Building integrations and a SaaS ecosystem requires close collaboration between product, tech partnerships, and other GTM and technical teams. We're talking to product, partnership, and engineering leaders about how to build, support, and scale integrations and SaaS ecosystems that result in happier customers and more revenue. Watch or listen on YouTube and most podcast directories. Want to access more content on integrations, APIs, and technology partnerships? Check out our blog and resources page here: Blog - https://www.pandium.com/blog Resources - https://www.pandium.com/resource-center
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May 28, 2026Episode 4335 min
Beyond Handshakes: How to Structure Partner Programs for Success
In this episode of Between Product and Partnerships, Cristina Flaschen talks with Martin Scholz, founder of CEG Consult, about why most partnership initiatives miss the mark, and what actually separates transactional deals from true, strategic relationships. Drawing on more than 20 years of partnership experience across startups, scale-ups, and enterprises, Martin cuts through the noise to explain why partnerships fail when they lack clear alignment, why "giving to get" can create toxic dynamics, and how to identify which partners actually deserve your resources.For more insights on partnerships, ecosystems, and integrations, visit www.pandium.com
April 15, 2026Episode 4234 min
Why Partnerships Fail (and How to Fix Them): Insights from Jenn Steele, SoundGTM
In this episode of Between Product and Partnerships, Cristina Flaschen sits down with Jenn Steele, CEO of SoundGTM, to pull back the curtain on why most SaaS partnerships collapse.Jenn draws on her experience as a former CMO to explain the internal perspective of leaders asked to support partnership launches without proper lead time. The conversation dives into the common pitfalls of "pre-launching" integrations that aren't ready. It also covers the dangers of concentration risk with large platform partners as traditional outbound sales models struggle.Throughout the episode, Jenn emphasizes a consistent theme: Partnerships are built on human relationships, but they survive on operational clarity and consistent enablement.Key topicsThe Resource Gap: Why Marketing and Partners ClashPartnership teams often operate in a silo and call on marketing for last-minute press releases without providing dedicated budget. Jenn explains why this misalignment leads to internal frustration.The Disconnect Between Revenue Goals and BudgetMany companies expect a significant percentage of their pipeline to come from partnerships without allocating a corresponding percentage of their go-to-market budget. Jenn warns against expecting outsized gains from minimal resource investment.The 80/20 Rule of Partner PortfoliosMost partner programs are top-heavy. Jenn discusses how to audit a portfolio to find the 20% of partners producing value while moving on from the rest.Operationalizing the "Shiny Object"Partnership leaders are often "people people" who are great at starting relationships but may struggle with the administrative details of ops. Jenn highlights the need for systems that keep partners engaged long after the initial announcement.Concentration Risk and "Big Guy" PartnershipsHitching a small startup’s wagon to a giant like Salesforce or HubSpot is a high-stakes game. Jenn explains why being at the mercy of a larger partner’s API can leave a small company vulnerable to sudden changes.Episode highlights00:40 — Jenn’s journey from "Early HubSpot" to CEO2:19 — The friction between marketing leaders and partner teams04:02 — Where should partnerships live? (Sales vs. Marketing)06:35 — The reality of technical dependencies and API downtime08:40 — The cautionary tale of the two-year "pre-launched" integration12:15 — Primary failure modes including goals and internal resources16:23 — Why everyone is focused on partnerships right now18:36 — Managing expectations for partner-sourced revenue22:31 — How to keep partners excited through consistent enablement28:40 — The danger of concentration risk for small companies--For more insights on partnerships, ecosystems, and integrations, visit www.pandium.com
March 25, 2026Episode 4138 min
Why AI Doesn’t Replace Product Thinking: Insights from Stephanie Neill, Stripe
In this episode of Between Product and Partnerships, Cristina Flaschen sits down with Stephanie Neill, Head of Product at Stripe, to explore what’s actually changing in product development in the age of AI, and what isn’t.Stephanie draws on experience across government, Twitch, and Stripe to explain why the pressure to “just use AI” often leads teams in the wrong direction. Instead, she makes the case for grounding every decision in the problem to be solved, not the technology being used. The conversation dives into where AI is genuinely useful today, where it still falls short, and how teams can use it to move faster without compromising quality or trust.They also explore the operational realities behind the hype, from messy, unreliable data to the risks of deploying