What does it take to move from product management into the CEO seat and thrive once you get there?

In this episode, we are joined by Marc Rubner, CEO of Building Intelligence, to trace his journey from marketing analyst to B2B product leader at American Express to top executive. Marc shares how product thinking gave him a head start in executive decision-making and prioritization but also where PMs often hit blind spots when transitioning into broader leadership.

He dives into how successful go-to-market strategies require true collaboration between product, marketing, and sales – and why alignment, accountability, and repeatable processes are essential for growth.

For detailed takeaways, show notes, and more, visit: www.pragmaticinstitute.com/resources/podcasts Pragmatic Institute is the global leader in Product, Data, and Design training and certification programs for working professionals. Learn more at www.pragmaticinstitute.com.

What’s the secret to getting your product not just built—but sold, used, and loved?

In this episode, we sit down with Ciara Peter, SVP of Product at Robin, to explore the full lifecycle of product success from early design decisions to sales enablement and in-app education. With nearly two decades of experience at companies like Salesforce, Box, and Medallia, Ciara shares tactical strategies for making your product easy to sell and adopt.

She emphasizes the product manager’s role in business outcomes, detailing how to align with sales, enable customer-facing teams, and build onboarding experiences that actually drive engagement.

For detailed takeaways, show notes, and more, visit: www.pragmaticinstitute.com/resources/podcasts Pragmatic Institute is the global leader in Product, Data, and Design training and certification programs for working professionals. Learn more at www.pragmaticinstitute.com.

How can organizations move beyond one-off feedback projects and build continuous customer listening programs that drive real change? 

In this episode of the Product Chats, host Rebecca Kalogeris is joined by Zach Golden, Director at Anova Consulting Group, and special guest Steve Stano, Executive Director of Marketing at one of Wall Street's leading investment banks. Together, they explore the power of treating win-loss analysis as an ongoing program rather than a one-time project. 

Steve and Zach discuss how continuous feedback loops provide deeper insights, improve business decision-making, and enhance customer retention. They provide actionable strategies to improve collaboration across departments and transform customer insights into business decisions that directly boost revenue.  

Learn practical ways to keep leadership engaged, overcome challenges, and turn customer data into effective business strategies.  

For detailed takeaways, show notes, and more, visit: www.pragmaticinstitute.com/resources/podcasts 

Pragmatic Institute is the global leader in Product, Data, and Design training and certification programs for working professionals. Learn more at www.pragmaticinstitute.com. 

Are your market research efforts providing meaningful insights? Have you accurately identified the needs of your market? Do your cross-functional team members understand your market well enough to win their trust – and get the sale?

Join us as Pragmatic Institute and Diane Pierson, visiting instructor and founder of Innovate on Purpose welcome Scott Lien, CEO and co-founder of GrandPad. Scott will share how to leverage market research to build powerful positioning and ways to utilize Pragmatic principles in the real world to gain a strategic advantage.

In this conversation Scott will also discuss:

• What kinds of market research will help you build better positioning
• Practical ways to conduct research with limited budgets and time
• How to drive market knowledge into every product and marketing decision to drive better results
• How to align with leadership to successfully jumpstart your positioning workflow

“I am pleading for everybody, working in any job, at the start of every one of your projects to say, ‘are we date-driven or are we scope-driven?’ Then, when something unforeseen comes our way, we will gleefully and joyfully make the adjustments and celebrate and move forward.   And we will take the human nature desire to have a punitive discussion at that moment in time off the table because it ultimately inhibits the workflow and the culture.”   -Kirsten Butzow   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Kirsten Butzow, senior VP at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, discussing the often overlooked and hidden cause of tension and bad culture in organizations—workflows.Kirsten Butzow is a product management enthusiast, passionate mentor, leader, and former Pragmatic Instructor.   During this episode, Kirsten and Rebecca Discuss:

• How to determine if a perceived cultural issue is actually rooted in a problem with workflow
• Why unexpected rework is a sign of a workflow problem
• Why starting with customer data will bring clarity to workflows
• The importance of agreeing to adjust either scope or date deadlines to better manage resource and time constraints

  Additional Resources: Enroll Foundations to take the first step in truly understanding the market and the problems it faces. In this course, you’ll also master the Pragmatic Framework and the activities needed to bring a successful product to market. https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/course/product/foundations

“The whole point of doing a positioning document is to clearly and concisely say, ‘who are we solving problems for? What are those particular problems, and why do those people care so much that we solve those problems for them?’”   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Dan Corbin about positioning.   Dan explains that positioning helps to align the organization by clearly communicating the target audience, their problems, and the solutions to those problems. This is particularly important for product management teams, often at the organization's center and playing a pivotal role in driving alignment.   During this episode, Dan and Rebecca Discuss:

• Why position documents are essential for the entire organization and why it makes the product team’s job easier
• What to include in a positioning document and why the order of the sections is so important
• How many positioning documents should you create per product
• Who should own the positioning document

Additional Resources: Enroll Foundations to learn more about positioning from expert instructors like Dan Corbin. Take the first step in truly understanding the market and the problems it faces. In this course, you’ll also master the Pragmatic Framework and the activities needed to bring a successful product to market. https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/course/product/foundations

