Skip to content
The Product Podcast artwork

The Product Podcast

Product School·Hosted by Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia·837 episodes

BusinessCareersEducationTechnologyExecutive interviewsProduct leadershipAI strategyStandalone episodesWeekly30-50 min

Hosted by Product School CEO Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia, The Product Podcast drills deep into the minds of Chief Product Officers from Cisco, Lovable, Perplexity, Shopify and many more. We move beyond high-level theory to reveal how top executives actually lead in the age of AI. We dig deep into their real-world decision-making, strategic frameworks, and the operational playbooks used to build intelligent products.If you are a VP, Director, or CPO looking to drive innovation at scale, this is your essential listen.

Why listen

The Product Podcast is a practical interview show for product leaders who want to hear how senior operators at major tech companies actually make decisions. Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia talks with CPOs, CPTOs, founders, and product executives about AI-native strategy, marketplaces, platform shifts, growth, and operating models. It is especially useful for PMs, product directors, and executives who want concrete frameworks from people building at real scale.

Series(1)

Episodes

21 min
Jun 3, 2026Episode 298
Anthropic Head of Design on Claude Code's evolution from an internal feature into the fastest-growing revenue product in history | Meaghan Choi | E298

Anthropic just closed a $65 billion Series H round at a valuation approaching one trillion dollars — and has crossed $30 billion in annualized revenue, driven largely by enterprise demand. Claude Code alone became generally available in May 2025 and reached $2.5 billion in annualized revenue in February 2026, with that figure more than doubling since the beginning of 2026. Meaghan Choi, Head of Design for Claude Code and Cowork at Anthropic, was in that room. This conversation goes inside the operating model behind that growth.What you ll learn:Claude Code s evolution from an internal feature into one of the fastest-growing revenue products in historyAnthropic s secret sauce to shipping products at an incredibly high cadence while ensuring qualityHow product teams get structured into small pods of 5 AI Builders and a fleet of agents, where non-engineers ship code into productionDriving enterprise adoption through PLG from technical teamsHow organizations can measure AI ROI beyond AI adoption and token usageDesigning user interfaces for agentic capabilities, including CLIKey takeaways:Titles and role boundaries matter less than contribution. At Anthropic, designers ship code and engineers design, and the pod owns the output collectively.Quality gates have moved downstream. The richest product learnings come from working software, not from reviewing mocks or PRDs.Managing a team now means managing both people and a fleet of AI agents. The skills are more similar than they appear.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Meaghan ChoiSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

54 min
May 26, 2026Episode 297
The Lean Startup Author on New Book Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad and How Great Companies Stay Great | Eric Ries | E297

Eric Ries wrote The Lean Startup — a book that has sold over 2 million copies and reshaped how a generation of founders and product teams build products. Fifteen years later, he's back with a new book, Incorruptible, and a harder question: not how to build a great company, but how to keep it that way.What you'll learn:Why the forces destroying great companies are structural, not moral — and what that means for how you buildHow Saul Price built FedMart, and Costco's Jim Sinegal each solved half the problem, and why you need both halvesHow Anthropic used a purpose trust structure, the Long-Term Benefit Trust, to protect its safety mission from investor pressureWhy values on the wall fail and what the Johnson it is the active, ongoing practice of protecting what you built from the forces that will try to extract itCredits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Eric RiesSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

26 min
May 13, 2026Episode 296
Snowflake VP of AI on Why Enterprises Hide Behind Governance to Avoid Real AI Transformation | Baris Gultekin | E296

Snowflake is the AI Data Cloud behind some of the world's largest enterprises — $4.68 billion in annual revenue, 29% year-over-year growth, and over 760 Forbes Global 2000 companies as customers. Baris Gultekin, VP of AI at Snowflake, leads the product efforts that sit at the center of how those enterprises actually operationalize AI. Before Snowflake, he co-founded Google Assistant and scaled it from 10 million to 500 million monthly users.What you'll learn:Why our data isn't clean enough is a delay tactic — and the scoped approach to move past itWhat the semantic layer is and how it lets AI answer business questions accurately, not just fluentlyWhy running AI next to data (instead of sending data to models) makes governance dramatically easierHow Snowflake deployed AI internally: a CEO-level non-optional mandate combined with bottom-up access to their own Cortex coding agentWhy context — not just data — is what agents need to operate reliably at enterprise scaleKey takeaways:Start with one scoped use case, build the semantic model around it, layer governance — don't wait for perfect dataContext is a shared reality for agents: unified data + business semantics + codified workflowsAI adoption compounds when leadership sets a hard mandate and simultaneously gives everyone a tool to experiment withCredits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Baris GultekinSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

50 min
May 6, 2026Episode 295
Superhuman Mail CEO on Rediscovering Product-Market Fit in the Age of AI, Renaming Post-Grammarly Acquisition & Competing against Google Workspace | Rahul Vohra | E295

Superhuman Mail users respond to 72% more emails per hour and save an average of four hours every week — numbers backed by a case study from one of the Big Three strategy consulting firms. Rahul Vohra, CEO at Superhuman Mail, built the world's fastest email engine over three years without launching, held the line until the product was ready, and then productized product-market fit into a repeatable, measurable science. Following Superhuman's acquisition by Grammarly in 2025, Rahul is now steering the company toward a unified AI-native productivity suite spanning email, calendar, tasks, and agents.What you'll learn:The 5-step PMF Engine: how to survey, segment, analyze, implement, and track your way to product-market fit with a numerical scoreWhy you should ignore the not disappointed and most somewhat disappointed users — and which signals actually tell you who to build forHow to use the High Expectation Customer (HXC) framework to narrow your market without changing your productWhy PMF is a moving target and how to defend it against commoditization and copy-cat competitionHow Rahul operates as the editor of the product — using 20 verbatim quotes to push PMs and designers to sharper decisionsKey takeaways:If more than 40% of your users would be very disappointed without your product, you have an initial PMF — and you can measure your way thereChanging your market is faster than changing your product — segmentation alone can jump your PMF score 10 points overnightBuilding for your highest-expectation customer is not the same as building for your ICP — confuse the two, and you'll optimize for the wrong signalCredits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Rahul VohraSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

40 min
Apr 29, 2026Episode 294
GoFundMe CPTO on Building Marketplaces Across StubHub, TheRealReal & GoFundMe | Arnie Katz | E294

GoFundMe has facilitated over $40 billion in help since 2010, powering a community of more than 200 million people across 20 countries. Arnie Katz is the Chief Product and Technology Officer there — and a three-time CPTO, having previously led product and engineering at StubHub and TheRealReal. In this episode, he brings the rare perspective of someone who has built and scaled marketplaces at every stage, across multiple industries.What you'll learn:The three failure modes every marketplace must solve — cold start, imbalance failure, and false positive growth — and how to fix each oneHow GoFundMe is using AI agents to reduce friction for fundraisers, resulting in an expected $125 million in additional funds raisedWhy AI is driving revenue growth at GoFundMe, not just developer productivity — and how they sequenced that deliberatelyThe real trade-offs of the CPTO model: what you gain in speed, and what you have to mitigate through hiringHow GoFundMe is building demand-side and matching mechanisms to grow donation volume beyond viral sharingKey takeaways:Marketplace liquidity isn't just about having enough supply — it's about designing the right matching and demand mechanisms at every stage of scaleAI unlocks revenue opportunities that were previously uneconomical to pursue, especially when the customer is already in a vulnerable, high-friction stateThe CPTO structure enables faster decision-making, but requires consciously strong functional leaders underneath to offset the natural lean toward one sideCredits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Arnie KatzSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

37 min
Apr 22, 2026Episode 293
Robinhood VP of Product on Prediction Markets, AI-Native Investing Tools, and Social Trading for the Next Generation | Abhishek Fatehpuria | E293

Robinhood posted $4.5 billion in revenue in 2025, up 52% year-over-year, while growing its Gold subscriber base 58% to 4.2 million paid members. Abhishek Fatehpuria, VP of Product at Robinhood, joined the platform as an intern in 2016 and has built the brokerage business from a single-product equities app into a multi-product financial platform. This episode is a detailed look at how Robinhood structures product thinking at scale — without sacrificing the UX moat that made it win in the first place.What you'll learn:How Robinhood uses two leading indicators, net deposits and Gold subscriptions, to measure long-term customer commitment before revenue shows upWhy treating legal and compliance partners as product owners, not blockers, is the unlock for shipping fast in a regulated marketThe "barbell strategy" for UX: design for the newest user and the most advanced user simultaneously, and let the middle take care of itselfHow the early-stage ideation sprint has compressed from 4–5 weeks to 2–3 days with AI toolsWhy Robinhood Social is built on verified identity and real trades — and what that unlocks for the future of retail investor relationsKey takeaways:Paid subscriptions aren't just a revenue line — they're the connective tissue that drives multi-product adoption across a platformPride is a scalable quality standard: when teams enforce it themselves, quality and speed stop being in conflictAI embedded into workflows moves faster than AI bolted on as a standalone featureCredits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Abhishek FatehpuriaSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

35 min
Apr 15, 2026Episode 292
Zoom CPO on Rebuilding the Future of Work Collaboration with Agentic AI — From Meeting Transcripts and Recordings to a System of Action | Jeff Smith | E292

Zoom generates $4.87B in annual revenue and powers modern work for hundreds of millions of users worldwide. In this episode, Carlos González de Villaumbrosia, CEO at Product School, sits down with Jeff Smith, Chief Product Officer at Zoom.Jeff joined Zoom in 2019 and has led product through three distinct eras — COVID hypergrowth, multi-product expansion, and the current agentic AI shift. In this conversation, he breaks down what actually changes when AI becomes core infrastructure for how teams work.What you'll learn:How Zoom tripled headcount in under a year during COVID and what breaks at that scaleWhy expanding into mail, calendar, and documents was never about copying Google or Microsoft — it was about owning the full work lifecycle around meetingsHow AI Companion 3.0 performs agentic retrieval across first- and third-party tools to surface insights and produce work product from a single promptWhy MCP and open integrations are non-negotiable when you can't afford to be siloedHow to move from personal AI productivity gains to real, measurable business outcomesKey takeaways:When engineering velocity is abundant, strategic direction becomes the scarce resourceThe right engagement metric isn't more meetings — it's whether users produced something valuable as a resultAgentic AI is the first real opportunity to disrupt entrenched productivity tools that switching costs have protected for decadesCredits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Jeff SmithSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

