Prod Squad: Recent Episodes
Prod Squad
Struggling to find ways to level up your Product Management skills? Join PM's Brendan Colliton and Nick Cook as they dive deep on a new Product Management topic each episode. Whether you're trying to land your first PM job or a seasoned PM there is something for you, so come join the Squad!
You've heard podcasters talk about AI, but have you heard podcasters talk about talking about AI?! Nick and Brendan are back to do just that. In this episode the duo chats about how to have AI related conversations with different stakeholders, including customers, engineers, and leadership.
Christmas came early and we got you the final Prod Squad episode of the year! In this episode Brendan and Nick look back at 2023 and dole out a variety of awards covering both professional and personal topics. Happy holidays and see you all in 2024!
Awards:
- PM opinion that changed the most
- Best new PM learning/unlock
- Proudest professional moment
- Biggest professional failure
- Favorite or least favorite professional product
- Favorite personal product
- Favorite PM resource (book, podcast, blog, etc.)
- Favorite low-tech/physical product
- Best product change
- Worst product change
- Favorite use of AI
- Favorite thing you put in your eyes (tv show, movie, book, etc.)
- Favorite thing you put in your ears (music, podcast, audio book, etc.)
- 2024 PM resolution
- 2024 personal resolution
The Squad is back to talk about thinking BIG. Brendan and Nick dive into why it's important to think big, why it can be hard to do it, and strategies to make it easier all in an effort to make you 10x better at thinking 10x!
This episode is all about Twitter (sorry I mean X). Nick and Brendan review the Twitter saga and bring a product perspective to the big changes that occurred over the last year. From the rebrand to the For You tab to Twitter Blue the Squad talks about all the decisions in this X Episode!
On this episode of Prod Squad, Nick and Brendan finally dive into the topic of AI, discussing their initial reactions, use cases for language models like ChatGPT, and how AI may impact jobs. From chatbots to search engines, they explore the ways AI is already making an impact on our lives and the potential benefits and challenges it may bring. Tune in for a fun and informative conversation on this exciting topic. Don't forget to like and subscribe to Prod Squad for more product management insights and banter.
Description generated by ChatGPT. Audio editing by Matt LeFevre.
The Squad returns from hiatus to talk about....baby products? With both Nick and Brendan now being fathers their homes have been taken over by baby products, so they decided to deviate from their typical software PM related topics and instead use baby products as examples of how product principles are transferrable across industry.
As much as every PM would like to think they only release winning features the reality is we don't. There's a reason we're encouraged to "fail fast" and iterate on features. In this episode the Squad recounts some of their own feature failures, what indicates the success or failure of a feature, and how to analyze why a feature failed so you can take action accordingly.
The Squad finally did it... an episode where both hosts have good microphones! The Squad uses those mics to go back to the basics and talk about user stories. What is a user story? Why are they important? How do you write a good one? Listen to find out!
It's been a little over 6 months since the Squad parted ways and started new jobs so they take a moment (58 minutes specifically) to discuss new product experiences and perspective they've gained since splitting up. In this relatively freeform episode discussion includes product team structure, working with SME's, being a vertical versus horizontal player, and more!
Note: Nick had some microphone issues. He feels bad and has already purchased a new mic (how the tables have turned)
Nick returns to the podcast after a brief hiatus and we thought some friendly competition was in order. Instead of just talking about prioritization frameworks the Squad members compete to see who can draft the best team of frameworks. Who had the best draft? Give it a listen and let us know!
This week on Prod Squad, Nick takes a product research sabbatical while Brendan sits down with Mary Colliton, lead PM for the Excelsius cranial robot, to talk about the difference between hardware and software product management and what we all might learn from each other.
The Squad starts the episode by discussing big product launches and office grand openings at their respective companies during the Retro. We then spend the majority of the episode talking about how to best work with the Design and Engineering teams, something you will do a lot as a PM. Also, Brendan keeps the same mic for a second consecutive episode, tying his longest streak.
This episode the Squad tries a slightly different format... and Brendan tries yet another microphone. Inspired by recent news we take a look at the "Streaming Wars" through a product lens. We touch on some key events, like the rapid shuttering of CNN+ and Netflix's stock woes, and then step back and give our thoughts on four endgame possibilities presented by Deloitte.
(Link to Deloitte article: https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/technology-media-and-telecommunications/articles/gx-future-of-tv-video.html)
Product Manager's are often told to fall in love with the problem, not the solution, but that's easier said than done. In this episode we'll talk about why falling in love with the problem is important and tips for how to help you and your organization stay problem focused.
Ready to become the MVP of MVP's? This week we talk about what a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is, why MVP's are important, different types of MVP's, and common MVP mistakes we've seen.
This episode we try to answer the often asked question: How technical does a PM need to be? As we talk through our answer we discuss why technical skills are important for a PM, what our experiences have been, and how you can learn technical skills.
This episode we're talking about a different kind of interview, the one you'll do over and over again after you ace the PM interview and get the job: Customer Interviews. We talk about how to find customers to interview, how to prepare for an interview, how to facilitate a successful customer interview, and how to record what you learn.
Following up our podcast MVP (aka Episode 1) we're back with Episode 2, which is all about the PM interview. We talk about what to expect when interviewing, our recent interviewing experience, and some tips and tricks to help you crush your interviews!
Resources mentioned in the episode:
- Video on how to approach Product Design questions by Liam Bolling
- Library of common product interview exercises and methods for working through them
- System design primer for technical interviews
- Mock interviews from the ExponentTV YouTube channel
The inaugural episode of the Prod Squad podcast! On this episode we give advice on how you can break into Product Management. We discuss both transitioning to a PM role from inside a tech company as well as breaking in from outside the industry.