“I think every company should be thinking about is create a product-led growth strategy. You don't have to implement it. You don't have to say, "this is how we're going to run our company." But I think if you step back to think about what it would look like if we use product-led growth in our company, you would probably build much better products.” - Mark Stiving   What trends will shape the future of pricing? In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews pricing guru Mark Stiving about pricing trends and predictions for 2023.   They discuss:

• Companies moving toward usage-based pricing
• What is product-led growth
• Why net-dollar retention is the single most important KPI
• The importance of compensation for the sales team that grows customers
• Pricing and AI

Additional Resources:   Enroll in the Pragmatic Price course today to learn how to evaluate the competitive and market environment, create effective price segmentation strategies, and implement and measure pricing strategies that support your organization's goals.   Is your subscription business stuck in neutral? Shift into high gear with the on-demand course, Accelerate Your Subscription Business. Led by pricing expert Mark Stiving, this course will help you streamline your business for success and give you the clarity and certainty you need to drive growth.   Keep Learning About Pricing From Mark Stiving Pricing Case Study: Why Disney Should Charge MORE for Their $6,000 Hotel Room Pricing Case Study: The Housing Market Teaches Why Cost Plus Pricing is a Bad Idea Pricing Case Study: When Will You Unsubscribe to Netflix? Pricing Case Study: Shrinkflation and Why You’re Getting Less but Paying More

In this episode, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, hosts Sandy Orlando, the senior VP of product management at CDK Global, an automotive retailing software company. Sandy explains that her objective with NIHITO visits is to listen to the customer rather than to talk to the customer, and to test a hypothesis without trying to inform it. She said that while building personas people try to prescribe a conclusion and then prove it rather than exploring.

When done well, personas can lead a product team to create solutions that lead customers to desired outcomes. At times, she said she's received feedback from customers that she didn't deliver one single thing the customer asked for but instead delivered exactly what they needed.

This episode is from our latest Product Chat webinar >> watch the webinar

With 2022 coming to an end and rumbles of the macro environment creating some potentially tough hurdles for businesses in 2023, companies must be laser-focused on what is most important for success in the coming year. This is why product managers and leaders must hone in on areas that create resilience and deliver the highest value and greatest impact for their organizations, employees and, most importantly, their users and customers.

Join us as we welcome Kirsten Van Detta, senior product manager at LinkedIn, for a conversation on what key concepts product professionals should be focusing on to fuel their 2023 and how being ruthless in your prioritization can serve as your biggest ally.

“What I also have noticed is without clarity, people are literally moving in very different directions, in the wrong direction. They're moving fast, but it's not really making an impact on where they want to go.” - Yasmeen Turayhi   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Yasmeen Turayhi, founder of the consultancy firm Modern Product and author of Product Marketing Debunked.   They Discuss

• The importance of the product marketing role
• How to manage pressure and the importance of mental health
• Strategies to build clarity and prioritize tasks
• Why the best product marketers are curious and diversify their knowledge

Follow Yasmeen Turayhi on Medium   Additional Resources Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/course/product/market/  

This episode is from our latest Product Chat webinar >> watch the webinar

Join us as we welcome Sandi Olson, Senior Marketing Content Manager at Microsoft for a conversation on how utilizing the right asset assessment techniques can help you to analyze, prioritize and make forward-thinking pivots before your competitors.

In this conversation Sandi will share:

• How to approach asset assessment through a lens that allows you to revive, streamline and support any business strategy
• Ways you can utilize assessment to better integrate positioning and messaging
• How healthy asset hygiene enhances strategy development
• Archive, archive, archive
• Tools and processes you can leverage to ensure you are finding meaningful opportunities within your assets

Validating market problems isn’t about listening only to the noisy 20 percent of the market. Instead, it’s about understanding the needs of the quiet 80 percent too. Without validation, product teams can invest valuable time and resources into an idea that is destined to fall flat.

In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Terry Sadowski who candidly shares his experience with a launch failure.

They discuss:

• How pressure and novelty can cause you to ignore established processes that protect against launch failures
• The ways hindsight reveals all the missteps overlooked in a moment of excitement and energy
• How to move forward after a big failed launch
• Key advice to avoid a failed launch

Want to learn more about effective launches?

Launch is a course that helps you create a more strategic approach to exceed your business objectives. Learn to execute successful launches that align your entire organization around the same strategies and goals.

Enroll Today

“Go-to-Market work is delayed compounding work, meaning there's delayed gratification, and it compounds over time. So if you're changing up your execution, it’s because there's no strategy. So if you create the strategy and then you do consistent execution, and you do the marketing math to understand what's working and what's not, then you start to get that delayed compounding effect.” -TK Kadar   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews TK Kadar, founder of TK Unstoppable where he advises SaaS Founders on how to build scalable Go-To-Market strategies. TK has an extensive background in strategy, marketing, and he specializes in building, scaling and exiting SaaS businesses   They discuss:

• Three pillars of a successful business
• Why the market can make or break any product
• What makes a great market
• How to drive alignment in a company
• How to get out of the “one more feature” trap
• The difference between strategy and execution

To hear more from TK, subscribe to his YouTube channel. He published a new episode every Sunday. You can also check out his programs at getunstoppable.com.   Keep Learning with Pragmatic Training:   Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/course/product/market/

How can product managers set themselves up for success in the first 90 days of a new role? 