40 min
Apr 8, 2026Episode 291
TikTok VP of Product on Turning Video-First Feeds into a Full E-Commerce Platform | David Kaufman | E291

TikTok has officially crossed 200 million monthly active users in the US — but the real story is what they've built underneath the surface.In this episode, Carlos González de Villaumbrosia, CEO at Product School, sits down with David Kaufman, Vice President of Product at TikTok, to go deep on the platform's transformation into a full end-to-end commerce engine. David breaks down how TikTok is using AI to automate everything from creative generation to affiliate-based promotion — so merchants can upload a catalog and let the platform handle the rest.If you want to understand where social commerce is heading, this one is essential listening.What you'll learn:Why removing steps from the purchase funnel is the single biggest growth lever for modern product teams.How TikTok's generative AI tools allow merchants to produce high-performing video creative at scale without a production team.The shift from spontaneous live streams to scheduled commercial events driving $1M per hour in sales.How TikTok balances feed, commerce, search, and messaging as four distinct monetization pillars.Key takeaways:The most successful products in the AI era put the user directly at the point of transaction.Organic creator content consistently outperforms traditional high-production advertising.A long-tail creator ecosystem can promote a 100,000-item catalog automatically through affiliate-based commission.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: David KaufmanSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

33 min
Apr 1, 2026Episode 290
OpenAI & Figma Product Builders on Killing the Design-to-Code Handoff and Vice Versa | Ed Bayes & Matt Colyer | E290

AI is collapsing the silos between design and engineering. In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia, CEO at Product School, sits down with Ed Bayes (Design Lead, OpenAI) and Matt Colyer (Product Director, Figma) to discuss their groundbreaking integration that enables a seamless round-trip workflow from code to canvas.Matt Colyer walks us through a step-by-step demo of the new code to canvas and right to Figma capabilities. You’ll see exactly how OpenAI’s Codex and Figma’s Plugin API allow builders to move fluidly between development and design environments, using AI agents to update design systems and iterate faster than ever before.What you'll learn:Step-by-step demo: Moving from a code component in Codex to a live Figma design.How the round-trip workflow eliminates lossy handoffs between designers and devs.Strategies for using AI agents to update design libraries autonomously.The impact of Model Context Protocol (MCP) on product team interoperability.Key takeaways:Velocity as a Moat: How AI-native tools are accelerating the speed of prototyping.The Evolving PM Role: Why curiosity is now more critical than technical hurdles.Human Judgment: Why AI increases the premium on high-level design taste.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuests: Ed Bayes and Matt ColyerSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

40 min
Mar 25, 2026Episode 289
Xero CPTO on Building an Agentic AI Platform to Manage Multiple Agents | Diya Jolly | E289

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia, CEO at Product School, sits down with Diya Jolly, CPTO at Xero, the global accounting platform trusted by over 4 million customers. Diya shares how Xero is redefining B2B software by building JAX, an agentic AI platform that intelligently manages specialized sub-agents to streamline business operations.What you'll learn:How Xero built an agentic AI platform that orchestrates multiple agents across payroll, payments, and bank reconciliation workflows.The strategy for implementing strict guardrails to ensure accuracy in highly regulated, AI-driven accounting processes.How to design a global product that scales common services while adapting to hyper-local tax and payment requirements.The two-way door framework for accelerating product decisions and course-correcting with imperfect data.Key takeaways:Why the future of SaaS interfaces is conversational, transitioning users away from static dashboards into review and insight roles.The strategic advantage of combining product and technology leadership into a single CPTO role to drive tighter cross-functional alignment.Why deeply serving the SMB market requires specialized product design that balances consumer-grade simplicity with enterprise-grade workflow depth.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Diya JollySocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

46 min
Mar 18, 2026Episode 288
Shopify VP of Product on Transforming SaaS to AI-Native and Building $100B+ Agent-Led Commerce | Vanessa Lee | E288

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia, CEO at Product School, interviews Vanessa Lee, Vice President of Product at Shopify, the engine of global commerce powering over $1.1 trillion in sales. As the most senior product leader at Shopify reporting directly to the CEO, Vanessa oversees the product strategy for a platform with a $165B+ market cap and recent 30% year-over-year revenue growth. A two-time YC founder, Vanessa brings a builder’s mindset to leadership, emphasizing the need for technical fluency and courage as a service when making high-stakes decisions.What you'll learn:AI-Native Playbook: How Shopify transitioned from traditional SaaS to agent-led commerce.Internal AI Evals: How to use LLM-based judges to grade and ensure product quality.Technical Product Leadership: Why staying involved in API details and technical cohesion is critical for senior roles.The Versioning Framework: The strategy Vanessa used to successfully push back and convince her CEO to version Shopify's API.Key Takeaways:Beyond the PRD: Shifting focus from rigid specs to training AI models for non-deterministic outcomes.Courage as a Service: How to leverage deep domain expertise to find your screw it moment and drive organizational change.The Founder Mindset: Maintaining autonomy and an experimental spirit within a 10,000-person global organization.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Vanessa LeeSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

46 min
Mar 11, 2026Episode 287
Google VP of Product on The Future of Search and AI Mode | Robby Stein | E287

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia, CEO at Product School, sits down with Robby Stein, VP of Product at Google Search. Google Search serves billions of users and holds over 90% of the global market share, acting as the engine behind Alphabet's $400 billion in annual revenue.Robby is steering the most significant shift in Search history: the transition to AI. He oversees a massive portfolio, including the new AI Mode, which has already scaled to 75 million daily active users. Drawing from his time building Stories and Reels at Instagram, Robby breaks down how to build zero-to-one products inside a tech giant and why you need high conviction to push through early bad data.What you’ll learn:Building Like a Startup: How to maintain crazy speed and focus on zero-to-one initiatives while protecting a massive core business.True Product-Market Fit: Why flat or J-curve retention in early cohorts is the only reliable indicator that a product is actually working.The Value of Colossal Disasters: The untold story of how early failures with Instagram Reels and Close Friends were necessary steps to global success.Agentic Search: How Google is moving beyond providing links to executing complex, multi-step tasks by deeply understanding personal context.Key takeaways:Start Small to Win Big: Even at Google's scale, massive AI products begin with just 500 trusted testers and a focus on solving specific user complaints.Look for the Golf Shot: When building AI, look for that rare moment when the whole system works perfectly to build the conviction needed to keep iterating.Leaders Must Co-Create: To move fast in a large org, leaders shouldn't just approve from the top; they need to form working groups and operate in the details.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Robby SteinSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

33 min
Mar 4, 2026Episode 286
Zapier VP of Product on Orchestrating 800+ AI Agents to Manage Everything | Chris Geoghegan | E286

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Chris Geoghegan, VP of Product at Zapier. As the company’s first-ever Product Manager, Chris has spent nearly a decade scaling Zapier into a $5 billion automation giant that serves over 3.4 million businesses and 69% of the Fortune 1000.Zapier is not just building AI tools; they are powering their entire company with them. Chris reveals that his team currently runs over 800 active AI agents internally to manage everything from calendar prep to engineering triage. He breaks down the Code Red moment that shifted their strategy and how they are defining the future of Agentic Workflows.What you’ll learn:Agentic vs. Deterministic: Why standard workflows follow a set path, while agents can reason, access knowledge, and change course to solve problems.The Orchestration Layer: How to hire and onboard AI agents using Context Engineering and Model Context Protocols (MCPs).Adoption vs. Transformation: Why adoption is just doing old tasks faster, while transformation unlocks business models that were previously impossible.Building a Moat: How Zapier uses its vast data on user intent to stay ahead of commodity LLM features.Key takeaways:Treat Agents Like Employees: You can't just deploy an agent; you must onboard it with specific context and tools to be effective.Lead by Building: Transformation fails if leaders don't use the tools. Zapier’s execs do show-and-tell sessions to prove they are hands-on.AI Governance is Key: To move up-market to the enterprise, you must solve for Observability (who sent what data) and Access Control.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Chris Geoghegan Social Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

28 min
Feb 18, 2026Episode 285
Walmart CPO on Scaling AI-Powered Localization Across Hundreds of Stores Worldwide | Tim Simmons | E285

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia, Founder it's about capturing intent to build customer trust.Platform Discipline: Moving from bespoke builds to multi-tenant codebases is essential for scaling innovation globally.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Tim SimmonsSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

38 min
Feb 4, 2026Episode 284
Vercel SVP of Product on How Real AI-Native Products Operate and Ship Faster | Aparna Sinha | E284

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia, CEO & Founder at Product School, interviews Aparna Sinha, SVP of Product at Vercel, the cloud platform recently valued at $9.3 billion following a $300 million Series F. Aparna joins us to discuss how Vercel is powering the next generation of AI-native applications.Drawing from her experience at Google Kubernetes and Pear VC, Aparna reveals how Vercel empowers Teams of One to ship faster than ever. She explores the cultural shift required to build in the AI era—moving from rigid planning to rapid experimentation and iterating to greatness.What you'll learn:How Vercel’s Team of One philosophy maximizes developer leverage.Why shipping imperfect products early is crucial for AI strategy.The mechanics of Hybrid Pricing to balance AI costs and value.How to use internal dogfooding to accelerate product quality.Key takeaways:Speed is Survival: In the AI era, waiting for perfection means falling behind.Agency over Hierarchy: Small, autonomous teams outperform large structures.Price for Value: Align AI pricing with user outcomes, not just compute costs.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Aparna SinhaSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

33 min
Jan 21, 2026Episode 283
Rippling GM on Running a $16B+ Company Like a Product at Scale | Anique Drumright | E283