AI in high-stakes environments like payments and tax. Throughout, Stephanie emphasizes a consistent theme: AI can accelerate good product thinking, but it cannot replace it.Who we sat down withStephanie Neill is Head of Product at Stripe, where she leads teams focused on payments infrastructure and tax-related products. Her career spans e-commerce, public sector innovation with the United States Digital Service, and creator monetization at Twitch.Stephanie brings expertise in: Applying product thinking in high-stakes environments like government and financial systems Building platforms that enable businesses and creators to earn revenue Scaling product teams across complex, data-dependent domains Navigating emerging technologies like AI within regulated, trust-sensitive systems Key topicsWhy “use AI” is the wrong starting pointTeams are often pushed to adopt AI without a clear problem in mind. The right approach is unchanged: start with the user problem, then evaluate whether AI meaningfully improves the outcome.Where AI actually works todayAI is most effective in accelerating discovery and iteration, helping teams research faster, test ideas, and explore solution spaces without heavy upfront investment.AI as a tool for reducing product riskProduct development is fundamentally about reducing risk. AI increases the number of iterations teams can run, allowing them to be wrong more often and converge on better solutions faster.The reality of data as a limiting factorEven the most advanced models are constrained by messy, incomplete, or externally controlled data. In domains like tax, poor data quality becomes a major blocker to reliable AI systems.Why human judgment still defines production readinessDespite rapid progress, AI outputs still require careful review. Especially in financial systems, the cost of being wrong is too high to remove humans from the loop.Episode highlights 11:00 — The industry-wide pressure to “just use AI” 13:30 — AI’s role in product discovery and rapid iteration 16:20 — Automating repetitive work with internal tools at Stripe 19:00 — What happens to entry-level roles in an AI-driven world 22:30 — Why data quality is the biggest limiter for AI systems 25:10 — The gap between AI hype and production reality 32:00 — How Stripe evaluates risk before shipping AI-powered features 35:10 — Staying grounded by continuously redefining the problem--For more insights on partnerships, ecosystems, and integrations, visit www.pandium.com
March 5, 2026Episode 4031 min
How to Build Integrations with Platforms Bigger Than You Without Getting Stuck at the Bottom of the Queue
In this episode of Between Product and Partnerships, Biljana Pecelj joins Cristina Flaschen to explain how smaller teams successfully ship integrations with larger platform partners. She makes the case that leveraging usage data and performance metrics is the key to proving your integration's value, giving you the necessary influence to move up a major partner's priority list.Biljana shares lessons from her experience managing integrations at Hootsuite during major platform shifts, including the rise of Instagram Business APIs and the emergence of new features like Stories that didn’t always come with immediate API support. She also details the process of aligning internal stakeholders to ensure integration features actually ship despite shifting external APIs.The conversation also covers the operational side of integrations, this includes why observability needs to be built early, how teams detect silent failures before customers do, and how to structure internal alignment when integration work touches engineering, legal, partnerships, and revenue.Who we sat down withBiljana Pecelj is a Principal Product Manager at Ledgy with deep experience building integrations inside platform-heavy environments. She has worked extensively on partnership-driven product initiatives where execution speed depends on navigating both technical constraints and external partner relationships.Biljana brings expertise in:Building integrations in environments where APIs and features evolve asynchronouslyDesigning for observability and proactive monitoringNavigating asymmetric partner relationshipsAligning roadmap priorities across product, partnerships, legal, and engineeringManaging tradeoffs between beta opportunities and engineering capacityKey TopicsWhy integration product work is relationship workTechnical execution matters, but alignment with partners determines whether integrations actually ship and scale.Building in ecosystems you don’t controlAPIs change. Features launch without endpoints. Roadmaps shift. Successful teams anticipate uncertainty rather than assume stability.The importance of observability from day oneSilent failures are common in integrations. Without monitoring, teams often learn about outages from customers instead of systems.Roadmap tradeoffs when beta opportunities ariseNew partner features can require immediate shifts in engineering priorities. Negotiation and resource reallocation become core product skills.M&A and integration complexityBrand