Product Thinking

What does it mean for a product to actually be “done”? Not code in production, but customers buying, using, and loving it. In this compilation episode of the Product Thinking Podcast, Melissa Perri brings together three product leaders to explore the systems that make whole product launches consistent.
Trisha Price, then Chief Product Officer at Pendo, argues for shifting the team's definition of done from "code complete" to "whole product complete." She reframes product marketing as a strategic voice in discovery, not a translation layer at launch, and shares how cadences keep the work moving.
Kate Towsey, an independent research ops advisor with experience at BBC and Atlassian, frames organizational knowledge as water that needs a dam to stop it leaking away. Jessica Soroky, then Senior Director of Product Operations at Pendo, closes with what whole product launch and cadences look like in practice.

You'll hear us talk about:
Whole product complete, not just code complete
Trisha Price on shifting the definition of done from "code shipped" to "customers using and loving the product." She explains why a feature isn't done until product marketing, support, sales enablement, and go-to-market are aligned, and how product ops orchestrates the launch.
Knowledge as a managed asset
Kate Towsey on why organizations claim knowledge is their most valuable asset but let it leak through tributaries no one is mapping. She lays out how research ops, product ops, and design ops can work as one system for capturing and reusing what teams learn.
Cadences that keep product orgs aligned
Jessica Soroky on the operating cadences that make whole product launches predictable. She walks through Pendo's six-week product impact meetings, monthly roadmap reviews, and weekly leadership data rituals that reduce surprises and keep strategy connected to customer behavior.

Episode resources:
Check our courses: https://productinstitute.com/
Try Granola today: http://granola.ai/productinstitute
(Use the code PRODUCTINSTITUTE to get 3 months free)
Episode 184: Building Products for Product Managers with Trisha Pricehttps://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking-blog/2024/8/14/episode-184-building-products-for-product-managers-with-trisha-price?rq=trisha Price
Episode 208: Scaling Research Ops to Drive Organizational Change with Kate Towseyhttps://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking-blog/episode-208-kate-towsey-research-ops?rq=Kate Towsey
Episode 217: Behind the Scenes of Pendo's Product Operations Evolution with Jessica Sorokyhttps://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking-blog/episode-217-jessica-soroky-pendo-product-operations?rq=Jessica Soroky
Trisha Price on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/trisha-price-3063081/
Kate Towsey on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/katetowsey/
Jessica Soroky on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicasoroky/

OKRs are one of the most misunderstood frameworks in product. They turn into renamed roadmaps, copy-paste cascades, and measures of output instead of real outcomes. In this Product Thinking Podcast compilation, Melissa Perri brings together four leaders who share what it takes to make OKRs actually work.
Hugo Froes, then head of product operations at OLX, shares how splitting OKRs into discovery, build, and outcome types gives teams a more honest way to track progress without losing sight of what needs to ship.
Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden of Sense & Respond Learning explain why key results must measure behavior change and why cascading OKRs is critical thinking, not copy-paste. Anish Bhimani, then CPO at JPMorgan Chase Commercial Banking, shares how his org went from 341 key results to the handful that actually move the business.

You'll hear us talk about:
Rethinking how OKR types work
Hugo Froes explains how OLX broke OKRs into discovery, build, and outcome types so teams could stay flexible without losing sight of what actually ships. The approach creates space for parallel tracks of discovery, build, and launch, instead of waiting a quarter to see any progress.
What makes a key result actually meaningful
Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden argue that a key result must measure behavior change, not a feature or launch date. If you can rename your existing roadmap as an OKR without changing anything, the goal is wrong. Cascading OKRs is a critical thinking exercise, not copy-paste.
Finding the difference makers inside a huge org
Anish Bhimani shares what happened when he asked his JPMorgan Chase team to map their key results and got 341. Getting down to about 40 real difference makers is what made the framework drive focus. Lead with customer experience, and operational efficiency follows.