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia, CEO & Founder at Product School, interviews Anique Drumright, General Manager and VP of Product at Rippling, the workforce management platform valued at $16.8 billion with over $570 million in ARR.Anique is a product veteran who has shaped high-growth teams at Uber, TripActions, and Loom. Now at Rippling, she helps lead a workforce of over 4,000 employees, including 100 former founders, to maintain the speed and ownership typically lost at scale. In this conversation, Anique breaks down how Rippling successfully operates as a compound startup and why product leaders must evolve into General Managers.What you’ll learn:How to pivot from managing a backlog to owning a P&L as a GM.The Compound Startup framework for consolidating enterprise categories.How to build high-performing teams by hiring for "founder-level" curiosity.Strategies for proving ROI to enterprise customers to drive platform adoption.Key takeaways:Go and See: Why leaders must personally investigate customer issues to set the bar for quality.Singular Obsession: How to organize teams to maintain focus and velocity as you scale.Automating ROI: How Rippling uses product efficiency to justify headcount reduction for clients.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Anique DrumrightSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

28 min
Jan 7, 2026Episode 282
Miro CEO on Leading AI Product Expansion Without Losing Focus | Andrey Khusid | E282

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Andrey Khusid, Co-founder and CEO of Miro, the visual collaboration platform valued at an estimated $17 billion with over 100 million users. Andrey reveals how Miro transformed from a simple browser whiteboard into a central hub for innovation, serving 250,000 customers worldwide. He discusses the critical shift from best-of-breed tools to platform suites and how Miro is aggressively integrating AI to support agentic workflows.What you'll learn:How to apply day one thinking to constantly reinvent your product strategy.Why speed of learning is the only true competitive moat in the AI era.How to navigate the tension between market consolidation and AI experimentation.The role of acquisitions in scaling a product team to 1,600 people.Key Takeaways:Reinvention is Mandatory: Why you must risk short-term revenue to secure long-term relevance.AI as a Teammate: Moving beyond features to humans and AI working together to solve problems.Fast Fashion Software: How to build a Lovemark brand to survive rapid commoditization.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Andrey Khusid Social Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

45 min
Dec 23, 2025Episode 281
Webflow CPO on How Product Leaders at AI-Native Companies Act as Individual Contributors | Rachel Wolan | E281

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia speaks with Rachel Wolan, CPO at Webflow, the visual development platform valued at $4 billion that empowers over 3.5 million designers worldwide. Rachel discusses Webflow’s bold strategy to evolve into an AI-native experience platform with the launch of AppGen, a tool bridging the critical gap between AI prototyping and true production for enterprises like The New York Times and Spotify.What you'll learn:The ICCPO Framework: Why modern leaders must remain patient zero and use their own tools to understand the systems they build.From SEO to AEO: Why Product Managers must now own Answer Engine Optimization as a primary distribution channel.AppGen Strategy: How to move beyond simple wrappers to generate full-stack, on-brand web apps directly from prompts.Key Takeaways👇:Build Your Own Leverage: How Rachel built her own Chief of Staff AI agents to automate research and scale her output.Production-Ready AI: Why the real opportunity lies in making AI outputs secure and brand-consistent for enterprise use.New Distribution: Adapting product strategy for a world where discovery happens through AI agents, not just search engines.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Rachel WolanSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

46 min
Dec 10, 2025Episode 280
Vercel V0 GM on Transforming Developer Workflows to Ship Faster | Zeb Hermann | E280

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Zeb Hermann, General Manager, v0 at Vercel, the AI cloud platform recently valued at $9.3 billion. Zeb oversees v0, which has grown to 3.5 million unique users by fundamentally changing how developers and PMs build software.Zeb dives into the operational shifts required to transform developer workflows and increase velocity. He explains why Vercel prioritizes a "vetoe-based" culture over approvals and how AI tools are enabling a new era of "full-stack" designers and PMs who contribute directly to the codebase.What you'll learn:Speed as a Principle: How to move from an approvals-based culture to a "vetoes-based" culture.The "Full Stack" Team: Why the most effective teams have designers and PMs who ship their own PRs.Prototype to Production: Strategies for closing the gap between AI prototypes and production-ready applications.Key takeaways👇Impact Over Hours: Why the "996" culture is wrong and how to measure true team impact.Eliminating Handoffs: How to reduce coordination costs by empowering individuals to make product decisions.Broadening Literacy: Why the future of workflows is about more people understanding code, not just using client-side overrides.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Zeb HermannSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

43 min
Nov 26, 2025Episode 279
Lovable Head of Growth on The New AI-Native Growth Playbook | Elena Verna | E279

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Elena Verna, Head of Growth at Lovable—the fastest-growing AI startup to ever surpass $100M in ARR, hitting the milestone in just eight months. With a proven track record leading growth at Miro, Amplitude, Superhuman, and Dropbox, Elena brings unparalleled expertise in driving sustainable, product-led growth across both hyper-growth and turnaround environments.Elena shares how building in the fast-moving “vibe coding” category requires a radical shift in how we define product-market fit, structure growth teams, and measure success. From product-led monetization loops to redefining brand as a product responsibility, Elena outlines a bold vision for what growth looks like in the age of AI-native products.What you’ll learn:How Lovable ships at record speed, with daily product updates and a 3-tier launch model.How AI-native products redefine activation, retention, and monetization.Why product teams must now own brand experience—not just featuresHow Elena designs feedback, education, and referral loops that turn users into growth engines.The evolving role of activation, retention, and monetization in AI-native PLG.Key Takeaways 👇Velocity as a Moat: Why rapid shipping is a survival strategy in AI-first companies.Always-Evolving PMF: How Lovable redefines product-market fit weekly in a category shaped by fast-moving LLMs.Product-Led Brand: Why every product touchpoint must be “lovable”—and how that standard powers word-of-mouth loops.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Elena Verna Social Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

41 min
Nov 14, 2025Episode 278
Hims & Hers CPO on Building Delightful Products in Regulated Markets | Dheerja Kaur | E278

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Dheerja Kaur, Chief Product Officer at Hims & Hers, the publicly traded health and wellness platform with a market cap of over $10 billion and more than 3 million active users across its Hims and Hers consumer brands.At Hims & Hers, Dheerja is building the future of preventative care by combining diagnostics, clinical guidance, and personalized treatments—all delivered through a consumer-grade digital experience. From healthcare to fintech, Dheerja breaks down how PMs can master regulatory nuance without sacrificing speed or UX, why pairing product with clinical and compliance experts is a superpower, and how to turn constraints into differentiation through org design, platform thinking, and data. What you’ll learn:Why product leadership in regulated industries requires a different kind of PM muscle.How Hims & Hers is expanding from transactional treatments to full-stack preventative care.The rationale behind maintaining two separate apps—and how that unlocks personalization at scale.How AI is powering internal tools, treatment plans, and personalized health journeys.Key Takeaways 👇 Building for Impact, Not Just Efficiency: Why Dheerja prefers mission-driven industries that improve lives over “fun” products.Product Meets Clinical: How Hims & Hers pairs PMs with in-house physicians to co-create treatment and diagnostic experiences.From Health Stack to Health Loop: Why continuous testing, personalized treatments, and AI-powered insights are the future of digital health.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Dheerja KaurSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

30 min
Oct 29, 2025Episode 277
Cisco President & CPO on Building Security-by-Design in AI Products | Jeetu Patel | E277

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Jeetu Patel, Chief Product Officer at Cisco, as he explores the critical intersection of AI, cybersecurity, and collaboration. Jeetu shares how Cisco is designing next-generation security products to protect enterprise systems in an AI-driven world. He discusses the balancing act between speed and safety, and how the rapid pace of AI adoption is reshaping both cybersecurity and enterprise software.Jeetu dives into the frameworks Cisco uses to innovate securely at scale and why trust, privacy, and responsible AI design are central to their approach.What you’ll learn:How AI is transforming the cybersecurity landscape and the enterprise software industry.Frameworks for balancing innovation and security at scale.The role of trust, privacy, and responsible AI design in product development.Key Takeaways 👇AI in Cybersecurity: How Cisco is leveraging AI to build next-gen security products that adapt to emerging threats.Building Secure Innovation: Practical approaches for ensuring scalable, secure innovation in a rapidly changing landscape.The Future of Responsible AI: Why Jeetu believes privacy and ethical AI practices are critical for maintaining trust in an AI-powered world.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Jeetu PatelSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

40 min
Oct 23, 2025Episode 276
Figma CEO on Design, Product, Engineering: Blurring the Lines in the AI Era | Dylan Field | E276

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Dylan Field, Co-founder and CEO of Figma, the collaborative design platform powering the product development process at companies like Microsoft, Google, and Airbnb. Since launching in 2012, Figma has grown from a browser-based design tool into a multi-product ecosystem spanning design, whiteboarding, presentations, and AI workflows.Dylan shares the product and org strategy behind Figma’s evolution—from a single design surface to a platform that now includes Figma Make, Slides, Dev Mode, Sites, Draw, and more. He explains how Figma is building toward a world where anyone—not just designers—can move from idea to execution faster, and why “good enough is no longer enough” when it comes to design in the AI era.In this conversation, Dylan goes deep on building communities around products, the value of product leaders embracing design as a strategic differentiator, and how Figma is thinking beyond prompts to redefine human-AI interaction. He also shares lessons from product expansion, building for non-designer users, and how he still carves out time to jailbreak LLMs and test prototypes hands-on.What you’ll learn:How Dylan shaped Figma into a multi-product platform that merges code, design, and collaboration.Why FigJam's “fun” factor was a deliberate strategic decision—and how it saved the product.How Figma is integrating with ChatGPT and third-party data tools to redefine surface area and workflow.The case for design-led thinking across every function of a modern product team.Key Takeaways 👇Design as Strategy: Why Dylan believes design is at the top of the software value stack—and how product leaders can use it to differentiate and win.From Prompt to Platform: Figma’s vision for bridging AI-native workflows, intuitive UX, and agent-powered collaboration.Org Design for Multi-Product Teams: Lessons in org structure, adoption measurement, and how to know when a feature becomes a standalone product.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Dylan FieldSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

39 min
Oct 13, 2025Episode 275
How Salesforce’s GM of Trailhead Is Building the AI Transformation Playbook | E275

