The data is not the hero — the message is.

In this episode of Creating Better Products, host Sabrina Mach sits down with Abdo Wahba — CPO, exited founder, and storytelling coach — to explore the art (and science) of storytelling with data.

Too often, product leaders throw charts into a slide deck and hope for the best. Abdo argues that data only becomes powerful when it supports a clear message — one that changes how people think, feel, or act.

You’ll learn:

• Why most business presentations fail (and how to fix yours)

• The difference between showing data and making a case

• How to tailor your message based on your audience

• Why storytelling is the product leader’s secret weapon — especially in the age of AI

• How to avoid “analysis rabbit holes” and focus on outcomes

✨ Bonus: Abdo shares his personal framework for crafting compelling messages and offers a free coaching session for Sabrina’s audience at abduwahba.com/freebie

Whether you present to your team, your execs, or the entire company — this episode will sharpen your communication game and help you create better products, one story at a time.

🎧 Listen now, and share it with someone who could use a storytelling upgrade.

#productleadership #storytellingwithdata #presentationskills #creatingbetterproducts #publicspeaking #productmanagement

Startup founders aren't just building products — they're building belief.
In this special crossover episode of Creating Better Products and Startup Life Live, Sabrina Mach shares five powerful lessons from her conversation with Jan Heimes, co-founder of Needle — a Berlin-based AI startup in the messy, beautiful early stages of growth.

What can enterprise product leaders learn from early-stage founders? A lot, actually.

In this episode:

• Why loving your customer (and talking to them constantly) fuels more than just product roadmaps

• Why "build, break, build" beats months of over-planning

• How pivoting fast — and quitting early — can be a sign of strength, not failure

• Why getting out of stealth mode (even before you're ready) is critical

• And the importance of being the spark that keeps your team believing

Whether you're working in a startup or a scaled enterprise, these lessons will help you stay focused, move faster, and bring fresh energy to your teams and products.

✨ Stay bold. Stay customer-obsessed. Stay believing.

Follow Creating Better Products and Startup Life Live for more insights from builders who know what it takes to turn an idea into something real.

#productleadership #startuplife #enterpriseinnovation #earlystagefounders #creatingbetterproducts #startupstories

In this episode of Creating Better Products, host Sabrina Mach sits down with Johanna Vollrath — service designer, researcher, and team catalyst — to unpack a counterintuitive truth: speed doesn’t come from hustle. It comes from design.

Johanna shares how her team cut delivery time from three months to just three weeks — not by pushing harder, but by applying service design skills internally to align people, reduce confusion, and unlock momentum. The twist? She didn’t just design for users — she designed the team experience itself.

Whether you're facing delivery pressure, misalignment, or internal resistance, this episode offers a fresh blueprint for building product teams that move faster because they understand more.

🧩 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

👉 Why “being faster” often backfiresTrying to sprint without shared clarity creates hidden drag. Johanna reveals how many teams lose speed by skipping the hard — but necessary — upfront alignment.

👉 How service blueprints can supercharge team understandingUsed differently, service blueprints don’t just show user journeys — they reveal team assumptions and knowledge gaps. Johanna shows how to turn them into strategic decision tools.

👉 Using design skills on your own stakeholdersForget endless persuasion. Johanna applied classic research and empathy skills to understand stakeholder fears — and turned blockers into advocates.

👉 Why team emotions are a speed multiplierEmotional speed matters. Psychological safety, motivation, and shared purpose helped her team work smarter, not harder — and made delivery feel effortless.

👉 Pro tip: Measure what didn’t go wrongGreat design often prevents waste rather than creates flash. Learn how to recognize and communicate the value of avoided rework and alignment debt.

📚 Resources Johanna Recommends:

Lean Inception by Paulo Caroli

The Culture Map by Erin Meyer

IXDA Conference Talks

99% Invisible Podcast

Service Blueprints (reimagined for internal use)

💬 Question for you:

When has going slow early helped your team speed up later? What design rituals or alignment tools helped your team deliver with confidence? Drop a comment — your story will inspire others and might shape a future episode.