaaS product - and what led to its acquisition by Zapier
Why Phil ended up leading the initiative on Zapier’s first solution-based product, and the decision process behind making it Lead Router
How Zapier is driving AI transfo
Copilot, Claude, & OptiGPT: The AI Stack Driving Optimizely
How is Optimizely reshaping experimentation with AI? Cory Liebgott, VP of Product at Optimizely, joins LaunchPod to share how her team is using AI into both customer-facing solutions and their own product workflows.
Cory shares how her team:
Uses Copilot and Claude for everything from PRD writing and meeting recaps to translating technical language into accessible insights
Developed Op
How 1 CPO Uses AI to Deliver Like a Full Product Team | Michael Krafft, CPO (FoundersCard)
Today, we’re joined by Michael Krafft, CPO at FoundersCard, a membership community for entrepreneurs and executives offering exclusive perks and VIP treatment.
Previously, Michael worked in investment banking, led product teams at American Express, and played a key role in turning around Alight, an HR-tech firm, ahead of its IPO.
In this episode, we discuss:
How Michael uses AI to be
Top 4 AI Workflows Every PM Leader Should Know
Unlock the future of product management with AI. In this episode of LaunchPod, we dive into the top 4 AI workflows every product manager needs, from automating user research to building smarter prototypes and running faster experiments.
Hear real stories from product leaders who are already using AI to:
*Turn hours of customer interviews into actionable insights
*Prototype and test new f
Why Optimizely is Betting on Agentic AI | Cory Liebgott, VP of Product (Optimizely)
How is Optimizely reshaping experimentation with AI? Cory Liebgott, VP of Product at Optimizely, joins LaunchPod to share how her team is building agentic AI tools that put customer trust at the center.
Cory shares how her team:
Pivoted away from risky benchmarking AI to focus on agentic AI tailored to each customer’s brand and data
Launched Opal, Optimizely’s AI suite built on Google
The Company Using AI to Change the Game for Sports Betting | Marty Styles, VP of Product (PFF)
How is AI changing the game for sports betting? Marty Styles, VP of Product at Pro Football Focus (PFF), visits LaunchPod to share how his team is bringing pro-grade football analytics, trusted by every NFL team, to everyday bettors.
Marty shares how his team:
Built Key Insights, an AI-powered feature that simplifies 200+ data points per play into actionable betting takeaways
Designe
The "Feature Constellation" Framework That Unlocks 10x Customer Value | Aleks Bass (CPO, Typeform) - Repeat
How do you decide what to build when growth is flattening and you're facing intense competition from free products? When Aleks Bass joined Typeform as Chief Product Officer, she was faced with this exact challenge.
In this repeat episode, we cover:
The "Feature Constellation" Concept: How combining features can unlock exponential customer value and willingness to pay.
Prioritization
Why You Can’t Ignore AI Moving to the Edge | Joel Polanco, Senior Hardware Product Manager (Intel)
On today’s episode of LaunchPod AI, we’re talking with Joel Polanco, Senior Hardware Product Manager at Intel’s Edge Computing Group. He’s led dozens of enterprise AI edge deployments and knows exactly what it takes to run AI models locally at scale.
In this episode, we discuss:
Why AI at the edge will cause a whole new wave of disruption across multiple industries
Why moving AI to the
The AI Agent Behind 4x Productivity in Collections Teams | Dave Ruda, VP Product (Billtrust)
How did an AI agent help 4x the productivity of collections teams? Dave Ruda, VP of Product at Billtrust, visits LaunchPod to share how his team built a collections AI that transformed drudgery work into high-impact outcomes.
Dave shares how his team:
Reduced average email handling time from 8 minutes to just 2.5 minutes
Built an AI agent that categorizes and prioritizes collector work
The 3 Biggest Barriers to AI Adoption Across Your Team | Derek Pharr, CPO (Sporcle)
Why is AI adoption so hard inside companies? Derek Pharr, CPO at Sporcle, joins LaunchPod to reveal the 3 biggest barriers to AI adoption and how he helped his team overcome them.