consolidation rarely means backend integration. Teams often inherit layered systems that remain technically independent long after acquisition.Episode Highlights01:55 – How integration product management differs from core product work04:40 – Navigating power imbalances with large platform partners07:15 – Using data to strengthen partner conversations10:30 – Building observability when resources are limited13:45 – Handling silent integration failures17:50 – Managing beta features and roadmap shifts21:30 – Aligning cross-functional teams around integration priorities24:45 – Why relationships accelerate integration execution28:10 – Lessons learned from building inside platform ecosystems--For more insights on partnerships, ecosystems, and integrations, visit www.pandium.com
January 28, 2026Episode 3936 min
No-Code vs Code First: Why Visual Builders Often Lead to Integration Dead Ends
Integrations look deceptively simple until they become the backbone of your business. In this episode of Between Product and Partnerships, Pandium CEO Cristina Flaschen sits down with Scott Lavery, Senior Product Manager at Arkestro. They unpack what really happens when integrations shift from a "nice to have" feature to something the company can't function without.Scott shares hard-earned lessons from a decade in B2B SaaS, covering sectors from martech to procurement. He discusses the headache of inheriting messy stacks and why iPaaS tools often hide long-term costs. The conversation also explores how integration work fundamentally changes what it means to be a product manager. Together, they dig into common failure modes and the tough tradeoffs junior PMs face when they’re "volun-told" to own integrations.Who we sat down withScott Lavery is a Senior Product Manager at Arkestro. With over ten years of experience in B2B SaaS, he has repeatedly found himself responsible for integrations, often without ever intending to specialize in them.Scott brings expertise in:Unwinding complex iPaaS-driven environments.Designing integrations built to be "set and forget."Managing third-party dependencies alongside specific scale constraints.Advocating for pragmatic, cost-aware strategies.Key TopicsWhy integration PM work is fundamentally different Integration success is defined by invisibility. Unlike standard features, value is found in reliability and trust rather than how often a user clicks a button.The hidden costs of low-code and iPaaS tools Teams often end up writing code blocks inside "no-code" tools. We discuss how pricing models can distort architectural decisions and where velocity eventually hits a wall.What to do when you inherit a messy integration stack Practical advice for PMs walking into undocumented systems filled with inherited workflows and vendor dependencies they can’t control.Episode Highlights01:48 - How most PMs “fall into” owning integrations03:58 - Why integration metrics flip traditional product thinking on its head06:31 - Contextual success metrics: Why volume is not the same as value08:21 - Navigating ecosystems without becoming a domain admin11:18 - Why API docs lie and customers ignore your design intent15:37 - Warning signs of an unhealthy iPaaS environment19:05 - Silent failures and the pain of hearing about outages from customers23:45 - The code-block paradox in low-code platforms31:52 - Scott’s playbook for PMs inheriting integrationsKey TakeawaysGreat integrations are designed to disappear Successful integrations are rarely touched after the initial setup. In this space, reliability is a far more important metric than user engagement.Metrics are contextual, not universalA monthly sync can be just as vital as one that runs every five minutes. Frequency alone does not signal success.You can’t abstract away real-world usage API contracts rarely reflect reality. No tool removes the need to understand how customers actually use systems like NetSuite or Salesforce.Low-code tools often trade speed for long-term pain Teams save time early but spend years optimizing around pricing models and managing fragile logic.Inherited workflows is a scalability risk If only one person understands the system, it is already brittle. This is a massive liability once customers are live.Silent failures erode trust fastest Learning about outages from customers is a major failure. Proactive monitoring and clear communication are bas
January 7, 2026Episode 3831 min
How Jacqueline Karlin Turns Purpose into Products at PayPal, Meta, Amazon