This week we talk with Amy Graham, Pragmatic Institute instructor and product management expert, about best practices for navigating the critical first three months in a new job. Amy shares actionable strategies to build relationships, understand team dynamics, and map out an effective 90-day plan that balances learning with producing results. 

From conducting a market knowledge audit to identifying internal influencers, Amy explains how product managers can quickly acclimate to a new organization while avoiding common pitfalls like making assumptions or bringing baggage from past roles. She emphasizes the importance of listening, adaptability, and establishing trust as foundational steps for long-term success. 

Tune in to hear Amy’s expert advice on how to hit the ground running in your new role and drive meaningful impact from day one. 

For detailed takeaways, show notes, and more, visit: www.pragmaticinstitute.com/resources/podcasts 

Pragmatic Institute is the global leader in Product, Data, and Design training and certification programs for working professionals. Learn more at www.pragmaticinstitute.com. 

“Just because you hit the metrics for a couple of months doesn’t mean you will be instantly promoted. You need to hit those standards and maintain those standards for a period of time. For the more advanced roles, we want them to maintain those standards for a year. Others maintain those higher standards for six months, etc.” - Corban Wells   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing and product strategy for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic Corban Wells, director of product management at Primary Residential Mortgage about the most important thing a product manager can do for their team today. Corban has been involved in product management for 30 years. His current team consists of 13 product managers responsible for managing four product verticals. Each vertical has a different tech stack, and the team’s job is to make those systems better and more efficient for the 2,500 employees at Primary Residential Mortgage.   In this episode Corban and Rebecca discuss

• How to define product manager and product owner
• Building development and career paths for product professionals based on KPIs
• How clear expectations for each role improve one-on-ones and make the feedback more objective

Pragmatic Provides Training Opportunities for Your Team: Foundations on Demand Foundations is the first step to understanding the market and its problems. With that knowledge, you can build and sell products that people actually want to buy. You’ll also learn to master the Pragmatic Framework and the activities needed to bring a successful product to market. https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/product/foundations-on-demand/#:~:text=What%20is%20Foundations%20On-Demand,masters%20through%20interactive%2C%20engaging%20training.)

“Product teams should stay out of the how and focus on the what, who and why. If we can bring all that context to the table and then we can give our development teams the space to think creatively. To start with a blank canvas. It is a best practice to have a separation of duties between the how and the what.” - Amy Graham   Product managers need to be good partners and create good teams to create great products. We all want to be a part of a high-performing team, we want to build them, and it’s not something that happens accidentally.   So, in this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Amy Graham about some best practices for building high-performance teams.   They discuss:

• The importance of having clarity around roles and responsibilities and understanding what type of team you have (e.g., high market knowledge vs dependent)
• How to build trust and collaboration between product and development
• Some of the key areas where teamwork starts to break down in companies.

Foundations on Demand In this course, students learn how to become market-driven by exploring concepts such as how to uncover strategic opportunities, define product team roles and responsibilities, prioritize actual vs. desired business goals, and how to talk to and observe the market in action. Learn More and Enroll

This episode is from our latest Product Chat webinar >> watch the webinar

Join us as we welcome Anand Arivukkarasu, Product Leader (formerly of FB) for a conversation on how you can use measurement to ensure success throughout every stage of the product lifecycle.

In this conversation, Anand will share:

• Key KPIs and metrics you should be paying attention to through the development, GTM, growth and product end-of-life phases
• Ways to apply measurement to employ strategies and align stakeholders
• How to utilize metrics to gain buy-in for current and future initiatives
• How to decipher insights between the metrics to ensure you are staying ahead of the curve

“It's useful to look at metrics, but metrics are a lot more useful and meaningful if we frame them around why we're measuring that thing to begin with. You want to measure a thing because it's meaningful. And OKRs are how teams put meaning behind the measurement.” - Paul Young   What is your product team measuring to determine progress? What should they be measuring? And what makes a good OKR? In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Paul Young about OKRs because you can’t manage what you can’t measure.   They discuss:

• The qualities of a good objective
• Why you might have multiple key results for each objective
• Why you should set a confidence score (on a scale of 1-10) and why every objective should be difficult but not impossible
• The difference between OKR and KPI
• How many OKRs should you have on your team

Additional Resources Foundations | The first step to become truly market-driven This course emphasizes how to develop an understanding of your market and effectively share that information throughout the organization. https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/course/product/foundations

What’s the hallmark of a strong product team? Anna Turner, VP of Products at Paycor said there are two: being market-driven and stewardship of time and resources.   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing and product strategy for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Anna about empowering and supporting effective product teams   They discuss:

• What to look for when hiring a product manager
• How product teams can leverage data to improve collaboration and decision-making in the organization
• Strategies for nurturing emerging leaders

Training For Your Team | Enroll in Foundations This course will teach your team how to identify and listen to the entire market and uncover strategic opportunity. They’ll also learn how to implement the Pragmatic Framework. After completing the course, students are invited to join the robust and active Pragmatic Alumni Community where they will have access free learning opportunities and a library of Pragmatic tools and resources. https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/course/product/foundations

