
PRODUCTEA with Leah, Growth & Senior Leadership
Honest, unfiltered conversations with the best from tech - spilling the tea about product, growth, and senior leadership topics.
www.leahtharin.com
Episodes
106 episodes
106: Evie Brockwell - Burnout, Boundaries & Breaking the Hustle Cycle
Evie Brockwell unpacks why 92% of PMs are crispy-fried – and why "just meditate more" isn't the answer. We dissect toxic sprint culture, ADHD-friendly boundary hacks, and why treating burnout like a product churn problem might save your sanity ...
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Season 4
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Episode 55
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53:24

105: Melissa Perri - Why "AI" is a terrible strategist
Melissa Perri drops truth bombs about why most companies fail at AI integration, how legacy giants self-sabotage innovation, and why "slapping AI on it" is the fastest way to irrelevance.Timestamps & Key Moments05:59...
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Season 4
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Episode 54
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50:30

104: John Cutler - How to Turn Team Chaos into Strategy
Forget corporate utopias—John Cutler spills the real tea on why work sucks and why we are messy. On "organized anarchies," why 50% of your team is checked out, and how to turn chaos into strategy. Perfect for you if you are tired of performativ...
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Season 4
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Episode 53
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53:10

103: CJ Gustafson - The Silent Recession: Why Product Leaders Need CFOs Now
CJ Gustafson (ex-PWC tech CFO, finance provocateur) unpacks how tariffs and economic chaos are gutting SaaS valuations, why AI budgets are CEOs’ midlife crisis splurges, and how to recession-proof your product strategy.Timestamps & ...
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Season 4
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Episode 53
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47:50

102: John Zeratsky - Fake Products, Real Feedback: Sprinting to Validation
John Zeratsky, co-creator of the Sprint Method and VC partner at Character, spills the tea on why "vision-driven" startups often fail, how to validate hypotheses before burning cash, and why your pitch deck needs more grit than glitter...
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Season 4
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Episode 52
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48:52

101: Srikrishnan Ganesan - “MVPs Are Dead” & Other SaaS Heresies
Why building opinionated products is the future, why skipping MVPs in established markets works, and how AI will reshape customer onboarding. When I met Srikrishnan Ganesan for the first time, he impressed me with his original framing of what i...
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Season 4
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Episode 51
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45:38

100: Matt Le May - The Product Manager’s Guide to Driving Business Impact
What’s up with the disconnect between product teams and business goals? Why vibes won't pay the bills, and how product teams can avoid the "elephant graveyard" of low-impact work. If you've ever wondered how to align your work with business out...
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Season 4
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Episode 50
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53:44

99: Mackenzie Hughes & Tara Goldman: From Jira Junkies to Profit Prophets
Connecting your work to business outcomes is a phrase we hear more and more in product and growth. Here's how Mackenzie Hughes and Tara Goldman from Goldhue lay it out and why we can't sleep on this anymore.Chapters with Timestamps
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Season 4
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Episode 49
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58:33

98: Ross Pomerantz - Cold Calls, CRMs, and Comedy Gold: Corporate Bro’s Unfiltered SaaS Diaries
Ross Pomerantz (aka Corporate Bro) pulls back the curtain on turning sales cringe into viral gold. The ex-Oracle SDR turned B2B comedy king reveals how he monetizes corporate absurdity, wh...
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Season 4
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Episode 48
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47:39

97: Adam Fishman - Killing Projects for a Living: Mozilla’s Stage-Gating Secrets
Adam Fishman, interim SVP of New Products at Mozilla, shares insights on zero-to-one product development, killing unsustainable projects, and navigating AI’s impact on B2B SaaS. He breaks down Mozilla’s stage-gating process for innovation, the ...
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Season 4
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Episode 47
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1:00:55

96: Lidia Oshlyansky - 3 Skills That Outlast Any Tech Shift
Lidia Oshlyansk reflects on navigating decades of tech evolution - from webmaster days to AI - and shares tactical advice for product operatives. Drawing parallels between today’s AI boom and past shifts (web/mobile revolutions), we talk about ...
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Season 4
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Episode 46
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58:12