How do you turn mission into products that actually work?In this episode of Between Product and Partnerships, Pandium CEO Cristina Flaschen sits down with product leader Jacqueline Karlin to unpack how mission-driven thinking translates into real-world execution across vastly different scales.From small business lending at Amazon, to global expansion on Alexa, to early conversational commerce at WhatsApp, Jacqueline shares concrete examples of how anchoring on customer problems shapes better decisions, especially when navigating new technologies like AI and agentic commerce. The conversation goes deep on how product teams move from conviction to action, turning “why” into repeatable, defensible “how.”Who we sat down withJacqueline Karlin is a senior product leader with experience building and scaling products at Amazon (Lending & Alexa), WhatsApp, PayPal, Expedia, and more. Her work spans financial inclusion, commerce, AI-powered interfaces, and international platform expansion.Across roles, Jacqueline has focused on:Working backwards from real customer problemsLaunching and localizing products globallyBuilding trust-first experiences in regulated, high-stakes domains like payments and commerceToday, she’s deeply engaged in the evolution of agentic commerce and how AI agents are changing how consumers discover, decide, and transact.Key topicsMission-driven product building and defining “why” How Jacqueline’s personal mission shaped her career choices, and why understanding what motivates you as a product leader is critical to building products with long-term impact.Specific use cases Jacqueline has worked on Real examples from Amazon Lending, Alexa’s international expansion, and WhatsApp’s early commerce tooling, showing how different customer problems emerge at different layers of scale.Getting from “why” to “how” How strong teams translate mission into execution through hypotheses, customer conversations, localization, experimentation, and fast feedback (without chasing trends or shipping for novelty’s sake).Episode highlights02:20 — Choosing roles based on mission, not momentum 06:36 — Learning from small business sellers and reshaping lending products 11:34 — What it really takes to launch Alexa in new countries21:36 — Early lessons from conversational commerce on WhatsApp 22:50 — Defining agentic commerce and where it’s already showing up 25:12 — Why explainability matters when AI touches money 29:23 — Using hypotheses to move from intuition to executionKey takeaways1. Mission creates clarity when decisions get hard Mission acts as a decision filter, helping product leaders prioritize the right problems and navigate tradeoffs with confidence.2. Customer insight beats assumptions at every scale Direct conversations with users consistently surfaced constraints and opportunities that dashboards alone couldn’t reveal.3. “Why” must survive contact with reality Strong teams treat ideas as hypotheses, testing and refining them quickly based on real feedback.4. Global products are built locally Successful international launches depend on cultural relevance, local partners, and thoughtful defaults.5. Trust is foundational in AI-driven commerce Explainability and transparency become core requirements as agents take on transactional responsibility.For more insights on partnerships, ecosystems, and integrations, visit www.pandium.com
December 18, 2025Episode 3728 min
Leading Product Through Different Stages of Growth
In this episode of Between Product and Partnerships, Cristina Flaschen speaks with Mike Gelber, Chief Product Officer at Impiricus, about his career path and the experiences that shaped his approach to product leadership in healthcare. Mike’s background spans finance, ad tech, and healthcare, and his move into product reflects a steady pull toward roles that combine technical depth with proximity to real users. Throughout the conversation, he shares how those experiences influenced the way he approaches product decisions, partnerships, and growth in a regulated environment.From Finance to Product ThinkingMike began his career at JP Morgan, where he quickly gravitated toward building tools that made work more efficient. Teaching himself to automate tasks introduced him to software development and revealed the leverage technology could provide. That curiosity led him into ad tech, where working closely with customers helped him connect system design with real usage. Over time, product became the natural intersection between building technology and understanding how people actually work.Why Founding a Company Accelerated His GrowthStarting a company brought Mike closer to customers and everyday decision-making. Choices carried immediate consequences, which sharpened his sense of focus and sequencing. The experience also exposed him to areas of the business that are often distant from product roles, shaping a broader understanding of how products are built, sold, and sustained over time.Lessons from Building and Exiting LassoMike reflects on building Lasso and guiding it through growth before its acquisition by IQVIA. A defining lesson from that journey was the importance of validating demand early. Proving value through direct execution helped guide product direction and informed how he now thinks about product-market fit. That experience reinforced the importance of grounding decisions in real usage rather than assumptions.Joining ImpiricusAfter the acquisition, Mike joined Impiricus as Chief Product Officer. He initially questioned whether SMS could be an effective channel in healthcare. Spending time with the product in real-world settings changed that perspective, particularly as he observed how clinicians interacted with it during