Episode description

As the Senior Director of Product Management at Wealthfront, Dan Slate oversees teams that are building products to create a financial system that favors people over institutions.  

Wealthfront's CEO, Andy Rachleff, is famous for saying you can't iterate your way to product market fit, "Either the dog eats the food or they don't." 

This rings true in everything Dan does throughout his product development process. From delighting early adopters to utilizing data from his consumer insights team, Dan aims to build a loyal, trusting consumer base. 

To build successful products, Dan believes the top skill all product managers need to have is curiosity. Being a product manager is all about assumptions, so you need to be able to ask great questions, investigate the world around you, and always find ways to learn new things. 

On the premiere episode of People Driven Products, Dan breaks down his rigorous product development process, how he tests what customers think of a product, his go-to consumer insight methods, and the essential trait every great product manager needs.