Scandinavian Product Podcast

I've interviewed more than 30 Product leaders in Scandinavia, and this is one of those conversations.Subscribe for free so you don’t miss out on future conversations and related contentToday I'm talking with Marius Røstad - CPO at Aidn - and Espen Sundve - former CPO at Oda, who’s now a Senior Advisor at Schibsted.Marius used to head up product at Ruter before joining Aidn as Chief Product Officer.Aidn is one of the coolest healthcare scaleups in Norway, aiming to disrupt healthcare.Espen has also held product leadership roles before joining Oda as its CPO, where he thrived for 7 years.Oda is Norway’s leading online grocery store.How does Oda build products and organize itself? What are some of the principles behind their success?And how is Aidn doing that today, one of the most interesting tech scaleups in Norway in the healthcare space?You'll find out soon, as well as learn both Marius and Espen's perspectives on being more strategic, their views and approach to product strategy, team topologies, the importance of speed, how to foster alignment when you’re scaling fast - and so much more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit afonsofranco.substack.com

Today’s episode is particularly special.A 2-hour masterclass on discovery that every designer, product manager, founder, and product leader should hearWith bestselling authors Teresa Torres (Product Discovery Habits) and Petra Wille (Strong Product People) - two of my biggest references.My god, this was fun...!Is it the first long-format episode on discovery with 2 industry legends? Possibly...Will there be advanced lessons, golden practical nuggets, and plenty of spicy takes?Oh yes...The only thing I can say is: you're in for a treat :)Petra, Teresa, and I covered:* How to get support from your leadership to do great discovery* Main mistakes to avoid when doing discovery and what to do instead* How to frame business and product outcomes* How to set great strategic context and close the loop between discovery and strategy* Why user research is not the same as product discovery* The danger with the double diamond* How to translate discovery into a story CEOs want to hear* Beyond discovering products: business modeling* How to use KPI trees* Deep dive into Opportunity Solution Trees and main pitfalls* And so so much more_Show notes* Teresa's book: Continuous Discovery Habits* Teresa's blog and website* Teresa’s LinkedIn profile* Petra’s LinkedIn profile* Petra’s website* Petra's books* Strong Product People* Strong Product Communities* Richard Rumelt’s Good Strategy, Bad Strategy – mentioned by Teresa in the context of defining strategy and diagnosing market conditions.* Seven Powers, the foundation of Business strategy* Petra's article on KPI trees* Clayton Christensen’s Deliberate vs. Emergent Strategy* Bob Moesta’s Jobs to Be Done and interview methods* Gino Wickman’s book Traction* Rich Mironov's blog Product Bytes* Carlo Mahfouz episode and website* Moment Prisons article, recommended to me by John Cutler a while back_💪 Companies I think you should know about:UX Signals - Don’t let your busy schedule stop you from talking to users.Automatically recruit interviews and user tests with people who are using your product. Talk to them while their user experience is still fresh in their mind.Used by big companies like DNB Bank, Vipps MobilePay, NAV, and many more.Tell them Afonso sent you, and get 50% off your trial.Know more here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit afonsofranco.substack.com

My guest today is the globally renowned marketing expert April Dunford.April has probably advised more B2B tech companies on positioning than anyone in the world.April's book Obviously Awesome is one of the biggest best-selling marketing books out there - and I'm so happy we had time to dig into everything you need to know to nail Product Positioning so that customers get it, buy it, and love it.Every founder, marketing, sales, and product person should listen to this episode!We discussed:* Why companies fail with positioning* Why positioning is a team sport* April's step-by-step process to nail product positioning* How to find your ICP (ideal customer profile)* Common pitfalls when defining positioning* Messaging vs branding vs positioning* How to align Product, Marketing, Sales, and Executive leadership on positioning and why it's important* How to translate your positioning to a killing Sales pitch—Afonso’s profileApril’s profile and websiteApril’s books:* Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It* Sales Pitch: How to craft a story to stand out and win This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit afonsofranco.substack.com

My guests today are Itamar Gilad and Bruce McCarthy.Itamar is a former product leader for Gmail, Youtube, and Microsoft - and is the author of the bestselling book Evidence Guided.Itamar’s latest book is about creating high-impact products in the face of uncertainty, and he also has some strong views on roadmaps, roadmapping, common traps to avoid, and what to consider instead.But so does Bruce!Bruce is the author of the book Product Roadmaps Relaunched and, most recently, the book Aligned - a deep dive into stakeholder management for product leaders.The question is: do Itamar and Bruce agree on what a great roadmap looks like? Whether we need them at all?You’ll have to listen to find outAll I can say is: this was such a beautiful conversation, with two giants discussing their points of view and talking highly of each other’s work. Loved it, and I’m sure you will too.We covered:* The purpose of roadmaps* The dangers of output-based roadmaps and practical tips to avoid them* When to have dates on roadmaps* How to craft an outcome-based roadmap* Techniques to use instead of roadmaps* How to use OKRs and roadmaps* Deep dive on Itamar’s framework GIST* And so much more This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit afonsofranco.substack.com