Make Things That Matter Andrew Skotzko
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- Business
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What if our products and companies gave more life to everything they touched? Making this a reality is our quest, through impactful product leadership, strategy, decision making, and culture.
blog.makethingsthatmatter.com
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Marty Cagan: Moving to the product model
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
(44:57) "Being agile" doesn't always mean "doing agile"
(49:52) Handling objections well
(54:45) How it comes together in an organizational operating model
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Links & resources mentioned:
Send episode feedback on Twitter @askotzko , or via email
Marty Cagan
• LinkedIn, website
• New book: TRANSFORMED
• Previous books: INSPIRED, EMPOWERED
• SVPG
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Related episodes:
• #31 Marty Cagan - Empowering product teams
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Books:
• The Crux
• Good Strategy, Bad Strategy
• The Art of Action
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Other resources:
• Product Management Theater
• Product Leadership Theater
• Transformation Theater
• So You Want To Write a Book?
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.makethingsthatmatter.com -
Randy Silver: The conversations that create impactful products
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 stakeholders
(18:24) Sales misalignment and restructures
(21:10) Diagnosing teamwork challenges with partners
(25:02) Diagnosing your new org via informational interviews
(28:05) Creating a manager README
(30:11) Roles and responsibilities convo for better understanding
(35:19) Guiding conversations and change
(44:22) Did reorganization at Airbnb address strategy misalignment?
(46:18) Defensive reaction within product community to Airbnb
(52:14) Coordinating while scaling
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Links & resources mentioned
Find the full transcript at: https://podcast.makethingsthatmatter.com/randy-silver-conversations-create-impact#transcript
Send episode feedback on Twitter @askotzko , or via email
Randy Silver: website, LinkedIn, Twitter
• MTP talk: “Getting aligned with your exec team by Randy Silver”
• Podcast: The Product Experience
• Book: “What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of Crisis”
• The product environment canvas
• Stakeholder Informational interview template
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Related episodes:
• Andrew on Randy’s podcast, The Product Experience
• #72 Pam Fox Rollin: Growing groups into teams
• #44 Teresa Torres: Habits for clear thinking and better product bets
• #18 Josh Seiden: Create clarity with outcomes thinking
• #5 Rich Mironov: Building a thriving product organization
• #3 Christina Wodtke: Unleashing potential with extraordinary teams
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People & orgs:
• Georgie Smallwood
• Matt LeMay
• Alan Albert - value based pricing
• Itamar Gilad
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Books:
• Growing Groups Into Teams
• Evidence Guided
• The Team That Managed Itself
• Continuous Discovery Habits
• Outcomes Over Output
• Making Things Happen: Mastering Project Management
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Other resources:
• Product, it’s time to grow up
• The 11 Laws of Showrunning
• Rich Mironov: The slippery slope of sales-led development
• The Journey to Empowered Teams - Twitter, Airbnb & Tumblr
• Product Strategy Acid Test
• OODA loop
• Manager README: The Indispensable Document for the Modern Manager
• Roman Pichler - the decision making chart
• Relentless equanimity
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.makethingsthatmatter.com -
(Bonus) Chris Smith: Simple guidelines for AI investment sizing
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 magnitude investment estimates
(15:10) Decide upfront when to cut bait.
