PRODUCTEA with Leah, Growth & Senior Leadership

Leah Tharin
  • 5.0 (1)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Honest, unfiltered conversations with the best from tech - spilling the tea about product, growth, and senior leadership topics.www.leahtharin.com

  1. 113: Vincent Pierri - How to deal with Stage Fright before important talks

    07/21/2025

    113: Vincent Pierri - How to deal with Stage Fright before important talks

    Vincent Pierri, Public speaking coach and LinkedIn’s "PowerPoint ninja" with 25K+ followers, dismantles stage fright myths and reveals how to craft unforgettable talks. He shares practical frameworks like the "3Ps" (Pain Point-Problem-Promise) and the "ingredient spectrum" for engaging content. Perfect for founders and leaders tired of boring presentations, this episode is full with actionable tweaks. Timestamped Segments 00:02:54 - 00:05:10 "The Pastor’s Secret: Non-Tech Origins" Vince reveals his background as a full-time pastor—weekly sermons forged his speaking chops and frameworks.00:08:00 - 00:09:16 "Stage Fright? Nope, You Just Suck at Prep" Vince argues 90% of "nerves" stem from poor talk-writing, not fear. Key fix: Structure talks for memorability.00:15:00 - 00:17:09 "Talk Ingredients: Why Ideas Alone Bomb" Breaks down the content spectrum (ideas → stories → tactics) and the "2-min rule" for pacing engagement.00:39:00 - 00:42:58 "Open Strong: The 3Ps Hook Framework" Vince’s Pain Point → Problem → Promise method hooks audiences fast. Leah adds mnemonics for sticky concepts.Hot Takes “Stage Fright is a Cop-Out—Your Prep is the Real Problem” Vince insists most “nerves” vanish when talks are well-structured, pretested, and packed with analogies (not just ideas).“Polished Performance is Overrated—Be a Lawyer, Not an Actor” Ditching theatrics for persuasion (e.g., “argue like you’re in court”) beats forced energy shifts for early-stage speakers.Send us a text Leah on Linkedin / Twitter / Youtube

    51 min
  2. 112: Anna-Karina Schmitt: Resilience Strategies from a World-Record Athlete

    07/14/2025

    112: Anna-Karina Schmitt: Resilience Strategies from a World-Record Athlete

    Anna Karina Schmitt, a world-record free diver and former tech executive, shares her journey managing multiple sclerosis through lifestyle changes, mindfulness, and freediving. She talks about reclaiming control by prioritizing self-responsibility, structured habits, and mental resilience. Her approach blends practical health strategies with lessons from extreme sports, insights for founders and leaders overwhelmed by burnout. Timestamped Segments 00:01:04 - 00:02:06 "From Burnout to World Records" Anna’s background as a freediving athlete, multiple sclerosis survivor, and mentor to athletes and executives.00:02:54 - 00:05:10 "Diagnosis & Denial: Early MS Struggles" Anna recounts her initial diagnosis at 20, early denial, and how MS symptoms worsened before she adopted lifestyle changes.00:08:00 - 00:09:16 "The Turning Point: 2013 Crisis & Recovery" Anna Describes her health crisis, the realization of needing drastic changes, and how freediving became a tool for mental clarity.00:15:00 - 00:17:09 "Practical Tools: Breathing, Boundaries, and Structure" Shares actionable strategies: 8-8-8 breathwork, daily habit structuring, and balancing work/rest priorities.00:39:00 - 00:42:58 "Mental Mastery: Freediving Lessons for Leadership" Explains how freediving’s mental discipline (e.g., managing panic, trusting training) applies to high-pressure work environments.Hot Takes "Hustle Culture is a Lie – Your Body Knows Better" Anna critiques the "16-hour workday" myth, arguing that burnout stems from ignoring physical/mental limits. True productivity requires self-awareness and rest."Accountability ≠ Shame – It’s About Self-Compassion" Challenging the stigma around seeking help. Success isn’t about perfection but consistent, kind adjustments to habits and mindset.Send us a text Leah on Linkedin / Twitter / Youtube