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia sits down with Meredith Brown, SVP and GM of Trailhead at Salesforce, the global CRM leader trusted by over 150,000 enterprises and powering customer success for the world’s most influential brands. Meredith, a former Chief Product Officer turned product-led community builder, now leads Trailhead—the platform that has upskilled nearly 10 million learners worldwide—on a mission to shape the agentic enterprise era.A veteran product executive, Meredith shares how Salesforce is redefining workforce transformation through free, AI-driven learning and peer-to-peer community engagement. She explains how her team measures success not in revenue, but in customer adoption and ROI—bridging the gap between skilling, real-world application, and business value. From internal dashboards that track AI tool usage to gamified certifications like Agent Blazer Champion, Meredith reveals what it takes to drive enterprise-wide AI adoption at scale and sustain a true culture of continuous learning.What you’ll learn:How Salesforce is preparing every employee—and customer—for the agentic enterprise.The metrics and dashboards that connect AI adoption to business impact.Why community-led learning drives faster enterprise transformation than traditional training.How to create scalable, human-centered AI upskilling programs in your own organization.Key TakeawaysAI Transformation at Scale: Salesforce’s playbook for skilling millions through Trailhead.Adoption Meets ROI: How AI literacy translates into measurable customer success.The Future is Agentic: Why the next frontier of product leadership blends human creativity with AI collaboration.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Meredith BrownSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

49 min
Sep 17, 2025Episode 274
Rubrik CPO on Scaling AI, Cybersecurity & Business Model Transformation | Anneka Gupta | E274

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Anneka Gupta, Chief Product Officer at Rubrik, a leading cybersecurity company helping over 5,000 customers, including half of the Fortune 500, protect and manage their data against cyber threats.Under Anneka's leadership since 2021, Rubrik has undergone one of tech's most impressive product transformations, evolving from an IT backup solution into a comprehensive cybersecurity platform. This transformation has driven remarkable growth, with subscription ARR crossing $1.09 billion and the company successfully going public in 2024.In this episode, we explore Rubrik's journey through three major transformations: shifting from perpetual licenses to a SaaS-first model, expanding from a single product to a multi-product platform (with two new product lines approaching $100M in ARR), and repositioning as a cybersecurity-first company. We'll dive deep into the challenges and strategies behind managing such significant organizational change at scale.What you'll learn:How to successfully transition a business model from perpetual licenses to subscriptionStrategies for expanding from single-product to multi-product portfolioMethods for structuring teams around strategic pillars rather than just product linesApproaches to maintaining growth while managing significant organizational changeTechniques for leveraging existing customer relationships to validate new productsFrameworks for creating clear career progression during transformationKey Takeaways👇:Business Model TransformationSuccessfully managed parallel tracks of maintaining core business while building new capabilities, growing from $100M to $1.1B ARR in 4 years.Portfolio Expansion StrategyCreated specialized go-to-market teams for new product lines while leveraging existing customer base for validation and early adoption.Organizational DesignStructured teams around strategic pillars (core business, public cloud, security, AI) with a dedicated platform team for cross-functional needs.Change ManagementImplemented transparent communication and clear career frameworks while setting firm deadlines for business model transition.Customer-Centric InnovationUsed existing customer relationships to validate new product opportunities and guide portfolio expansion into cybersecurity.This episode is essential listening for any product leader managing large-scale business transformation or considering major strategic shifts in their organization.This episode is brought to you by Persona, the adaptable identity platform that helps businesses fight fraud, meet compliance requirements, and build trust. These days, it's easier than ever for fraudsters to steal voices, faces, and identities. That's

36 min
Sep 12, 2025Episode 273
OpenAI CTO of Application on Product Experimentation with AI and $1.1B Statsig Acquisition | Vijaye Raji | E273

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Vijaye Raji, Co-founder and CEO of Statsig, the fast-growing product experimentation platform recently valued at $1.1 billion following a $100M Series C round—and just acquired by OpenAI in a landmark $1.1B all-equity deal.Before the acquisition, Vijaye spent over a decade at Facebook, where he served as VP and Head of Entertainment, launching creator tools, livestreaming features, and the earliest version of Reels. That experience inspired him to build Statsig, a platform that empowers product teams to experiment, iterate, and ship with confidence—used by leading companies like Microsoft and Notion.Now, as OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer of Applications, Vijaye will oversee product engineering for ChatGPT and help accelerate the company’s enterprise roadmap. In this conversation, he shares the original vision behind Statsig, the tough lessons from going multi-product, and why AI-native experimentation is the future of product building.What you’ll learn:Vijaye’s journey from Facebook’s internal tools to OpenAI’s CTO of Applications.How Statsig evolved from an experimentation engine into a full decision-making stack.Why large enterprises are ditching homegrown tools for best-in-class platforms.How AI is powering everything from feature flagging to self-healing products.Key Takeaways 👇From Startup to OpenAI: Why StatSig’s platform and customer base made it one of OpenAI’s largest acquisitions yet.AI as an Operating Layer: How Vijaye is thinking about AI-native observability, prompt evaluation, and synthetic user data.Scaling with Product-Led Growth: Lessons in going enterprise while keeping experimentation at the core.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Vijaye RajiSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

41 min
Aug 27, 2025Episode 272
Twilio CPO on Integrating AI into Product Strategy to Grow Revenue | Inbal Shani | E272

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Inbal Shani, Chief Product Officer at Twilio, the $18B customer engagement powerhouse trusted by over 320,000 businesses worldwide.Inbal is a trailblazer in AI-first product development. Before joining Twilio, she led the launch of GitHub Copilot—one of the most transformative AI tools for developers, reshaping how engineers write code. Now at Twilio, she’s steering a product portfolio that infuses AI into the heart of customer communications, helping companies unlock smarter, more personalized digital experiences at scale.In this conversation, Inbal shares why successful AI adoption goes far beyond adding models to features—it requires a rethinking of product strategy itself. She also dives into how Twilio measures real business impact from AI, why PMs need technical fluency more than ever, and what it takes to lead a product org into the AI-native future.What you’ll learn:How GitHub Copilot shaped Inbal’s approach to building AI-native products.Why AI adoption alone is not a product strategy—and what to focus on instead.The metrics Twilio uses to evaluate AI’s business impact.The evolving technical skill set required for PMs in the age of AI.Key Takeaways👇:Beyond the Hype: Inbal’s perspective on what truly makes AI transformative for end users.AI as Strategy, Not Feature: How to align AI capabilities with customer outcomes.PMs in the AI Era: The must-have technical skills that will define tomorrow’s product leaders.This episode is brought to you by Persona, the adaptable identity platform that helps businesses fight fraud, meet compliance requirements, and build trust. These days, it's easier than ever for fraudsters to steal voices, faces, and identities. That's where Persona comes in; helping leading companies to securely verify individuals and businesses worldwide, providing flexible building blocks to create tailored verification flows that maximize conversion while minimizing risks.Whether you work at a startup or large enterprise, you can get started for free here:  https://withpersona.com/productschoolCredits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Inbal Shani Social Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

44 min
Aug 20, 2025Episode 271
Grammarly CPO on Product Expansion through Acquisitions | Noam Lovinsky | E271

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Noam Lovinsky, Chief Product Officer at Grammarly, the AI-native productivity platform with over 40 million daily active users and $700 million in annual revenue.Grammarly began as a trusted writing assistant, but it’s now redefining productivity at scale. With the recent acquisitions of Superhuman, the lightning-fast AI-powered email client ($825M), and Coda, the flexible doc-based workspace tool, Grammarly is evolving into a full-stack AI productivity platform. This expansion signals a bold product vision—one that positions Grammarly at the center of modern knowledge work.Noam leads Grammarly’s product organization with a focus on combining human expertise with AI agents to unlock next-level collaboration. In this episode, he unpacks the strategy behind Grammarly’s product evolution, how they’re designing extensible systems for third-party developers, and why the future of work is not just AI-assisted—but AI-augmented. He also shares how his teams balance speed and scale, and what it takes to build high-performing product orgs around a radically expanding vision.What you’ll learn:Why Grammarly is moving beyond writing to become a full AI-native productivity suite.The product rationale behind acquiring Superhuman and Coda—and what’s next.How Grammarly’s extensibility strategy is creating a powerful product moat.Noam’s approach to building teams that combine human judgment with AI agents.Key Takeaways 👇AI-Native Productivity: How Grammarly is leveraging agents and integrations to expand beyond writing into email, docs, and more.Product Strategy in Action: Noam’s thinking behind major acquisitions and platform expansion.Scaling Great Teams: Why high-impact teams need both principled thinking and flexible systems to thrive in fast-moving environments.This episode is brought to you by Persona, the adaptable identity platform that helps businesses fight fraud, meet compliance requirements, and build trust. These days, it's easier than ever for fraudsters to steal voices, faces, and identities. That's where Persona comes in; helping leading companies to securely verify individuals and businesses worldwide, providing flexible building blocks to create tailored verification flows that maximize conversion while minimizing risks.Whether you work at a startup or large enterprise, you can get started for free here:  https://withpersona.com/productschoolCredits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Noam LovinskySocial Links:Find out more about Product School <a href='http://productschool.com/?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=events&utm_cam

38 min
Jul 16, 2025Episode 270
Gamma Co-Founder on Building Profitable AI-First Products at Scale I 270

Join us for an insightful episode of The Product Podcast with Jon Noronha, Co-founder of Gamma, an AI-first platform revolutionizing how people create presentations, documents, and websites. Starting in 2020 during the height of shelter-in-place, Gamma has achieved remarkable growth, reaching over 50 million users with a lean team of just 30 people. Most impressively, they went from less than a year of runway to cash-flow positive in just 3 months after pivoting to AI, with 80% of their revenue coming from outside the U.S. - all without a sales team.In this episode, Jon breaks down Gamma's unconventional approach to building AI products, challenging traditional notions of team structure and go-to-market strategy. He shares insights on why they prioritize UX designers over PMs, how they achieved rapid international growth without localization, and their strategic decision to focus on the application layer rather than building their own AI models.What you'll learn:- How Gamma evolved from a presentation tool into a full-blown AI content platform- Why they bet on a design-first team structure with 7 UX designers and no traditional PMs- The technology behind their AI implementation and multi-model approach- How they achieved profitability in 3 months through pure product-led growth- Their strategy for reaching 50M+ users with a team of just 30 peopleKey Takeaways 👇:Design-First OrganizationJon challenges traditional tech company structure by prioritizing designers over PMs, demonstrating how a design-led organization can drive rapid product innovation and growth.Pure Product-Led GrowthThrough extensive A/B testing and a focus on user experience, Gamma achieved profitability in just 3 months after their AI pivot, with a $20/month price point that resonated globally.Strategic AI ImplementationRather than building their own AI models, Gamma focused on the application layer, creating value through superior user experience and interface design while leveraging existing AI infrastructure.This episode is filled with contrarian insights about building AI products, from team structure to go-to-market strategy, making it a must-listen for product leaders looking to challenge conventional wisdom in tech.This episode is brought to you by Persona, the adaptable identity platform that helps businesses fight fraud, meet compliance requirements, and build trust. These days, it's easier than ever for fraudsters to steal voices, faces, and identities. That's where Persona comes in; helping leading companies to securely verify individuals and businesses worldwide, providing flexible building blocks to create tailored verification flows that maximize conversion while minimizing risks.Whether you work at a startup or large enterprise, you can get started for free here:  https://withpersona.com/pr

