One Knight in Product

Martijn Versteeg's Hot Take - PMs Need to Spend Less Time Learning and More Time Doing (with Martijn Versteeg, Founder @ Group Effort & Organiser @ Product Mastery Conference)

Martijn Versteeg is the founder of Group Effort, an organisation that fosters connections & facilitates the growth of scale-up leaders through peer groups, offsites and workshops.
His hot take? That product people should stop looking for the "golden nugget" of knowledge. Martijn argues that instead of seeking a single breakthrough insight, product managers should focus on consistent iteration and learning through small, incremental steps.
Find Martijn on LinkedIn or check out Group Effort.
Also, remember to check out the conference that he's organising, and we'll both be speaking at: Product Mastery Conference
If you'd like to appear on Hot Takes, please grab a time!

Martijn Moret's Hot Take - Most PMs Neglect Data Due To a Lack of Time and Skills (with Martijn Moret, CEO @ DataSquirrel.ai)

Martijn Moret is the founder of DataSquirrel.ai, a company focused on leveraging AI to humanise and simplify data analysis for product managers and non-tech managers.
His hot take? Most product managers neglect data—not because they dislike it, but due to a lack of time and skills, which can lead to wrong priorities and poor decision-making. He also highlights the current limitations of AI in data analysis, emphasising that while AI accelerates workflows, it still requires human oversight for reliable outcomes.
Find Martijn on LinkedIn or check out DataSquirrel.ai.
If you'd like to appear on Hot Takes, please grab a time!

OKIP LIVE: Jason and Maja's Christmas Fireside Chat (with Maja Voje, Founder @ Growth Lab and author "Go-To-Market Strategist")

🎄 Deck the Halls with Go-To-Market! 🎄I spoke with Maja Voje for a convivial Christmas chat about all things product and growth. We discussed:
2024 Retrospectives and 2025 Predictions
Product Management and Go-To-Market Strategies
AI in Workflows and Whether Product Management is Dead 💀
LinkedIn Growth Strategies
Balancing Opportunities and When To Say No
Networking and Community Building
This is the audio of that conversation, but you can see us both (complete with Christmas hats!) on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/XdjiVO-gXOg?si=XM1wQs-QwP6lx_rr
 
Check out my appearance on Maja's podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6kip2mtuyE
... and Maja's previous appearance on my podcast: https://www.oneknightinproduct.com/maja-voje
 
Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to you all!

Adam Dille's Hot Take - The Product Trio is Outdated - Enter the Product Square! (with Adam Dille, SVP Product Engineering at Quantum Metric)

Adam Dille is the SVP of Product Engineering at Quantum Metric, a company specialising in experience analytics for some of the world's biggest brands. Despite his engineering roots, Adam's relentless curiosity about the WHY behind building products led him to embrace product thinking and how to build products better.
His hot take? The traditional product trio - PM, design, and engineering - isn't enough anymore. He advocates for transforming the trio into a square by adding a customer-facing, "operational" team member. This person, deeply connected to customer needs and speaking to customers every day, can help to bridge the gap between the product team and the customer and enable stronger customer focus and faster iteration cycles.
Find Adam on LinkedIn or check out Quantum Metric.
If you'd like to appear on Hot Takes, please grab a time!

Grace Yusuff's Hot Take - Introversion is a PM Superpower (with Grace Yusuff, Product Manager & Early Careers Mentor)

Grace Yusuff is a London-based "reluctant product manager" and introvert who thought she could never do the job. She has since fallen in love with the role and now works as a product manager and early-career mentor, helping others get into tech.
Her hot take? That introversion is a superpower for product managers and something to be embraced rather than overcome. She is a strong advocate for people to find their own way in product management, and not having to live up to clichés or stereotypes.
Find Grace on LinkedIn.
If you'd like to appear on Hot Takes, please grab a time!

Assaph Mehr's Hot Take - AI Is Just A Tool - What Matters Is How We Use It (with Assaph Mehr, Product Leader and Fantasy Author)

Assaph Mehr is an Australia-based product & people leader as well as a published fantasy author, who also uses his writing chops to produce a newsletter, "Rise of the Product Leader".
His hot take? That LLMs and other generative AI tools are the equivalent of an angle grinder. For those who don't know, angle grinders have big, spinning metal discs that make them ideal tools for certain use cases (like cutting up concrete) but are terrible for anything else. Assaph believes that LLMs have a large number of use cases where we should use them, but that there's still an inevitable need for human decision-making and a sense of taste that AI will never have.
Find Assaph on LinkedIn or subscribe to his newsletter. If you're interested in fantasy novels, check those out too.
If you'd like to appear on Hot Takes, please grab a time!

