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The Product Launch Podcast

The Product Launch Podcast

By Sean Boyce

Sean Boyce from NxtStep will share all of his insights and lessons learned from many years of building product businesses so that you can learn all about how to set your very own product business up for success. Listen to our interviews from professionals in Sean’s network that have successfully launched and run countless product businesses successfully. If you’re involved with managing a product or product business we can help you with everything from the idea stage to sunsetting products and everything in between.
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John Waupsh - Kasasa

The Product Launch PodcastSep 15, 2019

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39:05
Balancing Discipline and Agility in Product Management with Jama Software’s Jeremy Johnson

Balancing Discipline and Agility in Product Management with Jama Software’s Jeremy Johnson

Jeremy Johnson is the VP of Product Management at Jama Software. He leads both product management and user experience teams, and has 12 years of experience in product management. On this episode of Product Launch, Sean and Jeremy discuss

  • The benefits of a non-technical background in being effective in product management
  • How understanding the functional areas of an organization will help you be a better product manager
  • How to perform product management effectively in a complex environment with a team
  • The importance of effective process in ensuring that product management is done well
  • How sharing responsibility on your product team can affect increase agility and consistency
  • The Jama Connect value proposition and how their customers benefit from using it
  • The importance of receiving feedback direct from customers
  • How to move faster in product development by being more thorough with your product design and testing process

Resources: 

Jama Software website: https://www.jamasoftware.com/

Connecting with Jeremy:

Connect with Jeremy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-c-johnson/

Jan 18, 202128:58
Product Flexibility as a Growth Strategy with Agora’s SVP of Marketing Virginia Liu

Product Flexibility as a Growth Strategy with Agora’s SVP of Marketing Virginia Liu

 Virginia is the SVP of Marketing and Ecosystems at Agora. On this episode of Product Launch, Sean and Virginia cover 

  • How a platform as a service product is unique when compared with traditional SaaS products
  • How the demand for the Agora service has increased due to the pandemic
  • The creative applications Agora’s customers have developed with access to their tools and services
  • How to organize data and feedback from users to make your product better as a platform as a service company

Resources: 

  • Agora on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/agora-lab-inc/
  • Agora on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AgoraIO

Connecting:

Connect with Virginia in LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginia-liu-3705004/


Jan 04, 202121:30
Pivoting your Product Business with Daniel Senyard from Shep

Pivoting your Product Business with Daniel Senyard from Shep

Daniel Senyard who is the Co-founder and CEO of Shep. On this episode of Product Launch, Daniel and Sean cover

  • The Shep value proposition
  • How Shep pivoted due to industry impact due to the pandemic
  • Framing you product as a hypothesis
  • Distinguishing between adjustments and pivots for your product
  • Pivoting from SMB to enterprise as a target market

Resources:

  • The Start-Up J Curve, by Howard Love - https://www.amazon.com/Start-Up-Curve-Steps-Entrepreneurial-Success/dp/162634292X
  • Obviously Awesome, by April Dunford - https://www.amazon.com/Obviously-Awesome-Product-Positioning-Customers/dp/1999023005
  • Shep Travel - https://sheptravel.com/
  • Get Shep - https://getshep.io/

Connecting with Daniel:

  • Connect with Daniel over Email at daniel@sheptravel.com
Dec 22, 202025:53
Sales as the Key to Success for your Product Business with Lisa Peskin

Sales as the Key to Success for your Product Business with Lisa Peskin

Lisa is the Founder and CEO of Business Development University or BDU. On this episode of Product Launch, Lisa and Sean cover 

  • The importance of passion and authenticity in communicating your value proposition to prospects
  • They 3 keys to business development and sales 
  • Folding 30/60/90 day game plans into your annual plan
  • Building your prospecting process to deliver effective results
  • Why your initial conversations need to start with their problems (and not your solutions)
  • Putting together the pieces to tell an effective sales story
  • Why not everything can be done online

Resources:

  • Business Development University - https://businessdevelopmentuniversity.com/
  • BDU's Prospect Visit Checklist - https://businessdevelopmentuniversity.com/bdu-prospect-visit-checklist-pdf/
  • Fanatical Prospecting, by Jeb Blount - https://www.amazon.com/Fanatical-Prospecting-Conversations-Leveraging-Telephone-ebook/dp/B01617VD3I