day-to-day work. Those experiences helped clarify the product’s role in supporting healthcare providers.Defining Success in Healthcare ProductMike describes success at Impiricus through outcomes and experience. Pharmaceutical partners measure impact through prescribing behavior, while healthcare providers encounter fewer barriers when supporting patients. The most meaningful signals come from moments where the product quietly fits into existing workflows and reduces friction without drawing attention to itself.Timing, Integration, and RelevanceThe conversation returns often to timing. Mike explains how Impiricus uses data and integrations to engage healthcare providers when support is most relevant. This approach allows the product to fit naturally into clinical workflows, which is critical in environments where attention is limited.Looking AheadMike shares what’s next for Impiricus, including the launch of a new product called Ascend and continued momentum following recognition on Deloitte’s Fast 500 list. As the company grows, the focus remains on staying close to healthcare providers and maintaining the product principles that shaped its early success. Cristina closes the episode by reflecting on how Mike’s journey illustrates how product leadership evolves inside regulated industries.
December 2, 2025Episode 3630 min
Why Your Data Is Failing You, and the Architecture That Finally Fixes It
In this episode of Between Product and Partnerships, Cristina Flaschen sits down with Michael Kowalchik, Founder and CEO of Matterbeam, to unpack why so many companies still feel stuck when working with their data. Drawing on years of experience in machine learning and large-scale product architecture, Michael shares what he learned at Pluralsight when he was asked to help overhaul the company’s data systems during a period of rapid growth.Cristina and Michael explore why traditional approaches often fall short once a business reaches a certain level of complexity. Pipelines designed for one purpose end up stretched far beyond their limits, and central repositories rarely reflect the day-to-day realities of how different teams actually operate. Michael explains how a shift toward immutable logs and replayable data streams created a more predictable, trustworthy foundation inside Pluralsight, and how that experience eventually led to the formation of Matterbeam.They also examine the current wave of AI adoption and discuss why many organizations assume AI can cover foundational issues that still need real architectural attention. Michael describes the importance of building systems that make it possible to trace what happened, reproduce it, and understand how data moves through each step. He and Cristina talk about how this clarity becomes even more important as more software depends on automated decision making.If you’ve struggled with disconnected systems, slow access to information, or constant rework caused by shifting definitions, this conversation offers a grounded perspective on how to rebuild your data layer in a way that actually supports the work your teams are trying to do.For more insights on partnerships, ecosystems, and integrations, visit www.pandium.comTo learn more about Matterbeam, visit www.matterbeam.comTo sign up for Matterbeam's upcoming webinar, visit www.matterbeam.com/webinar
November 19, 2025Episode 3532 min
The System Behind Successful SaaS Product Launches
In this episode of Between Product and Partnerships, Cristina Flaschen speaks with Therese Stowell, VP of Product Launch at Anaplan, about what it takes to design scalable, repeatable product launch systems inside fast-moving SaaS organizations. Therese shares her nonlinear career journey, from Microsoft engineer, to artist, to product leader, and how that diverse background shaped her systems-driven, people-centric approach to orchestrating product launches across a complex enterprise.A Systems Approach to Product LaunchEarlier in her career, Therese was asked to fix a recurring challenge familiar to many SaaS companies - products that didn’t generate meaningful revenue, features stuck in beta, and launches that left go-to-market teams scrambling. Working with a technical program manager, she developed an Alpha - Beta - GA framework that introduced clear milestones, stronger decision-making, and alignment across product, marketing, sales, enablement, support, and services.That experience led her to Anaplan, where the sheer volume of innovation required a dedicated function to “tune the revenue engine.” As Therese describes it, product launch isn’t just about getting a feature out the door, it’s about coordinating every part of the organization so the product lands with clarity and customer value.Cross-Functional Alignment and the Real Work of LaunchingTherese outlines two parallel tracks that determine whether a launch succeeds:Go-to-market readiness. Translating product insights into pitch decks, messaging, and enablementTechnical readiness. Ensuring presales, professional services, and support teams understand how the product works under the hoodBecause