In this episode, you’ll learn how Sporcle:
The 3 biggest barriers to AI adoption and how Derek addressed them
How Sporcle built a “content intern” with Claude Projects to augment trivia writers and improve us
The EdTech Graduating 150K by 2X’ing Completion Rates | Zach Heller, VP of Prod. (Penn Foster)
Today, we’re talking with Zach Heller, VP of Product at Penn Foster Group.
In this episode, we discuss:
How Penn Foster plans to literally “fill a stadium” with 150,000 graduates by 2029—doubling completion rates to do it
Why they shifted focus from acquisition to graduation—and how that’s now driving over 50% of enrollments through word-of-mouth
How AI-powered learning tools boosted c
Agentic AI for Vertical Software | Bret Tushaus, VP Product (Deltek)
Today on LaunchPod, we’re talking with Bret Tushaus, VP of Product at Deltek.
In this episode, we discuss:
How Deltek built Dela—an AI agent framework powering everything from smart summaries to autonomous accounting
Why AI is rewriting the role of Product Management, and what leaders need to know now
And how Bret’s team leveled up their AI skills fast — with short, high-impact sprints
AI Is Killing SaaS Pricing: Lessons From 10k+ Customers | Prittam Bagani, VP of PM (Chargebee)
Today, we’re talking with Prittam Bagani, VP of Product Management at Chargebee, where they have insight into how over 10,000 customers are optimizing their pricing models.
In this episode, we discuss:
How AI is forcing companies to rethink pricing - and why usage-, outcome-, and agent-based models are the future
Why OpenAI made over 100 pricing changes in a single year and what you ca
How Lattice’s PM team built an AI Slack “Intern” | Neha Monga, CPO (Ex-Lattice)
On today’s episode of LaunchPod AI, we’re talking with Neha Monga, former Head of Product at Lattice and has led product teams at Meta, Amazon, Expedia, and more
In this episode, we discuss:
The AI workflows that are table stakes for PMs now—and how to adopt them so you don’t fall behind
How Neha’s team used Figma Make + Claude to spin up high-fidelity prototypes, gather customer feedb
How Zuora is Betting on Retention-Led Growth | Ken Houseman, VP of Product (Zuora)
Today on LaunchPod, we’re talking with Ken Houseman, VP of Product at Zuora.
In this episode, we discuss:
Why even a 0.1% increase in churn can cause huge losses, and how to turn retention into a growth engine
How Zuora made payments so valuable that customers want to pay more - boosting revenue, margins, and customer retention
And how Ken used AI to slash prototyping time and unlock f
Inside Apartment List’s AI-Powered Product Team | Sierra Hahn-Ventrell, Dir. of PM (Apartment List)
Today on LaunchPod AI, we’re talking with Sierra Hahn-Ventrell, Director of Product Management at Apartment List. In this episode, we discuss how they:
Analyze customer interviews with ChatGPT, even uncovering a missed insight that led to a full product strategy reset
Built an AI Slack bot to flag issues in a new customer-facing tool before they become big problems
And transformed sale
Growing to 42 Million Users: Audiomack's Growth Playbook | Charlie Kaplan, VP of Product (Audiomack)
Today, we’re talking with Charlie Kaplan, VP of Product at Audiomack about Product Market Fit and how to tell if you’ve got it or not
In this episode, we discuss:
How he drove 50x user growth at Cymbal, and why that still didn’t matter because they lacked strong fit
The story of how he launched Audiomack’s product org and scaled to 42M MAUs, on the back of strong product market fit
How
The 4 Essentials of Killer Product Storytelling | Lanie Schenkelberg, VP of Product Marketing (Inovalon) | LaunchPod
Today, we’re talking with Lanie Schenkelberg, former product manager and current VP of Product Marketing at Inovalon.