“Win/Loss is a garbage-in, garbage-out exercise. There needs to be careful curation and vetting of the information in the program. Otherwise, information is going to be unreliable at best and misleading it worst.”   Not every win-loss program is the same. So how do you build the right one for your company? In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews two win/loss experts from Anova Consulting: Zach Golden, director of client management, and Will Young, senior research analyst. Anova Consulting is a market-leading win/loss analysis firm. They build win/loss programs by combining technology with high-tough professional services and consulting.   They discuss:

• The importance of getting strategic alignment before starting a win/loss program
• When is it appropriate to use open-ended or leading questions
• How to leverage data and then go beyond the data by bringing together cross-functional teams
• Determining how many win/loss interviews are sufficient for gathering insights

Here are Anova's latest articles: Win/Loss: A Tool Used to Identify Your Company’s Distinctive Competencies Going Beyond Win/Loss Data   Additional Resources   There is a new course update to Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so, you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/course/product/market/

This episode is from our latest Product Chat webinar >> watch the webinar   Going to market is an exciting yet often anxiety-provoking moment in product development. And there is an onslaught of questions like, will users adopt? Are we articulating our messaging appropriately, and how can we best measure the success of our endeavors?   So how can you utilize phased marketing initiatives to motivate your market to buy a newly launched product or service without breaking the bank or depleting resources?   Arnaud Berube, Senior PMM at Zillow discusses how to approach go-to-market in a way that aligns objectives across your organization and reduces risk.   In this conversation, Arnaud shares:

• A framework for connecting business objectives to marketing executions
• Ways to use research to size, position and name your products/features
• A four-phased GTM approach to prove marketing value and reduce risk
• Ways to apply the same methodologies to create a product marketing function to utilize moving forward

Keep Refining Your Go-To-Market Strategies You can learn more about go-to-market approaches at Pragmatic Institute by enrolling in the Market course.   Market helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. Learn how to align across go-to-market teams by effectively sharing and leveraging your buyer knowledge to prioritize the right product marketing strategies. https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/course/product/market/

“In the past, it's been a little bit of a nebulous process and people trying to grab from Lean Startup and all these different things that are not cohesive as a journey.” - Daniel Elizalde   Innovation work can feel ambiguous and daunting, but Daniel Elizalde is working to bring clarity with a well-defined innovation journey. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Daniel Elizalde, product executive, advisor and author of the B2B Innovators Map.   During this conversation, Rebecca and Daniel explore in-depth the six stages of the B2B innovator map, which are:

1. Strategic alignment
2. Market discovery
3. User discovery
4. Solution planning
5. prototyping
6. Early adopter

They also emphasize a market-first approach where conversations about feasibility happen toward the end of the innovation process, not at the beginning.   “If you can build it, and if you can make money, it doesn't matter if nobody wants it.” —Daniel   You can learn more about Daniel’s work and purchase his book on his website https://danielelizalde.com/   Additional Resources   Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so, you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/course/product/market/   Want to learn more about effective launches? Launch is a course that helps you create a more strategic approach to exceed your business objectives. Learn to execute successful launches that align your entire organization around the same strategies and goals. Enroll Today

This episode is an excellent conversation originally recorded in 2015.    “Sales is a big part of distribution strategy, but we talk about distribution strategy differently at Pragmatic. Distribution strategy is how customers prefer to receive, use and buy your product” - Paul Young This episode features Pragmatic instructor Paul Young, who shares examples of distribution strategy and the different models around them. He discusses:

• Why distribution strategy can be innovative
• Indirect or direct distribution strategy examples
• Integration as a distribution strategy
• Am outside-in approach to distribution strategy

"Distribution strategy is where you make it easy. You can build the greatest product in the world, but if people can’t find it and don’t know how to buy it, then it doesn’t matter what you built.” - Rich Nutinsky   Distribution strategy is often under-appreciated in product management, but it plays a critical role in the product's success and overall customer experience. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Rich Nutinsky about distribution strategy. They discuss:

• Examples when distribution strategy was an innovative disrupter in the market
• Distribution strategy for software companies
• The relationship between customer experience and distribution strategy

Learn more about distribution strategy in the Focus course at Pragmatic institute.Focus also shows you how to find opportunities in your market’s problems, score them objectively and identify where your company’s strengths intersect with market values. Enroll today

How do you build trust and alignment with stakeholders to ensure product success? 

In this episode of the Pragmatic Product Chat Series, we’re joined by Bruce McCarthy, renowned product management expert and author, to explore the often-overlooked art of stakeholder management. Drawing insights from his latest book Aligned: Stakeholder Management for Product Leaders, Bruce emphasizes that product management isn’t just about creating roadmaps and specs—it’s about fostering collaboration, building trust, and managing expectations across teams. 

Bruce introduces key concepts like "sharp skills"—the soft skills critical for stakeholder engagement—and the "stakeholder canvas," a practical tool for mapping stakeholders and understanding their motivations. From co-creating strategies to navigating difficult stakeholder relationships, Bruce offers actionable advice to help product managers elevate their collaboration and communication skills. 

Tune in to learn how to manage stakeholders effectively and align teams around shared goals for better product outcomes. 

For detailed takeaways, show notes, and more, visit: www.pragmaticinstitute.com/resources/podcasts 

Pragmatic Institute is the global leader in Product, Data, and Design training and certification programs for working professionals. Learn more at www.pragmaticinstitute.com. 