Connecting with Lisa:

  • Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisapeskin/
Dec 15, 202026:56
Better Benefits with Lluna’s Jessica Podgajny

Better Benefits with Lluna’s Jessica Podgajny

Jess Podgajny has spent her career in client service and management consulting, focused on the people side of projects. She is now the Founder and CEO of LLUNA a B2B platform that enables companies to design, manage, and analyze personalized employment arrangements. On this episode of the Product Launch podcast, Jess and Sean cover 

  • The past, present, and future of LLuna 
  • What Lluna offers their clients (that they can’t get elsewhere)
  • The growing demand for flexibility
  • The Lluna prototype build strategy through the use of ‘no-code’ tools
  • The Lluna team’s go-to-market (GTM) strategy
    • Tight target market, build momentum and social proof to take to the bigger organizations

Resources: 

  • Tools - Bubble - https://bubble.io/
  • The Mom Test - http://momtestbook.com

Connecting with Jess

  • https://lluna.io/ - Reach out to Jess to talk about personalized employer arrangements 
  • Connect with Jess over email Jess@lluna.io


Nov 17, 202032:57
The Hyper-Automation Movement with Nividous’s Chris Hawn
Nov 03, 202027:11
Product Positioning with Obviously Awesome Author April Dunford

Product Positioning with Obviously Awesome Author April Dunford

April Dunford is the author of Obviously Awesome which is all about product positioning.  Prior to that April was the VP of Marketing for 7 successful startups. This week, April and Sean cover 

  • What is product positioning and how it can help you
  • "Jobs to be done" and the milkshake story
  • Integrating product positioning in a jobs to be done framework
  • The importance of competitive alternatives when it comes to positioning
  • Testing your positioning thesis and how to refine it based on your traction
  • April’s real-world example of the power of positioning
  • Finding the examples of best-fit customer use cases

Resources: 

  • April's book, Obviously Awesome: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/45166937-obviously-awesome

Connecting with April:

  • Connect with April on Twitter: https://twitter.com/aprildunford?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
    • Connect with April on her website: https://www.aprildunford.com/
    • Connect with April over email: april@aprildunford.com
Oct 26, 202031:52
Differentiating Yourself in a Sea of Competition with Habitat Logistics Trip O’Dell

Differentiating Yourself in a Sea of Competition with Habitat Logistics Trip O’Dell

Trip’s experience and product portfolio is diverse. It includes consumer hardware, software, cloud services, enterprise software, among others at solving complex problems at scale. Trip's grounded product experience combines a track record for envisioning, defining and shipping new ideas, products and technologies resulting in new products, services, intellectual property and driving business outcomes at companies like Amazon, MSFT and Adobe. He is the new CXO at the Y-combinator company Habitat in Philadelphia which deals with last mile delivery technology. On this week's episode of Product Launch, Sean and Trip discuss

  • What is a CXO (Chief Experience Officers) role all about
  • Why success is all about people, product, and process
  • East vs West coast approaches to building a tech company 
  • The importance of a humanistic, experimental, future based mindset 
  • “People don’t buy a drill, they buy a repeatable quarter inch hole”
  • Developing a customer obsession at your organization
  • The importance of failure

Resources:

  • Trade Off, by Kevin Maney: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6664826-trade-off
  • Brave New Workforce Podcast: https://www.thebraveworkforce.com/

Connecting with Trip

  • Connect with Trip through Twitter: https://twitter.com/tripodell?lang=en
  • Connect with Trip over Email: trip.odell@tryhabitat.com


Oct 20, 202035:50
Industry Expertise as an Accelerator for your Product Career with Hazelcast’s David Brimley

Industry Expertise as an Accelerator for your Product Career with Hazelcast’s David Brimley

Hazelcast delivers the in-memory computing platform that empowers Global 2000 enterprises to achieve ultra-fast application performance - at any scale. Built for low-latency data processing, Hazelcast’s cloud-native in-memory data store and event stream processing software technologies are trusted by leading companies such as JPMorgan Chase, Charter Communications, Ellie Mae and National Australia Bank to accelerate data-centric applications. On this weeks episode of the Product Launch podcast, Sean and David cover 

