In this episode of The Product Experience, Lily Smith and Randy Silver are joined by Kirsten Mann, former CPO at Prospection and now startup founder and board member, to discuss how product leaders can play a vital role on company boards.

Drawing from her own board experience and a research series interviewing founders and directors, Kirsten explains why product, culture, and customer insight must be central to boardroom conversations.

Key Takeaways
— Product’s Place on Boards: Product is a strategic lever, boards should treat it with the same seriousness as financials.
— Culture as a Strategic Asset: Culture emerged as the most frequently cited factor in board-level success—more than AI or tech.
— From Operator to Overseer: Transitioning to a board role requires stepping back from execution and focusing on governance and strategic guidance.
— Communicating with Boards: Product leaders must avoid jargon, speak in terms of customer problems, outcomes, and investment returns.
— The Risk of Exclusion: If your product team isn’t presenting to the board, that’s a red flag.
— Practical Preparation: Aspiring board members should build financial literacy, start with non-profit boards, and cultivate visibility through writing or public speaking.

Chapters
00:00 – Culture over strategy: Why getting culture right matters more than clever planning
00:45 – Meet Kirsten Mann: Introduction and credentials
01:45 – Career transition: From CPO at Prospection to board member, investor, and startup founder
04:50 – Early board experience: Saving a youth club through governance and tech
06:45 – Product’s value on boards: Bringing customer and tech insight into strategic discussions
08:00 – Oversight, not execution: Adjusting from exec roles to governance roles
09:50 – Frustration sparks research: Why Kirsten began writing about product leaders on boards
11:00 – Product strategy ≠ support: The board’s risk-first mindset

Our Hosts
Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.

Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.

In this episode of The Product Experience, Randy Silver speaks with Dariusz Dziuk, Product Lead for Music Expression at Spotify, about the origins and evolution of Canvas, the looping visuals that accompany music tracks. From early assumptions and first principles thinking to scaling and measuring marketplace success, he shares how a bold experiment turned into one of Spotify’s most engaging features.

Key Takeaways
— Balancing Art and Science: Product management often lives between structured analysis and intuitive creativity—success lies in mastering both.
— First Principles and Assumptions: Questioning defaults—like static, square cover art—can open doors to bold innovation.
— Real Stakes Drive Real Creativity: Artist engagement with Canvas only truly emerged once the stakes felt genuine and public.
— Marketplace Thinking: Canvas succeeded because it delivered value for all marketplace participants—creators, consumers, and the platform itself.
— Innovation Through Structure: Weekly design sprints and rapid prototyping allowed Spotify’s innovation lab to explore and discard ideas quickly, eventually landing on Canvas.
— Scaling Insights: Measurable impact came later—higher engagement, saves, shares, and a new visual identity for music on Spotify.
— Artist-Centric Focus: Prioritising the needs of the supply side (artists) can unlock cold start challenges and marketplace growth.

Chapters
0:00 – Marketplace Thinking at Spotify
1:20 – Darius Jurek’s Journey into Product
2:45 – From Engineering to 0-to-1 Product Innovation
4:00 – Is Product Management an Art or a Science?
6:30 – The Brief: Connecting Creators and Fans
8:20 – Building an Innovation Lab
10:00 – Exploring Dozens of Ideas
11:45 – Why Canvas Won Out
13:10 – The Challenge of Validating a New Format
16:00 – Questioning the Assumptions Around Cover Art
19:00 – Real Stakeholder Feedback and Creative Buy-In
21:00 – Marketplace Metrics of Success
23:30 – Canvas and the Evolution of Music Discovery
26:00 – Visual Design, Collaboration, and Artist Empowerment
28:00 – Darius on Supplier-Led Product Strategy

Featured Links: Follow Dariusz on LinkedIn | Dariusz's website | Spotify | '#mtpcon @ Pendomonium 2024 Encore' recap

Our Hosts
Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.

Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.

In this episode of The Product Experience, Lily and Randy dive into the nuanced world of team collaboration with Jenny Wanger, product ops consultant. Jenny challenges the overuse of RACI matrices in product teams, arguing they often obscure deeper organisational issues rather than solve them. They discuss better alternatives, the root causes behind requests for RACI, and the value of prioritising human relationships over rigid frameworks.

Chapters
0:00 – The accountable vs. responsible dilemma
0:37 – Meet Jenny Wanger: Product ops and Reforge
1:20 – RACI: A quick explainer
3:16 – Why RACI falls short in product teams
7:00 – Infantilisation and territorialism
9:18 – The flaws in the terminology
10:14 – The consulted conundrum
11:05 – RACI as a conversation starter
12:01 – Better alternatives: Rapid and others
14:20 – When RACI might be useful
18:01 – Team dysfunction and RACI misuse
23:00 – A case study in resolving collaboration issues
26:00 – RACI as scaffolding, not infrastructure
28:02 – AI, documents, and relationships
30:05 – Diagnosing the real problem behind a RACI request
32:38 – Job descriptions vs. RACI
35:25 – Everyone’s a bit of everything
37:04 – Focusing on mission and collaboration
39:57 – Final thoughts and where to find Jenny’s work

Key Takeaways
— RACI isn't a cure-all: It often signals deeper dysfunction like poor team structure, unclear mission, or lack of trust.
— Healthy teams don't need RACI: When collaboration and communication are strong, formal frameworks become redundant.
— Use RACI as scaffolding: Let it initiate conversations, but don’t enshrine it as a permanent solution.
— Language matters: Terms like “accountable” and “responsible” are often confused, making the framework less clear than intended.
— Consider better alternatives: Frameworks like RAPID offer more clarity around decision-making without creating silos.
— Prioritise relationships over roles: Documents don't build culture—conversations and mutual understanding do.

