LaunchPod | Product Management Podcast

LogRocket
  • 5.0 (5)
  • MANAGEMENT
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

LaunchPod is a product management podcast hosted by LogRocket's CEO, Matt Arbesfeld, and VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, where 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.

  1. 4D AGO

    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: Surviving the "2012 Apple Maps Debacle" and the intense backlash post-launch, as well as how the team used a "triage mindset" to prioritize fixes based on customer usage and risk. Her Black Friday Gamble: Why she pushed for a risky site overhaul at ButcherBox right before their busiest season, resulting in double-digit conversion gains And Customer-Led AI Innovation: how Appcues used their own product to poll users on AI trust, leading to a roadmap driven by actual customer needs rather than industry hype. Links Berni's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernadettefisher/ Accues: https://www.appcues.com/ Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:43 Berni Fisher's product journey 04:44 Challenges and Lessons from Apple Maps 15:26 Transition to ButcherBox 17:27 Innovations and Customer Focus at ButcherBox 24:35 AI Innovations at Appcues 27:34 Conclusion Follow LaunchPod on YouTube We have a new YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/@LaunchPodPodcast)! Watch full episodes of our interviews with PM leaders and subscribe! What does LogRocket do? LogRocket's Galileo AI watches user sessions for you and surfaces the technical and usability issues holding back your web and mobile apps. Understand where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com (https://logrocket.com/signup/?pdr). Special Guest: Berni Fisher.

    25 min

  2. DEC 17

    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: Explaining why TED is abandoning top-of-funnel traffic as their North Star metric and shifting focus to “depth,” completion rates, and account signups to combat volatile search algorithms * AI that actually scales: How TED is using advanced AI auto-dubbing — not just subtitles — to clone speakers’ voices into other languages, driving 2-3x better performance * The “gap” strategy: The challenge of connecting a decentralized ecosystem of free users and volunteers at TEDx with an ultra-premium live experience that can cost up to $12,500 per ticket Links Tricia's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/triciamaia/ TED.com: https://www.ted.com/ Chapters 00:00: Introduction 01:51: TED's Media Landscape in an AI World 02:17: What does "Product" mean at TED? 04:24: How TED is Dealing with Challenges and Strategies in Media Discovery 14:59: Evolving Metrics and Goals Beyond Vanity Metrics Like Views 24:24: How TED is Connecting Digital and Event Audiences 32:22: TED's New AI Auto-Dubbing Initiative 37:14: Conclusion Follow LaunchPod on YouTube We have a new YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/@LaunchPodPodcast)! Watch full episodes of our interviews with PM leaders and subscribe! What does LogRocket do? LogRocket's Galileo AI watches user sessions for you and surfaces the technical and usability issues holding back your web and mobile apps. Understand where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com (https://logrocket.com/signup/?pdr). Special Guest: Tricia Maia.

    34 min

  3. DEC 9

    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 organizations time and time again * The bold move that accelerated his Target career, which included hand-delivering over 300 copies of his innovation proposal to every executive at their Minneapolis HQ, even catching the attention of Target’s CEO * An inside look at how Blackhawk is thinking about AI and digital transformation by cultivating “culture carriers” to champion AI Links West’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weststringfellow/ Blackhawk Network: https://blackhawknetwork.com/ HowDo: https://howdo.com/about/ Chapters 00:00: Introduction 01:17: West's career journey 02:08: Project Goldfish and West's startup background 05:43: Making product and strategy decisions at Target 06:25: West building a Techstars Startup Accelerator 08:39: How West's work at Target inspired his startup, HowDo 09:44: How did West "manage up" at Target? 17:05: An introduction to Blackhawk 21:02: Digital transformation with gift cards 23:44: How Blackhawk is using AI 30:29: Big AI wins 33:09: Conclusion Follow LaunchPod on YouTube We have a new YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/@LaunchPodPodcast)! Watch full episodes of our interviews with PM leaders and subscribe! What does LogRocket do? LogRocket's Galileo AI watches user sessions for you and surfaces the technical and usability issues holding back your web and mobile apps. Understand where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com (https://logrocket.com/signup/?pdr). Special Guest: West Stringfellow.

    32 min

  4. DEC 2

    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 teams innovate faster * The ways Medbridge is leveraging AI-enabled Product Engineers to ship big bets weekly instead of quarterly Links Sarah’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahjacobsingh/ Medbridge: https://www.medbridge.com/ Chapters 00:00: Introduction 01:53: Sarah’s career journey 03:56: The expanding role of product management 08:22: The impact of AI on product and engineering 11:35: Prototyping and feedback loops 17:20: AI adoption in healthcare 19:04: What is the “product engineer”? 22:47: In-house vs. Purchased solutions 29:13: Medbridge’s upcoming hackathon 30:54: Conclusion Follow LaunchPod on YouTube We have a new YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/@LaunchPodPodcast)! Watch full episodes of our interviews with PM leaders and subscribe! What does LogRocket do? LogRocket's Galileo AI watches user sessions for you and surfaces the technical and usability issues holding back your web and mobile apps. Understand where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com (https://logrocket.com/signup/?pdr). Special Guest: Sarah Jacob Singh.