  • Why industry subject matter expertise matters and how it differentiate you as a product professional
  • The advantages of building a product for yourself 
  • How to keep your industry subject matter expertise to be better product professional
  • Going from a siloed world of being an individual contributor to more of a leadership role for the organization and various functional groups
  • Why product professionals need to maintain a healthy network of industry professionals
  • Getting to know your customers personally so they will feel comfortable opening up to you so you can help them

Resources:

  • Flash Boys, by Michael Lewis - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24724602-flash-boys
  • Automate This, by Christopher Steiner - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13542772-automate-this
  • Competing Against Luck, by Clayton M. Christensen - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28820024-competing-against-luck
  • Playing to Win, by A.G. Lafley - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13586928-playing-to-win
  • How to Lead in Product Management, by Roman Pichler - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13586928-playing-to-win
  • Hazelcast Websites - hazelcast.org , hazelcast.com

Connecting with David:

  • Connect with David on Twitter - https://twitter.com/dbrimley?lang=en
Oct 13, 202033:42
Embracing the Pivot with Rhino Review’s Chelsea Craig

Embracing the Pivot with Rhino Review’s Chelsea Craig

Oct 06, 202025:06
Building Data-Driven Products with Stephen Sklarew
Sep 29, 202029:37
The Product Launch Journey of Everykey with Founder Chris Wentz
Sep 22, 202033:47
Producing Awesome Content with AI Tools with MarketMuse’s Aki Balogh
Sep 15, 202029:55
The Telehealth Product Neeka with President Jared Sheehan
Sep 08, 202025:38
The Trudge to the Bathroom Test with Neil Gordon
Sep 01, 202027:31
Effective product management done remotely with Internet Creations’ Howard Yermish
Aug 25, 202037:20
Building a Product Business Organically with Learnt's Eliza Nimmich

Building a Product Business Organically with Learnt's Eliza Nimmich

Eliza Nimmich is the COO of Learnt. Learnt is an online marketplace that allows students to seamlessly and instantly connect with highly vetted tutors online and in-person. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Product Launch:

  • The strategy of developing and growing an enterprise business on a limited budget
  • The importance of cultivating personal connections to customers as a form of investment
  • Crowdfunding as an effective means of fundraising
  • Understanding flexibility as a necessity for early growth

Resources:

Connect With Eliza:

Aug 16, 202019:48
Product Management Advice from Product Coach and Mentor Timo Sturm

Product Management Advice from Product Coach and Mentor Timo Sturm

Timo Sturm is a freelance product coach and mentor who helps others achieve successful careers in product.  He is also the Co-Founder of What a Location which is a data and analytics tool for the commercial real estate industry.  Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Product Launch.

  • The impact of local culture on the product management profession
  • What product managers from Europe and the U.S. can learn from each other
  • Why a product role requires effective process as well as, an understanding that the process can always be improved
  • Why product managers need to be decisive in their decision making
  • Why it’s so important for product managers to set explicit goals and drive towards them with conviction

Resources

Connecting with Timo

Jul 30, 202027:12
Sharpening your Marketing Axe with Creative’s Ben LeDonni
Jul 21, 202031:34
Protecting your Team and Business when Working Remotely with Anthony Mongeluzo
Apr 10, 202021:03
Taking Action From User Research with Ralph Pierre-Louis
Mar 10, 202022:15
Effectively Marketing Your SaaS Business with Raj Kapur
Mar 02, 202027:58
Growing a Successful SaaS Business Without Venture Capital with Brendan Rice
Feb 24, 202027:34
Jim Paolino from LodeStar
Feb 20, 202030:04
Growing an EdTech SaaS Startup to more than 1000 paid customers with Nick Malekos
Feb 17, 202028:28
Ben Johnson from Freya Systems

Ben Johnson from Freya Systems

Description: In this episode of the Product Launch Podcast powered by NxtStep, we talk with Ben from Freya Systems about building internal products for the enterprise.  Ben and his team build products for large organizations in the aviation, transportation and manufacturing industry.

