In this episode of the Tech Leader’s Playbook, Avetis Antaplyan interviews Eugene Cherny, an experienced product executive. They discuss Eugene's journey from engineering to product management, the challenges of product management, and the importance of hiring the right people. They also touch on the differences between ad tech companies, the role of AI and machine learning in ad tech, and the key differences between product management at startups and larger companies. Eugene shares advice for aspiring product leaders and discusses the importance of fostering innovation within teams. In this conversation, Eugene Cherny discusses the importance of considering the entire customer journey when building a product. He shares a personal experience where a product launch failed because the internal teams were unable to support the complex features. Cherny emphasizes the need to simplify products and remove unnecessary features to ensure success. He also expresses his concerns about using language models (LLMs) to generate product requirements documents (PRDs) and highlights the value of human judgment in product management. Cherny believes that AI will make more projects possible and sees a bright future for product managers. He concludes by sharing his pride in building successful products and teams.

Takeaways
Product managers should focus on shipping the right product to the right people at the right time.
The role of product management can vary greatly between companies, leading to confusion and unclear boundaries.
Product managers should establish clear boundaries and collaborate effectively with other teams.
Hiring the right people is crucial for fostering innovation within product teams.
Product managers should have direct access to customers and understand their pain points to drive innovation.
Leadership in product development involves articulating the value of the product, coaching others, and building relationships across functions.
Negotiation, feedback, and relationship-building skills are important for product managers and aspiring product leaders.
Product managers should remember that the product is what customers use, not just what is built.
Ad tech plays a crucial role in powering the internet and keeping it free.
AI and machine learning are used in ad tech to optimize ad performance and generate new creative variations. Consider the entire customer journey when building a product, including training, documentation, and support systems.
Simplify products and remove unnecessary features to ensure success and reduce complexity for both customers and internal teams.
Be cautious about using language models (LLMs) to generate product requirements documents (PRDs) as they may not capture the nuanced needs of customers.
AI will make more projects possible and create opportunities for product managers to focus on higher-level tasks.
Building successful products and teams is a source of pride and fulfillment in a product manager's career.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
01:36 Journey from Engineering to Product Management
07:53 The Importance of Hiring the Right People
09:43 Fostering Innovation within Product Teams
12:26 Differences Between Ad Tech Companies
13:57 The Role of AI and Machine Learning in Ad Tech
18:18 Advice for Aspiring Product Leaders
25:00 The Value of the Product is in its Use
25:57 The Impact of Ad Tech on the Internet
26:21 Considering the Entire Customer Journey
28:15 Simplifying Products for Success
31:27 The Pitfalls of Using Language Models for PRDs
39:28 The Future of Product Management
45:34 Pride in Building Successful Products and Teams

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