“Distinctive Competencies are rarely a product feature because a distinctive competency isn't easily copied and product features. If you come out with a new product feature today, your competitor could copy that within a few months.” In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, and Pragmatic instructor Mark Stiving will lead the audience through an exercise to identify and apply distinctive competencies using some of the biggest brands in the world. Not only will you learn about the power of distinctive competencies, but also how to start thinking about and leveraging them within your own organization. They also discuss:

• What are distinctive competencies and why do they matter
• Examples of distinctive competencies at big brands (Disney, Amazon, LinkedIn, Zappos and Walmart)
• How to get more differentiation for your products

Enroll in Foundations on Demand Today to learn more about finding your company’s distinctive competencies >> https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/product/foundations-on-demand/

Win-loss analysis is a practice every company should be doing but not every company is doing it—at least not as effectively as they can be. Win-loss analysis can help your business in almost every facet—product strategy, marketing messaging, sales enablement, and more.

 

Andrew Peterson, Co-Founder of Clozd, the leader in win-loss analysis, explains how to optimize your win-loss analysis program.

 

Andrew has expert advice on the win-loss best practices to increase your win rate, whether it be getting started or leveling up your current program.

 

In this conversation Andrew will share:

• How to get started with a win-loss analysis program
• Tips to optimize your current program
• How to take the data you receive from your program and use it to implement necessary change 

“I have taken the classes before and have used so many of the concepts from the Framework at the various companies I've worked at, but to be able to get in there, teach it to so many different groups, companies and people with diverse backgrounds—It just shows the power in The Framework and the Foundations class,” —Dan Corbin, Pragmatic Instructor   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Dan Corbin about what students will learn in Foundations. Specifically, how Foundations can help the newest product managers understand their role better. And how long-time product managers can use what they learn to better explain their work and expectations to their team and other departments.   They also discuss:

• The five key sections in the Foundations course
• What makes the Pragmatic Framework powerful and effective
• The common challenges product professionals encounter
• How can students get the most out of the training when they enroll

Enroll in Foundations on Demand Today >> https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/product/foundations-on-demand/

“It is essential to adopt a structured approach to collecting buyer insights. Now, if companies decide just to do an ad-hoc buyer interview or win-loss interview, and it's not a more structured process, then companies will end up relying on anecdotal information and never truly understanding the buyer” — Diana Igua   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews two experts from DoubleCheck Research —Diana Igua, director of marketing & operations and Jen Doyle, research director, about why win/loss is an essential activity for any company.   They discuss:

• What win/loss programs provide to product managers, product marketers and sales teams
• Why a collection of conversations is more meaningful than one story
• How to establish a standardized and focused process for structuring win/loss research
• Why surveys aren’t an adequate replacement for win/loss interviews
• Two approaches to get target groups to engage with a win/loss interview

Additional Resources Foundations This course is the first step to becoming truly market-driven You’ll learn how to understand the market, how to use market knowledge and how to master the Pragmatic Framework. Learn More https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/course/product/foundations

“Interestingly, there doesn't seem to be a market to hire consultants, to tell executives that their idea is stupid.” - Paul Young   What if you check all the pre-launch boxes and your product still flops? That’s what the CNN+ story feels like. But if we look a little closer, maybe the data was saying exactly what would happen, the team just didn’t listen.   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Paul Young about the lessons CNN+ can teach product managers.   They discuss:

• What early warning signs did CNN+ ignore that might have indicated the product wouldn’t succeed
• The conversion rate you should expect going from a freemium model to a premium model
• Why you need both data and stories to effectively communicate market research

Keep Learning Launch is a course that helps you create a more strategic approach to exceed your business objectives. Learn to execute successful launches that align your entire organization around the same strategies and goals. Enroll Today

One of the largest struggles within product is articulating your organization’s unique abilities to deliver value to its market. But guess what, it’s also one of the most important! So how do you develop a successful path that combines innovation, proven methodology and sure-fire approaches to hone-in on the attributes and differentiators that set you apart from your competitors?

We got you covered.

Leon Stigter, Senior Technical PM at Amazon Web Services, covers topics on distinctive competencies and when and how innovation can become your biggest ally. In this discussion Leon will share:

• How you can find distinctive competencies and turn them into assets
• Why does “distinctive” matter in distinctive competencies?
• How to use marketing as a top asset when telling your story
• Why data is a key factor in your process

“Here’s how we define distinctive competencies: they are the unique attributes your organization has developed that allow you to deliver value into your market.” — Paul Young   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Paul Young about distinctive competencies and how to avoid some of the biggest pitfalls when identifying them.   They discuss:

• Distinctive competency as it relates to core competencies
• Examples of distinctive competencies: innovation, culture, customer intimacy, patent portfolio
• Why you can’t innovate like Apple >> Read More
• The consequence of assuming distinctive competencies without external validation
• Why technology isn’t a good distinctive competency
• How many (or few) distinctive competencies you should have in your organization
• The strategies for shifting distinctive competencies (the slow way and the fast way)

Enroll in Foundations and get a lifetime free membership to the Pragmatic Alumni Community Students learn how to:

• Become market-driven by exploring concepts such as how to uncover strategic opportunities
• Define product team roles and responsibilities
• Prioritize actual vs. desired business goals
• Talk to and observe the market in action.

