Episodit
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This is a raw and unfiltered conversation with the legendary Unicorn founder ($2.9B exit with ForgeRock) Lasse Andresen.
Every founder in Scandinavia should listen to this.
We talked about why Norwegian startups need to stop thinking small, lessons learned from an IPO at Nasdaq and from the painful early days without funding, what Norwayâs startup ecosystem needs to do to truly compete on the global stage, what Founders in Scandinavia should consider - and what the typical traps they fall into are.
Itâs a punchy chat - A La Lasse - with tons of great stories, insights, and advice.
We discussed:
* Why Lasse only has a Plan A, never a Plan B
* What it really takes to go from zero to unicorn
* How he validated his idea before building anything
* Why ForgeRock went horizontal instead of vertical niche
* Hiring and Firing
* How boards can slow you down if youâre not careful
* Why Norwegian startups need to think global from day one
* What Norwayâs startup ecosystem need to do
* Advice for Founders in Scandinavia
* And more!
I loved this conversation, and Iâm sure youâll enjoy it too :)
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Brought to you by:
Gnist - Gnist is a leading boutique consulting company in Norway that helps companies reach their full digital potential. Whether you are a developer, product lead, tech lead, or business leader - Gnist can help you with the tools and practices you may need.
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 -
Brought to you by:
Gnist - Gnist is a leading boutique consulting company in Norway that helps companies reach their full digital potential. Whether you are a developer, product lead, tech lead, or business leader - Gnist can help you with the tools and practices you may need.
UX Signals - Donât 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
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My guest today is Morten Rand-Hendriksen, one of the clearest voices on tech ethics and AI in the world, author of multiple AI & Tech courses on Linkedin Learning - as a Principal Staff Instructor at LinkedIn.
In this conversation, we unpack:
* The hype and the harm behind AI agents
* Why startups are building on dangerous ground
* Why language models are being misused
* The hidden risks of outsourcing decision-making to machines that donât understand context
* The future of content creation: the ridiculous state of the current business models
* And much more
Whether youâre a founder, a business leader, a product mind, or just AI-curious - this one will make you pause and rethink.
Enjoy!
Check out Mortenâs courses on all things Tech & AI here: Linkedin Learning courses
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 -
Puuttuva jakso?
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My guests today are Martin Spinnangr and Shubham Bhattacharya, CPO at Munu and former CPO at Favrit - two Nordic rivals in the world of hospitality SaaS.
We talked about what it takes to build and scale a vertical SaaS product, the challenges of defining your ideal customer profile, why most product validation efforts fail, acquisition vs. retention, the real cost of poor strategic alignment, and more.
Shubham is currently a Lead PM at Xeneta and Martin has been a Product leader in Laerdal Medical and Easee before Munu - so this conversation brings different perspectives to the table and it was good to connect with these two again!
Enjoy :)
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 Ninni HĂžver - Head of Product at Vipps MobilePay, the largest mobile wallet in the Nordics.
This conversation is part of my series of talks with more than 20 product leaders in Scandinavia. Make sure you subscribe to my newsletter so you donât miss out!
This episode is packed with lessons learned from both scaling and going through a large merger.
I donât know a single Norwegian who doesnât use Vipps. So how does Ninni's team decide what to build? How do they balance priorities between different markets? What has changed in her leadership style before and after the merger with MobilePay? We cover all of this and so much more:
* How Vipps MobilePay became the Nordicsâ #1 mobile wallet
* Leading Product through a merger
* The power of simplicity and other product principles at Vipps MobilePay
* How to navigate different market needs
* Where most PMs and teams need to step up
* How to test and kill a bad idea fast
* And 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 -
My guest today is Tor Erik SkĂ„rdal and Stian Ăien - two former product leaders at Easee, once one of the fastest growing tech companies in Norway and the largest platform of EV chargers for homes in the Nordics.
This is one of the most vulnerable conversations in the podcast so far.
Most people in Norway and Sweden know how difficult Easeeâs journey has been.
From being one the fastest growing tech companies in Europe, to having to layoff most of its people after a sudden sales ban in a crucial market.