these streams mature at different times, communication and cross-functional orchestration become essential. Therese also shares how introducing a new “production release” milestone (separate from GA) helped set better customer expectations and create a more reliable internal rhythm.A Framework for Better LaunchesTherese breaks down her repeatable approach to designing and improving launch processes:Discovery. Understand engineering’s release lifecycle and gather cross-functional requirementsDesign. Translate a long list of tasks into a coherent, sequenced plan with defined decision pointsBuild & Iterate. Start small, gather feedback, and refine continuously instead of waiting for a perfect processScaling Launch at AnaplanAnaplan’s rapid innovation pace required Therese to expand the product launch function, adopt proper project management tooling, and build reporting that helped each department manage its workload. With 30+ concurrent launches, her team introduced efficiency practices, such as agenda-based meeting participation, to reduce thrash and ensure alignment without unnecessary meetings.Looking AheadTherese’s advice? While process and tooling matter, at least half of a successful launch comes down to people. Transparent communication, early involvement, collaboration, and guiding teams through behavioral change are what allow launch processes to take root and scale across an organization.For more insights on partnerships, ecosystems, and integrations, visit www.pandium.com To learn more about Anaplan and their product innovation, visit www.anaplan.com
November 5, 2025Episode 3435 min
Why the Best Product Leaders Think Beyond Delivery
In this episode of Between Product and Partnerships, Cristina Flaschen talks with Francesca Smedberg, VP of Product at Rillion. Together they explore how product management has changed over the past two decades, what it takes to move from shipping features to achieving outcomes, and how curiosity and collaboration can transform a team.A Career Built on Curiosity and ExperienceFrancesca began her career in market research and spent years helping companies test products and pricing strategies. When she joined a startup in 2009, she started as an analyst and quickly became deeply involved in how products were built. She worked alongside engineers to digitize traditional market research processes, replacing surveys and reports with virtual environments and interactive tools.She was often building tools to solve her own problems, creating workflows that would save time and improve insight for customers. Without realizing it, she was already doing product management. Over time she led analytics, digital production, and eventually the tech and product teams. That broad mix of data, customer, and technical work shaped her leadership style and gave her a deep understanding of how products come together from the inside out.Seeing Product Management MatureFrancesca and Cristina discuss how product management has become more defined as a discipline. Early in her career, most of the focus was on delivery. Teams worried about whether they could build something, not necessarily whether they should.Today the focus is different. Good product management connects discovery, delivery, and business context. It asks questions before committing resources and pushes teams to understand problems before defining solutions. Turning a Feature Factory into an Outcome-Driven TeamWhen Francesca joined Rillion, the company had a long history and a complex platform shaped by mergers and acquisitions. Teams were busy, but their work often felt reactive. She saw an opportunity to help them move from feature volume to measurable impact.Her approach was practical. She encouraged clear priorities and learning through action. Instead of asking what to build next, her teams began by asking why. They defined goals tied to company strategy and measured their success by what changed, not by what shipped.Building Cross Functional TeamsFrancesca describes how she and her engineering leaders restructured the organization to support this new mindset. They built smaller, cross functional teams with clear missions and room to make decisions. This structure encouraged focus and accountability. It reduced the friction of silos and helped people think less about whose job something was and more about what needed to be solved. Mixing people with deep institutional knowledge and those new to the company also brought balance. Lessons for Aspiring Product ManagersFrancesca offers advice for people who want to move into product. She suggests learning from established voices in the product community, studying examples from real companies, and finding mentors who can share their own experiences. She encourages people to start within their current organization if possible. Moving internally allows them to learn the product deeply while building trust across teams. For more insights on partnerships, integrations, and SaaS ecosystems, visit pandium.comTo learn more about Rillion, go to rillion.com
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