Enroll Today

“We try to be pristine in our application of the definitions, and what it is we’re actually trying to accomplish can sometimes get lost in the shuffle” - Kirsten Butzow   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Kirsten Butzow, Senior VP, customer operations at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt   They discuss:

• Sprints and how the market cares about usefulness and impact—not methodology
• Who is driving the release planning discussions
• How to collaborate for a launch
• Why requirements should start with data and market research
• The helpful role of a retrospective

Additional Resources Want to learn more about effective launches?   Launch is a course that helps you create a more strategic approach to exceed your business objectives. Learn to execute successful launches that align your entire organization around the same strategies and goals. Enroll Today  

“It's been a really interesting time to see such a high degree of camaraderie and cheerleading in the community because everyone is working on leveling something up; they want to grow their team; they wanna grow their influence; they wanna grow their own skill level.” — Georgina Donahue, Director of Community at Pragmatic Institute   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Georgina Donahue, the director of community at Pragmatic Institute, about the growth of the Pragmatic Alumni Community.   They Discuss

• How the community helps connect alumni with jobs, candidates and innovative hiring strategies
• The types of engaging conversations happening in the community around building cross-functional teams and collaborating with other departments
• Masterclass opportunities exclusive to community members

Enroll in Foundations and get a lifetime free membership to the Pragmatic Alumni Community   Students learn how to

• Become market-driven by exploring concepts such as how to uncover strategic opportunities
• Define product team roles and responsibilities
• Prioritize actual vs. desired business goals
• Talk to and observe the market in action.

Enroll Today

This episode was recorded during our recent Product Chat Webinar.  

Hear how should you approach your content endeavors, and where should you look to understand the best areas to focus your efforts and resources from Editorial and Metadata Leader at Netflix, Anjana Gopakumar.

How can AI revolutionize the way businesses operate and innovate? 

Kevin Dean, founder and CEO of ManoByte, helps you uncover the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI). With over 15 years of experience in AI-driven business transformation, Kevin shares how AI can turn overwhelming data into actionable insights, streamline operations, and improve customer experiences. 

Kevin highlights real-world examples, including how Travelocity and HubSpot leveraged AI to drastically reduce customer service tickets and improve satisfaction. He also explains how AI tools can accelerate innovation, as shown by a client who refactored core application code in four months instead of three years.  

From selecting the right tools to piloting AI initiatives effectively, Kevin offers practical guidance for integrating AI into your business strategy. Tune in to learn how to navigate the crowded AI landscape and use AI to shape the future of your organization. 

For detailed takeaways, show notes, and more, visit: www.pragmaticinstitute.com/resources/podcasts 

Pragmatic Institute is the global leader in Product, Data, and Design training and certification programs for working professionals. Learn more at www.pragmaticinstitute.com. 

“We look at what conversations have happened, what conversations are happening and then, we validate the article with keyword research and join the conversation with new ideas versus finding keywords and then trying to push a conversation no one is interested in having.”   Content planning is just as much about listening as it is about producing. It’s about joining existing conversations with new ideas, not just publishing interesting thoughts. So, in this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic content marketer Kristy Sturgill about Pragmatic’s system for content planning.   They discuss:

• How to find context, study competitors and review search engine results
• The metrics for measuring content
• How to be a steward of content by taking care of the work that already exists

Additional Resources   Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build product marketing strategies that deliver results. And, this course was updated in 2022 to reflect the latest strategies. https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/course/product/market/

“When your message is generic, instead of being for everyone, it turns into a piece of content for no one. So for me, specificity is always been really a key trait. To building that hero and then, also for me, is being real and genuine and authentic as I possibly can be."   There was a time when content marketing was new and fresh and the competition was sparse. That day has come and gone, so how do we compete and engage with a strategy that everyone employs at some level? In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Brett McGrath from The Juice on all things content marketing and content distribution.   They discuss:

• How to think beyond the inbound methodology
• Why distribution is the path to having a proactive marketing strategy
• The ways that content can build valuable relationships
• Vulnerability as a superpower and experimentation as a strength

Additional Resources Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/course/product/market/

“With video, whether you're using it for marketing or sales or just even information sharing, it's a human thing. You're building a human connection with someone. And what that serves to do is show your authenticity” - Ellen Grogan   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Ellen Grogan, director of product marketing at Brightcove and founding member of the Pragmatic Alumni Community.   Ellen’s background is in broadcast journalism before she moved to a product marketing career. She shares her experience with video and the growing role it plays in content marketing.   They discuss:

• Why video is so powerful for building empathy and showing authenticity
• The challenges companies face when they start incorporating a video strategy
• Strategies for measuring success
• How to repurpose long-form videos in shorter formats

Additional Resources Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build product marketing strategies that deliver results. https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/course/product/market/

This episode was recorded during our recent Product Chat Webinar.   Join Mamuna Oladipo, MBA, VP of Product at Shopify for her discussion on understanding use cases, creating killer UX approaches and developing innovative strategies that span globally. You will hear insights on things like...

