Product Rebels

Hosted by Product Rebels

Business MarketingInterviews guests

Website RSS feed

Episodes

Latest episode

Jun 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Twice monthly, Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin talk to battle-hardened product leaders about building phenomenal products. Their guests are industry experts, people who have pioneered remarkable careers at companies like Netflix, Intuit, Khan Academy and Infusionsoft. Making customer-driven product choices is the right move. But it’s not always the popular one. If advocating for your customers has you feeling like a lone wolf, hosts Vidya and Heather—product rebels in their own right, with 20 combined years of experience—are here to help you learn from the best, so you can pave your way confidently.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

June 11, 2026Episode 6729 min

Building Product-led Teams with Conviction

What does it take to turn a struggling edtech platform into a mission-driven product powerhouse — in under a year? Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin sit down with Jared Harless, Chief Product and Technology Officer at BookNook, as he talks about his early days bootstrapping digital products inside a billion-dollar publishing company, to leading a turnaround that grew revenue 25% year over year and pulled customer retention from 27% to 70%...but the work is far from over. Jared gets real about the kind of conviction it takes to build before you have permission — and how going straight to the market before writing a line of code is still the most powerful move a product leader can make.

May 28, 202636 min

[REPLAY] Tinder, TripAdvisor, and more: Universal Product Lessons

Hey there Product Rebels! If you're a product leader right now, chances are someone in your org has asked you some version of "what's our AI strategy?" in the last month. And chances are, the answer is still murky. We're hearing this from product leaders constantly — there's pressure to ship AI features, but not a lot of clarity on how to move from boardroom excitement to actual product impact.That's why we're resurfacing this conversation with Ravi Mehta. His Inspire, Validate, Structure, and Ship framework is one of the most practical takes we've heard on turning AI ambition into real outcomes. If anything, it's more relevant now than when we first aired it. Enjoy the re-listen.

May 7, 202632 min

[REPLAY] Think Financial, Act Customer

Hey there Product Rebels! We've had a lot of conversations with product leaders lately, and one thing that keeps coming up is how much financial guesswork is involved in incorporating AI into their product orgs. From forecasting costs to proving ROI, it's a challenge that really comes down to something more fundamental — do PMs actually understand the economics of the products they're building? That's exactly what Nat Kunes digs into in this episode. While the conversation isn't specifically about AI, the financial fluency he talks about is the exact muscle product leaders need right now. Enjoy the re-listen.In this episode, Heather Samarin and Vidya Dinamani sit down with Nat Kunes, Chief Product Officer at Ontra. He shares his insights on redefining pricing strategies, replacing assumptions with validated hypotheses, and the impactful strategy he uses to empower his team to balance goals with true user value. Nat digs into financial fluency for PMs, market validation practices, and shifting org culture to view product as an asset, not a liability.

April 23, 2026Episode 9234 min

Product Leadership in the AI Era

What does it mean to be a true product rebel in the age of AI? Heather Samarin and Vidya Dinamani sit down with Raviv Levi, former Chief Product & Technology Officer at Sift, as they unpack how product leaders can stay focused on what really matters—amid constant noise, data overload, and accelerating change. From building alignment across competing teams to rethinking experimentation in an AI-first world, this conversation explores how faster prototyping, sharper problem focus, and stronger conviction are redefining product leadership.

April 9, 2026Episode 9130 min

Why Product Investment Matters

What happens when product leaders prioritize profit over long-term value? In this episode, Michael Nierstedt shares lessons from more than a decade building payroll and HR technology across companies like Gusto and Paylocity. He explains why product investment drives competitive advantage, why product managers must think like sellers inside their organizations, and how real influence comes from delivering value in production.The conversation also explores customer research, the realities of building AI-driven products, and why the next generation of product leaders must learn to delegate, coach, and empower their teams.

March 26, 2026Episode 9025 min

Women, AI, and the Gap We Need to Close

Overthinking isn't a liability — it might just be your greatest edge as a product leader. In celebration of women's history month, Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin sit down with Carmen Palmer, CEO of Women in Product and a veteran CPO with 20 years in the industry. Carmen makes the case for why women's "overthinking" is a competitive edge, argues product management isn't going anywhere, and issues a sharp call to action: get in on AI now, before the gap widens. She also unpacks the power of the personal board and what Women in Product has planned for 2026.

March 12, 2026Episode 8915 min

AI as a Force Multiplier for Product Discipline

In this special episode of Product Rebels, Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin revisit highlights from their recent webinar, AI as a Force Multiplier for Product Discipline, featuring product and AI leader Elena Luneva. After the live session sparked a wave of thoughtful audience questions, they sit down to tackle some of the most pressing ones—from how AI is reshaping product work to why strong product fundamentals matter more than ever.

February 26, 2026Episode 8840 min

The Right Way to Prioritize [Replay]

Note: As Product Rebels journeys deeper into supporting teams navigating AI, we're resharing this episode featuring Kene Anoliefo who shared some great insights. We hope you enjoy!How is AI reshaping product management? Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin sit down with Kene Anoliefo, Co-founder of HEARD by Elis, to explore how AI is accelerating product development, streamlining research, and transforming how teams build and iterate. Kene shares insights on leveraging AI for rapid experimentation, the risks of low-quality product output, and why AI-driven tools are redefining how product teams operate.

February 12, 2026Episode 6932 min

From Consensus to Conviction

What does great product leadership look like when you’re asked to go along with a big initiative you don’t believe in? In this episode, former CPO at Everway, Timothy Alvis, talks about the tough calls product leaders face when conviction clashes with consensus. From telling better stories, to embracing problem obsession over solution fixation, Tim shares hard-earned wisdom from leading at scale and navigating complex orgs. We also hear how he’s now applying AI to rethink product work itself. Whether you’re an aspiring CPO or in the trenches today, this episode offers plenty of gold.

January 29, 2026Episode 6835 min

Don't Ship Assumptions

What happens when you challenge long-held assumptions—and let real data and user behavior lead? In this episode, Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin sit down with Harish Pandian, CPO at Gravity, to talk about driving product transformation in industries resistant to change. From building gamified safety tools to rapid-fire prototype testing on job sites, Harish shares how deep customer empathy, hard data, and cross-functional trust unlock real adoption and lasting impact.