Featured Links: Follow Jenny on LinkedIn | Jenny's RACI feature at her website | Dave Johnson's page at The Pragmatic Agilist

Our Hosts
Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.

Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.

We revisit our conversation with Frances Ibe, Chief Experience Officer at Tide. Frances shares invaluable insights on her journey from developer to product leadership and how to avoid common pitfalls during the discovery process.

Chapters
01:07 – Meet Frances Ibe
02:05 – Common Discovery Pitfalls
03:34 – Embedding Continuous Discovery
04:51 – The Myth of Talking to 20 Customers
06:38 – What is a Data Prototype?
08:03 – Building Confidence in Product Bets
10:42 – Sharing Insights Across the Business
13:52 – Keeping Sprint Reviews Engaging
15:49 – Discovery Through Observation
17:21 – Responding to Data-Driven Disruption
18:30 – The Power of Storytelling
20:49 – Training Teams in Storytelling
22:36 – Maintaining Message Consistency
23:48 – Collaborating Across Disciplines
25:01 – Francis' Game-Changing Advice

Featured Links: Follow Frances on LinkedIn | Tide | 'Six things we learned at the Pendomonium and #mtpcon roadshow - London 2024' feature by Louron Pratt

Our Hosts
Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.

Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.

Erica Wass, Principal Product Consultant at Brainmates, joins the Product Experience podcast to share pragmatic tools for building strategic foresight into your roadmap. From horizon scanning to backcasting, this episode explores how product teams can harness future-focused techniques—bolstered by generative AI—to improve decision-making, resilience, and impact.

Chapters:
0:00 – Why foresight matters in product
1:00 – Introducing Erica Wass
2:30 – How product is changing
3:45 – The value of strategic foresight
5:00 – Clarifying the term and its importance
7:00 – Who owns foresight in the product org
10:00 – Techniques: Horizon scanning, scenario planning, backcasting
14:30 – Horizon scanning in action: Google & Android
16:00 – Scenario planning for resilience
21:00 – Tips on running scenario sessions
23:45 – Backcasting: Vision-first roadmapping
26:00 – Using AI to accelerate foresight
30:00 – Product team dynamics in the AI era
33:00 – Mistakes to avoid and balancing action with foresight
37:00 – Wrap-up and takeaways

Key Takeaways
— Horizon scanning helps teams identify early, weak signals that may grow into significant trends.
— Scenario planning enables resilience by preparing teams for a range of plausible futures.
— Backcasting flips traditional planning by working backward from a long-term goal to define near-term milestones.
— Generative AI can democratise access to foresight tools—when used with critical thinking and proper validation.
— Product professionals should take a proactive role in guiding strategic conversations, regardless of their title.
— Avoid extremes with AI: neither fear it nor over-rely on it. Use it as a pairing partner rather than a replacement.

Our Hosts
Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.

Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.

Featured Links: Follow Brigitte on LinkedIn | DrDoctor | European Commission Public Health 'Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare' feature

Our Hosts
Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.

Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.

In this episode of The Product Experience, Lily Smith and Randy Silver speak with Dee Miller, Director of Product Strategy and Insights for Product Equity at Adobe. Dee shares her personal journey into inclusive design, and discusses how Adobe is moving beyond accessibility compliance to build genuinely usable, inclusive, and emotionally accessible products.

Featured Links: Follow Dee on LinkedIn | The Adobe Accessibility Checker | Listen to previous The Product Experience episode: 'Building Accessible Products' with Jonathan Hassell (CEO & Founder, Hassell Inclusion)

Our Hosts
Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.

Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.

In this episode of The Product Experience, Lily and Randy speak with Faith Forster about the art of aligning product work with commercial outcomes. From redefining velocity as a function of customer value to implementing impact models that quantify ROI, Faith outlines practical frameworks to help product teams think commercially without compromising user value.

She also explores the evolving role of AI in product development, the necessity of syncing planning cycles with business units, and why happy teams are the cornerstone of faster, better delivery.

Key takeaways

• Velocity = Value: Product velocity isn't about coding speed—it's about reducing time to customer value to improve ROI and lower opportunity cost.
  
  
• Impact Modelling: A disciplined approach to estimating commercial outcomes before development helps product teams understand and justify their work.
  
  
• AI Integration: Teams are expected to primarily use AI tools within three months to boost delivery speed and build organisational capability.
  
  
• Viability from Day One: Pricing and revenue potential must be considered from the outset—not after feature completion.
  
  
• Cross-Functional Alignment: Successful planning requires synchronising product cycles with finance, sales, and marketing calendars.
  
  
• Happy Teams, Better Results: Reducing friction between design, engineering, and product roles directly impacts delivery speed and feature quality.

Chapters
00:00 – Redefining velocity: Why speed isn’t just about code
01:05 – Faith’s journey from Dex to Legal
03:02 – Introducing the commercial value talk
04:51 – Understanding the P&L from a product lens
08:07 – Why team cost-awareness matters
10:00 – Building better impact models
12:25 – Increasing ROI through value velocity
16:37 – The AI imperative: Adoption, anxiety, and acceleration

Our Hosts
Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.

Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.