56 min
Jun 25, 2025Episode 269
Shopify VP of Product on How to Build AI-First Products | Glen Coates | E269

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Glen Coates, Vice President of Product at Shopify.Shopify is one of the world’s leading commerce platforms, powering millions of businesses and helping entrepreneurs sell online and offline with ease. Since launching in 2006, it has become a global e-commerce giant and the second-largest online retailer in the U.S., with over $8 billion in annual revenue and 8,000+ employees working fully remotely.Glen leads Shopify’s Core Product organization, overseeing the storefront, checkout, back office, marketing, analytics tools, and the core developer platform. He also drives Shopify’s thriving partner ecosystem, which offers merchants access to over 10,000 apps. From video game developer to B2B ecommerce founder to product leader at scale, Glen brings a rare blend of technical depth and entrepreneurial vision.In this episode, he shares how his unconventional path shaped his approach to product leadership, the principles behind Shopify’s fast-moving strategy, and how the company stays ahead with AI and deep product focus. He also explains his org design for scale, why every product leader must “know everything down to the details,” and how the team keeps the experience polished with the “Boring Edition.”What you’ll learn:-Glen’s journey from game development to leading Shopify’s core platform.- How Shopify’s viral “AI memo” raised the bar for PMs and engineers to build faster.- The Outcomes, Assumptions helping leading companies to securely verify individuals and businesses worldwide, providing flexible building blocks to create tailored verification flows that maximize conversion while minimizing risks.Whether you work at a startup or large enterprise, you can get started for free here:  https://withpersona.com/productschoolCredits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Glen CoatesSocial Links:Find out more about Prod

26 min
Jun 4, 2025Episode 268
Warner Music President on Transforming Tech from Cost Center to Revenue Generator | Ariel Bardin | E268

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia sits down with Ariel Ban, President of Technology at Warner Music Group, live from the ProductCon stage. Warner Music Group, home to some of the world’s most iconic artists, is undergoing a bold transformation under Ariel’s leadership. A former Google and YouTube executive, Ariel brings a startup mindset to a 900-person organization within one of the most tradition-rich industries: music.In this conversation, Ariel shares his unfiltered approach to digital transformation—from replacing bloated MVP culture with his “Minimum Proud Product” philosophy to building real-time dashboards that empower artists with actionable data. He also dives into the infamous “3-sh***ts” framework he uses to evaluate product managers, and how he’s instilling a culture of trust, ownership, and creativity across a global tech org.What you’ll learn:- Ariel’s journey from big tech to the music industry and his unique take on what transformation really looks like.- Why MVPs are a “disease” and how to build products artists and fans are proud of.- The strategy behind launching artist-facing tools like real-time revenue dashboards.- How Warner Music is leveraging AI to unlock value in a highly creative, fast-changing space.Key Takeaways👇:- Redefining Digital Transformation: Ariel argues that real change starts with culture, not tech—and shares how to lead with clarity at scale.- Artist-Centric Product Thinking: Empowering creators through data requires more than just tools; it requires trust, transparency, and a proud product experience.- From MVP to MPP: His “Minimum Proud Product” philosophy offers a sharp critique of default startup practices and a new way to drive quality and impact.This episode is brought to you by Persona, the adaptable identity platform that helps businesses fight fraud, meet compliance requirements, and build trust. These days, it's easier than ever for fraudsters to steal voices, faces, and identities. That's where Persona comes in; helping leading companies to securely verify individuals and businesses worldwide, providing flexible building blocks to create tailored verification flows that maximize conversion while minimizing risks.Whether you work at a startup or large enterprise, you can get started for free here:  https://withpersona.com/productschoolCredits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Ariel BardinSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on

55 min
May 14, 2025Episode 267
Roblox CPO on 10 Counterintuitive Principles for Building Software Products | Manuel Bronstein | E267

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Manuel Bronstein, Chief Product Officer at Roblox. Roblox is not just a video game—it's a platform that enables people to play, create, and build businesses in immersive virtual worlds. With over 85 million daily active users growing at 20% year-over-year, Roblox has paid out more than $923 million to its creator community in 2024 alone.Manuel brings extensive experience from leading roles at major tech platforms including Xbox, Zynga, YouTube, and Google Assistant. As Roblox's CPO, he oversees the platform's product strategy and development, focusing on creating tools and systems that empower creators while maintaining trust and safety at scale.In this episode, we'll explore:- The evolution of Roblox from gaming platform to virtual economy- How Roblox manages its creator marketplace and virtual economy- Manuel's product leadership principles and frameworks- Strategies for maintaining startup culture while scaling- The future of virtual worlds and immersive platformsChapters:(00:00) 🎮 Introduction and Career Journey(05:25) 🚀 From Gaming to Platforms: Leadership Lessons(15:30) 💰 Building and Managing Virtual Economies(25:45) 🛠️ Product Development at Scale(35:20) 🔮 The Future of Virtual Worlds(45:10) 💡 Leadership Principles and Team BuildingKey Takeaways 👇:Virtual Economy Management: Manuel emphasizes the importance of building systems that can scale while maintaining trust and safety, particularly in managing a virtual economy with real monetary value.Leadership Principles: Focus on building fast and learning faster, using first principles thinking, and implementing radical simplification to solve complex problems.Platform Dynamics: Understanding the unique challenges of managing a platform that serves both creators and users, requiring different approaches to engagement and monetization.Scaling Culture: Manuel shares strategies for maintaining startup-like innovation and execution speed while growing into a major platform.Systems Thinking: The importance of designing scalable systems from the start, particularly when dealing with user-generated content and virtual economies.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Manuel BronsteinSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

35 min
Apr 30, 2025Episode 266
Samsara CPO on Building a $20B Tech Giant by Digitizing Non-Tech Industries | Kiren Sekar | E266

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Kiren Sekar, Chief Product Officer at Samsara, a $20+ billion company revolutionizing physical operations technology. Since its founding about 10 years ago, Samsara has become a leader in IoT and AI solutions for industries like transportation, manufacturing, and construction.As CPO, Kiren leads Samsara's product strategy and development, overseeing a team of ~700 people in R helping leading companies to securely verify individuals and businesses worldwide, providing flexible building blocks to create tailored verification flows that maximize conversion while minimizing risks.Whether you work at a startup or large enterprise, you can get started for free here:  https://withpersona.com/productschoolCredits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Kiren SekarSocial Links:Find out more about Product School <a href='http://produ

34 min
Apr 23, 2025Episode 265
Etsy CPO on Scaling a Profitable Marketplace with AI While Keeping Commerce Human | Nicholas Daniel | E265

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Nicholas Daniel, Chief Product Officer at Etsy — the world's largest marketplace for unique and handmade items. Founded in 2005, Etsy has grown into a global platform connecting over 6 million sellers with 90 million buyers worldwide, featuring more than 130 million unique items.Nicholas leads Etsy's product organization, overseeing 30+ product squads that drive innovation across the marketplace. His 11-year tenure at Etsy has been instrumental in transforming the platform from a web-centric marketplace to a multi-platform powerhouse while staying true to its core mission of "keeping commerce human."We explore how Etsy manages its massive scale of unique inventory, leverages AI for better discovery, and maintains the delicate balance between growth and marketplace identity. Nicholas shares insights on structuring product teams around business challenges, measuring seller success, and fostering innovation through features like "Spaces" that enhance browsing experiences.What you'll learn:How Etsy structures its product organization to tackle marketplace challengesStrategies for managing and categorizing millions of unique itemsKey metrics for measuring seller success and platform healthApproaches to balancing automation with maintaining human connectionsThe role of AI in understanding and surfacing unique inventoryKey Takeaways👇:- Nicholas reveals how Etsy's 30+ product squads are organized around business challenges rather than traditional product lines, maintaining a ratio of 1 PM to 6 engineers for optimal efficiency.- Managing 130M unique items (expanding to 2B+ with variations) requires sophisticated AI/ML approaches, as traditional e-commerce categorization doesn't work for handmade items.- Focus on seller success as a leading indicator, with key metrics including time to first sale, product assortment updates, and platform tool adoption.- Etsy's approach to innovation, including features like "Spaces," demonstrates how to enhance discovery while maintaining the human element that defines their marketplace.- Strong emphasis on "keeping commerce human" while scaling, showing how to maintain marketplace identity and quality during growth.This episode is brought to you by Persona, the adaptable identity platform that helps businesses fight fraud, meet compliance requirements, and build trust. These days, it's easier than ever for fraudsters to steal voices, faces, and identities. That's where Persona comes in; helping leading companies to securely verify individuals and businesses worldwide, providing flexible building blocks to create tailored verification flows that maximize conversion while minimizing risks.Whether you work at a startup or large enterprise, you can get started for free here:  https://withpersona.com/productschoolSocial Links:

42 min
Apr 16, 2025Episode 264
TED Head of Product on Building a Multichannel & Multimodal Content Strategy | E264