Show notes

00:30 - Background about Ben and more information about Freya Systems.

02:00 - What Freya Systems is doing to help their customers predict the future.

04:30 - What they do with all that data.

07:00 - What type or problems are you solving?

12:30 - Why elegant and simple solutions are ideal even for complicated problems faced by very large organizations.

17:00 - The advantages of specializing.  Niche to get rich.

19:00 - How do you solve the problems of your customers and who is typically involved?

Product Resources

Getting in touch with Ben

Dec 10, 201928:21
Sreeni Jakka from Tech O2

Sreeni Jakka from Tech O2

Sreeni Jakka from Tech O2Description: In this episode of the Product Launch Podcast powered by NxtStep, we talk with Sreeni from Tech O2 about all things software and startups.  Learn how to make your software startup successful from a veteran of helping over 60 startups.

Show notes

01:00 - What is Tech O2?

03:00 - Sreeni’s experience working with startups.

05:00 - Advice for early stage companies

09:00 - How to scale back to your MVP.

14:30 - How do know when you’re ready to actually build the product.

20:00 - Being smart with your budget

21:00 - Why you should avoid ‘stealth mode’ for your startup

Product Resources

Getting in touch with Sreeni

Dec 02, 201925:55
SEO and Organic Content for SaaS Businesses with George
Nov 26, 201923:47
Stuart Balcombe from Customer Discovery Sprints

Stuart Balcombe from Customer Discovery Sprints

Description: In this episode of the Product Launch Podcast powered by NxtStep, we talk with Stuart from Customer Discovery Sprints about everything from starting with problems to verifying solutions in the wide world of product for early stage companies.

Show notes

01:00 - What is Customer Discovery Sprints

03:30 - How to start with problems.

06:00 - Why you shouldn’t start with (just) an idea.

11:00 - Asking the right question - The Mom Test

12:00 - How to ask for real-world examples.

14:00 - How to have an effective customer interview.

16:00 - How do you validate your product ideas?

Product Resources

Getting in touch with Stuart

Nov 19, 201923:42
Zubin from LeagueSide

Zubin from LeagueSide

Description: In this episode of the Product Launch Podcast powered by NxtStep, we talk with Zubin who is the Co-Founder and COO of LeagueSide .  Learn about how LeagueSide came to be and how they are ushering sponsorship of youth sports into a whole new era.

Show notes

00:00 - The story behind LeagueSide

03:00 - The problems LeagueSide solves

04:30 - “You have to sell the product to be able to execute it”

07:00 - How do your customers and users try to solve these problems today?

10:00 - How the LeagueSide product works.

13:00 - Company reaction to the LeagueSide product.

14:30 - Key metrics and how the LeagueSide team is measuring the effectiveness of the product.

15:30 - How does the revenue model work?

16:15 - Scaling the LeagueSide product and business.

20:30 - The game winning basketball shot heard around the world!

Product Resources

Getting in touch with Zubin and LeagueSide

Nov 11, 201922:28
Being Data-Driven in Marketing with Jake from Pareto PPC

Being Data-Driven in Marketing with Jake from Pareto PPC

Description
In this episode of the Product Launch Podcast powered by
NxtStep, we talk with Jake from Pareto PPC about the importance of being data-driven in your marketing approach.  Learn more from a marketing expert about what you can do to market your product effectively.

Show notes

00:30 - Jake’s background and the Pareto story

02:00 - The importance of being data-driven

04:50 - How to know if you have the right data

08:00 - Finding product/market fit

12:30 - The cyclical nature of CPC

14:00 - The advantages of targeting a niche

15:00 - “The more general you are the weaker your value proposition will be.”

Product Resources

Getting in touch with Jake

Oct 15, 201925:27
The Importance of User Research with Aggelos from Growth Sandwich.

The Importance of User Research with Aggelos from Growth Sandwich.

Description: In this episode of the Product Launch Podcast powered by NxtStep, we talk with Aggelos from Growth Sandwich about the importance of user research in building great products.  Learn everything from what an evidence-based decision making loop is and why you should use one to avoiding the hands off trap when it comes to product-market fit.

Show notes

01:00 - The story behind Growth Sandwich.

03:00 - Product vs Marketing.

