Debbie Widjaja is the Chief Product Officer of Zero Gravity, but in her 13 year career has worked in roles with Shopify, Bulb, and Facebook just to name a few. I was delighted to welcome her onto the Product Thinking podcast to delve into her journey from Indonesia to her current role.

She explained her view on product principles and how important it is to establish them in order to guide your team in a direction that aligns with your values and the company DNA.

We covered AI, how to deliver innovation in smaller companies and what the future of product management looks like.

Read on to see what Debbie had to say.

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I recently sat down with Ryan Johnson, Chief Product Officer at CallRail to hear all about his fascinating journey in product management and how he feels the role has changed since his career began.

And it’s not only the role of the product manager that he sees as being all-change in recent years. Ryan explained to me how he sees storytelling being far more important than it used to be in boardroom environments.

Read on to hear more about Brian's journey and his valuable insights on product strategy and communication within a company.

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I recently sat down with Anthony Maggio, Head of Product and VP at Airtable to discuss combating challenges within the digital supply chain, addressing strategy drift, and how Anthony is spearheading Airtable’s newest: Airtable AI. 

Airtable is all about connecting people and data, and connecting with Anthony to hear his clarity of thought and collaborative ethos, it was clear to see why he’s become such a trusted figure in this space. You can read about some of the fascinating thoughts he shared with me on AI integration below.

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I was joined by a Harvard professor this week on the Product Thinking podcast. Amy Edmondson was my illustrious guest, author of the new hit book: “Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well”. 

In our wide-reaching discussion around psychological safety and the distinction between leadership and leaders, Amy’s ideas about how we ought to be better at failing took real compelling shape. I’m excited to share with you some of the thoughts and insights that arose out of our discussion below.

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In this episode of the Product Thinking podcast, host Melissa Perri is joined by Mark McNally, a venture innovator who founded Nobody Studios, a startup incubator on the path to creating 100 compelling companies in the next 5 years. Join them as they discuss the fundamentals of building successful companies, the importance of culture, and the role of venture studios in supporting founders.

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In this episode of the Product Thinking podcast, host Melissa Perri is joined by Stephen Bungay, author of The Art of Action and former Director of the Ashridge Strategic Management Centre. Join them as they explore Stephen’s approach to strategy execution. They discuss the common struggles in strategy execution and how to overcome them in your product management team.

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In this episode of the Product Thinking podcast, host Melissa Perri is joined by Margaret Jastrebski, the SVP of Product at Tegus. Join them as they explore what it means to be a leader today. They discuss Margaret’s role at Tegus, the power of alignment within an organization, understanding sales and marketing, and the importance of a vision for execution.

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In this episode of the Product Thinking podcast, host Melissa Perri is joined by Jacob Morgan, author of “Leading with Vulnerability.” Join them as they explore what it means to be a leader today. They discuss Jacob’s personal journey to vulnerability, balancing vulnerability and competency, the importance of being self aware and many actionables to be a better overall leader.

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In this episode of the Product Thinking podcast, host Melissa Perri is joined by Alex Wettrelos Chief Product Officer at Sunday. Join them as they explore the challenges of rapid scaling and then descaling during the 2022 tech-crisis. They discuss how Sunday, a fintech company innovating payment methods across the hospitality industry, went from an idea on a slide deck to 450 employees with $203 million of seed funding. They also touch on the differences between  product management in Europe & the US.

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In this episode of Product Thinking, Aaron Smith joins Melissa Perri. Together, they discuss Aaron’s best practices he learned from his time at Amazon, key leadership principles, creating a culture of accountability, and the destiny creator mindset. 

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In this episode of the Product Thinking podcast, host Melissa Perri is joined by Darren Wilson, Chief Product Officer of Soul Machines. Join them as they explore Darren’s journey to CPO of Soul Machines, a company that produces digital humanoids. They discuss the challenges of building digital avatars, keeping up with AI technology, and leveraging user feedback to shape product strategies. 

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In this episode of Product Thinking, Matt DiBari joins Melissa Perri to discover the secrets of product management in high growth companies. Together, they discuss effective user research, the different mindsets in B2B & B2C, essential skills in high growth companies, and breaking into product management.

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In this episode of Product Thinking, Mercedes Chatfield-Taylor, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Artico Search, joins Melissa Perri. Together, they discuss navigating the hiring landscape for Chief Product Officers, the importance of technical expertise and commercial acumen in today's market, and what the difference is between a Head of Product and a Chief Product Officer.

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In this episode of Product Thinking, Tim Armandpour, Chief Technology Officer at PagerDuty, joins Melissa Perri to explore leadership qualities, product & technology roles, their challenges, and the importance of an overarching company vision. They discuss user-centricity, product-market fit, and aligning teams.

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In this episode of Product Thinking, Craig Saldanha, Chief Product Officer at Yelp, joins Melissa Perri to explore user research, two-sided marketplaces, and the concept of the flywheel. They discuss future-proofing the business, building customer trust, and Yelp’s importance as a platform for reviews and recommendations.

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In this episode of Product Thinking, Paolo Lombardi joins Melissa Perri to explore founding the TechPeaks startup accelerator—they discuss the unique aspects of the program, including its focus on attracting international entrepreneurs and promoting collaboration, and the importance of planning and preparation.

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In this episode of the Product Thinking podcast, host Melissa Perri is joined by Leah Tharin, Co-Founder of Bedfables. Join them as they explore the different types of growth strategies and when to use them, as well as the importance of aligning sales and product teams. Leah also talks about the power of data-driven strategies in bridging sales and product teams and how aligning with customer success fuels product-led growth.

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In this episode of the Product Thinking podcast, host Melissa Perri is joined by Mauricio Monico, Chief Product Officer at Wish. Join them as they discuss marketplace dynamics and turnaround strategies. They deep-dive into Mauricio’s extensive product management expertise and wisdom gained from his previous roles with Microsoft, eBay, Facebook, Google, and various startups. They also touch on Mauricio’s time with Indigo Ag, a company focused on agricultural sustainability, during a big turnaround.

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In this episode of the Product Thinking podcast, host Melissa Perri is joined by Jean-Manuel Izaret, Global Leader of Marketing, Sales, and Pricing Practice at Boston Consulting Group. Join them as they discuss strategic pricing and its importance in the technology industry. They explore different pricing models and strategies, including segmenting users and offering different pricing options based on the value received. They also touch upon the challenges of pricing AI models and the concept of fairness in pricing.

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