    28 min

  5. NOV 25

    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 most recently to an acquisition by Mozilla * What makes “agentic browsers” the next major interface for the web, and how they could change everything from ad models to API access * And why Mozilla’s stewardship of Gecko, one of only three major browser engines, is essential to keeping the internet open in the age of AI Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajansingh/ Mozilla: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/ Chapters 00:00: Introduction 01:50: Raj’s entrepreneurial journey 03:52: The evolution of meeting summarization tools 07:51: Raj’s product pivot 08:26: Adapting to video communication during the pandemic 16:05: Pulse’s viral growth and Mozilla acquisition 20:25: AI and browser integration 27:10: Mozilla’s role in browser innovation 30:58: Conclusion Follow LaunchPod on YouTube We have a new YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/@LaunchPodPodcast)! Watch full episodes of our interviews with PM leaders and subscribe! What does LogRocket do? LogRocket's Galileo AI watches user sessions for you and surfaces the technical and usability issues holding back your web and mobile apps. Understand where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com (https://logrocket.com/signup/?pdr). Special Guest: Raj Singh.

    29 min

  6. NOV 18

    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 improved go-to-market for Flowspace The biggest surprises she’s uncovered running marketing as a product leader, from chaotic tool stacks to the next wave of AI-powered go-to-market automation And how Flowspace’s product team uses AI tools like Cursor and Claude to accelerate discovery and prototyping, and even ship small bug fixes straight to production without Engineers involved Links Karen's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen1chao/ Flowspace: https://flow.space/ Resources (Ethically) cheat your way to $250M+ | Mikal Lewis, Product Exec. (Whole Foods, Nordstrom): https://youtu.be/5txeT2U_YQo Chapters 00:00: Intro 02:06: Karen's career highlights 03:59: How Karen and Flowspace are using AI in their team workflows 15:11: The intersection of product and marketing 22:13: What's surprised Karen most about transitioning from product to marketing 29:12: Conclusion Follow LaunchPod on YouTube We have a new YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/@LaunchPodPodcast)! Watch full episodes of our interviews with PM leaders and subscribe! What does LogRocket do? LogRocket's Galileo AI watches user sessions for you and surfaces the technical and usability issues holding back your web and mobile apps. Understand where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com (https://logrocket.com/signup/?pdr). Special Guest: Karen Chao.

    27 min

  7. NOV 13

    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 us to share a major problem in product delivery that he’s seeing as AI adoption increases across teams. In this episode, we discuss: * The “three-speed problem,” as Oji calls it – how AI will bring about a 10x increase in engineering velocity. But where does that leave product management and go-to-market teams if they can’t keep up? * Why AI is a BS term, as it’s really five new AND distinct capabilities – and how to use those as a framework for smarter product strategy * And how his “shipyard model” for product teams will ensure you keep up and thrive, even as AI reshapes how we build software Links Oji’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ojiudezue/ ProductMind: https://www.productmind.co/ Building Rocketships: Product Management for High-Growth Companies: https://www.productmind.co/building-rocketships-book Resources Oji’s past LaunchPod episode: https://www.productmind.co/building-rocketships-book Claude: https://claude.ai/ Cursor: https://cursor.com/ Windsurf: https://windsurf.com/ Chapters 00:00 Introduction 1:21 Building Rocket Ships by Oji and Ezinne Udezue 1:55 What is the shipyard model in product? 5:20 The evolution of technology: Why AI is just a new technology level 7:50 The 5 flavors of AI 13:23 The limiting function of development is no longer the speed of engineering – but what is it now? 17:05 Solving the three-speed problem 21:32 Conclusion Follow LaunchPod on YouTube We have a new YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/@LaunchPodPodcast)! Watch full episodes of our interviews with PM leaders and subscribe! What does LogRocket do? LogRocket's Galileo AI watches user sessions for you and surfaces the technical and usability issues holding back your web and mobile apps. Understand where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com (https://logrocket.com/signup/?pdr). Special Guest: Oji Udezue.

    24 min

  8. NOV 4

    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 towards the future His process for creating “simple magic” by making features so simple, they delight users — even if that trades less customization for better ease of use How AI is transforming product and design workflows by drastically cutting down the time between idea and innovation And what product leaders can learn from rethinking simple as a benefit rather than a constraint Links LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevin/ Navan: https://www.bigcartel.com/ Resources Lovable: https://lovable.dev/ Unblocked: https://getunblocked.com/ Chapters 00:00: Intro 03:22: The product journey that led Trevin to Big Cartel 05:55: Big Cartel's 20+ year legacy and how they look at innovation 12:28: Why simplicity can trump complexity in software 13:26: Products and features that delight ft. an example from Alaska Airlines 18:03: Why Big Cartel launched a "pause subscription" button, and the value it drove 21:09: What makes features appear "magical" in today's product landscape 23:06: The overlap between product management and product design 23:40: Trevin's guide to hiring for curiosity and grit 33:17: Conclusion Follow LaunchPod on YouTube We have a new YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/@LaunchPodPodcast)! Watch full episodes of our interviews with PM leaders and subscribe! What does LogRocket do? LogRocket's Galileo AI watches user sessions for you and surfaces the technical and usability issues holding back your web and mobile apps. Understand where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com (https://logrocket.com/signup/?pdr). Special Guest: Trevin Chow.

    34 min
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About

LaunchPod is a product management podcast hosted by LogRocket's CEO, Matt Arbesfeld, and VP of Marketing, Jeff Wharton, where 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.

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