    50 min
  3. 111: Anthony Pierri - How to make Elevator Pitches for B2B Products

    07/06/2025

    111: Anthony Pierri - How to make Elevator Pitches for B2B Products

    The art of crafting a compelling two-sentence company description. Anthony Pierrie dismantles common marketing myths, revealing why product functionality matters more than vague outcomes, and introduces his "positioning anchors" framework. We dive into real-world examples, differentiation strategies, and why founders often sabotage their own messaging. Timestamps 00:01:38 - 00:07:00 The elevator pitch crisis: Why outcomes aren’t enough.00:07:00 - 00:14:00 Positioning anchors: Primary vs. secondary frameworks.00:14:00 - 00:25:00 Differentiation: Linking problems to anchors.00:25:00 - 00:41:17 Positioning pitfalls and real-world applications.Hot Takes 🔥 "Product demos are the highest-value part of sales—not outcomes." Anthony cites a study showing that for companies over $50M revenue, the product demo outweighed outcome-focused pitches. 🔥 "Most elevator pitches fail because they’re stacked secondary anchors." Leading with outcomes like "we save time" without explaining what you actually do leaves listeners confused. Send us a text Leah on Linkedin / Twitter / Youtube

    42 min
  4. 110: Scott Brinker - Brand, AI, and the Uncomfortable Future of Marketing

    06/10/2025

    110: Scott Brinker - Brand, AI, and the Uncomfortable Future of Marketing

    Scott Brinker, HubSpot's VP of Platform Ecosystems and "Godfather of MarTech," unpacks the chaos of marketing tools, why AI won’t replace human strategy, and how vertical solutions beat bloated platforms. He reveals why marketers must balance brand-building with data myopia and why usage-based pricing is the future. Timestamps & Segments 00:03:36 – 00:07:00 | MarTech’s Explosion (And Why It’s Harder Than Ever) Scott explains why marketing has never been more complex despite tech advancements, citing fragmented channels and operational overload. 00:10:16 – 00:13:00 | Attribution’s Illusion & Brand Marketing’s Comeback Why “data-informed” beats “data-driven,” and why brand-building trumps funnel obsession. 00:18:43 – 00:22:00 | Platform Wars: HubSpot vs. Salesforce vs. AI Debating centralized platforms vs. micro-tool constellations—and why vertical solutions will dominate. 00:34:21 – 00:38:00 | Pricing Shakeup: From Seats to Outcomes Scott predicts the death of seat-based SaaS pricing and rise of usage/outcome models. Hot Takes 🔥 “AI is a sparring partner, not a CEO—if you let it make decisions, you’ve already lost.” 🔥 “Vertical market tools will eat horizontal platforms alive. Specialized domain expertise is the only moat left.” Send us a text Leah on Linkedin / Twitter / Youtube

    43 min
  5. 109: Larry Robinson - How Instincts Outsmart Data in Product Leadership

    06/01/2025

    109: Larry Robinson - How Instincts Outsmart Data in Product Leadership

    Larry Robinson, CPO of Bright Plan and Salesforce veteran, unpacks how to balance data with gut instinct in product leadership. From hiring dilemmas to prototyping emotional reactions, he reveals why sometimes the "soft" skills of intuition and storytelling outpace spreadsheets. Hot takes on why your next MVP should prioritize passion over precision. Timestamps & Segments 00:00:00-00:07:00 | Data vs. Gut: The Product Leader’s Tightrope Larry’s framework for blending analytics with instinct in high-stakes decisions.00:07:55-00:16:00 | Hiring Hack: Why 5-Minute Gut Checks Beat 9 Interviews How to spot A-players faster using presentation-based interviews and thin-slicing.00:22:00-00:30:00 | Prototypes ≠ MVPs: Build to Spark Emotion, Not Just Data Why showing two excited customers beats a perfect metrics dashboard.00:35:00-00:44:00 | Innovation Fuel: How to Sell Leadership (Not Features) Positioning products as category-defining tools instead of incremental updates.00:44:00-00:54:00 | Budgeting Rebellion: Why Simplicity Trumps Spreadsheets Larry’s contrarian approach to financial planning that pissed off tinkerers (but worked).Hot Takes 🔥 “If your prototype doesn’t make someone’s eyes light up in 5 minutes, kill it.” 🔥 “Hiring processes with more than three interviews are just cowardice in spreadsheet form.” Send us a text Leah on Linkedin / Twitter / Youtube