In this episode of The Product Podcast, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Tricia Maia, Head of Product at TED, the 40-year-old nonprofit organization renowned for its influential talks that have garnered billions of views since launching online in 2006.As Head of Product at TED, Tricia leads the product organization overseeing ted.com, mobile apps, events products, and backend platforms. Her team manages a complex ecosystem that delivers TED's mission of spreading ideas across borders and languages, with content translated into over 100 languages and distributed across multiple platforms.We explore how TED balances being both a legacy institution and a startup-like organization, diving deep into their approach to AI implementation, content distribution strategy, and measuring success in a mission-driven environment. We'll discuss how TED leverages technology to make its content more accessible globally while maintaining its high standards and editorial vision.What you'll learn: • What it’s like to be a product leader at a nonprofit with global digital reach • How TED uses AI to improve accessibility—including voice-cloned dubbing and translation workflows • How Tricia balances mission-driven goals with the need for sustainable revenue • How TED is evolving content formats beyond the classic 18-minute talk and maintains high-quality content while scaling across platforms • How data-driven personalization is blended with editorial curation • The key metrics TED focuses on—including engagement, retention, and impact • How Tricia structures her team and prioritizes projects to drive maximum impactKey Takeaways 👇:Tricia emphasizes how being mission-driven shapes every product decision while maintaining business sustainability. The organization's unique hybrid model demonstrates how to balance innovation with established brand value.TED's careful implementation of AI technology, particularly in translation and dubbing, shows how to introduce innovative solutions while preserving valuable human contributions and maintaining quality standards.The combination of traditional KPIs with mission impact metrics provides a comprehensive framework for measuring success in a mission-driven organization, balancing quantitative metrics with qualitative impact assessment.TED's effective use of functional teams combined with squad-based execution demonstrates how to maintain expertise while enabling rapid project delivery and focused business objectives.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Tricia MaiaBrought to you by:This episode is brought to you by Persona, the adaptable identity platform that helps businesses fight fraud, meet compliance requirements, and build trust.<b

33 min
Apr 9, 2025Episode 263
Grab CPO on Building the Leading Super App in Southeast Asia | E263

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Philipp Kandal, Chief Product Officer at Grab, Southeast Asia's leading super app serving over 40 million monthly active users across eight countries.Originally launched as a taxi-hailing service in Malaysia, Grab has evolved into a comprehensive platform offering ride-hailing, food delivery, financial services, and more. After acquiring Uber's Southeast Asia operations in 2018, Grab went public in 2021 and is now valued at approximately $20 billion, generating $2.8 billion in revenue with 19% year-over-year growth.We explore Grab's transformation from a single-service app to a super app powerhouse, diving into their hyperlocal approach to product development, organizational structure, and how they leverage technology to solve unique challenges in Southeast Asia.What you'll learn:How Grab evolved from a taxi-hailing service to a super app by following user needsStrategies for competing with global players through hyperlocal solutionsHow to structure product teams for both platform and business innovationThe role of user immersion in improving driver and consumer experiencesWays to balance growth with profitability in emerging marketsKey Takeaways👇:Super App Evolution: Success came from following user needs rather than copying global models, expanding naturally from transport to food delivery to financial servicesOrganizational Structure: "Tech families" structure splits teams between platform infrastructure and business verticals, enabling both innovation and efficiencyHyperlocal Focus: Custom solutions like GrabMaps and cash payment systems were developed specifically for Southeast Asian market needsUser Understanding: Direct field experience through "shadow shifts" leads to better product decisions and feature developmentTechnical Innovation: Built custom solutions to address unique challenges like multiple languages, poor connectivity, and diverse payment systemsThis episode is brought to you by Persona, the adaptable identity platform that helps businesses fight fraud, meet compliance requirements, and build trust.These days, it's easier than ever for fraudsters to steal voices, faces, and identities. That's where Persona comes in; helping leading companies to securely verify individuals and businesses worldwide, providing flexible building blocks to create tailored verification flows that maximize conversion while minimizing risks.Whether you work at a startup or large enterprise, you can get started for free here: withpersona.com/productschoolCredits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Philipp KandalSo

54 min
Apr 2, 2025Episode 262
Carta CPO on Going Multi-Product to Grow from $20M to $500M ARR | Vrushali Paunikar | E262

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Vrushali Paunikar, Chief Product Officer at Carta—the company revolutionizing how private companies manage equity and capital. Originally starting as a cap table management solution, Carta now manages over $150 billion in assets and positions itself as the "Network ERP for Private Capital," supporting over 50,000 companies from early-stage startups to pre-IPO giants.As CPO at Carta, Vrushali has been instrumental in driving the company's evolution from a single-product focus to a comprehensive platform serving various stakeholders in the private capital ecosystem. Her unique background, including experience at Rocket Lawyer and an interesting hobby as an amateur florist, brings a fresh perspective to product leadership in fintech.In this episode, we'll explore Carta's transformation from a cap table management tool to a comprehensive platform for private capital, diving into organizational structure changes, international expansion strategies, and innovative approaches to product development.What you'll learn:How Carta expanded from cap table management to fund administration by deeply understanding customer needsStrategies for restructuring product teams from a business unit model to a modular approachInsights into different approaches for international expansion (organic vs. acquisition)The role of micromanagement as a temporary coaching tool in product developmentHow to balance platform ambitions with focused executionKey Takeaways👇:Carta's shift from a business unit-based structure to a modular approach has enabled better scalability and reduced duplicate work across teams. This restructuring has been crucial for maintaining consistency while expanding product offerings.Starting with cap table management, Carta identified larger market opportunities through their existing customer base, leading to strategic expansion into fund administration and positioning as the "ERP of private capital."Different markets require different approaches—exemplified by Carta's organic expansion in Singapore versus acquisition-based entry into the UK/EU market, highlighting the importance of adaptable go-to-market strategies.Vrushali brings a unique perspective on micromanagement, viewing it as a potential coaching tool when used temporarily and situationally to help teams understand quality standards.This episode is brought to you by Persona, the adaptable identity platform that helps businesses fight fraud, meet compliance requirements, and build trust.These days, it's easier than ever for fraudsters to steal voices, faces, and identities. That's where Persona comes in; helping leading companies to securely verify individuals and businesses worldwide, providing flexible building blocks to create tailored verification flows

45 min
Mar 26, 2025Episode 261
SoundCloud SVP of Product on Leading a Turnaround from Near Collapse to Profitability | Ashok Bania | E261

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Ashok Bania, Senior Vice President of Product at SoundCloud.SoundCloud is the original open platform that disrupted the music industry alongside Spotify, providing massive distribution to millions of artists, including superstars like Billie Eilish and Post Malone. It's a free music app available on web and mobile that connects DJs and singers with over 150 million fans worldwide. After a period of strategic shifts, SoundCloud became profitable for the first time in 16 years.Ashok oversees product strategy, growth, and monetization at SoundCloud. He has a proven track record of building successful consumer subscription products and marketplaces at companies like Spotify, Lyft, Tumblr, and Headspace.In this episode, we'll explore SoundCloud's turnaround from near collapse to profitability, specific AI use cases that enhance music discovery and community engagement, and Ashok's unique approach to product development and growth strategies.What you'll learn:- Ashok's journey to becoming SVP of Product at SoundCloud and his insights on the platform's transformation.- The challenges and strategies involved in revitalizing a global, open music platform.- How to prioritize features and innovations in a fast-paced, creator-centric environment.- The future of music technology, including AI-powered remixes and personalized discovery.Key Takeaways👇:- Creator-First Approach: Ashok emphasizes the importance of catering to both established and emerging artists through innovative tools and distribution methods.- AI-Driven Music Experiences: SoundCloud is leveraging AI to enhance music discovery and enable community-driven remixes, generating over 1,400 submissions in recent contests.- Mission-Based Team Structure: Ashok highlights the shift towards organizing teams around specific missions rather than traditional product divisions to solve core user needs.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Ashok BaniaSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

43 min
Mar 19, 2025Episode 260
Postscript CPO on Driving Product Revenue with SMS | Chiara McPhee | E260

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Chiara McPhee, Chief Product Officer at Postscript, a leader in SMS marketing for e-commerce. Postscript is revolutionizing how e-commerce brands engage with customers. With over $100 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) and more than 20,000 Shopify merchants using their platform, Postscript has become a powerhouse in conversational commerce. Their SMS marketing tools have helped generate over $2 billion in e-commerce revenue for their customers annually, with open rates exceeding 90%, far outpacing traditional email marketing.In this episode, Chiara shares her insights on:Leveraging generative AI to create personalized, one-to-one conversations that drive revenue.How AI agents are outperforming human customer support in certain areas.Key revenue leading indicators in SMS marketing and setting up effective attribution models.Overcoming challenges in scaling infrastructure to achieve $100M in Annual Recurring Revenue.The benefits of focusing exclusively on Shopify.The "Horizon Strategy" approach to building teams tailored for Horizon 1 (cash cow), Horizon 2 (growth), and Horizon 3 (moonshots), balancing short-term wins with long-term ambitious goals in product development.In this episode, we'll explore how Postscript is leveraging cutting-edge technology to deliver personalized customer experiences, driving revenue and redefining e-commerce marketing. We'll discuss leveraging generative AI to create personalized, one-to-one conversations that drive revenue, how AI agents are outperforming human customer support in certain areas, overcoming challenges in scaling infrastructure to achieve $100M in Annual Recurring Revenue, and the benefits of focusing exclusively on Shopify. What you'll learn:Chiara's journey to becoming CPO at Postscript and her insights on the power of SMS marketing.How generative AI enables personalized, one-to-one conversations that drive revenue.Key strategies for SMS marketing, including compliance, personalization, and integration with other channels.How to structure product teams using the "Horizon Strategy" to balance short-term wins with long-term innovation. Key Takeaways:Personalized Conversations: Chiara emphasizes the importance of leveraging generative AI to create personalized, one-to-one conversations that drive revenue.Focus on Shopify: Chiara highlights the company's strategic decision to focus exclusively on Shopify, and the impact it had on business outcomes.Horizon Strategy: Chiara shares the benefits of the "Horizon Strategy" approach to building product teams tailored for different stages of growth and innovation.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de Villa

31 min
Mar 12, 2025Episode 259
Ex-Instagram VP of Product on Scaling & Monetizing Marketplaces | Tanya Cordrey, CPO at Motorway | E259