Matt Maier's Hot Take - AI Will Lead to a Post-Employment World (...and That's Good!) (with Matt Maier, Product Marketer & AI Enthusiast)

Matt Maier is a product marketer and AI enthusiast from Irvine, California, with a background spanning the Air Force, aerospace, healthcare, and startup consulting.
His hot take? Within 5 years, employment as we know it will sharply decline. Matt predicts that advancements in AI will render traditional employee-employer relationships obsolete, because why would companies hire people to do easily automatable tasks? On the other hand, Matt believes this is a good thing and will enable an entirely new way of working.
Find Matt on LinkedIn or drop him an email at Solo Scale AI.
If you'd like to appear on Hot Takes, please grab a time!
Related episodes you should like:
Is Product-Led Growth Really For You? (Leah Tharin, Product-Led Growth Guru & Head of Product @ Jua)
Embracing Change to Innovate in Product Management (Greg Coticchia, CEO @ Sopheon)
The Big Pivot to Reinvent Product Management (Yana Welinder, Founder & CEO @ Kraftful)
Debbie Levitt's Hot Take - Democratising our Work means AI is Going to Steal all our Jobs Sooner (Debbie Levitt, CXO @ DeltaCX and Author "Customers Know You Suck")
Greg Prickril's Hot Take - AI is going to change everything for Product Managers (Greg Prickril, B2B Product Management Coach, Consultant & Trainer)
Andy Walters' Hot Take - We’re Soon Going to be Living in an AI-Assistant-First World (Andy Walters, CEO @ Emerge Haus & Generative AI Expert)
Bjarte Rettedal's Hot Take - AI Models Should Be Under Public Ownership or Completely Transparent (Bjarte Rettedal, UX Designer)
Reinventing the Future of Customer Success with Human-First AI (Nick Mehta, CEO @ Gainsight)

Why Product Managers Should Care About Behavioural Science (with Yael Mark, Behavioural Design Product Consultant)

Yael Mark is a behavioural scientist turned product manager, who is passionate about helping others unlock the power of user-centred product design by embracing behavioural science. She believes that understanding human behaviour and cognitive biases can drive better product decisions and stakeholder alignment, as well as make sure we do it ethically.
Episode highlights:
 
1. Behavioural science helps product managers design for real-world users
Behavioural science is the study of how people think, act, and interact with their environments. By understanding human "bugs" and irrational behaviours, product managers can create products that align with user needs, addressing pain points inside and outside the app.
2. Ethics matter when applying behavioural science
It's important to align behavioural tactics with user goals. Ethical applications, like encouraging language learning with Duolingo streaks, contrast with manipulative design patterns that exploit users for profit without delivering real value.
3. Cognitive biases can be leveraged for better product outcomes
Cognitive biases are the shortcuts our brains take to help us make decisions. Common biases like anchoring, cognitive dissonance, and the sunk cost fallacy have an impact in product decisions. For example, Amazon Prime uses cognitive dissonance to encourage consolidated deliveries, appealing to users' environmental consciousness while reducing costs.
4. AI offers opportunities and challenges in behavioural science
AI can accelerate behavioural research by simulating user responses, though it is not yet capable of replicating cognitive biases fully, even when told to exhibit them. However, biases in AI training data may introduce new challenges, requiring vigilance in its application.
5. You can prove the ROI of behavioural science through small wins
Some people will be sceptical, so it's important to tie behavioural science theory to measurable KPIs and you can use A/B testing to demonstrate value. Not everything has to be a big development effort. Even reworking copy to focus on gains instead of losses can drive changes in user behaviour.
Contact Yael
You can find Yael and learn more on YouTube at ProductBS or connect with her on LinkedIn
Related episodes you should like:
Valentine's Special! A Love Letter to Problems, not Solutions (Uri Levine, Founder @ Waze & Author "Fall in Love with the Problem, not the Solution")
Understanding & Interrupting Cognitive Biases in Product Design (David Dylan Thomas, Author "Design for Cognitive Bias")
Using Solution Tests to Make Sure You're Building Products Users Want (Jim Morris, Founder @ Product Discovery Group)
Standing up for User Research... and User Researchers (Debbie Levitt, CXO @ DeltaCX and Author "Customers Know You Suck")
Building Life-Centred Products with Collaborative Product Discovery (Sophia Höfling, Co-founder & Head of Product @ Saiga)
Betting on the Value of Product Design at the Organisational Poker Table (Andy Budd, Executive & Design Leadership Coach & Founder @ Clearleft)
Moving Beyond Survival and Paying Off Your Vision Debt (Radhika Dutt, Consultant and Author "Radical Product Thinking")
Bjarte Rettedal's Hot Take - AI Models Should Be Under Public Ownership or Completely Transparent (Bjarte Rettedal, UX Designer)