Tor Erik (former CPO at Easee), led Product in the company at a very challenging time.
Stian (now CPO at Futurehome and former VP at Easee), led Product at Easee from the early days and all the way to potentially even becoming a new Norwegian unicorn. Speaking of hyper scaleâŠ
So how does a crisis like this impact your leadership approach and how product teams are led? Whatâs the reality inside a company that is hiring several people every week versus a company thatâs forced to let go most of its people?
We talked about that and much more:
* Leading teams with outcomes
* Killing ideas fast
* Lessons learned from hyper scale
* Managing hardware products vs software
* The reality for Product teams in times of extreme crisis
* And more
This episode is part of a series where I interview 20+ CPOs across Scandinavia. Subscribe for free so you donât miss out.
This conversation was extra special in many ways, and also nostalgic (I worked with Stian when he was leading Product and with Tor Erik who was a PM in one of my teams).
Happy to be able to share this special chat with all of you.
Hope you enjoy it! :)
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 Francesca Cortesi, former Chief Product Officer at Hemnet - the largest housing marketplace in Sweden.
This is a deep dive into Hemnet's journey into adopting the Product Operating Model and Francesca's product and growth leadership journey.
Francesca shared deeply insightful stories, practical advice, and her perspective on driving change while keeping teams aligned and inspired.
We talked about:
* How Hemnet moved from features to outcomes.
* Why Strategic context is the most important thing for a CPO
* Why incremental changes beat big revolutions
* The surprising power of revisiting your business model and internal incentives
* Why asking for help can be a leadership growth hack.
* Product Leadership lessons to recognize and adapt to new growth phases
* And more
This was a joy, Francesca's journey at Hemnet is a very interesting, practical, and real case and she's also a great human being.
Enjoy!
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 Cecilie Skjong, Investment Manager at Skyfall Ventures - a Norwegian early-stage venture capital fund.
As a founder, nailing your pitch, thinking big and challenging yourself to be more visionary, and quickly testing your ideas to get a sense of the market pull are crucial.
And the same applies to a cross-functional team building a new product in a scale-up. The same applies to a product leader leading a new opportunity in a large organization.
After being exposed to hundreds of pitches and investing in several early-stage ventures, Cecilie shared with me:
* Characteristics of great founding teams
* The importance of drive and resilience when testing ideas and building products
* Early signs of market pull
* Thinking big and the importance of Vision
* How to craft a great pitch
* The power of Founder-led Sales
* The importance of understanding your macro trends (Waves)
* The state of the Norwegian startup scene
* And more
If youâre a founder, I recommend pairing this episode with:
* Episode 1: Testing Ideas with David Bland, co-author of the book Testing Business Ideas written together with Alex Osterwalder
* Episode 9: Understanding Jobs to be Done with Bob Moesta, co-creator of the JTBD framework together with Clayton Christensen
* Episode 19: Nailing your Positioning with April Dunford, bestselling author of one of the most well-known marketing books out there
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 with my friend Frederik Hansen - CPO at Ignite.
Ignite is a leading sustainable procurement platform that enables companies to take control of their purchasing from suppliers, comply with regulations, and reduce costs, emissions, and risks - all in one place.
Before Ignite, Frederik was CPO at Bookis.
He is also the co-founder of Produktleder.no - the largest community for product managers in Norway - and a co-organizer of the ProductTank in Oslo. A true contributor to the product community in Norway.
In this conversation, Frederik and I discussed:
* Starting a CPO role with a 1-month grace period
* Healthy principles in strong product teams
* Cross-functional collaboration in practice
* Making time for discovery at Ignite
* Creating an environment for product teams to thrive
* Examples from Frederikâs journey on how to test ideas fast using different techniques
* What Frederik looks for in a PM (traits)
* And more
Enjoy :)
Hey there, Afonso here đ
I've interviewed more than 30 Product leaders in Scandinavia, and this is one of those conversations. Subscribe for free so you donât miss out on future interviews!