• Where to generate innovative and bold UX ideas
• How to delve into your users to understand patterns
• How to measure user efforts and KPI’s to pay attention to
• Ways to optimize UX experiences that increase both adoption and retention

Yes, Agile is typically associated with product and engineering teams, but the principles can be powerful when applied to the job search. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic’s newest instructor Dan Corbin about his unique approach to finding jobs in products.   They discuss:

• The different stages of the job search
• Why an iterative approach can reduce feelings of failure
• How having a partner in the job search can help improve the experience

Additional Resources Foundations on Demand In this course, you’ll learn to master the Pragmatic Framework and the activities needed to bring a successful product to market. You’ll take *the first step to becoming truly market-driven.* This 7-hour course is self-paced and you’ll have one year to complete the curriculum. After passing the final exam, you’ll receive your first Pragmatic Institute certification and be invited to join the robust Alumni community. Register Today Learn More About Foundations

“The hardest part is looking at ourselves or looking at the way we're doing things and knowing whether or not it is the most effective way things could be done and remaining open to an alternative.” - David Bard   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews David Bard, product management and user experience leader. In his business, David focuses on coaching product teams from conception through execution and market launch to ensure success.   Rebecca and David explore the role and impact of curiosity on product teams. They also discuss:

• Recent research on curiosity
• How you can encourage curiosity at your organization and on your teams
• Strategies to stimulate and exercise curiosity
• How humility can overcome the Einstellung Effect

Additional Resources Foundations on Demand In this course, you’ll learn to master the Pragmatic Framework and the activities needed to bring a successful product to market. You’ll take the first step to becoming truly market-driven. This 7-hour course is self-paced and you’ll have one year to complete the curriculum. After passing the final exam, you’ll receive your first Pragmatic Institute certification and be invited to join the robust Alumni community. Register Today Learn More About Foundations

This is part four of a four-part series with pricing expert and Pragmatic instructor Mark Stiving. Each new episode will feature a case study on current pricing trends.   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, and Mark discuss the immersive Star Wars experience that comes at a premium price.   “This story is all about price segmentation. Disney doesn’t need to sell to everyone who comes to the park—just a few people.” - Mark Stiving   They discuss:

• The reason why people buy the $6,000 hotel room at Disney: Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser
• Why Mark thinks the hotel Room is underpriced
• How comparison helps the buyer justify pricing structures

Want to Learn More About Pricing Strategies? Pragmatic Course: Pricing | $1,195 Learn more about pricing segmentation in the Price course. You’ll also learn how to determine market value and how to maximize your profit while minimizing discounting. You’ll be introduced to several pricing tools including:

• Product Portfolio Worksheet
• Isoprofit Tables
• Pricing Ownership Matrix
• Value Matrix

>> Enroll Today Pragmatic Learning Network: Accelerate Your Subscription Business | $500 Pricing expert Mark Stiving brings his expertise on subscription models to our Pragmatic Learning Network to help product teams improve their subscription businesses and drive growth. In this self-paced course, students will learn:

• The three revenue buckets and how they drive prioritization
• The three levels to pull to create and capture more value
• Which growth strategies are best based on the life cycle of a product
• The four ways to grow revenue from a single customer

>>Enroll Today

This is part three of a four-part series with pricing expert and Pragmatic instructor Mark Stiving. Each new episode will feature a case study on current pricing trends.   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, and Mark discuss the trends in the housing market.   “The number one takeaway from this and to take away from every pricing situation is that we always put ourselves in the minds of our customers and try to figure out how are they making decisions.”   They discuss:

• The elements driving buyer behavior in the housing market.
• The reasons why Zillow stopped flipping houses. Answer: Labor shortage and “the winner's curse.”
• How we can apply lessons learned in the housing market to B2B and SAAS companies.

Want to Learn More About Pricing Strategies?   Pragmatic Course: Pricing | $1,195 Learn more about pricing segmentation in the Price course. You’ll also learn how to determine market value and how to maximize your profit while minimizing discounting. You’ll be introduced to several pricing tools including

• Product Portfolio Worksheet
• Isoprofit Tables
• Pricing Ownership Matrix
• Value Matrix

>> Enroll Today   Pragmatic Learning Network: Accelerate Your Subscription Business | $500 Pricing expert Mark Stiving brings his expertise on subscription models to our Pragmatic Learning Network to help product teams improve their subscription businesses and drive growth. In this self-paced course, students will learn:

• The three revenue buckets and how they drive prioritization
• The three levels to pull to create and capture more value
• Which growth strategies are best based on the life cycle of a product
• The four ways to grow revenue from a single customer

>>Enroll Today 

This is part two of a four-part series with pricing expert and Pragmatic instructor Mark Stiving. Each new episode will feature a case study on current pricing trends.   Should Dollar Tree increase its product prices to $1.25 or reduce its costs by offering less at the same price? Well, they increased their price for the first time in 35 years, but was it the right choice?   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, and Mark discuss the concept of shrinkflation. Specifically, how to know when it's the right time to increase prices or decrease costs.   They discuss:

• Why we might notice changes in volume, features and quality more than price changes.
• How do we make changes that increase profits but don’t upset buyers or users?
• Why now might be the best time to experiment with pricing.

