The Growth Podcast

Jason Knight has over 25 years of experience in tech and product and currently works as the founder of One Knight Consulting, where he has a portfolio career as an interim and fractional CPO, Maven Course creator, PM coach, and also content creator.Jason is the man behind the One Knight in Product podcast, which I was on a few months back. He’s been one of my inspirations to start this podcast in the first place.In today's episode, we break down:* The Messy Reality of B2B PM | 0:00* Challenging B2B PM Orthodoxies | 17:35* Building a Product Culture in B2B | 37:30* Product Discovery in B2B | 52:20* The Art of Influence in B2B Product Leadership | 1:01:15* Product Strategy in B2B | 1:06:38* How to Prioritize Features | 1:12:30* Future of B2B PM | 1:18:27Available on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.--Brought to you by:* Zeda.io: Product discovery platform that turns VOC into product insights* Cello: Your all-in-one platform for partner & user referrals* OneSchema: Automate CSV imports directly in your product--If you don’t have time for the full episode, here’s what you need to know:1. The messy reality is that B2B product management is not always going to be like the books:A. You’ll have to build features for revenue, because “any revenue is good revenue,” or it can feel that way to pressured B2B execs trying to make the quarter at least.B. There will be less agile development that you always hoped for, because sometimes you do have to bring a long planning and collaboration process to building a feature — that looks perfectly waterfall.C. The "accountable for delivery" trap is real and dangerous for PMs: Many B2B PMs find themselves acting as quasi-scrum masters, constantly chasing status updates. This disempowers both PMs and engineers, wasting valuable time on tasks that should be owned by the development team.2. Effective B2B product discovery is not just about customers. You have to balance direct user research with insights from sales, customer success, and account management teams.3. B2B product strategy must extend beyond the product team. PMs need to actively influence go-to-market strategy, pricing, and market segmentation. Without input on these areas, your ability to drive meaningful product success is severely limited.4. Prioritization in B2B requires looking beyond numerical frameworks. It’s usually best to focus on use cases and user journeys rather than disconnected feature lists. And always make sure to consider the needs of both users and buyers; ignoring either can lead to products that fail.--Update on the PodcastThis little podcast is already taking off. I never even considered being top 3 in the Technology category in India and Pakistan, but there we are.Next up: #3 in the US.How are we getting there?* Sound - From today itself, you should be seeing a great upgrade in sound quality. We’ve upping the bar on guest mics (buying them for guests!) plus have hired on an ace sound engineer to the team.* Video - We’re also constantly upping our game on video and this is the first video in 4K.* Conversations - I’m going to stay super close to the ground on feedback. And, to the point, please reply to this e-mail with your feedback about the episode.--Where to Find Jason* LinkedIn* Maven Course* One Knight Consulting* One Knight in Product podcast (which I was on a few months back)Website to not get Podcast emails but the get the rest is here.--Up NextI’m super excited about upcoming episodes with Andre Nader, Stephanie Leue, and Mirela Mus. Look forward to them soon!On the newsletter front, I have several paid deep dives at 80% completion but the consistent thing I’m hearing for you guys is to take the extra time to up the quality. So I’m doing that.The pieces?* Ultimate Guide to Growth Design* How to Answer Why this Company* The Ultimate Guide to Retention This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.news.aakashg.com/subscribe

Satyajeet Salgar is a Director of Product Management at Google. He’s had a 16+ year career there, where he has been the product leader for many teams at YouTube and Google Search. Now, he leads teams in Applied AI.In this conversation, Satyajeet and I cover everything you need to know to write a good product strategy:* The elements of a good vs a bad strategy doc* The type of work and experimentation you need to confirm a strategy* How to connect strategy to quarterly objectives and key results (OKRs) and how often to update your strategyBrought to you by:* BuildBetter: AI for product teams* Enterpret: Transform customer feedback into product growth* Attio: The next generation CRMHere were some of my favorite takeaways:* The ‘second wave’ of technology trends is often where the money-making apps are made. We’re just finishing the first wave of AI, and the money will come in this second wave.* Adjust your strategy over time and spread your bets around. Keep taking the small and safe ones but don’t forget to take a long shot every now and then.* Principles in strategy documents should reflect long-standing company values and behaviors. They should not be defined on the spot to justify a particular decision.* Great PMs create a "culture of product" on their team. They ensure the best decisions get made rather than trying to make all decisions themselves.Where to Find Satyajeet* X* LinkedIn* SubstackUp NextWe have great podcasts coming from Jason Knight, Mirela Mus, Stephanie Leue and more. I can’t wait to share them with you.P.S. If you liked this, you may like the newsletter post, How to Write a Product Strategy in 1 Day / 1 Week / 1 Month This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.news.aakashg.com/subscribe

Anthony is, perhaps, the web's favorite writer on Product Marketing. So in today’s podcast, we cover a key Product Marketing and Growth topic: The Ultimate Guide to Positioning.We go deep on 4 main topics:* Masterclass in Positioning (0:00)* Building a Great Homepage (41:00)* Anthony’s Growth Hot Takes (52:25)* The Role of PMs and PMMs (1:06:00)Along the way, we get to hear insider tales from Anthony's experience at FletchPMM.A big shout-out to our launch sponsors that made this possible:• Attio: A prior newsletter deep dive subject, Attio is the next generation CRM• BuildBetter: By our very own newsletter collaborator, Spencer Shulem, BuildBetter is your 24/7 AI-powered analystHere are some of my favorite takeaways from the episode:1. Positioning is about giving frames of reference to help people understand the value of a new product or category. * Most companies struggle with positioning as they grow. Increased complexity often leads them to reflect their organization chart in their offerings. * The solution is to have really clear positioning that that stands on its own, rather than supporting each VP in the company. You do this by providing a frame of reference that highlights the value to the people.2. Clear messaging on homepages is paramount to entice your potential customers:* Over time, messaging clarity on homepages tends to degrade due to the complexity of growing companies and the influence of high-level executives. * Avoid the temptation to include too much information on homepages and focus on providing representative samples of what the product can do. * It should focus on the differentiated product capabilities rather than high-level outcomes. 3. The future of product marketing is to lead with features and product capabilities, rather than just focusing on benefits.4. VC-backed companies should adopt a bootstrapped mindset and focus on getting customers and generating revenue.Of course, you’ll have to check out the whole episode to get all the details. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.news.aakashg.com/subscribe

In today’s episode, we turn to a core topic for most PMs, founders, and growth practitioners: SaaS Pricing. And we chat with one of the leaders in the field, Kyle Poyar.We cover all the key levers you need to optimize to get it right:* How to Set Your Pricing (1:24)* Pricing Page (38:09)* Feature Paywalls (49:30)* Free to Paid Conversion (58:45)* Cancelation (1:17:50)* Pricing Quick Wins (1:11:05)If you’re a PM, founder, or someone influencing pricing, this episode is bound to have a bunch of great takeaways for you.Huge shout-out to the launch sponsors who are making this podcast possible:* Attio: Attio is the next generation CRM* Cello: Cello is your all-in-one platform for partner & user referrals* BuildBetter: BuildBetter is your 24/7 AI-powered analystHere are three of my favorite takeaways from the conversation:* Common pricing mistakes include overly generous free plans, overcorrecting by gating too much, and not considering monetization early enough in product development.* Pricing should evolve as a company grows, often increasing substantially (60%+) in early stages.* The distinction between B2B and B2C pricing is mostly overblown, and each side should learn from the other.You’ll have to check out the whole episode to get all the details! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.news.aakashg.com/subscribe