Podcast Notes

The Crazy Eights Method: Rapid Product Ideation That Actually Works

Want the full story? Listen to my complete interview with Kari Ostevik, where we discuss product ideation techniques and more. Product ideation can be a messy process. Between the loudest voices dominating discussions, groupthink stifling creativity, and the eternal struggle to balance vision with validation, it’s no wonder many product teams end up building the wrong things. But what if …

Product Prioritization Frameworks: When to Use RICE vs 2x2 Matrices

Want the full story? Listen to my complete interview with Kari Ostevik, where we discuss how to effectively lead without authority and build high-performing product teams. Every product team faces the eternal question: what should we build next? With limited resources and endless possibilities, prioritization becomes the key differentiator between successful products and those that flounder in the …

Product Management Without Direct Reports: Leading Through Influence

Want the full story? Listen to my complete interview with Kari Ostevik, where we discuss how teaching English in France shaped her leadership style and more. Leading without authority - it’s the peculiar paradox at the heart of product management. You’re responsible for the product’s success, but unlike traditional managers, you often don’t have direct reports. Instead, you …

Managing Up: How Product Managers Can Influence Senior Leadership

Want the full story? Listen to my complete interview with Kari Ostevik, where we discuss how product managers can influence decisions without authority and more. Managing up is one of those skills that nobody teaches you in school, but it can make or break your career as a product manager. After interviewing Kari Ostevik, who has led product teams at startups that have raised a combined $500 …

Building Trust Without Authority: A Product Manager's Guide to Leadership

Want the full story? Listen to my complete interview with Kari Ostevik, where we discuss how she went from teaching English in France to leading product at startups that have raised over $500M, and more. Leading without formal authority is perhaps the defining challenge of product management. It’s a role where success depends entirely on your ability to influence, guide, and align teams - …

The T-Shaped to V-Shaped Marketing Career Path

Want the full story? Listen to my complete interview with Adam Miller, where we discuss his journey from healthcare marketing to becoming a marketplace expert and more. The traditional career advice for marketers has long centered around becoming “T-shaped” - developing deep expertise in one area while maintaining broad knowledge across many others. But according to Adam Miller, former …

Marketplace Growth Metrics: What to Track and What to Ignore

Want the full story? Listen to my complete interview with Adam Miller, where we discuss marketplace growth metrics, supply-side economics, and the future of AI in marketplaces. The world of marketplace metrics can feel like drinking from a firehose. Trust me, I’ve been there. After interviewing Adam Miller (who’s helped scale giants like Uber, Postmates, and Turo), I wanted to break …

How to Run High-Impact Marketing Experiments: A 7-Step Process

Want the full story? Listen to my complete interview with Sundar Swaminathan, where we discuss how Uber built a data-obsessed culture and the secrets behind their marketing experimentation success. We all know experimentation is important, but here’s a shocking stat: 90% of marketing experiments fail. Not just fall short of expectations - completely fail. That’s enough to make anyone …

Designing Marketplace Incentives: A Complete Framework

Want the full story? Listen to my complete interview with Adam Miller, where we discuss how AI is reshaping marketplace advantages and more. Building successful marketplaces is both art and science - but mostly science. After spending time with Adam Miller, who’s helped scale giants like Uber, Postmates, and Turo, I’m convinced that marketplace success comes down to systematically …

From Zero to Community: Early Stage Growth Tactics

Want the full story? Listen to my complete interview with Kevin Xu, where we discuss building an 8-figure portfolio through Reddit and growing his new stock trading app. The Challenge of Building Community in 2024 Building community isn’t what it used to be. Ten years ago, you weren’t competing with endless TikTok cat videos, AI-generated content, and the perpetual war for attention. …

Beyond Tools: Building True Data Culture

Want the full story? Listen to my complete interview with Sundar Swaminathan, where we discuss how seven slides saved Uber $30M in marketing spend and more. Ever notice how every company claims to be “data-driven” these days? It’s become one of those buzzwords that’s lost almost all meaning right up there with “synergy” and “paradigm shift.” (I can …

The PACE Framework: How Great Analysts Actually Drive Business Impact

In my recent Horizons interview with Sundar Swamanathan, former head of US/Canada performance marketing analytics at Uber, he revealed a practical framework for turning data into business impact. Here’s the complete breakdown of how successful analysts navigate from insight through to action. Imagine spending weeks on a detailed analysis, creating the perfect deck, and proudly presenting …

Building a Data-Obsessed Culture: Why 90% of Experiments Fail (And Why That's OK)

Want the full story? Listen to my complete interview with Sundar Swamanathan, where he shares his journey from managing $19 trillion at the US Treasury to leading Uber’s brand data science team. Here’s a shocking truth about data-driven companies: 90% of their experiments fail. That’s not a typo. In my recent conversation with Sundar Swamanathan, former head of US/Canada …