Want to Learn More About Pricing Strategies? Pragmatic Course: Pricing | $1,195 Learn more about pricing segmentation in the Price course. You’ll also learn how to determine market value and how to maximize your profit while minimizing discounting. You’ll be introduced to several pricing tools including

• Product Portfolio Worksheet
• Isoprofit Tables
• Pricing Ownership Matrix
• Value Matrix

>> Enroll Today   Pragmatic Learning Network: Accelerate Your Subscription Business | $500 Pricing expert Mark Stiving brings his expertise on subscription models to our Pragmatic Learning Network to help product teams improve their subscription businesses and drive growth. In this self-paced course, students will learn:

• The three revenue buckets and how they drive prioritization
• The three levels to pull to create and capture more value
• Which growth strategies are best based on the life cycle of a product
• The four ways to grow revenue from a single customer

>>Enroll Today

“It wouldn’t surprise me if these latest price increases won’t work out as well as previous ones,” - Mark Stiving   This is part one of a four-part series with pricing expert and Pragmatic instructor Mark Stiving. Each new episode will feature a case study on current pricing trends.   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Mark about the streaming wars and more importantly, subscription-model pricing.   Netflix increased its pricing at the start of 2022 by $1 - $2 per month depending on the selected plan. Additionally, they are testing how to charge more for “sharing” accounts with friends and family who live in different places.   They discuss:

• How do we get different customers with different willingness to pay to still buy our product?
• The risk of offering ad-supported cheaper versions
• Why “good, better, best” options work so well in subscription services

Want to Learn More About Pricing Strategies? Pragmatic Course: Pricing | $1,195 Learn more about pricing segmentation in the Price course. You’ll also learn how to determine market value and how to maximize your profit while minimizing discounting. You’ll be introduced to several pricing tools including:

• Product Portfolio Worksheet
• Isoprofit Tables
• Pricing Ownership Matrix
• Value Matrix

>> Enroll Today Pragmatic Learning Network: Accelerate Your Subscription Business | $500 Pricing expert Mark Stiving brings his expertise on subscription models to our Pragmatic Learning Network to help product teams improve their subscription businesses and drive growth. In this self-paced course, students will learn:

• The three revenue buckets and how they drive prioritization
• The three levels to pull to create and capture more value
• Which growth strategies are best based on the life cycle of a product
• The four ways to grow revenue from a single customer

>>Enroll Today

How do great product leaders consistently make impactful decisions? 

In this episode of the Pragmatic Product Chat Series, host Rebecca Kalogeris sits down with Phil Hornby, seasoned product leader, coach, and technologist, to explore the frameworks behind effective decision-making in product management.  

Learn how to prioritize the decisions with the highest leverage, balance intuition, data, and feedback, and empower teams to take meaningful action. Phil emphasizes the importance of bringing stakeholders along in the decision-making process, codifying key decisions into repeatable product principles, and implementing decisions with clarity and context to ensure alignment across teams. 

Tune in to learn how to make smarter, faster, and more collaborative product decisions. 

For detailed takeaways, show notes, and more, visit: www.pragmaticinstitute.com/resources/podcasts 

Pragmatic Institute is the global leader in Product, Data, and Design training and certification programs for working professionals. Learn more at www.pragmaticinstitute.com. 

Let’s re-think innovation. Starting with the question, who can be an innovator? Answer: everybody. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Carla Johnson, a global keynote speaker, a best-selling author, and a recognized marketing and innovation strategist.   They discuss:

• Why innovation is everybody’s job
• The 7 different innovation archetypes
• How an innovative Valentine's Day commercial sold routers in a new way > Watch It

Additional Resources Take the Innovation Archetype Assessment *Re:Think Innovation by Carla Johnson*   Focus This course shows you how to find opportunities in your market’s problems, score them objectively and identify where your company’s strengths intersect with market values. Successful innovation happens when you know how to strategically direct your efforts and resources on the best ideas. >> Learn More   Design This course teaches you how to take a human-centered approach to market problems, so you can partner with designers to create intuitive products the market will embrace. Innovation isn’t just an idea, it’s how that idea comes into existence through design work. >> Learn More

This episode was recorded during our recent Product Chat Webinar.

"Human-centered innovation" is the latest industry buzzword, and knowing how to leverage this approach is essential for driving success across products, services and business models. In this Product Chat, you'll learn...

• How human-centered innovation can help shape key business plans  
• Tactics for employing human-centered innovation within your organization
• Case studies of successful applications that created stellar impact for products and offerings

When you have a creative idea, you’re going to face objections. The best approach is to build the systems that’ll support the innovation even before you ask for additional resources from leadership. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Kirk Westwood author of The Very Best Bad idea.   They discuss:

• Why a company must be agile for innovation to succeed
• The reaction to expect from others when you’re on the verge of innovation
• How to ask strategic questions to get buy-in for your idea

Additional Resources At Pragmatic Institute, we offer two courses that’ll explore innovation in-depth. Focus This course shows you how to find opportunities in your market’s problems, score them objectively and identify where your company’s strengths intersect with market values. Then, you’ll learn how to use that knowledge and market data to successfully and credibly sell your strategies internally. https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/course/product/focus Design This course teaches you how to take a human-centered approach to market problems, so you can partner with designers to create intuitive products the market will embrace. Leverage the power of design throughout the product life cycle to ensure market adoption, improve customer ratings and increase competitive advantage. https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/course/product/design