Phil is currently VP of Product & Engineering at Close.com, building a product people love and growing our SaaS business to be something great. Previously he spent two years leading the Engineering team at Quizlet, building study tools that millions of students relied upon. Phil has also interned at Google and Yahoo! as a software engineer, and did lots of freelance website design while at the University of Florida.
Co-founder of Brainhub, Matt describes himself as a “serial entrepreneur”. Throughout his career, Matt has developed several startups in Germany, wearing many hats- from a marketer to an IT Engineer and customer support specialist. As a host of the Better Tech Leadership podcast, Matt talks about growing successful businesses and the challenges of being a startup founder and investor.
.png)
In this episode, Matt interviews Jason Wilcox about the challenges and strategies for hiring and managing teams in the era of AI and emerging technologies, focusing on cost-cutting, vendor collaboration, and evolving leadership roles in product development. They discuss effective remote leadership practices, critiquing the “build fast and break things” philosophy for larger organizations, and stress understanding end-user needs to minimize unnecessary iterations. Jason highlights the significance of soft skills and ongoing training for leaders, as well as the opportunities and challenges posed by generative AI, including hiring mismatches in AI and machine learning, and the anticipated adoption curve of AI tools in development.
.png)
In this episode, Yariv Adan discusses his career in technology, emphasizing privacy concerns and his contributions to global products like Google Assistant. He explores the challenges and advancements in conversational AI, advocating for systems that understand user preferences and seamlessly integrate with existing applications, while remaining optimistic about overcoming foundational challenges. Yariv also highlights the importance of investing in early-stage AI startups, focusing on team capability and innovation, and critiques current data modeling practices and security issues in healthcare infrastructure.
.png)
In this episode, Imke Gaus shares her journey to leading the software engineering competence center at Volkswagen Group, discussing her career path from startup roles to her current position at CARIAD and the mentors who influenced her along the way. She highlights the integration of software development in the automotive industry, emphasizing customer impact, reliability, and security in digital experiences, while also exploring CARIADs focus on enhancing safety, sustainability, and comfort through a unified software stack.
.png)
In this episode, Matt and Antoine explore the critical role of mindset in product management, discussing experiences from Lazada and Alibaba. Antoine highlights the importance of aligning commercial and product development goals, stressing collaboration and nuanced objectives beyond revenue metrics, while also emphasizing market relevance and flexibility to avoid rigid frameworks. The episode addresses challenges like tech recession impacts and team layoffs, advocating for resilient teams and personal development.
