Product Rebels

What does it take to turn a struggling edtech platform into a mission-driven product powerhouse — in under a year? 
Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin sit down with Jared Harless, Chief Product and Technology Officer at BookNook, as he talks about his early days bootstrapping digital products inside a billion-dollar publishing company, to leading a turnaround that grew revenue 25% year over year and pulled customer retention from 27% to 70%...but the work is far from over. 

Jared gets real about the kind of conviction it takes to build before you have permission — and how going straight to the market before writing a line of code is still the most powerful move a product leader can make.

Hey there Product Rebels! If you're a product leader right now, chances are someone in your org has asked you some version of "what's our AI strategy?" in the last month. And chances are, the answer is still murky. We're hearing this from product leaders constantly — there's pressure to ship AI features, but not a lot of clarity on how to move from boardroom excitement to actual product impact.

That's why we're resurfacing this conversation with Ravi Mehta. His Inspire, Validate, Structure, and Ship framework is one of the most practical takes we've heard on turning AI ambition into real outcomes. If anything, it's more relevant now than when we first aired it. Enjoy the re-listen.

Hey there Product Rebels! We've had a lot of conversations with product leaders lately, and one thing that keeps coming up is how much financial guesswork is involved in incorporating AI into their product orgs. 
From forecasting costs to proving ROI, it's a challenge that really comes down to something more fundamental — do PMs actually understand the economics of the products they're building? 
That's exactly what Nat Kunes digs into in this episode. While the conversation isn't specifically about AI, the financial fluency he talks about is the exact muscle product leaders need right now. Enjoy the re-listen.
In this episode, Heather Samarin and Vidya Dinamani sit down with Nat Kunes, Chief Product Officer at Ontra. He shares his insights on redefining pricing strategies, replacing assumptions with validated hypotheses, and the impactful strategy he uses to empower his team to balance goals with true user value. 

Nat digs into financial fluency for PMs, market validation practices, and shifting org culture to view product as an asset, not a liability.

What does it mean to be a true product rebel in the age of AI? 
Heather Samarin and Vidya Dinamani sit down with Raviv Levi, former Chief Product & Technology Officer at Sift, as they unpack how product leaders can stay focused on what really matters—amid constant noise, data overload, and accelerating change. 
From building alignment across competing teams to rethinking experimentation in an AI-first world, this conversation explores how faster prototyping, sharper problem focus, and stronger conviction are redefining product leadership.

What happens when product leaders prioritize profit over long-term value? 
In this episode, Michael Nierstedt shares lessons from more than a decade building payroll and HR technology across companies like Gusto and Paylocity. He explains why product investment drives competitive advantage, why product managers must think like sellers inside their organizations, and how real influence comes from delivering value in production.
The conversation also explores customer research, the realities of building AI-driven products, and why the next generation of product leaders must learn to delegate, coach, and empower their teams.