04:00 - A story about what can go wrong when user research is missing.

07:30 - The impact of poor product management.

09:00 - The case of Ryan Air, ranked worst for 6 years running, but the highest selling.  What gives?

11:00 - Getting feedback from users the right way.

15:00 - People don’t buy your product, they buy your value proposition.

18:00 - Aggelos on product-market fit and why what you measure matters.

20:00 - You can lose product-market fit more quickly than you found it.

24:00 - Why automation can jeopardize the strength of your value proposition.

Product Resources

Getting in touch with Aggelos

Oct 07, 201932:57
Neil Gomes - Jefferson Health

Neil Gomes - Jefferson Health

In this episode of the product podcast powered by NxtStep, we talk with Chief Digital Officer and EVP of Consumer Experience at Jefferson Health - Neil Gomes.  Listen in as Neil talks all about what it takes to achieve product success and all the exciting work him and his team is involved with at Jefferson Health.

Guest

Show Notes

00:30 - What Neil does and what his title really means.

04:00 - How Neil got to where he is today and the cool stuff he’s worked on throughout his career.

10:00 - How you can work like a startup without having to be a startup.

13:00 - What Neil’s team is made up of and how they get work done at Jeff.

15:00 - How Jeff does Lean and Agile.

29:00 - Resources recommended by Neil

36:00 - How to connect with Neil

Sep 19, 201938:49
John Waupsh - Kasasa

John Waupsh - Kasasa

Product success and Bankruption in FinTech with John WaupshIn this episode of the product podcast powered by NxtStep, we talk with Chief Innovation Officer at Kasasa - John Waupsh.  Listen in as John talks all about what it takes to achieve product success.  Hear more about John's popular book on the latest in FinTech called Bankruption.  

Guest

  • John Waupsh
  • Chief Innovation Officer at Kasasa

Show Notes

1:00 - What is Kasasa?

5:00 - What does Chief Innovation Officer mean?

9:30 - Why market research matters.

11:00 - An example from John about how different what customers say can be from what they will actually do.

13:00 - John’s take on what makes a great product professional and what it has to do with 3D chess.

17:00 - Why product can be HARD.

23:00 - How do you find product-market fit?

28:00 - How quitting can be a key part of the path to winning.

30:00 -  Why you should pay close attention to your customers voting with their money.

31:30 - Great resources by John.

  • Bankruption: How Community Banking Can Survive Fintech

36:00 - How to get in touch with John.

37:00 - Bonus product advice from John.  Why you should focus on what you’re building and why.

Sep 15, 201939:05
Don Sandusky - Hamboards

Don Sandusky - Hamboards

In this episode of the product podcast powered by NxtStep, we talk with owner and general manager of Hamboards - Don Sandusky.  Don walks us through what they did to achieve success at Hamboards, which is a product that creates a surfboard-like experience on land.  Hear more about his path into product, working at NASA and other great product insights.

Guest

  • Don Sandusky
  • Owner and General Manager of Hamboards

Show Notes

1:00 - The Hamboard is a product that mimics the experience of surfing on land

3:10 - How Hamboards extended a great user experience to a new market segment through the use of their product.

8:35 - How Don originally got into product.

11:00 - Fixing problems for NASA

13:00 - Finding the obvious unmet need.

18:30 - Don’s take on finding product/market fit.

23:00 - Focusing on the problem.

24:00 - Product resource recommendations.

  • The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail (Management of Innovation and Change) - Clayton M. Christensen  (Author)

How to connect with Don

Sep 02, 201927:17
Product Launch Podcast powered by NxtStep

Product Launch Podcast powered by NxtStep

Hello and welcome to the Product Launch podcast where we talk all things product strategy.  My name is Sean Boyce and I’m the host of the Product Launch podcast and the founder of the product strategy consulting company, NxtStep.  On the product launch podcast, I interview guests involved at various stages of different product businesses.  So whether you’re looking to launch a product and turn it into a business or you have a product business that has plenty of traction and your challenges are more specific related to product, you’ll find plenty of answers from both myself and the product experts we interview on our show.  To learn more reach out to us at hello@nxtstep.io.

Sep 01, 201900:32