Leveraging AI to Transform Qualitative Data into Scientific Insights 🧠💡 Ever wondered how to make sense of the vast amount of qualitative data at your fingertips? We've got you covered! 🎧 In our latest episode of Unsolicited Feedback, we delved deep into the world of customer research in 2024 and the potential for AI to revolutionize how we handle qualitative data. Our guest, Behzod Sirjani, shared his experience as a research consultant and advisor, helping companies make better decisions by...
Mar 05, 2024•47 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Navigating AI's Horizon: Future-Proofing Products in the Age of AI We're continuing our chat with AI enthusiast, Aaron White in part 2 of our series. This time, we're diving into how different AI products measure up against the ever-evolving S-Curve. Before we jump into it, following our podcast summary, we've got a BONUS (edited for time) chat where Aaron, Fareed, and Brian weigh in on the advantages of the top players in the AI race. That clip is exclusively posted to our Youtube page, so afte...
Feb 29, 2024•42 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Our first guest for Season 2 is none other than Aaron White. Aaron, the recent CTO of Vendr, Co-Founder of ProfitWell, and Founder of Blissfully, is now in stealth mode with a new AI venture called AppyPeople. Besides his impressive credentials, Aaron has long been a passionate advocate and expert in all things AI. Having him as our inaugural guest this season was a perfect fit! But before we dive in, we're trying something a bit different this season. Every episode will be divided into two part...
Feb 27, 2024•33 min•Season 2Ep. 1
We're back for Season 2, launching Feb 20! We recently held our first live Unsolicited Feedback taping where Brian & Fareed discussed Advancing Your Product Career in an AI World. They also had the opportunity to answer your questions live! We have more of these events planned, so if you're interested in attending, be sure to sign up for our email list at Unsolicitedfeedback.co. In today's episode, Brian revisits his now legendary blog post, How to Become a Customer Acquisition Expert. In short,...
Feb 05, 2024•57 min
We're back for Part 2 of our Season Finale with Andrew Chen, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Today, we're deep-diving into the lessons Andrew has gleaned from his years focusing on gaming 🎮 at Andreessen Horowitz. Plus, we'll round off our 2024 discussion with an exploration of emerging growth channels 📈🚀. We want YOU to be part of the show and the conversation. We're discussing predictions RIGHT NOW on LinkedIn, HERE. Think we're wrong? Tell us live. Let's talk about it. If you prefe...
Jan 03, 2024•46 min•Season 1Ep. 18
What's in store for 2024? 🤔 Andrew Chen, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, joined us on the Season Finale of Unsolicited Feedback to share his insights. Before we dive in… Surprise! This is only the first part of our conversation with Andrew. Make sure to mark your calendars for Part 2, landing on January 3, 2024! This marks our Season Finale, but fear not! We'll be back and better than ever. Season 2 kicks off in late January with an updated format, new guests, and an elevated spice leve...
Dec 26, 2023•42 min•Season 1Ep. 17
This week, Product Marketing experts Meghan Keaney Anderson (Jasper.AI, HubSpot) & Mary Sheehan (Author, AdRoll) joins us to discuss how to navigate and cut through the intricate clutter of Artificial Intelligence while contextualizing the most recent developments from Google’s Gemini. We discuss how to tackle crowded markets, what makes a great marketer, and strategies that can help companies stand out amidst the AI chaos. For a full episode summary, exclusive Youtube clips, and more, please jo...
Dec 12, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 16
This week, Nabeel Hyatt (GP at Spark Capital) joins us to discuss: Our version of a 2023 Wrapped: Tech Edition. Nabeel reflects on what he looks for in founders to bet on. Next, we perform a growth model breakdown on Midjouney's unconventional success. (Starts at 39:12) Finally, we discuss the viral SEO Heist and its implications for Google's future. (Starts at 1:24:50) For a full episode summary, exclusive Youtube clips, and more, please join our newsletter at UnsolicitedFeedback.co!
Dec 05, 2023•2 hr 46 min•Season 1Ep. 15
This week, our dynamic duo, Brian Balfour and Fareed Mosavat, have the pleasure of hosting Chris Savage, the Co-Founder & CEO of Wistia. Our post-Thanksgiving menu features a hearty discussion about InVision's fall (starts at 14:30), spiced up with Chris's “Savage” critique of Humane's product reveal (starts at 36:15). Of course, we couldn't resist visiting the OpenAI drama that's been simmering recently. To round off, Chris shares a product he is excited about, Ro.am. For a full episode summary...
Nov 28, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Laura Schaffer Dissects Cameo's Rise and Fall; Plus New Benchmarks for Companies in 2024 This week, Brian Balfour and Casey Winters are joined by Laura Schaffer, the VP of Growth at Amplitude. Laura is bringing the heat as we unpack the rise and fall of Cameo and discuss what the latest SaaS benchmarks mean for companies braving the challenging waters ahead in 2024. Our discussion about Cameo begins at 4:30, and the conversation of the Openview VC Benchmarks starts at 39:14. We have a full summa...
Nov 21, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Cem Kansu on OpenAI's DevDay and Airbnb's Strategy Join us with Cem Kansu, VP of Product at Duolingo, as we discuss Duolingo's expansion into math and music (starts immediately), OpenAI's DevDay (starts at 21:15), and Airbnb's bi-annual product announcement (starts at 1:03:05). We’re covering the highlights from our OpenAI discussion below, but join us at UnsolicitedFeedback.co for full episode summaries. OpenAI's GPT Store: A New Frontier or a Wild West? 🤠 OpenAI's recent announcement of their...