95: Tal Raviv - AI for PMs: Stop Overthinking, Start Tinkering
From streamlining user research to improving cross-functional alignment, Tal Raviv shares practical tips for PMs to embrace AI without fear. The key? Start small, experiment often, and use AI as a thought partner - not a replacement. Whether it...
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Season 4
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Episode 45
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48:41

94: Julia Chatain - Misconceptions and How to Crush Them like a Scientist
Senior Scientist Julia Chantin unpacks how cognitive biases and flawed feedback loops sabotage learning—and why SaaS leaders need to care. From debunking misconceptions (like why “proving” someone wrong often backfires) to the power of embodied...
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Season 4
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Episode 44
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53:13

93: Emily Kramer - The Death of Marketing Channels
The amazing Emily Kramer talks with me about B2B Marketing, the rise and fall of influencer marketing, and the challenges of navigating the 2025 social media noise.What does the future of marketing look like while everything change...
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Season 4
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Episode 43
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52:45

92: Kris Rudeegraap - New Marketing Channels for 2025 and Product-Led Sales
Kris Rudeegraap, Co-CEO of Sendoso, talks about Sendoso’s journey from plg to sales-led back to plg and what all of this has to do with personal branding in B2B marketing. Why is Sendoso betting on physical advertising channels like gifts...
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Season 4
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Episode 42
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49:23

91: Dave Kellogg - Organizational design: Signs of Health vs. Conflict
“The only time where I saw all the VPs align is when they all hated the CEO” Why do we keep getting organizations wrong? How should you think about your team, the team of teams, and the organization you’re in?Our five principles of organ...
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Season 4
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Episode 41
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1:01:10

90: Harini Gokul - How to keep things "simple" at scale
The evolution of sales models, the critical role of customer success in driving revenue, and the responsibilities of C-level executives in fostering cross-functional collaboration with Harini Gokul, CCO @ Entrust, from a first principle perspec...
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Season 4
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Episode 40
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57:41

89: David Yockelson - Revolutionizing Sales with Interactive Demos
We explore the rising significance of interactive demos in B2B SaaS. How these demos serve as a bridge between potential buyers and products, improving all relevant pipeline numbers.The evolution of demo technology, the role of Gen.AI in...
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Season 4
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Episode 39
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51:48

88: Teresa Torres - Under the hood of Solopreneurship
Teresa Torres offers a rare sneak peek behind the curtain of how she runs her business. How can you maximize your chances when you’re reaching out to people like us who have limited attention to go around?What is our pricing strategy for...
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Season 4
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Episode 38
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38:54

87: Francesca Cortesi - From Market fit to IPO
Why is it so difficult for most companies to shift gears after reaching product market fit? Why can’t we just keep doing what made us successful?Francesca Cortesi shares with me insights on the difficult journey from finding product mark...
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Season 4
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Episode 37
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47:17

86: Joan Palmiter Bajorek: Layoff Anxiety in Tech and Career Optionality
The pervasive issue of layoff anxiety in the tech industry, particularly in the wake of COVID-19, overvaluation and the rise of AI. Dr. Joan Palmiter explores with me the importance of networking and personal branding as essential tools f...
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Season 4
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Episode 36
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51:23

85: Wes Kao - Strategies for communicating with leaders
The nuances of executive communication and the importance of building buy-in for ideas with Wes Kao. The role of credibility, understanding bandwidth in conversations, and strategies for framing discussions to enhance clarity and reduce cogniti...
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Season 4
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Episode 35
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1:01:03

84: Kristi Faltorusso - Aligning Customer Success and Product Management
Kristi Faltorusso, a CS executive and coach, joins me in this high-energy conversation about customer success-assisted onboarding, alignment, and the dreaded realities of cross-functional working with product & sales.We explore effec...
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Season 4
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Episode 34
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47:19

83: Tadas Labudis - Overcoming the fear of founder-led selling
Founder-led sales done well has a lot of power especially in product-led companies. Tadas Labudis shares his experiences with founder-led sales and how it helped him build confidence in the product and himself.How to embrace your vulnera...
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Season 4
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Episode 33
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54:33

82: Maranda Dziekonski - When selling never ends - CS in 2024 and beyond
Maranda Dziekonski on the evolving landscape of customer success, the importance of driving value for customers, and owning revenue outcomes for a function that traditionally never has. Like product.Why the traditional role is shifting t...
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Season 4
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Episode 32
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56:38