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 guest is Melissa Mills, VP of Product at Ardoc, former Director of Product at Kahoot!, and former Global Product Lead at Google in San Francisco.
Ardoc is a fast-growing scale-up in Norway, recognized by Gartner as a leading Enterprise Architecture Tool.
Their Series D raise is one of the five largest private funding rounds by a Norwegian tech business.
Many enterprise companies like Carlsberg Group are choosing Ardoc, and this episode will give you an insider view of how they build their products.
Melissa and I talked about:
- Ardoc's growth and product journey
- Product management in big tech, startups, and scale-ups
- Product Managers' valuable traits according to company stage
- The importance of domain knowledge in B2B
- How Product and Sales should partner
- Onboarding product teams
- Cultural differences between doing Product in Norway versus Silicon Valley
- And so much more
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đȘ Companies I think you should know about:
UX Signals - Donât 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 -
Would you like to know how Norway's best mobile bank builds its products?
Today's guest is Thomas Allan Nygaard - Product Leader at Sparebank 1, one of the largest banks in Norway and named Norway's best mobile bank.
Thomas and his team are constantly trying to push their boundaries and this conversation walks you through their ongoing journey into adopting and continuously adjusting their product operating model.
We covered:
* Sparebank's journey from breaking the monolith
* How their teams approach discovery and risk reduction
* Balancing just enough discovery and risk-taking
* The power of small autonomous teams
* Why feedback from Beta users can be dangerous
* Product Strategy as problem-solving
* Using OKRs and other techniques to increase focus
* Why organizational and team focus start with each individual
* And more
Listen now: Apple | Spotify | Youtube
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đȘ Companies I think you should know about:
UX Signals - Donât 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 Beth Stensen.
Beth is a gem in the Design world in Norway.
She was Head of Design at Ruter (the company responsible for the plan, coordination, order and market of public transport in Oslo & Akershus), she then became the CEO at Netlife (famous for their Y Oslo Conference), and now she's the Head of Design at Posten Bring - the leading post company in the Nordics.
Beth has a lot of experience with transformations and this conversation is packed with insights and advice from her journey - as well as reflections on the Product Movement and how it's impacting Design, and its future.
We covered:
* The âProductâ Movement and its impact to Design
* Making room for the intangibles
* Reflections on âtensionâ between Design and Product
* Ruterâs transformational journey
* A practical example of what a great Product Vision looks like
* Tips to navigate transformation as a Designer and Design leader
* Insights from Bethâs journey at Posten Bring so far
* The Future of Design
* And more
I really loved talking with Beth. Thereâs so much wisdom here. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did :)
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 -
Todayâs guest is the one and only Christina Wodtke - Professor at Stanford and author of several bestsellers, including the famous book on OKRs âRadical Focusâ.
We covered:
* Foundations and misconceptions about OKRs
* Prerequisites for successfully use OKR
* Why OKRs might not be for you
* The importance of psychological safety and strategic context
* Outcome-based key results vs. output-based results
* Cross-functional team collaboration and shared objectives
* Cadences and Principles
* Exploratory OKRs
* Challenges in large organizations with complex dependencies
* And more
Christina is a legend and one of my biggest references.
I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!
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References:
Article: Why context and culture matter in leading with objectives
Aligned: Stakeholder Management for Product Leaders
Team Topologies: Organizing Business and Technology Teams for Fast Flow
The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists
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 -
I've interviewed more than 30 Product leaders in Scandinavia, and this is one of those conversations.
Subscribe for free so you donât miss out on future conversations and related content
Today I'm talking with Marius RĂžstad - CPO at Aidn - and Espen Sundve - former CPO at Oda, whoâs 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 Norwayâs 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 youâre 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 -
Todayâs episode is particularly special.
