The Product Experience

In this episode of The Product Experience, host Randy Silver talks with Cristina Bustos, Product Manager and team lead at Swiss AviationSoftware, about her experience launching a native mobile application in one of the most regulated and high‑stakes industries in the world: commercial aviation.
Cristina recounts how she moved from business analysis into product leadership and then navigated a gruelling product development process during the pandemic. Her team faced the dual challenge of winning over both paying customers and aviation regulators to replace paper‑based cockpit workflows with a real‑time digital solution.
Chapters
0:00 | Introduction and personal background
 2:34 | Problem framing: launching a mobile app in aviation
 4:00 | Winning founding customers before building code
 6:10 | Consensus across customers and regulators
 9:00 | Involving actual pilots in design
 10:00 | Redesigning workflow not just digitising it
 14:15 | Scope control and prioritisation
 17:16 | Regulatory engagement and approval strategy
 19:49 | A hackathon that wasn’t a silver bullet
 21:06 | Reflections: what she would do differently
 25:22 | Balancing iteration with regulatory discipline
 28:21 | Triple validate in the real world
 29:53 | Signals of success and business impact
Our Hosts
Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.
Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.

In this episode of The Product Experience, host Lily Smith speaks with veteran product leader Sean Flaherty about a question at the heart of modern product management: how do you influence without authority? Drawing from behavioural science and decades of experience building products and teams, Sean outlines a framework based on self‑determination theory — the modern science of intrinsic motivation.

Through the lens of autonomy, competence and relatedness, Sean explains why traditional command‑and‑control leadership undermines creativity and accountability. He shows how true autonomy is structured freedom, how competence is demonstrated through behaviour, and how relatedness builds trust and advocacy among teams and users. Along the way he reframes accountability as something teams hold themselves to, not something enforced by fear, and discusses how leaders can help teams grow, adapt and thrive in a world of constant change.

Chapters
00:00 — Introduction & central question
01:30 — Guest background
04:45 — State of leadership today
06:10 — Intro to intrinsic motivation
08:40 — The “code” of motivation
12:28 — Autonomy in teams
17:11 — Competence and product work
20:30 — Observable behaviour and growth paths
23:10 — Adaptability and learning culture
24:25 — Accountability misunderstood
27:04 — Accountability spectrum
31:21 — Addressing negative behaviour
36:19 — AI and leadership change
38:01 — Leadership trends today

Key Takeaways
— Motivation is scientific, not abstract
— Product leaders need to understand the science of intrinsic motivation — not just processes or tools — to influence without authority and achieve sustainable outcomes.
— Three core motivators drive behaviour
Autonomy: people need meaningful choice, not chaos or micro‑management
Competence: motivation increases when people feel capable and are supported to grow
Relatedness: connection and shared purpose power trust, loyalty and advocacy
— Autonomy is structured freedom: Autonomy is not “do whatever you want”. It’s about balancing freedom with guidance so teams can be creative but not lost.
— Competence is observed in behaviour, not checklists: Real competence shows up in behaviour — what people do — not just knowledge or titles.
— Accountability emerges, not enforced: Traditional accountability relies on fear and external control. In contrast, self‑accountability arises when goals are meaningful and environments allow people
Our Hosts
Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.
Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.

In this episode of The Product Experience, Mariah (Executive Director of Product at The Atlantic) discusses the often-vague transition from being a great Product Manager to becoming an effective manager of people. Drawing on her background as a journalist, Mariah explores how empathy and storytelling translate into product leadership. She deep-dives into using the Reforge PM Competency Model to remove subjectivity from performance reviews, fostering growth through "Development Conversations," and integrating AI into the PM workflow without losing the human touch.

Chapters
[0:00] The Pitfalls of People Management
[1:15] Mariah’s Origin Story: From Journalism to Product
[3:24] Product Goals at The Atlantic
[4:14] Transferable Skills from Journalism
[6:08] The Evolution of the News Product Industry
[8:40] Why Product Leaders Struggle with Management
[13:12] The Reforge Competency Framework
[15:13] Running 6-Week Development Conversations
[21:20] Linking Development to Pay and Promotions
[22:58] Managing the Human Element of Performance
[26:12] Addressing Burnout and Imposter Syndrome
[28:58] Upskilling Teams in the Era of AI
[31:40] AI Disruption in the News Industry
[33:01] Closing and Resources

Key Takeaways
— Journalism as a Product Foundation: Skills like active listening, asking the "question behind the question," and storytelling are directly transferable to discovery and stakeholder management.
— The "Liking" Trap: Effective management isn't about being liked; it is about challenging your team. Radical transparency often leads to more long-term gratitude than avoiding uncomfortable conversations.
— Structured Development: Using a competency framework turns vague performance evaluations into objective, actionable growth plans.
— The 6-Week Pulse: Dedicated "Development Conversations" every six weeks help track progress and adjust goals in real-time, far beyond the utility of an annual review.
— Protecting Focus: "Focus Fridays" (no-meeting days) are essential for PMs to escape the "weeds" and execute high-value work.
Our Hosts
Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.
Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.

Product managers are saving hours with AI, yet feel more uncertain than ever about whether their products will succeed. What’s going on?

In this episode of The Product Experience, Lily Smith and Randy Silver sit down with Axel Sooriah, product management evangelist at Atlassian, to unpack the findings from a large-scale survey into the state of product management today.

Axel shares why so many teams are stuck on the hamster wheel of execution, how cross-functional collaboration still breaks down in practice, and why 84% of product managers doubt their products will succeed despite loving the craft. The conversation explores the real reasons behind PM anxiety, the role of leadership in creating confidence, and how reframing work around customer progress can re-energise teams.

Chapters
00:00 – Money, motivation, and product work
01:12 – Axel Sooriah’s product background
02:16 – What a product management evangelist does
05:38 – Why Atlassian ran the state of product management survey
07:01 – AI productivity and the strategy time paradox
11:32 – The hamster wheel of execution
14:01 – Leadership, incentives, and product manager agency
16:16 – Using AI in customer discovery
18:17 – Cross-functional collaboration in practice
22:06 – Why 84% of product managers doubt success
26:16 – Discovery, evidence, and decision-making confidence
28:47 – Fear and curiosity in the age of AI
30:50 – Getting started with AI as a product manager
32:54 – Profit focus and product team motivation

Our Hosts
Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.
Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.

In this episode of the Product Experience Podcast, we speak with Kasia Chmielinski, co-founder of The Data Nutrition Project, who discusses their work on responsible AI, data quality, and the Data Nutrition Project. Kasia highlights the importance of balancing innovation with ethical considerations in product management, the challenges of working within large organizations like the UN, and the need for transparency in data usage.
 
Featured Links: Follow Kasia on LinkedIn | The Data Nutrition Project | 'What we learned at Pendomonium and #mtpcon 2024 Raleigh: Day 2' feature by Louron Pratt
Our Hosts
Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.
Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.