Make Things That Matter

Steve Portigal is a veteran user research leader and consultant who helps companies mature their research practices. He’s the author of Interviewing Users, a classic in the field, and the host of the design leadership podcast Dollars to Donuts. In this conversation, we explore:

• how to use creative practices to develop your voice as a leader and storyteller

• how to be a smart consumer of research findings when you aren’t an expert ...

Christian Idiodi is a partner at Silicon Valley Product Group (SVPG). Before SVPG, he profoundly shaped or reshaped the culture and products of CareerBuilder, Snagajob, and led the product transformation in Datasite, the first SaaS for due diligence in the finance industry.

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Topics discussed

(08:56) An unusual childhood leads to survival skills, creativity

(12:25) Aspiring doctor turned innovator seeking problem-solving opportunities

(...

Martina Hodges-Schell is a transformation coach and consultant that helps organizations adopt a Silicon Valley approach to innovation. She spent 25 years leading design and innovation in tech companies, and now she loves providing a fresh, outside perspective to help teams develop and mature their product practice.

In this conversation, we…

* define transformation and what it means for your company operating model

* explore how a comp...

Marty Cagan joins me for real talk about what it takes to transform into a strong product company.

You can read the episode transcript here.

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Topics discussed:

(00:00) The process and challenges in writing a book

(12:27) Real world products need tech for results

(17:28) Deciding on investments, solving problems, and changing processes

(28:11) Understanding disconnects

(36:00) Top leadership support crucial

(40:28) How product coaches help

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Randy Silver is a product leadership advisor, podcast host, and global product community weaver. We explore the conversations needed to drive impact and perception of value.

You can also read this episode here.

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Topics discussed:

(04:00) Moving from a journalistic editor to product editor

(07:34) Parallels between product management film production

(09:53) Missed opportunities & the need for collaboration

(15:21) Alignment with stakehold...

Chris Smith is a longtime engineering leader who has been in the trenches of building with AI & machine learning for years. This is a short, bonus episode to go along with our main conversation: https://pod.fo/e/20a5ef

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Topics discussed:

(00:00) AI tooling allows for cost-effective testing.

(06:02) Scoring and statistical measures to track progress.

(09:22) Costs if model needs rebuilding or hyperparameter tuning

(11:31) Order of magnit...

Chris Smith is a longtime engineering leader who has been in the trenches of building with AI & machine learning for years. He’s led the development of data systems & strategies at tech giants like early Google, Yahoo, and Sun; S&P 500's like Live Nation; and a wide variety of startups.

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Topics discussed:

(00:00) AI industry at inflection point, causing chaos

(09:05) Machine learning, neural nets, and generative AI

(14:03) Generative A...

Nacho Bassino is a veteran product leader and the author of Product Direction, one of my go-to books on how to actually generate a product strategy. There are many excellent books out there on strategy as a whole, but surprisingly few that specifically cover product strategy.

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Topics discussed:

(00:02:12) Nacho's journey into product leadership

(00:09:23) How leaders can adapt to others' communication and cross-cultural preferences

(00...

Pam Fox Rollin is an executive coach and strategist. This is a conversation about the conversations that leaders are not having. These are THE difference between building a truly committed team that delivers the future you care about… and having a group which is a team in name only.

Topics discussed:

(00:03:55) Writing a book about teams as a team.

(00:11:41) Teamwork failure due to individual mindset silos.

(00:14:51) Telling the diff...

Zooming in on three common change management issues: forecasting, role transitions, and departmental power dynamics.

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Topics discussed

(00:03:01) Companies transforming into product organizations

(00:05:01) Revenue shift: smaller now, longer-term impact

(00:08:30) Practical topics: forecasting, transition, change management

(00:10:04) Identifying leading measures and assumptions in forecasts

(00:14:25) Seeking tech-enabled scale, revenue...

MJ Jastrebski is the CPO of Stylitics, a rapidly scaling retail technology company that helps retail websites automate styling and bundling for their consumers.

Click here to fill out the MTTM listener survey form by August 16, 2023: https://makethingsthatmatter.com/survey

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:07:20) Understanding product roles/levels, influence, and career growth.

(00:13:10) Product and process management at different level...

It's been quiet around here because I'm in deep in the creative process of reimagining this show, and I need your help. Podcast analytics are terrible, and I want to know more about YOU.

Please fill out this short, 5-ish minute survey. Your help on this goes a LONG way, and I appreciate you taking the time!

Click here to complete our listener survey

https://makethingsthatmatter.com/survey

Donna Lichaw is an executive coach for unconventional leaders, and the author of the newly-released book The Leader’s Journey.

Donna brings a background in design and product to her executive coaching and helps unconventional leaders take control of the story to drive impact for themselves and within their teams. We go deep on:

* how to handle managing our own stories in healthy conflict

* creating psychological safety

* what it looks...

Adam Thomas is a coach that helps product teams operationalize strategy so they spend more time focused on building the right products and less time fighting fires.

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Mike Saloio is the CEO and cofounder of Huddle, a startup that brings together fractional swat teams of expert builders to help startups generate real momentum on their most important projects within a week.

This is a candid conversation about leadership and how our egos, sense of identity, and personal practices shape our company cultures. In particular, I think you’ll find practical benefit from our discussion about decoupling the...

The SaaS Playbook will shave years off your learning curve if you want to build a SaaS. Rob Walling is a serial entrepreneur and the internet godfather of indie SaaS businesses who has built six companies and has been a long-standing voice in creative, independent paths into product building and entrepreneurship since 2010.

Links & resources mentioned

* Book: The SaaS Playbook

* Back the Kickstarter

* Startups for the Rest of Us podcas...

What do you do when one of your top three KPIs is stagnant, and the product isn't growing? A micro case study in debugging retention and unlocking growth.

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You can read the original article here: https://tinyurl.com/2hdmy2zp

LINK: STARTING CONDITION CHART: https://tinyurl.com/2fnemasz

LINK: DEEPER DIVE PIE CHART: https://tinyurl.com/2lyjalyp

Petra Wille is a product leadership coach and the author of Strong Product People, my go-to book for the people development side of being a product leader. In this conversation, we dive deep into why and how a community of practice can level up your team and save training budget.

You can also read this episode here.

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Links & ...

Bob Moesta is one of the pioneers of Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) theory, which has fundamentally changed the way we think about building products and discovering what progress people actually need and want from the products they hire.

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Sign up here to get upcoming essays + episodes emailed to you.

Follow the MTTM journey on Twitter or LinkedIn!

If you haven't already would you do me a favor and take ~40 seconds to rate/review the show on A...