A 2-hour masterclass on discovery that every designer, product manager, founder, and product leader should hear
With 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
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Show notes
* Teresa's book: Continuous Discovery Habits
* Teresa's blog and website
* Teresaâs LinkedIn profile
* Petraâs LinkedIn profile
* Petraâs website
* Petra's books
* Strong Product People
* Strong Product Communities
* Richard Rumeltâs Good Strategy, Bad Strategy â 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 Christensenâs Deliberate vs. Emergent Strategy
* Bob Moestaâs Jobs to Be Done and interview methods
* Gino Wickmanâs 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
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đȘ Companies I think you should know about:
UX Signals - Donât 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
â
Afonsoâs profile
Aprilâs profile and website
Aprilâs 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.
Itamarâs 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?
Youâll have to listen to find out
All I can say is: this was such a beautiful conversation, with two giants discussing their points of view and talking highly of each otherâs work. Loved it, and Iâm 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 Itamarâs 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 -
My guest today is Melissa Perri.
Melissa is the author of the bestselling book "Escaping the Build Trap" and recently co-authored âProduct Operations: How successful companies build better products at scaleâ.
She runs a successful CPO Accelerator, is a former professor at Harvard Business School, serves on several Boards, and is the Founder of Product Institute.
In this conversation, we explore:
* The role of Product Ops
* The main misconceptions with Product Ops
* The 3 key pillars of Product Ops
* How do you get started and how to scale the team
* How Product Ops support Product Teams and Product Leaders
* Product Ops as an enabling teams and how to measure its success
* The most important skills in a CPO
* What most CPOs struggle with and why
* And more!
â
Where to find Melissa Perri:
âą LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissajeanperri/
âą Product Institute WebsiteâđȘ Companies I think you should know about:
UX Signals - Donât 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 -
Stay tuned by subscribing for free: https://afonsofranco.substack.com/
My guest today is Ryan Singer.
Ryan is the author of Shape Up, an excellent guide to help teams and companies work in a better way to ship work that matters - consistently over time.
Ryan's work is incredibly important to understand. Whether you adopt Shape Up or not, there are so many golden nuggets in how Ryan sees the world of how teams should work.
In our conversation, we covered:
* Why do Scrum and other agile frameworks often fail to shape valuable work
* Why framing the work before shaping it is key
* Who should shape the work
* How to use time constraints and its importance
* How to navigate building something new while maintaining
* The Future of Product Management
* And 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 -
My guest today is Janna Bastow.
Janna is the Co-founder of Mind the Product - the worldâs largest product community - Founder & CEO at ProdPad, and the inventor of the widely adopted roadmap framework âNow, Next, Laterâ
Thereâs so much Janna and I could have talked about but we focused on what great roadmaps look like, and the future of product management.
We discussed:
* The story behind how Now Next Later was invented, from idea to widely spread roadmap framework
* Different ways to frame your roadmap based on your context
* Using roadmaps, written narratives, and OKRs together
* Roadmapping experiments
* Designing roadmaps in ways that enable you to revisit what you've done and measure your outcomes
* Roadmaps best practices
* Why all companies will eventually die and what we can do about it
* The Future of Product Management
* How will AI impact both the role of Product and the products we build
* And 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 -
Subscribe for free: https://afonsofranco.substack.com/
My guest today is Daniel Elizalde.
Daniel has trained more than 1500 people in product management, including folks from top tech companies like Tesla, Microsoft, and more.
He's been working in Product for over 25 years, in so many different industries - and is the author of the book The B2B Innovators Map.
This conversation was a deep dive into Product Management applied to B2B products, covering:
* The importance of mapping out your industry in B2B
* Why your first 10 customers in B2B equals product market fit
* How to find your first 10 paying customers in B2B
* Building a discovery network with potential customers
* Experiment roadmaps vs product roadmaps
* Relevant experiments and discovery techniques in B2B
* Understanding why customers should be prioritized over users in most B2B cases
* The importance of understanding how big the problem you're solving is and how it's related to willingness to pay
* Testing viability in B2B
* Main mistakes people make when transitioning from B2C to B2B
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Daniel is currently teaching a new course: Mastering B2B Product Innovation.
Whether you are building new enterprise software or B2B IoT solutions, this course may be what youâre looking for to know you are leading your team in the right direction. Make sure you check it out!
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 - Näytä enemmän
