One Knight in Product

Valeria Stromtsova's Hot Take - Product Managers Must Take The Lead in Designing Sustainable Solutions (with Valeria Stromtsova, Product Manager @ Treeapp)

Valeria Stromtsova is a Product Manager who traded fintech for sustainability and now works at Treeapp, helping plant trees where they're needed the most.
Valeria's hot take? That product managers need to take the lead in creating a sustainable future, making sure they make a difference by considering the impact of their product decisions on their users, their stakeholders... and the planet we live on.
Find Valeria on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lerastromtsova/.

CPO Stories: Bhavesh Vaghela - London Marathon Events

Welcome to CPO Stories!
In this new "podcast within a podcast", I'll be speaking to executive product leaders from the UK's biggest companies as well as up-and-coming stars of the future. I'll be digging into how they approach product management within their organisations, how they approached the leap into executive product leadership and trying to get some deep insights into how they view product management practices and culture. If you're a CPO and would like to come on, drop me a line! Or, forward this episode to your CPO and tell them you want them to come on 🙂
About this Episode
In this episode, I speak with Bhavesh Vaghela, Chief Product & Technology Officer at London Marathon Events. Bhavesh started out working as an engineer at HP before a rich career journey through Barclays, TSB, Callsign and Collinson, before moving into the CPTO role at London Marathon Events.
We cover a lot, including:
What London Marathon Events actually does beyond race day, and how it drives physical activity across society
How London Marathon Events approaches Product in a hybrid digital/physical world, and why product goes far beyond apps and websites
Balancing a seamless B2C customer experience with the hard technical demands of world-class live events
What it means for Product and Technology planning when the date can't slip, and getting it wrong could ruin a world record attempt
Balancing the CPO and CTO hats: how combining Product and Technology under one role can drive alignment and delivery in the right type of organisation
Product Management at London Marathon Events: a small team of unflappable, smart people driving high impact with strong purpose
Why domain expertise matters, but curiosity matters more, and what to do when everyone has an opinion about your product
The importance of building a culture of learning through experimentation, humility, air cover and making it ok to fail
Why now is a brilliant time to join London Marathon Events: purpose, opportunity, and the irresistible rise of running
Check out London Marathon Events
Check out London Marathon Events' website: https://www.londonmarathonevents.co.uk/, or their careers page: https://www.londonmarathonevents.co.uk/london-marathon-events/careers.
Connect with Bhavesh
You can connect with Bhavesh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhaveshvaghela/.

Kanika Tolver's Hot Take - Some Project Managers are Actually Product Managers (with Kanika Tolver, CEO of Career Rehab)

Kanika Tolver is a Senior Product Manager by day and the founder of Career Rehab. She's also the author of a book of the same name, "Career Rehab: Rebuild Your Personal Brand and Rethink the Way You Work"
Kanika's hot take? That some project managers out there are actually product managers in disguise. Their responsibilities have changed, their job titles have yet to catch up, and it's up to them to seize the opportunities of the new world of product management.
Find Kanika on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kanikatolver/ or check out her website: https://kanikatolver.com/.

CPO Stories: Maud Larpent - Treatwell

Welcome to CPO Stories!
In this new "podcast within a podcast", I'll be speaking to executive product leaders from the UK's biggest companies as well as up-and-coming stars of the future. I'll be digging into how they approach product management within their organisations, how they approached the leap into executive product leadership and trying to get some deep insights into how they view product management practices and culture. If you're a CPO and would like to come on, drop me a line! Or, forward this episode to your CPO and tell them you want them to come on 🙂
About the Episode
In this episode, I speak with Maud Larpent, Chief Product Officer at Treatwell, the largest hair and beauty booking platform in Europe which works with 75,000 salons across 15 countries. Maud started out working at Reuters, before moving into product leadership at TripAdvisor and Expedia and onwards to Treatwell.
We cover a lot, including:
All about Treatwell and how it's more than just a booking app
How Treatwell balances B2B and B2C needs, and why the B2B side is central to delivering a great consumer experience
Structuring product at Treatwell: team size, "three-in-a-box" model, and balancing tech ownership with customer problems
How B2C product teams can stay motivated and aligned in a surprisingly sales-led organisation
The importance of being honest about your product maturity when hiring, and hiring people who want to help you get better
Making the transition to leadership: letting go of needing all the answers and learning to lead through others
Balancing strategic and tactical involvement, and making sure you encourage teams to solve problems instead of blindly executing executive ideas
Why Treatwell is a great place for product people: meaningful challenges, international teams, and a mission to support entrepreneurs
Check out Treatwell
Check out Treatwell's website: https://www.treatwell.co.uk/, or their careers page: https://apply.workable.com/treatwell/.
Connect with Maud
You can connect with Maud on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maud-larpent/.

Alex Rastatuev's Hot Take - Product Onboarding and Customer Success Beats Features (with Alex Rastatuev, Senior Product Manager @ Keyhole.co)

Alex Rastatuev is a Senior Product Manager for Keyhole, a social media insights company, and is passionate about product-led growth. He's also an active mentor, looking to pay it forward to the next generation of PMs.
Alex's hot take? That thoughtful product onboarding and education is more important than showing all your features all at the same time, and will lead to better activation rates and product growth.
Find Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-rastatuev/ or check out his mentoring profile: https://partnerup.intelligentpeople.co.uk/mentor/alex-rastatuev/.

