Products of Music – Details, episodes & analysis

Welcome to Products of Music, where you will hear inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode:

In this episode host Adam Wakeling speaks with Jamie Stillman, Founder of EarthQuaker Devices about the impact of tariffs on small US businesses; why Jamie is not concerned about the current generation of digital modelers like the Quad Cortex and Helix, as well as how EarthQuaker Devices approaches product development at the company.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_O3xHoxGFw

To learn more about EarthQuaker Devices, visit: https://www.earthquakerdevices.com/

Many thanks to this episode's sponsor Chase Bliss.
To learn more about Chase Bliss, visit: https://www.chasebliss.com?utm_source=productsofmusic 

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:15 Intro

02:17 EarthQuaker origin story

05:00 Catalyst for scaling

05:53 Julie's impact

06:58 Product development approach

09:24 Data-driven development

10:48 Trends in the market

14:31 Chase Bliss Sponsor

15:34 Analog versus digital

18:36 Guiding product principles

22:50 Every pedal has a song in it

24:03 Inspiration for pedal ideas

27:39 Ideas thought process

29:25 More complex EarthQuaker pedals

32:50 Hedgehog concept in business

35:19 What EarthQuaker is best at

41:45 Getting pedals to be ready

47:12 Jamie's concerns for the future

49:28 Quick-fire questions

52:55 How fans can support

55:30 Customisation capabilities

56:51 Pedals close to being scrapped

59:08 Bright pedal LEDs

01:00:03 Outro

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Welcome to Products of Music, where you will hear inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Joel Korte, founder of Chase Bliss, about his founder journey, the 'chase bliss way' of product development, as well as his successes, failures and market insights.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTKX8kSsQsw

To learn more about Chase Bliss, visit: https://www.chasebliss.com

00:00 Preview

01:50 Intro

03:05 Joel's founder journey

09:00 Meaning of 'Follow Your Bliss'

12:25 EOS business tools

15:00 Chase Bliss way of product dev

18:30 Definition of 'best'

20:42 Biggest success story

25:36 Pedal release timing

28:36 Why Joel discontinues pedals

33:25 What makes a pedal last?

37:45 Analog versus Digital

42:52 Future innovation

45:37 Chase Bliss midi controller?

47:24 Enamel pins

48:30 Habit design

50:09 New form factor?

50:44 State of the market

57:35 Chase Bliss budget pedals

58:30 Most painful pedal implementation

01:00:01 'Quick fire' questions

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Amy Mitchell is Principal Product Manager at Dell Technologies and author of Product Management IRL newsletter on substack.

In today's episode:

• The seven superpowers of great product managers (that they don't say on job descriptions)
• Tactics to grow these superpowers

—

Amy's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amycmitchell
• Substack: https://amycmitchell.substack.com/

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

In this episode, we cover: 

(00:00) Preview
(00:49) Intro
(02:20) Overview of the seven superpowers
(04:00) Empathy
(11:20) Communication skills
(19:36) Resilience
(24:29) Discernment
(30:49) Prioritisation by value
(40:35) Patience
(48:00) Blending skills 
(50:56) Future of product management
(56:40) Final thoughts

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Christoph Steinlehner is a Product Management coach who helps product managers and leaders that are feeling stuck in their work caught and struggling to facilitate between different perspectives in a business.

In today's episode:

• The challenges of effective business-product communication
• How visual mapping can help improve communication
• The MAPPER method walkthough

—

Christoph's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/csteinlehner
• Website: https://csteinlehner.com/
•  Substack contributor: https://mapperclub.substack.com/

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

In this episode, we cover: 

(00:00) Preview
(00:54) Intro
(02:01) Main challenges in effective communication
(03:40) X-department perspectives in communication
(05:20) The bigger picture
(08:28) What is visual mapping?
(11:48) Differences in types of visual maps
(16:18) Walkthough of MAPPER method
(25:20) Reflection part of MAPPER
(26:03) Similarity to Event Storming 
(27:53) Challenges in implementing MAPPER
(33:21) Resistance to new frameworks
(34:50) Leveraging AI with the MAPPER method 
(39:04) Outro

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Mo Hallaba is CEO of datawisp.io, an AI-based analytics tool to help non-technical teams understand their product and users better. He was previously working in financial services and the e-sports industry. 

In today's episode:

• The challenges of data-informed decision making
• How AI can help solve some of these challenges
• The limitations of AI

—

Mo and Datawisp's contact info:

• Twitter/X: https://www.x.com/electronicmo
• Website: https://www.datawisp.io

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheProductDevelopmentPodcast

In this episode, we cover: 

00:00 Preview
01:23 Intro
02:25 Mo's background
04:04 How e-sports teams use data
05:55 Challenges with using product data
08:31 AI removing technical barriers
09:49 Culture of caring about data
11:58 Scooter app example in datawisp
13:35 Exploration of data
14:30 Correlation vs causation
15:47 Limitations of AI in creativity
19:42 Getting buy-in for change 
22:19 AI data solutions
26:01 Gen AI blended with product data
29:54 Difference perspectives on UX
32:55 The more data the better 
36:50 Transparency of data and insight logic
37:51 Usefulness of having technical knowledge
39:30 Final thoughts
41:12 Outro

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Jonny Kaldor is CEO and Founder of Pugpig, a web and app developer for publishers. He was previously CTO at News UK.