In this episode, Carlos González interviews Tanya Cordrey, Chief Product Officer at Motorway, the UK's fastest-growing used car marketplace.Motorway is revolutionizing the used car industry in the UK, with a gross market value of $2.5 billion per year and over half a million people selling their cars through their network. Founded recently, Motorway has quickly become a digital powerhouse, offering both sellers and dealers innovative ways to engage in the used car market.Tanya leads product experience and strategy for Motorway's digital portfolio, including their marketplace platform that connects individual car sellers with professional car dealers. Prior to Motorway, Tanya held leadership positions at Instagram, eBay, and The Guardian, bringing a wealth of experience in scaling digital products and marketplaces.In this episode, we'll explore the challenges of building a C2B marketplace, how Tanya and her team are leveraging technology to deliver excellent experiences for both sellers and dealers, and the future of automotive technology. We'll discuss features such as AI-assisted photo uploads, weather-based reminders, and end-to-end solutions for dealers, all designed to streamline the car selling and buying process.What you'll learn:Tanya's journey to becoming CPO at Motorway and her insights on building global product teams.The challenges and strategies involved in creating a C2B marketplace in the used car industry.How to prioritize features and innovations in a fast-paced, two-sided marketplace environment.The future of automotive technology, including AI-assisted processes and marketplace efficiencies.Key Takeaways:Marketplace Efficiency: Tanya emphasizes the importance of understanding and optimizing both sides of the marketplace to create value for sellers and dealers.Innovative User Experiences: Motorway is pushing boundaries with features like AI Image Assist and weather-based reminders to reduce friction in the car-selling process.Data-Driven Product Development: Tanya highlights the use of specific KPIs and user behavior analysis to guide product decisions and improvements, focusing on key moments in the user journey.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Tanya CordreySocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

49 min
Mar 5, 2025Episode 258
HubSpot SVP of Product on AI Agents to Augment Go-To-Market Teams and Automate Workflows | Karen Ng | E258

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Karen Ng, Senior Vice President of Product and Partnerships at HubSpot.HubSpot is a leading software platform empowering over 184,000 businesses across 120 countries to manage their sales, marketing, and customer support teams. In 2024, HubSpot generated over $2.5 billion in revenue, driven by significant investments in Artificial Intelligence.Karen oversees critical products like Smart CRM, Operations Hub, and Ecosystem, while driving strategic partnerships and business development. Her technical expertise is notable, with three patents. She has also published research in stress detection, interactive health assessments, and robotic expressivity when she worked as a Machine Learning Researcher at MIT.In this episode, we'll explore Karen's approach to deploying AI Agents across HubSpot's product portfolio, her decision-making process for when to Build, Buy, or Partner, and her innovative approach to product org design. We'll discuss how product teams can leverage AI Agents to augment their impact and automate workflows, and how product leaders can elevate their roles as key drivers of revenue.What you'll learn:Karen's journey to becoming SVP of Product and Partnerships at HubSpot and her insights on the company's AI transformation.The challenges and strategies involved in creating a global, multi-product platform for businesses.How to prioritize features and innovations in a fast-paced, customer-centric environment.The future of business technology, including AI-powered tools and self-service products.Key Takeaways👇:AI-Driven Product Development: Karen emphasizes the importance of integrating AI across HubSpot's product suite to enhance customer value and streamline operations.Innovative Organizational Structure: HubSpot is pushing boundaries with a hybrid approach to product teams, combining functional structures and pod-based teams for agility and ownership.Data-Driven Decision Making: Karen highlights the use of OGPs (Objectives, Goals, and Plays) and customer feedback to guide product decisions and improvements.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Karen NgSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

48 min
Feb 26, 2025Episode 257
Duolingo VP of Product on Hypergrowth through Freemium, Experimentation & Gamification | Cem Kansu | E257

In this episode, we host Cem Kansu, Vice President of Product at Duolingo, the world’s leading language-learning platform.Duolingo has experienced tremendous growth, transforming from a free translation app in 2011 to a public company valued at over $15 billion, with annual revenues exceeding $700 million. The platform now offers courses in 43 languages, boasts over 113 million monthly active users, and has expanded into math and music education.Cem has been instrumental to Duolingo's success over the past nine years, leading all core product, growth, and monetization efforts.In this episode, we'll explore Duolingo’s product and market expansion strategy, how the company introduces gamification to drive engagement, and the key leading indicators used to increase monetization while staying true to its mission of free education. We'll also delve into how Duolingo runs concurrent experiments at scale and the role of voice AI in personalizing the learning experience, including innovative features like the "Video Call with Lily."What you'll learn:- Cem's journey in leading product at Duolingo and his insights on balancing growth with educational accessibility.- Strategies for building a successful freemium model in the education technology space.- How Duolingo leverages A/B testing and data-driven decision-making.- The role of AI and gamification in creating engaging learning experiences.Key Takeaways 👇:- Freemium Monetization: Duolingo has found a successful balance between offering free education and generating revenue through premium features.- Data-Driven Innovation: The company's commitment to A/B testing and analytics informs its product roadmap and ensures continuous improvement.- Engaging User Experience: Duolingo leverages gamification and AI to make learning fun and effective, competing for user attention in a crowded digital landscape.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Cem KansuSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

51 min
Feb 12, 2025Episode 256
Checkr CPO on Building Scalable Products for Large Enterprises | Ilan Frank | E256

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Ilan Frank, Chief Product Officer at Checkr, the leading background check company serving over 100,000 customers.Checkr has revolutionized the background check industry, processing 85% of checks in 15 minutes or less, compared to the industry standard of 1 to 3 days. This remarkable efficiency is achieved through the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning.With $679 million in funding and a $5 billion valuation, Checkr serves major companies like Uber, Warby Parker, and Instacart. Ilan is spearheading the core business while driving product expansion into larger enterprises and new markets.In this episode, we'll explore Ilan's extensive experience in building SaaS products for large enterprises, including his work at successful companies like Slack, Airtable, and Grammarly. We'll discuss the challenges and strategies involved in transitioning from SMB to enterprise success.What you'll learn:- Ilan's journey to becoming CPO at Checkr and his insights on the background check industry's digital transformation.- The challenges and strategies involved in creating enterprise-ready products and organizations.- How to balance user delight with complex enterprise client needs.- The future of background check technology, including AI-powered innovations and international expansion.Key Takeaways:- Enterprise Readiness: Ilan emphasizes the importance of both product and organizational readiness when transitioning to serve enterprise clients.- Product Management Approach: Ilan shares his "Three Buckets" strategy for prioritizing features: metrics movers, customer asks, and delighters.- Data-Driven Innovation: Ilan highlights the use of AI and machine learning to process vast amounts of data quickly and accurately, revolutionizing the background check industry.- Enterprise Product Development: Ilan discusses the importance of understanding both the "chooser" and the "user" in enterprise software, and how to create value for both.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Ilan FrankSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

49 min
Feb 5, 2025Episode 255
Upwork GM & VP of Product on The Future of Work with AI Agents and Freelancers | Dave Bottoms | E255

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Dave Bottoms, General Manager and Vice President of Product at Upwork.Upwork is the world's largest global talent marketplace, connecting millions of businesses with independent professionals and agencies worldwide. With freelancers from all over the world, over 800,000 active clients, Upwork has become a cornerstone of the gig economy, valued at over $2 billion.Dave leads product strategy and development for Upwork's marketplace, overseeing the implementation of AI technologies and balancing core business growth with emerging initiatives. His diverse background includes roles at tech giants like Meta, Dropbox, and Yahoo, where he led the homepage redesign project under Marissa Mayer's tenure.In this episode, we'll explore Upwork's journey through the remote work revolution, the integration of AI in freelance marketplaces, and the future of work. We'll discuss how Upwork is leveraging technology to enhance both client and freelancer experiences, including the implementation of their AI agent "Uma" and innovative monetization strategies.What you'll learn:- Dave's transition from journalism to product leadership and his insights on Upwork's growth in the evolving landscape of remote work.- The challenges and strategies involved in managing a two-sided marketplace at scale.- How Upwork is using AI to improve matchmaking and productivity for both clients and freelancers.- The potential future of work, including the rise of AI-assisted solopreneurs.Key Takeaways👇- Marketplace Dynamics: Dave emphasizes the importance of creating value for both freelancers and clients to maintain a healthy ecosystem.- AI Integration: Upwork is leveraging AI to enhance user experiences, from improved matchmaking to productivity tools for freelancers.- Innovation in Work Models: Dave shares his vision of a future where AI and freelance talent enable individuals to build significant businesses without traditional employment structures.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Dave BottomsSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

35 min
Jan 29, 2025Episode 254
Warner Music VP of Product Design on Design thinking and mystical practices for business breakthroughs | Christina Goldschmidt | E254

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Christina Goldschmidt, VP of Product Design at Warner Music.Warner Music is one of the world's leading music companies, serving artists and songwriters across various labels and publishing divisions. With a rich history in the music industry, Warner Music has evolved to embrace digital transformation, offering innovative ways for fans to engage with artists and music.Christina leads the entire UX team at Warner Music, overseeing product designers, design systems specialists, visual designers, content designers, researchers, and design operations. Her team designs experiences connecting fans to artists, provides services to artists and songwriters, and creates internal tools that power various aspects of the music business, from distribution to sync licensing and royalties reporting.In this episode, we'll explore Christina's unique approach to product design, how she and her team are leveraging unconventional practices to drive innovation, and the future of music technology. We'll discuss strategies for aligning design with business goals, structuring design teams for interconnected ecosystems, and balancing zero-to-one initiatives with product improvements.What you'll learn:- Christina's journey from front-end developer to VP of Product Design at Warner Music and her insights on the company's digital transformation.- The challenges and strategies involved in creating user experiences for a global music company.- How to prioritize design initiatives and innovations in a fast-paced, artist-centric environment.- The future of music technology, including AI-powered tools and immersive fan experiences.Key Takeaways👇- Design as a Revenue Driver: Christina emphasizes the importance of positioning design as a strategic asset that contributes to business growth.- Unconventional Problem-Solving: Warner Music is pushing boundaries by incorporating mystical practices like tarot readings and shamanic journeying into their design thinking process.- Data-Driven Design: Christina highlights the use of product discovery, UX research, and business metrics to guide design decisions and improvementsSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

52 min
Jan 22, 2025Episode 253
Yelp CPO on Preserving User-Generated Content Authenticity While Scaling a Marketplace with AI | Craig Saldanha | E253

