Podcasts are a great way to gain new knowledge on a long commute or while you’re doing tasks around the house that don’t require your full attention. The good news (and bad news) is there is a wealth of podcasts about product management to pick from. To help you narrow your choices, here is a selection of podcasts that all feature discussions with people who do product management, or help others do it.
This Is Product Management. Mike Fishbein hosts the This Is Product Management podcast , which is produced by Alpha. Each episode features a practicing product person describing their experiences focused around a certain aspect of product management with summarizations from Mike interspersed throughout. One episode you may want to listen to features Gayle Laakmann McDowell describing how career advancement is product management.
(via @tipmpodcast)
The Product Science Podcast “The Product Science Podcast is for startup founders and product leaders building high-growth products, teams, and companies.” Holly Hester-Reily shares her conversations with product people about the lessons they’ve learned (and the mistakes they’ve made) working in product. Each episode centers around a hypothesis that the product person made about product management based on their experiences. One episode you may want to listen to features Rich Mironov’s hypothesis that great product leadership is both subtle and slow to pay off.
(via @h2rproductsci)
Inside Intercom. The folks at Intercom produce a set of podcasts that provide insight into how they operate as a company as well as a broader perspective on digital business from their own experiences and what they observe. These podcasts include series on sales, scaling, and of course product. One episode you may want to listen to features Des Traynor (Co-Founder) and Paul Adams (SVP of Product) talking about rethinking outcomes over outputs.
(via @intercom)
100 PM. Suzanne Abate came up with the idea for 100 PM at the close of a product management course she taught. She realized she was answering the same questions over and over again and thought it would be very helpful to have a variety of perspectives to answer those repeated questions. The 100 PM podcast is the result of her effort to talk to 100 practicing product people to get their perspectives and learn about their experiences. One episode you may want to listen to is Suzanne’s discussion with Margaret Jastrebski about learning on the job.
(via @100productmgrs)
Small Business and Startup Stories. There’s a lot of product work that goes on outside of Silicon Valley and Silicon Alley, including places such as Cleveland, Ohio and Des Moines, Iowa. Mike Colwell hosts the Small Business and Startup Stories DSM podcast that features conversations with entrepreneurs who share both their victories and failures on their paths to success. This is a great way to hear about the experiences of people starting businesses and working on products outside of the usual entrepreneurial hotbeds. One episode you may want to listen to features Steven Brockshus sharing how he’s building a product to make the world’s farmland information accessible.
(via @DSMPartnership)
Rocketship.fm. Any list of podcasts would not be complete without mentioning Rocketship.fm, the podcast that Product Collective helps produce. Rocketship.fm is hosted by Michael Sacca and our own Mike Belsito. The podcast features topics of interest to product people including a look inside of startups, and stories of product failures. One episode you may want to listen to features Catherine Ulrich talking about the six (or seven) types of Product Managers, advantages and disadvantages each face and the type of product each is best suited to lead.
(via @rocketshipfm)
Product Love. If you like digging in on all-things-product… then you’ll love Product Love. Host Eric Boduch goes deep with product leaders from around the globe. With dozens of episodes already under its belt with heavy-hitters in the product world — like Rahul Vohra of Superhuman, Scott Belsky of Adobe, Author Melissa Perri, and other — Product Love has quickly become one of the foremost product management podcasts. One of our favorite episodes features Author of Obviously Awesome, April Dunford.
Product to Product. Now on its fifth season, Product to Product features candid conversations with product people about the unique challenges they face building and scaling technology products. In fact, the latest season focuses on the growing pains that come with scaling product organizations. Nick Caldwell, Chief Product Officer at Looker, shares his “toolkit for hyperscale” in the latest episode.
The Rework Podcast. Many of you have noticed how Jason Fried, CEO of Basecamp, has taken a bit of a residency at INDUSTRY over the past few years — something we’re certainly proud of! While Jason’s insights on-stage have become something that everybody looks forward to, The Rework Podcast by Basecamp invites guests to share their own stories on how they run their work and run their businesses. This recent episode, The Road Out Of Startupland, profiles Sahil Lavingia, CEO of Gumroad. If you enjoy it, you can meet Sahil in Cleveland this year at INDUSTRY as he’ll be featured in a fireside chat!
The Everyday Innovator. Since 2015, Chad McAllister has been exploring topics relevant to the everyday work that today’s modern technology product manager does. And at over 270 episodes, The Everyday Innovator is one of the longest-running product management podcasts out there. This episode featuring Rachel Wynn will get everybody thinking about the right questions to ask users.
Jake and Jonathan. Two guys, one podcast. Formerly known as The Product Breakfast Club, the banter between Jake Knapp (Author of Sprint and Make Time) and Jonathan Courtney (Co-Founder of AJ & Smart), the obvious chemistry they have as friends and collaborators, and the topics they take on make Jake and Jonathan a must-listen for any product person that wants to be entertained just as much as they want to learn. You can start with this interview of Julie Zhuo, VP of Product Design at Facebook.