    55 min
  6. 108: Etie Hertz - Why customer empathy is now the moat

    05/25/2025

    108: Etie Hertz - Why customer empathy is now the moat

    Etie Hertz, CEO of Loris.AI, breaks down how AI isn’t replacing humans - it’s unlocking superpowers for customer service teams. From analyzing 100% of customer conversations to predicting emerging issues before they blow up, he reveals how enterprises can turn empathy into a scalable strategy. Plus, why chatbots are headed for commoditization and the real value lies in the intelligence layer above. Timestamps & Segments 00:02:00 – From Lawyer to AI Disruptor Etie’s journey from predicting the 2008 crash to building AI that tackles agent burnout.00:09:00 – AI’s Hidden Superpower Why and how analyzing every customer conversation (not just samples) transforms decision-making.00:20:00 – Data Sanity vs. Stale Insights How Loris.AI keeps models dynamically updated—no more “cup of water in the ocean” bias.00:31:00 – The Chatbot Commoditization Trap Frontend bots are racing to the bottom; the real gold is in routing intelligence.00:38:00 – Enterprise AI’s Dirty Secret Why 2025 will force consolidation—and how CX leaders are becoming the new data powerbrokers.Hot Takes 🔥 “AI agents using the same LLMs will have identical outputs within 2 years—it’s a race to the bottom.” 🔥 “If your AI isn’t making CX leaders the loudest voice in the boardroom, you’re doing it wrong.” Send us a text Leah on Linkedin / Twitter / Youtube

    40 min
  7. 107: Andres Glusman: Why Your A/B Tests Are Lying (and How to Fix Them)

    05/20/2025

    107: Andres Glusman: Why Your A/B Tests Are Lying (and How to Fix Them)

    Andres Glusman, experimentation expert and former Meetup product leader, unpacks why 89% of experiments fail - and why that’s a good thing. From redesign pitfalls to balancing data with intuition, he shares hard-earned lessons on turning failure into explosive growth. It’s not about running more tests, but smarter ones. Timestamps & Segments00:01:02 – 00:10:00 The Experimentation Conundrum Andres breaks down why most experiments fail, the "VC mindset" for testing, and why a 65% loss rate is better than industry standards. 00:10:05 – 00:20:00 Low Traffic, Big Swings Strategies for companies with limited traffic: why timid tweaks waste time and how to bundle changes for measurable impact. 00:20:05 – 00:30:00 Redesigns: When to Rip the Band-Aid Why most redesigns backfire, how to test without tanking metrics, and the political minefield of shipping "VP-approved" flops. 00:30:05 – 00:40:00 Storing (and Ignoring) Experiment Data The lifecycle of experiment insights, why social proof is overrated, and how to avoid repeating past mistakes (hint: spreadsheets). 00:40:05 – 00:49:00 Hot Takes & Must-Reads Andres’ controversial read on stale A/B testing dogma + book recs to overhaul your product playbook. Hot Takes 🔥 “89% failure rate? You’re doing it right.” – Andres 🔥 “If stats aren’t significant after 4 months, ship it anyway—your samples are probably garbage.” – Leah Send us a text Leah on Linkedin / Twitter / Youtube

    49 min
  8. 106: Evie Brockwell - Burnout, Boundaries & Breaking the Hustle Cycle

    05/11/2025

    106: Evie Brockwell - Burnout, Boundaries & Breaking the Hustle Cycle

    Evie Brockwell unpacks why 92% of PMs are crispy-fried – and why "just meditate more" isn't the answer. We dissect toxic sprint culture, ADHD-friendly boundary hacks, and why treating burnout like a product churn problem might save your sanity (and your career). 🕒 Timestamps 00:02:28 - The Burnout Recipe High-driven PMs + chaotic orgs = guaranteed burnout. It’s not your fault – it’s the cult of "ASAP" as a personality trait. 00:11:38 - Boundaries Aren’t B.S. Why "I’ll just answer this Slack at 10 PM" destroys teams – and how to weaponize app blockers, second phones, and "No." as a full sentence. 00:18:46 - Leah’s ADHD Warfare "Losing parking tickets is my superpower." Tactical tips for neurospicy PMs: rigid routines, external accountability partners. 00:27:28 - Leaders: Stop the Overwork Olympics Why celebrating "Peter works 80-hour weeks!" backfires – and how to spot promotion-induced burnout traps. 00:40:41 - The Feedback Lie "Improve your quant skills" vs. "Be more reliable" – why managers secretly crave PMs who say "This launch can wait". 00:46:26 - Burnout Doesn’t Care About Your Gender Surprise! Men suffer equally – they just hide it better. The real divider? Whether your boss thinks "hustle" is a compliment. 00:52:14 - Exit Strategies When to fix the org vs. flee – and how job hunting (even casually) boosts your boundary-setting muscles. 🔥 Hot Takes "Burnout is a product problem – treat it like churn." If 72% of users quit, you’d fix the UX. Why blame PMs when 92% are drowning?"Your 'high performer' is a liability." Promoting hustle addicts to leadership? Congrats – you just weaponized burnout.Send us a text Leah on Linkedin / Twitter / Youtube

    53 min
See All (113)

Ratings & Reviews

About

Honest, unfiltered conversations with the best from tech - spilling the tea about product, growth, and senior leadership topics.www.leahtharin.com

Information