In this episode, we discuss:
The 4 essential elements of compelling product storytelling
How to spot weak messaging - and what strong positioning really looks like
How Lanie’s team led a storytelling overhaul that contributed to Inovalon’s growth
Links
LinkedIn: http
Designing AI for the ICP That Doesn’t Trust New Tech | Deepti Mehtani, VP, AI (NextGen) | LaunchPod| Deepti Mehtani, VP, Clinical & AI Solutions (NextGen) | LaunchPod
Today, we’re talking with Dr. Deepti Mehtani, VP of Clinical and AI Solutions at NextGen Healthcare.
In this episode, we discuss:
How Dr. Mehtani’s team proved AI can be trusted with sensitive medical data - So why are you avoiding it in your own product?
The key lessons behind NextGen’s AI that turns doctor-patient conversations into medical-grade, accurate, structured data
And how De
How to scale $0 to $25M ARR | Michael Park, VP of PM (Buffini & Co) | LaunchPod (Repeat)
Today, our guest is Michael Park, VP of Product and Project Management at Buffini and Company.
In this episode, Jeff talks to Michael about:
His six lessons from scaling product from zero to $25M ARR
The nuance that comes with the “founder mode” discussion
And what a self-imposed sabbatical taught Michael about product leadership.
Links
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gototh
Automating PRDs and Beyond with AI | Roman Gun, VP of Prod. (Zeta Global) | LaunchPod AI
We're excited to kick off a new show focusing on the real-world AI applications that product teams are using to become faster, more efficient, and smarter.
Jeff has been traveling across the country meeting product leaders, and he keeps having the same conversation: every product person wants to know how their peers are using AI in their teams and their workflows.
So we’re bringing you
How To Modernize Million-User Products | Kamal Srinivasan, SVP of Product (Alludo) | LaunchPod
Today on the pod, we’re talking with Kamal Srinivasan, SVP of Product Development at Alludo.
In this episode, we discuss:
How CorelDraw was modernized from a legacy desktop tool into an AI-enabled, collaborative SaaS product, including:
The user research approach that balanced less mature users with the needs of long-time power users
And How they utilized AI to power entire workflows
Kickstarter's Comeback | Mahesh Guruswamy, CPTO (Kickstarter)
Today, we’re talking with Mahesh Guruswamy, CPTO at Kickstarter.
In this episode, we discuss:
How daily reflection on hard moments helped him grow as a leader—and led to his widely praised book How to Deliver Bad News and Get Away with It.
How Kickstarter went from “printing money” and experiencing “insane” PMF to plateauing - and how they created urgency and competition to quickly tur
Inside MailChimp's PLG Engine | Lauren Schuman, VP of Prod. Growth (Bitly) | LaunchPod
On today’s episode, our guest is Lauren Schuman, VP of Product Growth at Bitly & former Sr. Dir. of Product Growth at MailChimp.
In this episode, we discuss:
How Lauren created product-led growth (PLG) as a discipline at MailChimp and turned it into a systematic growth engine
The turnaround story behind a failed product launch, and how it led to a 183% spike in adoption overnight
W
How to compete with Apple — and win | Steve Chazin, CEO & Founder (Skytech.io) | LaunchPod (Repeat)
On today’s repeat episode, our guest is Steve Chazin, CEO & Founder of Skytech.io and formerly VP of Products at Alarm.com.
In this episode, we discuss:
Steve’s experience working at Apple, competing with Final Cut Pro, and his current role at alarm.com
The time he said no to Steve Jobs — and how that pushed his career forward
The importance of user-centered product design and the
The AI Velocity Engine for Product | Jeremy Pollock VP of Product (WP Engine) | LaunchPod
On today’s episode, we’re talking with Jeremy Pollock, VP of Product at WP Engine.
In this episode, we discuss:
Why speed is the new moat — Jeremy is pushing PMs to use AI, ship code, and move fast, because in the AI era, slow teams fall behind for good
How WP Engine is enabling product teams to use AI — through access, training, and best practices that turn weeks of work into hours
An
Build product impact with LLMs and data normalization | Rajitha Chaparala VP of Product (Procore) | LaunchPod
On today’s episode, we’re talking with Rajitha Chaparala, VP of Product at Procore, a construction management solution and one of the most successful examples of vertical SaaS out there today.