Episode resources:
Try Granola today: http://granola.ai/productinstitute
Check our courses: https://productinstitute.com/
Episode 216: Getting OKRs Right: Planning with Impact at OLX with Hugo Froeshttps://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking-blog/episode-216-hugo-froes-okrs-product-operations
Episode 156: OKRs for Focus and Alignment with Jeff Gothelf of Gothelf.co & Josh Seiden of Seiden Consultinghttps://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking-blog/2024/1/31/episode-156-okrs-for-focus-and-alignment-with-jeff-gothelf-of-gothelfco-amp-josh-seiden-of-seiden-consulting
Episode 144: Banking 2.0 or How to Drive Change and Scale in Financial Organizations with Anish Bhimanihttps://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking-blog/2023/11/8/episode-144-banking-20-or-how-to-drive-change-and-scale-in-financial-organizations-with-anish-bhimani-managing-director-and-chief-product-officer-at-jpmorgan-chase-commercial-banking
Hugo Froes on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/hugofroes/
Jeff Gothelf on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/gothelf/
Josh Seiden on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jseiden/
Anish Bhimani on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/anishbhimani/

What does it take to keep product teams focused on meaningful work? In this compilation episode, Melissa Perri brings together three product leaders to explore how to cut through overhead, dig into real problems, and resist the pull of shiny technology.
Nan Yu, Head of Product at Linear, shares how clunky tools burden PMs with admin work and how his team uncovers real problems behind feature requests. Andrew Davidson, SVP of Product at MongoDB, explains what makes developers a uniquely demanding audience to build for.
Jody Bailey, CPTO at Stack Overflow, reflects on what went wrong when companies rushed to ship AI without solving real user problems. Together, these leaders show that great product work starts with understanding real people in real moments.

You'll hear us talk about:
Reducing PM administrative overhead
Nan Yu explains how poorly designed tools push admin work onto PMs. When engineering tools are too clunky, developers disengage and PMs end up doing data entry instead of talking to customers. Speed and directness in tooling keep teams focused on real value.
Uncovering real problems behind feature requests
Nan shares Linear's approach: anchor every request in a specific moment. His team asks customers when they last felt the need for a feature and what actually happened. This often reveals that the real problem differs from the original ask.
Staying problem-focused in the rush to adopt AI
Jody Bailey describes the rush companies felt when generative AI emerged and the mistake of shipping AI solutions before identifying real problems. He shares how Stack Overflow is refocusing on core strengths and expanding who it serves.

Episode resources:
Try Granola today: http://granola.ai/productinstitute
Check our courses: https://productinstitute.com/
Episode 233: How Linear Builds Tools Developers Actually Want with Nan Yu
https://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking-blog/episode-233-linear-ai-nan-yu
Episode 209: From Databases to Developer Platforms: The MongoDB Story with Andrew Davidson
https://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking-blog/episode-209-andrew-davidson-databases-platforms
Episode 239: Navigating the AI Shift at Stack Overflow with Jody Bailey
https://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking-blog/episode-239-stack-overflow-ai
Jody Bailey on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodybailey/
Nan Yu on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thenanyu/
Andrew Davidson on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewad/

Creating great product organizations takes more than setting roadmaps. It requires clear priorities, shared decision-making, and a strong sense of what makes the business uniquely valuable. In this episode, Melissa Perri brings together insights from three product leaders on how teams can create focus, alignment, and clarity as they scale.
You’ll hear from Kristin Dorsett, Chief Product Officer at Viator at the time, on balancing top-down priorities with bottom-up autonomy and why doing fewer things at once leads to more meaningful progress. Craig Saldanha, Chief Product Officer at Yelp, explains how explicit product principles help teams make better decisions and stay aligned, especially in a two-sided marketplace.
Mauricio Monico reflects on lessons from eBay and Wish, including the risks of copying competitors, the importance of explaining strategy clearly across the organization, and why turnarounds often begin by fixing marketplace fundamentals before chasing growth. Together, these perspectives offer a practical look at how product leaders create alignment without losing adaptability.
You’ll hear us talk about:
Balancing strategy and team autonomy
Kristin Dorsett explains how her organization combines top-down company priorities with team-level ownership. Some teams are aligned to a small number of company-wide big bets, while others are given lightweight charters and room to define their own roadmap. The conversation shows how strategic direction and local autonomy can work together when expectations are clear.
Why doing fewer things leads to better outcomes
A major theme in Kristin’s segment is the discipline of focus. She describes the company’s evolution from trying to pursue dozens of major initiatives at once to narrowing that list down to just three. The result was stronger alignment across departments and better progress on the work that mattered most.
Product principles and marketplace decision-making
Craig Saldanha shares how Yelp codified its product culture into a set of decision-making tenets. He discusses how those principles help teams handle trade-offs, move faster on reversible decisions, and stay thoughtful on harder-to-reverse choices. He also explains how Yelp thinks about marketplace dynamics, consumer and business needs, and the flywheel that drives sustainable growth.
Why companies lose their way when they copy competitors
Mauricio Monico reflects on how eBay struggled when it tried to imitate Amazon instead of leaning into its own value proposition. He also walks through Wish’s turnaround, where the initial focus was not growth but restoring marketplace health through better merchant standards, product quality, and delivery performance. His examples show why clarity, differentiation, and strong fundamentals matter more than reactive strategy.
Episode resources:
Try Granola today: http://granola.ai/productinstitute
Check our courses: https://productinstitute.com/
Episode 221: Balancing Strategy and Execution at Scale with Kristin Dorsett:https://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking-blog/episode-221-kristin-viator-strategy-experimentation
Episode 162: Product Roadmap: Building a Platform for the Next Decade with Craig Saldanha, Chief Product Officer at Yelp:https://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking-blog/2024/3/13/episode-162-product-roadmap-building-a-platform-for-the-next-decade-with-craig-saldanha-chief-product-officer-at-yelp
Episode 158: Turning the Tide with Mauricio Monico’s Lessons from eBay, Facebook, and Google:https://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking-blog/2024/2/14/episode-158-turning-the-tide-with-mauricio-monicos-lessons-from-ebay-facebook-and-google
Kristin Dorsett on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristindorsett/
Craig Saldanha on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigsaldanha/
Mauricio Monico on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mspmonico/

