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The Product Podcast

The Product Podcast

By: Product School
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About this listen

Hosted by Product School Founder & CEO Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia, The Product Podcast features candid conversations with product management executives from the world's best tech companies like Google, Meta, Netflix, Airbnb, and Amazon.

New episodes release weekly, unveiling actionable frameworks, unconventional best practices, and real-world examples you can implement immediately.

Perfect for senior product managers, directors, and VPs hungry to build better products, stronger teams, and drive innovation at scale.

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Episodes
  • Shopify VP of Product on How to Build AI-First Products | Glen Coates | E269
    Jun 25 2025

    In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Glen Coates, Vice President of Product at Shopify.

    Shopify is one of the world’s leading commerce platforms, powering millions of businesses and helping entrepreneurs sell online and offline with ease. Since launching in 2006, it has become a global e-commerce giant and the second-largest online retailer in the U.S., with over $8 billion in annual revenue and 8,000+ employees working fully remotely.

    Glen leads Shopify’s Core Product organization, overseeing the storefront, checkout, back office, marketing, analytics tools, and the core developer platform. He also drives Shopify’s thriving partner ecosystem, which offers merchants access to over 10,000 apps. From video game developer to B2B ecommerce founder to product leader at scale, Glen brings a rare blend of technical depth and entrepreneurial vision.

    In this episode, he shares how his unconventional path shaped his approach to product leadership, the principles behind Shopify’s fast-moving strategy, and how the company stays ahead with AI and deep product focus. He also explains his org design for scale, why every product leader must “know everything down to the details,” and how the team keeps the experience polished with the “Boring Edition.”

    What you’ll learn:
    -Glen’s journey from game development to leading Shopify’s core platform.
    - How Shopify’s viral “AI memo” raised the bar for PMs and engineers to build faster.
    - The Outcomes, Assumptions & Principles framework behind better product decisions.
    - Why focusing on fundamentals keeps Shopify nimble and merchants competitive.

    Key Takeaways 👇
    - Entrepreneurial Product Leadership: How building Handshake prepared Glen to tackle real commerce pain points at Shopify.
    -Future-Proof Commerce: How Shopify uses its rich data and AI to help millions of merchants grow.
    -Decision-Making at Scale: Glen’s practical frameworks for aligning thousands of people to deliver seamless, high-quality products.

    This episode is brought to you by Persona, the adaptable identity platform that helps businesses fight fraud, meet compliance requirements, and build trust. These days, it's easier than ever for fraudsters to steal voices, faces, and identities. That's where Persona comes in; helping leading companies to securely verify individuals and businesses worldwide, providing flexible building blocks to create tailored verification flows that maximize conversion while minimizing risks.
    Whether you work at a startup or large enterprise, you can get started for free here: https://withpersona.com/productschool

    Social Links:
    - Follow our Podcast on TikTok here
    - Follow Product School on LinkedIn here
    - Join Product School's free events here
    - Find out more about Product School here

    Credits:
    Host: Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia
    Guest: Glen Coates

    Show more Show less
    57 mins
  • Warner Music President on Transforming Tech from Cost Center to Revenue Generator | Ariel Bardin | E268
    Jun 4 2025

    In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia sits down with Ariel Ban, President of Technology at Warner Music Group, live from the ProductCon stage. Warner Music Group, home to some of the world’s most iconic artists, is undergoing a bold transformation under Ariel’s leadership. A former Google and YouTube executive, Ariel brings a startup mindset to a 900-person organization within one of the most tradition-rich industries: music.

    In this conversation, Ariel shares his unfiltered approach to digital transformation—from replacing bloated MVP culture with his “Minimum Proud Product” philosophy to building real-time dashboards that empower artists with actionable data. He also dives into the infamous “3-sh***ts” framework he uses to evaluate product managers, and how he’s instilling a culture of trust, ownership, and creativity across a global tech org.

    What you’ll learn:
    - Ariel’s journey from big tech to the music industry and his unique take on what transformation really looks like.
    - Why MVPs are a “disease” and how to build products artists and fans are proud of.
    - The strategy behind launching artist-facing tools like real-time revenue dashboards.
    - How Warner Music is leveraging AI to unlock value in a highly creative, fast-changing space.


    Key Takeaways👇:
    -
    Redefining Digital Transformation: Ariel argues that real change starts with culture, not tech—and shares how to lead with clarity at scale.
    - Artist-Centric Product Thinking: Empowering creators through data requires more than just tools; it requires trust, transparency, and a proud product experience.
    - From MVP to MPP: His “Minimum Proud Product” philosophy offers a sharp critique of default startup practices and a new way to drive quality and impact.

    This episode is brought to you by Persona, the adaptable identity platform that helps businesses fight fraud, meet compliance requirements, and build trust. These days, it's easier than ever for fraudsters to steal voices, faces, and identities. That's where Persona comes in; helping leading companies to securely verify individuals and businesses worldwide, providing flexible building blocks to create tailored verification flows that maximize conversion while minimizing risks.
    Whether you work at a startup or large enterprise, you can get started for free here: https://withpersona.com/productschool

    Social Links:
    - Follow our Podcast on Tik Tok here
    - Follow Product School on LinkedIn here
    - Join Product School's free events here
    - Find out more about Product School here

    Credits:
    Host: Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia
    Guest: Ariel Bardin

    Show more Show less
    26 mins
  • Roblox CPO on 10 Counterintuitive Principles for Building Software Products | Manuel Bronstein | E267
    May 14 2025

    In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Manuel Bronstein, Chief Product Officer at Roblox. Roblox is not just a video game—it's a platform that enables people to play, create, and build businesses in immersive virtual worlds. With over 85 million daily active users growing at 20% year-over-year, Roblox has paid out more than $923 million to its creator community in 2024 alone.

    Manuel brings extensive experience from leading roles at major tech platforms including Xbox, Zynga, YouTube, and Google Assistant. As Roblox's CPO, he oversees the platform's product strategy and development, focusing on creating tools and systems that empower creators while maintaining trust and safety at scale.

    In this episode, we'll explore:
    - The evolution of Roblox from gaming platform to virtual economy
    - How Roblox manages its creator marketplace and virtual economy
    - Manuel's product leadership principles and frameworks
    - Strategies for maintaining startup culture while scaling
    - The future of virtual worlds and immersive platforms

    Chapters:
    (00:00) 🎮 Introduction and Career Journey
    (05:25) 🚀 From Gaming to Platforms: Leadership Lessons
    (15:30) 💰 Building and Managing Virtual Economies
    (25:45) 🛠️ Product Development at Scale
    (35:20) 🔮 The Future of Virtual Worlds
    (45:10) 💡 Leadership Principles and Team Building

    Key Takeaways 👇:
    - Virtual Economy Management: Manuel emphasizes the importance of building systems that can scale while maintaining trust and safety, particularly in managing a virtual economy with real monetary value.
    - Leadership Principles: Focus on building fast and learning faster, using first principles thinking, and implementing radical simplification to solve complex problems.
    - Platform Dynamics: Understanding the unique challenges of managing a platform that serves both creators and users, requiring different approaches to engagement and monetization.
    - Scaling Culture: Manuel shares strategies for maintaining startup-like innovation and execution speed while growing into a major platform.
    - Systems Thinking: The importance of designing scalable systems from the start, particularly when dealing with user-generated content and virtual economies.


    Social Links:
    - Follow our Podcast on Tik Tok here
    - Follow Product School on LinkedIn here
    - Join Product School's free events here
    - Find out more about Product School here

    Credits:
    Host: Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia
    Guest: Manuel Bronstein

    Show more Show less
    56 mins
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