Sera Tajima Podcast

• Product Led Growth Strategy & Value Creation Metrics Explained

  Discover how Product Led Growth (PLG) is transforming SaaS business models in 2025. This comprehensive guide breaks down the fundamentals of PLG strategy, why it's revolutionizing customer acquisition, and the key metrics that drive sustainable growth.In this video, you'll learn:— The core principles of Product Led Growth and how to implement them— Why PLG creates a competitive advantage in today's market— The measurable benefits PLG brings and who benefits— How to build your own growth loops— Essential value creation metrics to track your PLG successWhether you're a founder, product manager, designer, or growth specialist, these PLG insights will help you create more efficient acquisition channels and improve your product's value metrics.Follow here for more good energy: ➕ Conscious Tech: https://seratajima.substack.com➕ YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@seratajima⁠Chapters[00:00:00] Understand PLG[00:04:34] Why PLG is Game Changing[00:06:48] Benefits of PLG[00:10:01] Anatomy of a Growth Loop [00:12:38] Value Creation Success MetricsWhere to find more on PLG: https://seratajima.substack.com/p/your-guide-to-product-led-growth___________________________________________________________I'm Sera Tajima, Startup Advisor & Climate Tech Investor. 🤙I talk about: ⚡️ Product Growth Strategy (Growth, Design, AI)⚡️ Climate Tech (Investing)⚡️ Entrepreneurship ⚡️ Sustainable Productivity

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• Scaling Climate Impact: Inside Watershed's Journey to Reduce 500 Mt of Global Emissions

  This is Watershed's zero to one journey. From serving tech companies with climate interest to building enterprise-grade solutions for Fortune 500s, Molly Goldberg (Group Product Design Lead, Apps and Foundations) and Tess Hannel (Product Designer, Finance) take us inside this Series C climate tech startup that's tackling global emissions at scale. Discover how they're helping multinational corporations measure, report, and reduce their carbon footprint with a rigorous approach to data and auditable artifacts. Learn how their design team balances technical complexity with user experience while working toward an ambitious goal of reducing global emissions by 500 megatons—equivalent to Brazil's entire carbon output. The conversation spans building effective design teams, tackling complex Scope 3 emissions, navigating corporate sustainability requirements, and creating measurable climate impact. Whether you're a founder looking to create impact at scale or a product designer interested in climate tech, this episode reveals valuable insights about building solutions for one of our generation's most pressing challenges.Subscribe to Conscious Technology ⁠⁠🗞️Chapters[00:00:00] The Inspiration to Join a Climate Startup[00:03:31] How Watershed is Reducing Global Emissions by 500 mt[00:06:45] Product 0-1 Journey [00:10:20] Calculate Emissions from Primary Activity Data[00:12:37] Gathering Scope 3 Emissions as Levers[00:15:55] How Watershed Found PMF Upmarket[00:19:22] Key JTBD, Policy, CSRD, ESG[00:22:15] Joining Climate Tech and Climate Expertise[00:24:50] Growth Opportunities in Financial Institutions Scope 3.15[00:27:33] Watershed Design Teams & Customer JTBDs[00:32:59] Gaps in Data, Support Team, Activation[00:39:38] Customer Profiles, Reporting, Data, Watershed Customers[00:48:00] Investment in ESG, Report Authoring[00:50:13] Future Investment Forecasting & Insurance Risk [00:52:10] Design Team OKRs[00:55:54] How to Hire a Great Design Team[01:00:39] Interviewing and Onboarding at Watershed[01:01:52] Hiring Designers Interested in Climate[01:06:33] Measuring Success on Product Usage[01:09:04] Transition Into Climate Tech With No Background[01:11:57] Biggest Surprise Working at Watershed[01:14:55] Lightning Session ⚡️Where to find Molly & Tess: Molly Goldberg, Group Product Design Lead, Apps, and FoundationsTess Hannel, Product Design FinanceWatershed

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• Will AI Take Your Design Job?

  Juan Ramirez has such an incredible story. He came to the US from Colombia as a student and studied at Carnegie Mellon. Following this, he’s worked at some pretty incredible companies like Amazon, Meta, Gitlab, and Netflix. What I enjoy most about Juan’s content is how thought provoking it is. 💡⁠Subscribe to Conscious Technology ⁠🗞️Chapters[00:00:00] The Call to Be a Creative; Meta, Amazon, Netflix[00:03:15] Studying as an Immigrant and Becoming a Citizen [00:05:11] “Netflix is The Best Job I’ve Ever Had”[00:11:50] Netflix is Going Hard on Ads as a Business Strategy [00:14:20] Design Engineer Profile and the Value of Code[00:24:53] What Good Designers Do [00:27:41] Intro to Programming at Carnegie Mellon [00:31:27] Human Consciousness & Esoteric Beliefs[00:47:04] Side Projects: Brainglue.ai [00:54:12] It’s Not Failure if You Learned From It[00:58:17] Design Zeitgeist Concerns About AI Taking Our Jobs[01:00:07] The Problem With Linkedin[01:01:35] Lightning Session ⚡️Where to find JuanLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juanjramirez/Brainglue.ai: https://www.brainglue.ai/

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• Break Free: Colonization in Design, Tech, & AI Harm Everyone

  Dori Tunstall is the author of Decolonizing Design: A Cultural Justice Guidebook. She has a has a PhD from Stanford and was the Dean of the Faculty of Design at OCAD University in Toronto. Join the Newsletter: ⁠⁠https://seratajima.substack.com/⁠ ⚡️Chapters[00:00:00] Introduction [00:01:23] Dori’s Journey from Anthropology to Design [00:04:15] Becoming the First Black Dean on a Design Faculty [00:10:17] Colonization is Intertwined with Capitalism and Sustainability [00:16:15] Decolonizing Design: A Cultural Justice Guidebook[00:19:52] Releasing the Flow for DEI at OCAD[00:28:43] Self Preparation for Equitable Community[00:32:36] Liberatory Joy is about Connection and Purpose[00:35:11] Colonization is Harmful to White People Too [00:38:00] Is There a Place for Universal Design? [00:44:33] Scaling Monopolies vs Specialization and Exchange[00:47:30] Better Living Through Tech (AI) is a Fallacy[00:56:41] Master and Slave Dynamics in AI [01:05:35] Decoupling From Corporate Taking of Creativity [01:12:11] Lightning Session ⚡️Where to Find Dori Tunstall: Website: https://doritunstall.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dori_tunstall/Book: Decolonizing Design: A Cultural Justice GuidebookBecome a sponsor: [email protected]

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  1:16:54
• How Maven's Founding Designer, Michael Riddering, is Reshaping Design Education

  Ridd, aka Michael Riddering, is the Founder of Figma Academy, Host of podcast Deep Dives, and the founding designer behind Maven. Subscribe to Conscious Technology 🗞️Join lightning session on product led growth ⚡️Where to find RiddTwitter: ⁠https://x.com/ridd_design⁠Dive Club Podcast: ⁠https://www.dive.club/⁠Figma Academy: ⁠https://www.dive.club/advanced-figma⁠Chapters[00:00:00] Intro[00:01:23] Ridd's background[00:03:25] Learning coding[00:05:29] Startup failure & finding design[00:14:27] Transition to agency life[00:16:56] Visual finesse and raw talent[00:18:08] Becoming a Founding Designer with Maven[00:22:43] Building the Maven team[00:26:54] Twitter as testing for Figma Academy[00:30:07] Design Media Business[00:32:32] It's not work, it's a game[00:42:25] What makes Figma Academy successful[00:53:39] Prototyping is a superpowerBecome a sponsor: [email protected]

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