Nov 14, 2023•2 hr 30 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Austin Hay Examines What's Next for HubSpot's Newest Acquisition, Clearbit; Plus a Defense of Freemium This week, we're thrilled to discuss the biggest bombshell acquisition in the marketing space - HubSpot's acquisition of Clearbit. To really understand the implications here, we tapped Austin Hay, a renowned expert in marketing technology. Austin, who currently leads MarTech at Ramp, has previously worked with prominent companies like Branch and Runway and advised industry leaders like Notion, ...
Nov 09, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Darius Contractor Joins to Unpack Arc's Viral Loops and Show the Slack Redesign Haters They’re Wrong This week, Brian and Fareed are joined by Darius Contractor, the current Chief Growth Officer at Otter.ai. Darius has a background in growth, product, and engineering, and his experience spans some of the world's most notable companies. These include early social media platform Bebo and renowned unicorns like Facebook, Dropbox, and Airtable. This week, we're all about the praise 🙌! 1️⃣ First, we...
Nov 02, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Season 1Ep. 10
This week, we are joined by Crystal Widjaja, a data-driven product expert. Crystal has held product and data leadership roles at various companies, including Kumu and Gojek, a super app and delivery and logistics platform in Southeast Asia. In these roles, she led data teams and product teams. Crystal is also a prolific contributor to Reforge, providing valuable insights through our programs, blog, and artifacts. If you enjoy what you hear in the podcast, you can find more of Crystal's rich insi...
Oct 26, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 9
This week, Unsolicited Feedback is thrilled to welcome Patrick Campbell. Patrick was founder and CEO of ProfitWell, an analytics tool for subscription companies, which was sold to payments company Paddle about a year ago for $200 million. This week’s episode features: 1️⃣ Patrick Campbell’s Pricing Corner as he dishes out hot-takes on Unity’s pricing faux pa, AI’s monetization challenges, and the state of the macroeconomy (starts at 12:22) 2️⃣ A Deep Dive into Loom’s growth models in light of th...
Oct 19, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Claire Vo Tackles Monetization Strategy for AI Businesses and Protecting the Super ICs in Product This week, Unsolicited Feedback is thrilled to welcome Claire Vo to the virtual table. Claire, the CPO at Color and former CPO at Optimizely, is known for her prolific Product HotTakes on X! Join us as we dive into an engaging conversation with Claire and get ready for some hot takes as: 1️⃣ This week’s trio analyze the real cost and pricing challenges of new AI products (starts at 10:37) 2️⃣ Brian ...
Oct 12, 2023•1 hr 26 min•Season 1Ep. 4
🎙️ In this week's episode of Unsolicited Feedback, Joff Redfern, the former Chief Product Officer at Atlassian and current Venture Partner at Menlo Ventures, joins the podcast. Fareed takes a bye-week, and Brian welcomes back Adam Fishman as his co-host. This week's discussion includes: 1️⃣ Unlocking the Potential of AI Businesses (Starts at 17:05) 2️⃣ The Release of Adobe's Web-Version of Photoshop (Starts at 1:06:41) We also kick off the episode with Joff introducing us to the Swiss Cheese Me...
Oct 05, 2023•2 hr 37 min•Season 1Ep. 6
This week, Unsolicited Feedback welcomes Elena Verna - the OG of PLG, former SVP growth at Survey Monkey, and renowned PLG advisor to Miro, Amplitude and MongoDB. Now, she’s the Interim Head of Growth at Dropbox, and trust us, you’re not going to want to miss what she has to say as today’s trio: 🥅 Discuss what it takes to be a solopreneur expert (starts immediately) 🥊 Battle it out with AI-written PLG trivia (starts at 9:30) 🔥 Debate whether Airtable’s shift to enterprise is a disaster in the...
Sep 28, 2023•2 hr 36 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Our third guest at Unsolicited Feedback is none other than Ravi Mehta - previously the CPO at Tinder, Product Director at Facebook, and VP of Product at Tripadvisor. Now, he's the co-founder and CEO of Outpace, and Ravi is not afraid to swipe left as they 🧳 Analyze the migration from Jira to Linear, including the conditions that triggered Ravi’s switch (starts at 1:32) 🔥 Discuss Airtable's move to conquer the up-market (starts at 27:43) 🔮 Offer some hindsight Unity probably would have appreci...
Sep 21, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 4
🚀 Check out the latest episode of Unsolicited Feedback! 🎧 In our third installment, we're joined by the legendary Casey Winters, Reforge program partner and prolific growth expert. 🌟 In this episode, we: 🔮 Revisit our predictions for where Twitter and Threads will be in 1 year (starts at 1:21) 🔍 Uncover a hidden gem in HubSpot’s latest product release (starts at 14:26) 💡 Discuss the viability of the creator economy (starts at 44:17) 🏬 Understand Casey’s perspective on the future of market...
Sep 19, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 3
This week, we have special guest Adam Fishman, original proclaimed Growth Daddy (defined as a father and a growth expert), a Reforge mainstay, and formerly of Lyft, Patreon, and Imperfect Foods. Today he and our hosts are discussing Figma for Dev, Zoom’s COVID strategy, and Twitter’s Creator Payouts. 🎨→ ⌨️ Figma for Dev from Unsolicited Feedback Figma for Dev offers deep lessons and the experts agree it’s a brilliant move. 💰 Figma unlocked unparalleled PLG through their unconventional pricing ...
Sep 14, 2023•2 hr 33 min•Season 1Ep. 2
📢 Hey everyone! Welcome to Unsolicited Feedback! In our debut episode, co-hosts Brian Balfour and Fareed Mosavat discuss Twitter's creator monetization and enterprise verification offerings, as well as internal fears at YouTube that their YouTube Shorts feature will cannibalize their core longer-form content. 🐤 Let's start with Twitter/X (we’re still getting used to the new name…): 🐤 🔍 Twitter's recent releases include the Creator Monetization Offering and Enterprise Verification Offering. �...
Sep 10, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 1