(17:12) Investment essentials for meaningful results and outcomes.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.makethingsthatmatter.com -
Chris Smith: How to think about adding AI to your product
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 AI: LLMs + broad understanding
(21:56) Open source models improve specialized problem solving
(25:06) Access to data leads to competitive advantage
(32:53) AI training improves productivity and learning speed
(42:51) Reduced investment in GPT models speeds results
(48:47) Expectation mismatch leads to brand perception risks
(53:54) Non-technical work is crucial for AI product success
(57:30) Building a computer vision product from scratch
(01:03:14) A strategic approach to refining and testing prototypes
(01:08:04) Closing learning loops
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Links & resources mentioned
Find the full transcript at: https://podcast.makethingsthatmatter.com/chris-smith-how-to-add-ai-to-product/#transcript
Send episode feedback on Twitter @askotzko , or via email
Chris Smith:
• LinkedIn
• X / Twitter: @xcbsmith
• Bluesky @xcbsmith
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Related episodes:
• #75 Chris Smith: Simple guidelines for AI investment sizing
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People & orgs:
• Dr. Marily Nika - AI Lead, Meta Reality Lab
• Travis Corrigan - Head of Product, Smith.AI
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Books:
• Evidence Guided - Itamar Gilad
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Other resources:
• GPT = “generative pre-trained transformer”
• Wizard of Oz experiment
• Tom Chi - learning loop
• Joel Spolsky: The iceberg secret, revealed
• ML Ops
• Computer vision
• Precision-Recall curves
• Leaked Google memo: “There is no moat”
• Universal basic income (UBI)
• Stop-loss order
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.makethingsthatmatter.com -
Nacho Bassino: How to build your first product strategy
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
(00:10:50) Strategy: defining problems and prioritizing solutions
(00:19:44) Painful, but typical; a fake strategy
(00:24:20) Time and team needed for first big strategy creation
(00:30:17) Three key aspects of quarterly reviews: OKRs, roadmaps, and Opportunity Solution Trees
(00:35:33) Connection between impact, outcomes, and initiatives with revenue generation
(00:40:11) Empowerment: teams' accountability and autonomy
(00:51:36) Nacho's hard product leadership call
(00:58:15) Strategy for startups vs larger companies
(00:59:02) How the opportunity space expands with company growth
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Links & resources mentioned
Find the full transcript at: https://podcast.makethingsthatmatter.com/nacho-bassino-build-your-first-product-strategy/#transcript
• Send episode feedback on Twitter @askotzko , or via email
• Nacho Bassino: Website, LinkedIn
• Book: Product Direction
• Podcast: 100 Product Strategies
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Related episodes:
• #68 Adam Thomas: Operationalizing product strategy
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Books:
• Product Direction
• The Culture Map
• Playing to Win
• Product Roadmaps Relaunched
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Other resources and articles:
• A product strategy acid test
• What is "strategy"?
• Burnout as a strategy problem
• Should leaders be prescriptive about strategy?
• Product strategy: focus vs prioritization
• Does strategy matter before product-market fit (PMF)?
• Execs care about revenue. How do we get them to care about outcomes?
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.makethingsthatmatter.com -
Pam Fox Rollin: Growing Groups Into Teams
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 difference between hard work and commitment
(00:18:40) OKRs align and drive team objectives.
(00:20:54) Incentive structures and team behaviors
(00:24:02) Shared promise vital for effective team; align goals and coordinate efforts.
(00:28:25) Leaders build futures that matter through conversations.
(00:33:08) Finance team doubts engineering's budget needs.
(00:36:23) Trust: vulnerability in actions and five dimensions.
(00:38:21) Dimensions of trust
(00:42:23) Design conversations as a leader to level up.
(00:46:01) Challenges of remote work and trust.
(00:49:05) Missing conversations hinder team building efforts.
(00:53:44) Collaboration needed in achieving desired outcomes.
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Links & resources mentioned
Find the full transcript at: https://podcast.makethingsthatmatter.com/pam-fox-rollin-growing-groups-into-teams/#transcript
* Send episode feedback on Twitter @askotzko , or via email
* Pam Fox Rollin: LinkedIn, Altus Growth Partners
* New book: Growing Groups Into Teams
* Altus’ Growth podcast: Missing Conversations
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Related episodes:
* #22 Pam Fox Rollin: Be a leader who helps people come alive
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People & orgs:
* Bob Dunham - Institute for Generative Leadership
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Books:
* Growing Groups Into Teams
* The Thin Book of Trust - Charles Feltman
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Other resources:
* IBM study: “Augmented work for an automated, AI-driven world”
* Paper: On the Folly of Rewarding A, While Hoping for B
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.makethingsthatmatter.com
Customer Reviews
Immediate Impact
Listened to one episode and immediately turned around to use the wisdom contained as a reference in order to better convey to my organization my intentions and role as the sole product manager. (Ubuntu)
Best Product podcast I’ve found
I stumbled onto this podcast when searching for a particular guest. I have been binging on the series ever since enjoying them all in different ways. The expanse of topics is terrific, the guests are all very engaging and interesting, and the host does a terrific job at keeping the conversation flowing, often challenging the guests in a very positive way which leads to a deeper conversation overall
A must-listen!
Love this podcast! The excellent conversations that Andrew has with his guests here on Make Things That Matter are consistently engaging, insightful, and actionable. No matter the topic, I gain something from every episode. Highly recommend!