One Knight in Product

Benji Portwin's Hot Take - ADHD Can Be A Product Management Superpower (with Benji Portwin, Founder @ People Building Products)

Benji Portwin has a CV stuffed with recognisable names, from Spotify to Monzo bank, alongside product leadership roles at accuRx and New Look. These days, he's running an agency dedicated to helping organisations learn how to design and build awesome products.
Benji's hot take? Having been diagnosed with ADHD relatively recently, he's come to regard ADHD as somewhat of a superpower for product managers, and something that enables him and others to be more effective at their jobs rather than being something to be suffered from.
Find Benji on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjiportwin.
Or check out People Building Products: https://pbp.team/

Shobhit Chugh's Hot Take - Product Managers Should Relentlessly Self-Promote (with Shobhit Chugh, CEO @ Intentional Product Manager)

Shobhit Chugh is a former Google PM who now helps product managers build their own brand, habits, confidence and career with Intentional Product Manager, and he also runs his own podcast of the same name.
Shobhit's hot take? That too many product managers think that their work will speak for itself but, if they want to get ahead, they should start relentlessly promoting themselves; both inside and outside of the company they work for.
Find Shobhit on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shobhitchugh/.
Check out Intentional Product Manager: https://www.intentionalproductmanager.com/
Check out my appearance on The Intentional Product Manager podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2399157/episodes/16218073-fractional-product-management-with-jason-knight
 

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/.