CPO Stories: Debbie McMahon - The Financial Times

Welcome to CPO Stories!
In this new "podcast within a podcast", I'll be speaking to executive product leaders from the UK's biggest companies as well as up-and-coming stars of the future. I'll be digging into how they approach product management within their organisations, how they approached the leap into executive product leadership and trying to get some deep insights into how they view product management practices and culture. If you're a CPO and would like to come on, drop me a line! Or, forward this episode to your CPO and tell them you want them to come on 🙂
About the Episode
In this episode, I speak with Debbie McMahon, interim Chief Product Officer at the Financial Times, one of the UK's most well-known and distinctive newspapers. Debbie started out working at the Department for Work & Pensions, moving into a product strategy role there before spending time at the BBC and onwards to the FT.
We cover a lot, including:
All about the FT and its move away from being "just" a newspaper
How the FT structures Product; size, scope, dependency management and whether they have product owners
How to advocate for the value of product management with non-tech leaders and editorial stakeholders
Balancing product management idealism and book principles with the real world of the FT
The importance of being honest upfront about your organisation's context when hiring people
Making the jump to CPO; what was different, what was the same
How CPOs can avoid being seen as ivory tower thinkers or, worse still, "poop and swoopers"
Why product people should work at the FT
Check out the FT
Check out the FT's website: https://www.ft.com, or their careers page: https://aboutus.ft.com/careers.
Connect with Debbie
You can connect with Debbie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmcmahon/.

Rich Mironov - Product Managers Need to Understand the Language of Money (with Rich Mironov, Author and CPO Coach)

Returning guest Rich Mironov is a B2B product management legend, long-time blogger and author of "The Art of Product Management". He's recently moved to Portugal to sample the best of European product culture, and is currently actively coaching and mentoring product leaders. His goal is to help them understand what business leaders really care about and ensure that they make an impact by speaking the same language as the rest of the executive suite.
Episode highlights:
1. No one in the leadership team cares about how products are made; they care about making money
We product people can often be so in love with our craft and our terminology that we forget that no one else wants to hear it. We need to craft a narrative that moves beyond esoteric, fuzzy concepts about delight and happiness. These are important, but not as important to the leadership team as how those things make money for the company. We need to get off our high horses and meet our stakeholders where they are, just like we would with our users.
2. Product Managers need to know how their product and their company make money
Too many product managers are not aware of how their company makes money, how things are priced and packaged, and the effect that this will have on the types of decisions they can make. We need to up our game when it comes to financial literacy and understand the growth levers that we can pull if we want to have an impact at the top level.
3. It's important to build internal coalitions to get support early, rather than being the one person who dissents
It's always hard when there's a seemingly blockbuster deal on the table that has big revenue numbers attached, but is going to derail the roadmap for months. It's important to understand the positions of other non-product stakeholders and get their buy-in so that you're not the only person against the deal. Make sure you build bridges with your colleagues and go in with a united front.
4. Learn to tell "Money Stories" to get alignment around your roadmap and calculate the true cost of trade-offs
There are four different types of money stories: Cost savings, Upselling, New Market and Customer Satisfaction. These all use simple heuristics to sense-check the revenue impact of any initiative. Product people can get obsessed with accuracy, but your colleagues are guesstimating all their numbers, so get comfortable with directionally correct numbers. You can still make prioritisation debates clearer by "counting the digits" or comparing orders of magnitude.
5. Organisational context is everything, so you need to understand it
There are big differences between how Private Equity-funded and Venture Capital-funded startups work. They have different timeframes, different goals and, ultimately, a different mindset. There's no right or wrong here, simply an acknowledgement that your company's investment context will dramatically impact the types of decisions the leadership team will make. If you know this context, it can help you make better decisions (as well as decide whether it's the type of company you want to work for)
Check out Rich's essay "Business Cases are Stories about Money"
Rich's original essay, which has led to conference talks as well as this interview, can be found here: https://www.mironov.com/moneystories/
Buy "The Art of Product Management (2nd edition)"
"The Art of Product Management takes us inside the head of a product management thought leader. With color and humor, Rich Mironov gives us a taste of Silicon Valley's tireless pursuit of great technology and its creation of new products. He provides strategic advice to product managers and tech professionals about start-ups, big organizations, how to think like a customer, and what things should cost. He also reminds us to love our products and our teams."
Check it out on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Product-Management-Second-Innovator-ebook/dp/B0CVL45F36.
Contact Rich
You can catch up with Rich on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richmironov/. Or check out his website: https://mironov.com.

Tami Reiss' Hot Take - All Product Managers Are Leaders, Even If They Don't Think So (with Tami Reiss, Executive Coach & Corporate Trainer @ Leader Within)

Tami Reiss (aka "Tami from Miami"!) is an executive leadership coach, corporate trainer and upcoming author of a children's product management book.
Tami's hot take? That all product managers are leaders, even if they don't feel like it. As a PM, whatever your situation (and however high or low your sights) it's your job to inspire the team and influence your colleagues.
Find Tami on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamireiss/ or check out https://tamireiss.com/.
If you'd like to appear on Hot Takes, please grab a time: https://www.oneknightinproduct.com/hot