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Craig Saldanha, Chief Product Officer at Yelp, a leading local business review and discovery platform.Founded in 2004, Yelp has become a go-to resource for consumers seeking authentic reviews and recommendations for local businesses. With over 300 million user reviews across 35 countries and 42 languages, Yelp has continuously evolved to meet changing consumer needs and technological advancements.Craig joined Yelp almost three years ago, following a decade-long career at Amazon. As CPO, he leads Product Management and oversees the development of Yelp's consumer and business-facing products. His impressive background includes working on groundbreaking products at Amazon, such as Kindle and Prime Video.We explore Yelp's transformation from a simple review platform to an AI-powered local business discovery tool, the evolution of AI in local search and customer reviews, and the challenges of integrating AI into an established platform.What you'll learn:How Yelp is leveraging AI to enhance user experience and business connectionsThe impact of AI on product development and organizational structure at YelpYelp's journey in developing AI-powered features like the Yelp Assistant and AI-generated video reviewsStrategies for maintaining trust and authenticity in an AI-enhanced review ecosystemChallenges and opportunities in integrating AI into an established platform like YelpKey Takeaways:AI Integration: Craig discusses Yelp's innovative use of AI in features like the Yelp Assistant and AI-generated video reviewsOrganizational Structure: He explains how Yelp organizes its product teams around consumers and local businesses to drive value for both sides of the marketplaceTrust and Authenticity: Craig emphasizes the importance of maintaining trust in reviews while leveraging AI to enhance the user experienceContent Distribution: He introduces Yelp's strategy to distribute its valuable content through partnerships and APIs in the AI eraProduct Frameworks: Craig highlights the importance of robust decision-making frameworks and a culture of experimentation in product developmentAs a fun fact, Craig shares his experience using Yelp to plan his first date with his now-wife!Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Craig SaldanhaSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn h

1 hr 2 min
Jan 15, 2025Episode 252
Intercom CPO on shifting from AI-dead to AI-first | Paul Adams | E252

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Paul Adams, Chief Product Officer at Intercom, a leading customer communication platform that has experienced both remarkable success and near-catastrophe.Founded in 2011, Intercom revolutionized customer service as a SaaS pioneer, reaching a peak valuation of $1.3 billion. However, by 2022, the company faced potential collapse as AI rapidly disrupted its core business. In a dramatic turnaround, Intercom's original founder returned as CEO, transforming the company into an AI-first powerhouse now serving over 50,000 paying customers globally.Paul's 12-year tenure at Intercom has been pivotal in shaping the company's evolution. As CPO, he leads Product Management, Design, Data Science, and Research. His impressive background includes working on groundbreaking products at Google, such as YouTube and Gmail, during the iPhone's launch era.In this episode, we explore Intercom's transformation from a simple customer support tool to an AI-powered communication platform, the evolution of AI in customer service, and the challenges of building AI-first products as a non-native AI company.What you'll learn:- How Intercom navigated the transition from a traditional SaaS model to an AI-first approach.- The impact of AI on product development and organizational structure.- Intercom's journey in developing AI-powered customer service agents.- Strategies for implementing outcome-based pricing models in the AI era.- Challenges and opportunities in building AI-first products for established companies.Key Takeaways:- AI Transformation: Paul discusses Intercom's bold move to allocate 70% of R&D to AI development.- Organizational Restructuring: He explains how Intercom is reimagining traditional product roles to adapt to AI-driven development.- Customer-Centric AI: Paul emphasizes the importance of building AI products in close partnership with customers.- Pricing Innovation: He introduces Intercom's exploration of outcome-based pricing models aligned with customer success.- Product Judgment: Paul argues for the increasing importance of product intuition and risk-taking in the AI era.Credits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Paul AdamsSocial Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here

40 min
Jan 8, 2025Episode 251
Brex President & CPO on embedding Product team into sales process to accelerate revenue growth | Karandeep Anand | E251

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Karandeep Anand, President and Chief Product Officer at Brex, one of the fastest-growing fintech companies in the world.Founded in 2017, Brex quickly became the go-to financial services partner for most Silicon Valley startups, with 80% of Y Combinator startups using their platform. This rapid growth led to over $1.2 billion in funding and a $12.3 billion valuation. Brex now serves a wide range of companies, from startups to large enterprises, including over 150 public companies with a combined estimated market cap exceeding $2.9 trillion.Karandeep's impressive career includes 6.5 years at Meta, where he led a team of 3,000 people and served 200M+ businesses globally, and 15 years at Microsoft, heading product management for Azure's application and developer platforms. At Brex, he has been instrumental in transforming the company's Product Management culture and expanding its product into a comprehensive financial platform offering corporate cards, treasury solutions, and software for travel and expenses in one place.In this episode, we explore Brex's evolution from a startup-focused company to serving enterprise customers, the integration of AI in financial products within a highly regulated environment, and the restructuring of product teams for efficiency and innovation. We also discuss Karandeep's unique perspective on product-market fit and the importance of continuous innovation in a rapidly changing market.What you'll learn:Karandeep's approach to evolving Brex from a startup-focused company to serving enterprise customers.How AI is integrated into financial products in a highly regulated environment.Strategies for restructuring product teams to drive efficiency and innovation.The importance of PMs spending more time on customer calls and listening to customers.A third go-to-market motion mixing PLG and SLG: Assisted Product-led growth.Why product-market fit is a journey, not a destination, and the importance of continuous innovation.Key Takeaways:AI Integration: Karandeep highlights the use of AI not just in products, but also to reduce change management costs for customers.Product Team Restructuring: He discusses the transformation of Brex's product team, emphasizing the role of PMs as ""mini-CEOs"" for their product lines.Customer-Centric Approach: Karandeep stresses the importance of PMs being directly involved in sales calls and customer interactions.Continuous Innovation: He argues that product-market fit is not a static goal but a continuous journey in today's rapidly changing market.Go-to-Market Strategy: Karandeep introduces the concept of "assisted PLG" as a hybrid approach between product-led and sales-led growth.Credits:Host: <a href='https://www.linkedin.com/in/villaumbr

53 min
Dec 25, 2024Episode 250
Vix, the Netflix of Latin America with over 50 Million Users | TelevisaUnivision CPTO, Michael Cerda | E250

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Michael Cerda, Chief Product and Technology Officer at TelevisaUnivision, the world's leading Spanish-language media company reaching 125 million Spanish speakers daily across the US and Latin America.TelevisaUnivision launched ViX, a consumer streaming platform, two years ago to compete with US-based giants like Netflix and Disney+. ViX has already surpassed 50 million global monthly active users, driven by the world's largest library of Spanish-language content, including major soccer rights like the World Cup, European Championship, and Champions League.Michael's impressive career includes launching Disney+ as VP of Product at Disney, leading Apple's first Credit Card as CPO at Goldman Sachs, and working directly with Mark Zuckerberg at Meta. At ViX, he leads product management, design, and engineering, leveraging AI to enrich metadata, improve content recommendations, and solve the 'cold start' problem—all while steering ViX toward profitability by late 2024.We explore ViX's journey from launch to a major player in the Spanish-language streaming market, the integration of AI in content recommendations, and the balance between traditional TV viewing habits and modern streaming interfaces. We also discuss how TelevisaUnivision leverages cultural insights to drive engagement and the challenges of personalizing content for a diverse Hispanic audience across 19 countries.What you'll learn:- Michael's approach to scaling ViX from launch to over 50 million users in two years.- How AI and large language models are used to enrich metadata and improve user experience.- Strategies for personalizing content recommendations across 19 countries.- The development of specific user personas to target diverse audiences.- How TelevisaUnivision balances free and premium tiers in their streaming service.Key Takeaways:- AI-Powered Recommendations: Michael highlights the use of AI to solve the 'cold start' problem in content recommendations.- Cultural Sensitivity: He emphasizes the importance of understanding cultural nuances in creating engaging content for Hispanic audiences.- Rapid Scaling: Michael discusses the challenges and strategies involved in building and launching a streaming service in just 9 months.- User-Centric Design: He explains how ViX tailors its interface and content to cater to both traditional TV viewers and modern streaming users.- Product Management in Media: Michael shares insights on adapting product management principles from tech to the media industry, drawing parallels between building products and his passions for music, yoga, and cooking.Social Links:- Follow our Podcast on Tik Tok here- Follow Product School on LinkedIn here- Join Product School's free events <a h

45 min
Dec 18, 2024Episode 249
ClickUp CEO on Why Most Productivity Apps S*ck and How to Measure Productivity ROI | Zeb Evans | E249

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Zeb Evans, Founder and CEO of ClickUp.ClickUp, founded in 2017, has rapidly grown into a comprehensive productivity platform, consolidating multiple work tools into a single application. The company has raised $537.5 million in funding and achieved a valuation of $4 billion. ClickUp now serves over 14 million users and 3 million teams, including notable clients like Netflix and Spotify.As Founder, CEO, and CPO of ClickUp, Zeb leads both the company and product strategy, maintaining a hands-on approach to product development. He played a pivotal role in developing ClickUp Knowledge Management, an AI-powered tool that integrates data from various sources to enhance workplace productivity.In this episode, we explore ClickUp's journey from a startup to a major player in the project management space, the integration of AI in productivity tools, and Zeb's unique approach to product leadership. We also discuss how personal challenges have shaped Zeb's business philosophy and how ClickUp balances Product-Led Growth with Sales-Led Growth.What you'll learn:- How Zeb's narcolepsy and near-death experiences influenced ClickUp's development.- ClickUp's strategy for competing in the crowded project management space.- The implementation of AI in productivity tools and its impact on product teams.- Zeb's unconventional approach to product management and company structure.- How ClickUp balances Product-Led Growth with Sales-Led Growth in B2B SaaS.Key Takeaways👇:Personal Challenges Drive Innovation: Zeb's experiences with narcolepsy and near-death incidents have shaped his approach to business and product development.Hands-On Leadership: Zeb emphasizes the importance of founders maintaining control over product development, even as the company scales.AI-Powered Productivity: ClickUp is leveraging AI to enhance workplace productivity, as demonstrated by their Knowledge Management tool.Flexible Product Development: Zeb advocates for building initial versions of new features in just two weeks, forcing critical thinking about core functionality.Continuous Learning: Zeb's practice of journaling and annual review highlights the importance of reflecting on past lessons to drive future success.Social Links:- Follow our Podcast on Tik Tok here- Follow Product School on LinkedIn here- Join Product School's free events here - Find out more about Product School hereCredits:Host: Carlos Gonzalez de VillaumbrosiaGuest: Zeb EvansSocial Links:Find out more about Prod