Business of Product

Mike Reynolds revisits the big idea behind our show: why the business of product is never just about the product. As the co-founder & CEO of Innovatemap, a full-service digital product agency in Indianapolis and NYC, Mike explores from decades of personal experience what it takes to build a successful product business. Spoiler: Doing so takes so much more than a good product idea. In today’s environment, Mike explains that success hinges on knowing which ideas are worth building a business around. This episode will give you the roadmap you need to make that big decision.   Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to see the latest from the Better Product Community powered by Innovatemap. The community is the connection point for product leaders & practitioners to learn and share what it takes to design, build, market, and sell better products. Learn more at betterproduct.community.  Takeaways:  It might be easier to become an entrepreneur; it is NOT easier to be one.  Building a business requires going beyond product ideas.  Seek product experts to build the right business around your product.  Things To Listen For: [1:30] What founders need to consider after finding their product idea  [2:00] How to think about product-market fit and product differentiation [2:30] When to balance building your product with promoting your product  [3:30] The pros & cons of more entrepreneurs coming from specialized industries, not just tech   [6:00] Why you need a team of product experts to advance your business—and what to look for when building one of your own  [8:00] The difference between becoming and being an entrepreneur [11:00] Mike’s predictions for the future of digital products & business

The past few months have been full of amazing conversations with high-growth founders and CEOs.  We’ve noticed a few themes from this inaugural season of Business of Product: Preserving the human side of tech Considering new ways of fundraising The power of the pivot In this episode we breakdown these takeaways and, as you know, we believe that the Business of Product is never just about the product. So we’re also reflecting on what the Business of Product means to each of our guests.

You might think of psychology and tech as being worlds apart from each other. But Annie Miller, a former therapist turned tech founder believes the exact opposite is true. As she began building her company, w/you, she found others who believe it, too. Michael Fulwiler is someone Annie admires in this space. He’s a digital marketing expert for mental health startups, and has built a career on understanding the people behind the screen. Annie and Michael join us for this episode, where we dive into the parallels between therapy and tech, the importance of ethics in business, and how ignoring “experts” lead to products that solve hard problems.

Is it possible to turn both a profit and leave the world a little bit better? Sonny Tai, CEO and Co-founder of Actuate, is proof that it is. Sonny joins the Business of Product show to share how people are key to success, from his time in the Marines to now growing Actuate. Proving when you focus on social impact, you accomplish more than you can imagine.  Join the conversation as Sonny shares his vision for security as a force for good, transforming a labor-intensive industry into a technology-driven space, and demonstrating what it means to “do well by doing good.”

With so many products designed to keep your attention locked on your screen, Ethan Mayers and the ChalkNotes team want their product to get you off your screen and back into the real world.In this episode Ethan shares why he’s countering the status quo.  He believes in the importance of shared experiences, the power of stories, and the ability of technology to improve the human condition. He infused these values into ChalkNotes — a creator, editor, and player for experiences. Join us to hear Ethan share why he believes the business of product is about shared human experience.

AI has a bad reputation with some industries, causing fear that it will eliminate jobs. But AI doesn’t have to replace humans. It can be a tool to make your job easier and allows you to do more. That’s what Etie Hertz and his team at Loris are doing. He joins us to share how Loris uses AI to make customer service agents’ jobs easier, improve customer experience, and ultimately benefit brands. Rather than replacing human agents, Loris uses AI to provide insights that allow agents to easily and effectively help customers. It helps agents put humans first. Throughout this conversation, Etie shows us that the business of product improves the way brands interact with their customers.

Peter Sisson, CEO and Cofounder of Yaza, has been in tech for a long time, he fell in love with computers back when we called the internet the worldwide web.   From building successful companies to losing millions, Peter’s learned a thing or two about business. One of those lessons being . that products don’t always turn out the way you plan, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. “You've got to get something out there, but expect it not to be right and architect it to iterate.” With his current company, Yaza, Peter is leaning into that notion of iteration as you’ll hear in his conversation with Austin. Instead of reinventing, Peter is pivoting his product towards something he couldn’t have predicted. 

Andrew Sawyer, CEO and Cofounder of Cured, has built his career in the healthcare industry from childhood, giving him a unique competitive advantage. He and his partners have a distinct understanding of what the problems in the industry are and what was needed. This subject matter expertise is also what enabled them to acquire client’s early on in their process. “The weight of being able to have clients of that scale be really tremendous partners to us from day one really helped us.” Andrew’s not only referring to the revenue those customers provided but also the feedback they gave providing traction they needed to secure investors. Take a listen to Andrew’s conversation with Austin to hear more about the benefits of a proven record in an industry. 

Steven Plappert, the CEO and co-founder of Forecastr, an online financial projection tool, may be a numbers guy but he’s all about the human aspect when it comes to business. “People are really, at the end of the day, where so much of the value lies and you really need to get out there and talk to people.”  He argues that investor, employee, and customer relationships are all based on trust, and the best way to build that is to be intentional.  Check out his conversation with Austin to hear how the ‘power of people’ is what allowed him to accomplish his funding goals in record time. 

Nikki and April Dominguez are the founders of Handsome, an online community-based app for the beauty industry. The sisters came up with the idea, behind their now booming business, when they combined April’s business acumen with Nikki’s background in the industry. The journey to today was an uphill battle.  As Nikki shares, “We've had to be three times better to get three times less.”   It’s a clear example of what the pair refers to as grit. They are motivated by an unwavering determination to succeed and find the silver lining in overcoming many unfair obstacles. Check out their conversation with Austin to hear how they’re paving the way for others to do the same.

“Rare and valuable opportunities come to people with rare and valuable skills.” That tidbit comes from Jason Becker, the CEO of RICS Software and DyKnow - two very different, but very successful software companies.  Getting there wasn’t a straight shot and it included getting hit with the word “no” from the very start. So Jason went out into the business world, built up his credibility, and made a name for himself. He took the time to learn how to play the whole business game and work with “must-have” products that solve real problems for the consumer.  Listen to his conversation with Austin to hear how he went from a “no” to CEO.

“The best thing you could do is get your broken thing into the market and then start getting real feedback.” - Oliver Wellington, COO and Co-Founder of Headliner In business, you want to be as prepared as possible and present a polished product or service to the customer, right? Maybe not, Oliver acknowledges that you can’t anticipate everything, so you might as well use that to your advantage. He releases early and gets honest feedback right from the horse's mouth. Listen to his conversation with Austin to see how he makes his biggest critics into his biggest supporters.

What’s an idea worth? Most likely, nothing. Yet, they run rampant in our businesses, across our networks, and in our minds. Leaving us with this question, is it a good idea?  The truth is: if that’s what you’re asking, then you’re asking the wrong question. From the creators of Better Product comes a new original show, The Business of Product.  This show is for the CEO, the Founder, the high-growth leader looking for the hockey stick effect. In-depth conversations with host Austin Westerfeld cut through the product jargon of tech stacks and product features to help you do one thing: take your company to the next level. Follow along wherever you get your audio experience.