This episode explores what it takes to build great products inside large financial institutions where product teams must balance modernization, legacy systems, scale, and regulation. Through conversations with leaders from Vanguard, Chase, and Affirm, Melissa Perri highlights how strong product organizations connect strategy, operating models, and customer outcomes.
Marco De Freitas and Amber Brestowski from Vanguard share lessons from digital transformation, including why transformation is ultimately about people, culture, and clarity of outcomes rather than technology alone. They explain how Vanguard ties modernization to its mission by improving client experience in ways that help investors make better long-term decisions. Jameson Troutman, Head of Product for Small Business at Chase, discusses how large organizations can move from funding projects to funding product capacity so teams can continuously prioritize and deliver outcomes.
The episode closes with Vishal Kapoor, Senior VP of Product Management at Affirm, who explains how fintech teams can work with legal and compliance as embedded partners instead of blockers. Across all three conversations, the episode offers a practical view of how product leaders can build judgment, align teams to strategy, and create systems that support responsible innovation in regulated environments.

You’ll hear us talk about:
Digital transformation lessons
Vanguard’s perspective makes it clear that successful transformation is not mainly about replacing technology. It depends on culture, talent, operating model changes, and a clear set of goals that teams can return to over time. The conversation also stresses the importance of communicating progress and showing wins throughout long-running transformation efforts.
Client experience as strategy
The episode explores how client experience can become a direct expression of company mission. At Vanguard, modernization is framed not just as a design or usability effort, but as a way to help investors make smarter decisions through better defaults, guidance, and insight-rich experiences.
Funding products instead of projects
Jameson Troutman explains why large organizations need to shift from budgeting individual initiatives to funding product capacity across domains. That change gives teams more ownership and stability while still allowing leadership to manage the portfolio and rebalance where needed. The discussion also connects this funding model to stronger judgment, better prioritization, and faster delivery.
Compliance as a product partner
Vishal Kapoor describes how Affirm integrates legal and compliance directly into product development so teams can address constraints early and build responsibly at scale. The conversation also covers the role of weekly product reviews, strong metrics, and close cross-functional decision making in fintech environments where risk and trust matter.

Episode resources:
Try Granola today:
http://granola.ai/productinstitute
Episode 213: How Vanguard is Modernizing Finance Through Digital Innovation with Marco De Freitas and Amber Brestowski:
https://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking-blog/episode-213-vanguard-corporate-innovation?rq=marco
Episode 232: The Art and Science of Product Decisions with Jameson Troutman:
https://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking-blog/episode-232-jameson-troutman-chase-business?rq=jameson
Episode 196: The Affirm Card: Transforming Payment Flexibility with Vishal Kapoor:
https://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking-blog/2024/11/6/episode-196-the-affirm-card-transforming-payment-flexibility-with-vishal-kapoor?rq=vishal
Marco De Freitas on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-de-freitas-80416714/
Amber Brestowski on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amber-brestowski-019b56ab/
Jameson Troutman on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameson-troutman/
Vishal Kapoor on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vkapoor/
Check our courses: https://productinstitute.com/