In this episode, we discuss:
How Rajitha and Procore got hesitant construction executives hungry for AI by showing real, immediate value in processing unstructured data, improving efficiency, and
How to category carve in B2B commerce | Jake Hookom, EVP of Product (Perforce) | LaunchPod
Today, we’re talking with Jake Hookom, EVP of Product at Perforce.
In this episode, we’ll explore:
How Jake’s focus on "category carving" at Four51 helped them soar above the sea of headless commerce tools and into a successful exit
Why most PMs are wrong to measure success on features shipped - it’s about solving user problems throughout the entire customer journey
And, how Sitecore’s
Building Consumer Trust for Mainstream Adoption | Sean McLeary, VP, Prod. Exp. (InTapp) | LaunchPod
Today, we’re talking with Sean McLeary, VP of Product Experience at Intapp.
In this episode, we’ll explore:
How Sean turned Macys.com and Macy’s brick-and-mortar into one cohesive experience, increasing revenue across both sources
How the team at DocuSign improved the UX to go from tech darling to mainstream product
The current landscape of AI adoption, addressing "empty box syndrome,
Build Product Like Typeform | Aleks Bass, CPO (TypeForm) | LaunchPod (Pt.2)
Today, we’re getting into Part 2 of our masterclass on user research and product strategy from Aleks Bass, CPO at Typeform.
In part two of this episode, Aleks talks about:
How she successfully launched Typeform for Growth in only six months, which quickly became Typeform's fastest-growing product ever
How she restructured the entire Typeform product development lifecycle, adding contin
Build Product Like Typeform | Aleks Bass, CPO (TypeForm) | LaunchPod (Pt.1)
Today, we’re talking with Aleks Bass, CPO at Typeform.
In part one of this two-part episode, Aleks talks about:
The exact methodologies for user research that she used to develop a complete product strategy in just 45 days
Their discovery of “feature constellations” - sets of features that are worth 10x more when combined than just the sum of the parts
How to break the rules of user re
How To Say "Not Yet" To Enterprise | Deepti Mendiratta, VP Of Products (HungerRush) | LaunchPod
Today, we’re talking with Deepti Mendiratta, VP of Product at HungerRush, an all-in-one POS system for restaurants.
In this episode, Deepti talks about:
Why you have to just “make the pizza” - meaning experience the day-to-day of your users, not just your buyers, to build software that solves key issues for the business
getting her biggest UX wins from fixing the paper cuts that users
How to unlock $50 million in revenue in one year | Vaarrun Bimbhat, Head of Product (Jiffy.com) | LaunchPod
Today, we’re talking with Vaarrun Bimbhat, Head of Product at Jiffy.com, an online retailer of customizable clothing.
In this episode, Vaarrun talks about:
Humanizing the sale of high-commit items, like furniture, at Wayfair - which led to $50m in additional sales
How he built a repeatable process to expand into new countries at Shopify - adding almost 100k new merchants and $50m in ad
Vertical shift: How to navigate new product markets | Dan McCarthy, VP of Product (Cyvl) | LaunchPod
Today, we’re talking with Dan McCarthy, VP of Product at Cyvl, an AI-powered mapping tool for transportation infrastructure.
In this episode, Dan talks about:
Using lessons from building digital products to improve the physical world around us
Dan’s repeatable playbook for launching into new industries—and the pitfalls to avoid.
How a drop in data ingestion costs allowed Cyvl to open u
A PM’s guide to mergers and acquisitions | Sowmya Sundararagavan, Sr. Dir. Product (Freshworks)
Today, we’re talking with Sowmya Sundararagavan, Senior Director of Product at Freshworks, an AI customer service, IT, and CRM software platform.
