Remember 2005? It was the first time Apple has introduced podcasts. I’ve used iTunes to download them and patiently waited for the new episodes every week. A lot of time has passed, and now you can find a podcast about pretty much any topic out there. As a Product Manager, I am very excited about podcasts related to my field. Product Management is not a discipline that you can study in college and be ready to work in the industry, so you are always on the lookout for more information: new methodologies, best practices, books, blogs, etc. I find podcasts to be one of the most convenient ways to learn something new. Here are the podcasts I am listen on the weekly basis and recommend to you.
Masters of Scale
It is hosted by by Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and investor at Greylock. His podcast focuses on scaling the startups and their products. How do you move from thousands of users to millions? He interviews tech founders and CEO regarding biggest challenges that blocked them from moving to the next milestones. As a PM you are in the way the CEO of your own product and want to always think about its 10x (if not 100x) growth. Experience of the most prominent players in tech scene can hopefully help you out or at least to inspire.
a16z
A16 podcast is produced by Andreessen Horowitz, one of the most influential and successful Silicon Valley-based venture capital firms. I am a big fan of the material firm produces and already mentioned the book written by Ben Horowitz <link>. Throughout episodes they interview current tech leaders, industry experts and interesting speakers. The podcast will keep you up to date on the overall tech and culture trends as well as learn about paths to success by a lot companies out there.
This is Product Management
This is probably one of the most popular product management podcasts. Every week they release a new 20–30 minutes long interview with product managers, user experience designers, analysts, and other tech leaders, who discuss one or another aspect of the modern product role in small or large companies.
The Product Experience
It is produced by Mind the Product guys, who run the Mind the Product San Francisco and London conferences, their own blog and amazing newsletter (you should sign up for it). I’ve followed their work for a while and attended 3 conferences in San Francisco. The quality of the speakers and materials are always high, and this podcast follows the same trajectory.
Robinhood Snacks
“You Daily Dose of Financial News” — it’s not exactly a product podcasts, but rather finance/stocks updates, but they cover a lot of tech companies updates and help me stay up to date. The hosts developed a very entertaining style of covering news, which typically are very dry and boring. Their positive attitude and jokes made these short podcasts a part of my morning commute to work.