In today's episode:

• A brief history of digital publishing

• The current state of the digital publishing market

• Successful tactics and tech that publishers should employ

—

Jonny's and PugPig's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkaldor
• Website: https://www.pugpig.com

Report mentioned in episode: https://www.pugpig.com/the-media-collective-on-retention-economics/

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheProductDevelopmentPodcast
In this episode:

00:00 Preview
00:56 Introduction
02:00 From print to digital
03:17 Types of publishing
04:00 How things have changed in publishing
08:00 News Media as first movers
13:00 Products for consumer magazines
16:28 Utility as a tool for consumer magazines
17:52 Creating daily and weekly user habits
24:00 Digital editions and 'finishability'
27:38 Print vs Digital UX
28:40 Audience profile of mobile apps
32:56 What makes a great digital publishing platform
34:00 Publishing apps versus the 'big' apps
36:00 Use of audio
40:00 Repurposing content
41:00 The need for publishers to invest in editorial
43:35 Insights on gating tactics
52:10 The importance of the Friends Zone
54:26 Jonny's takeaways

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Henry Latham is Founder of Break Free. He is a 2x bootstrapper and has coached over 280+ people through his Prod MBA.

In today's episode:

• Henry's product journey

• A deep dive into his manifesto for senior product people tired of the corporate grind.

• How to launch a micro-business

—

Henry's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/henrylatham/

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheProductDevelopmentPodcast

—

In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Preview

(00:51) Intro

(01:28) Henry's background

(03:00) Moving on from Prod MBA

(06:56) Theory versus practice

(08:07) The current state of product leadership

(14:10) Unmet expectations in product roles

(16:48) Promotions mean more stress and less fulfilment

(20:38) Stress in product roles

(25:17) Lack of passion

(27:13) Who should start a micro business

(30:03) How to improve your product skills

(34:00) Fundamentals in launching a product

(37:50) Finding the root problems

(41:40) The importance of product positioning

(43:56) How to start a business

(47:35) The will required

(50:30) Key takeaways

(51:50) Outro

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Varun Ghatge is Head of Product at the BBC, with a focus on cross-product personalisation and recommendation for all BBC brands.

In today's episode:

• Varun's journey into Product

• Key elements of building personalised product experiences

• The challenges in implementing recommendation features

—

Varun's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/varun-ghatge/

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheProductDevelopmentPodcast

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Preview

(01:00) Introduction

(01:37) Varun's journey into Product Management

(02:38) Definitions of personalisation

(04:10) Key elements in recommendation models for PMs.

(07:40) Avoiding negatively impacting your metrics

(09:46) How to improve your product sense

(13:10) Best practices for personalisation in products

(23:40) Where to start in building recommendation features

(31:24) How to best use your data

(32:59) Challenges of maintaining data and algorithms 

(37:44) Unintended impacts in personalisation features

(39:22) Building vs buying

(41:38) Key takeaways

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Dan Olsen is the author of the Amazon Bestseller 'The Lean Product Playbook', and host of the Lean Product Meetup. He is also a Product Management Trainer and Speaker, helping executives build great products and strong product teams

In today's episode:

• Dan's journey into Product

• A step-by-step guide to find Product Market Fit 

• What new tools are helping with Product Management in 2024

—

Dan's contact and company info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danolsen98/

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/danolsen

• Website: https://www.dan-olsen.com

—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Preview

(01:57) Introduction

(02:38) Dan's background

(05:04) The story behind writing The Lean Product Playbook

(07:46) General overview of the Product Market Fit Pyramid

(10:58) Target Customer layer

(16:13) Underserved Needs layer

(25:46) The Value Prop layer

(33:26) Feature Set and UX layers

(35:31) Different types of MVPs

(39:20) What's different in 2024

(44:44) Outro

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Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia is Founder and CEO of Product School, and an entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience building global companies and digital products.

He founded Product School in 2014, which is the global leader in product training with a community of over two million members. All of its instructors are real-world Product Leaders working at top Silicon Valley companies including Google, Meta, Netflix, Airbnb, Uber, and Amazon.

In today's episode:

• How Product Management has changed in 2024

• Impact of AI in product development

• How to navigate the current product job market

—


Carlos's contact and company info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/villaumbrosia/

• Website: https://www.productschool.com/


—

Where to find the host, Adam Wakeling:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjwakeling

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-wakeling-26494b35/


—

In this episode:

(00:00) Coming up

(01:40) Introduction

(02:21) Carlos's background

(04:14) Pull to Product Management

(06:12) How PM tools have changed

(08:12) First steps into Product Management

(09:22) The current job market challenges

(12:28) The Product career ladder

(15:22) How the PM role has now changed

(19:22) Building a great product in 2024

(23:28) The rise of generative AI

(25:44) First steps in implementing AI Product strategies  

(30:00) Importance of AI technical knowledge for PMs

(32:50) Risks of AI

(37:33) Final thoughts

(38:35) Outro

🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

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