This episode with Sowmya was a master class in product leadership after an acquisition. She explains:
The worst thing you can do as a product leader post-acquisition
Her process to successfully integrate separate product visions
How to bridge
How to tell your CEO they’re wrong about product centricity | Steve Nash, Dir. of Product (GumGum) | LaunchPod
Today, we’re talking with Steve Nash, Director of Product for GumGum, an ad-tech platform that matches brands and consumers through AI-powered data and media solutions.
In this episode, Steve talks about:
How to tell your CEO that they’re wrong — and not lose your career
The story behind Playground’s transition to a product-centric culture, and the pace of innovation it unlocked for th
How to build for customers— not stakeholders | Jonathan Sussman, CPO (Jebbit) | LaunchPod
Today, we’re talking with Jonathan Sussman, CPO for over 5 years at Jebbit, an enterprise experience platform for first-party data capture, which was recently acquired by BlueConic.
In this episode, Jonathan talks about:
Why Product Management is one of the hardest functions to master
How to use professional services - usually a cost center - as a source of product innovation that driv
How to fail fast to unlock hypergrowth | Dane Molter, VP of Product (Navan)
When it comes to challenging the status quo in SaaS and product strategy, you can’t fundamentally disrupt an industry without failing fast and pushing boundaries.
On today’s episode of LaunchPod, we’re talking with Dane Molter, VP of Product and Strategy at Navan, an all-in-one travel and expense app for corporate travelers.
In this episode, Dane talks about:
His framework for driving
How to A/B test your product to millions in ARR | Eric Metelka, Head of Product (Eppo)
Today, we’re talking with Eric Metelka, Head of Product at Eppo, a next-gen A/B experimentation platform for product teams. With a background in A/B testing and data science, Eric has worked in building product at companies like Cameo, SpotHero, and G2.
In this episode, Eric talks about:
The process he used to cold start G2’s review product and turn it into a self-sustaining flywheel
H
(Ethically) cheat your way to $250M+ | Mikal Lewis, Product Exec. (Whole Foods, Nordstrom)
Today, we’re talking with Mikal Lewis, a Digital Product Executive at Whole Foods who drove hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue over the course of his career.
In this episode, Mikal talks about:
Why you should absolutely (ethically) cheat to get outsized results for your product
His framework that drove a quarter of a billion dollars in additional revenue for Nordstrom’s online
How to launch your ugly MVP in high-velocity markets | Kevin Wang, CPO (Braze)
Today, we’re talking with Kevin Wang, Chief Product Officer at Braze, a platform that enables businesses to build meaningful, personalized relationships with their customers across multiple channels.
In this episode, Kevin talks about:
How you can pair high-velocity market innovation with a long-term, consistent vision to beat competition year after year
Why you should build durable te
How to build a $1M ARR startup (x3) | Adam Schoenfeld (Keyplay)
Today, we’re talking with Adam Schoenfeld, CEO at Keyplay, a SaaS solution to help B2B marketers make GTM more efficient.
In this episode, Adam talks about:
How he built 3 startups to over $1m ARR
His process that’s allowed him to reliably reach Product Market Fit again and again
And the critical mistakes founders always make...and how you can avoid them
Links
LinkedIn: https://www.
Anti-silver bullets: Pioneering PLG at IBM | Andy Boyd, CPO (Appfire, IBM)
Today, we’re talking with Andy Boyd, CPO of Appfire, which provides a portfolio of over 100 collaboration solutions.
In this episode, Andy details:
His no-fail growth formula from driving product-led growth (PLG) at IBM Watson
Learn from Andy's product-lead growth examples from his book, Enterprise Growth Playbook
The ways he uses data to drive experimentation velocity and avoid dec
Managing product ahead of its time | Sean Lorenz, Senior Director of Product (Altoida, LogMeIn, Neurala)
On today’s episode of LaunchPod, Jeff Wharton talks to Sean Lorenz, Senior Director of Product at Altoida, using augmented reality and AI to radically improve neurologic diagnostics
In this episode, we talked about:
How to adapt product to find viable markets
The importance of matching product capabilities with market timing and realistic go-to-market strategies
How to deal with a prod
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