We track Product so you don't have to. Top Podcasts summarised, the latest AI tools, plus research and news in a 5 min digest.

Hey Product fans! 🎯

Welcome to 2025's first edition of 🌮 Product Tapas! For the best reading experience, check out the web version and sign up for future editions here.

What's cooking? 🧑‍🍳

📰 Not Boring - Apple Vision Pro hits production hurdles, while xAI secures a massive $6B Series C funding round. Meta's betting big on AI friends, and OpenAI's seeking more capital than expected. We've got M.G. Siegler's predictions for the year ahead, Google's CEO rallying troops for 2025, and a look at both the most disruptive startups and biggest AI flops of 2024.

⌚ Productivity Tapas - Our first toolset of 2025 features an innovative AI-powered IDE that works both as a collaborator and independent agent, a powerful workspace for data science enthusiasts, and a comprehensive open-source analytics platform that puts you in control.

🍔 Blog Bites - Dive into Peter Ramsay's "Best UX of 2024" showcasing exceptional design patterns, learn about shipping products at big tech companies from a GitHub engineer's perspective, and explore Bill Kerr's provocative tech predictions for 2025.

🎙️ Pod Shots - We start the year with Product Talk's discussion with Nicole Castillo, VP of Strategic Products at News Corp, sharing her lessons on developing an authentic product management style.

Let's jump into 2025's first feast! 🚀👇

📰 Not boring

• Apple Vision Pro may now be out of prouction

• 10 big things that could happen this year according to M.G. Siegler

• Google CEO Pichai tells employees to gear up for big 2025: ‘The stakes are high’

• OpenAI says it needs ‘more capital than we’d imagined’ as it lays out for-profit plan

• Here’s a list of people who are going to change the world, along with links to their work and X accounts

• The 51 most disruptive startups of 2024

• Musk’s xAI secures $6bn in Series C funding (pretty much doubling its valuation to $45bn)

• Get ready for even more AI video taking over your socials in 2025

• Meta bets big on Bots: AI friends are coming to Facebook and Instagram

• Telegram rolls out third-party account verification, filters and gift NFTs

• Silicon Valley stifled the AI doom movement (i.e. Those warning of catastrophic AI risk) in 2024

• Vercel CEO creates DOOM-themed CAPTCHA to show off their AI site builder. Love it

• Antidote to all the AI hype? Here are the biggest AI flops of 2024

⌚️ Productivity Tapas: Time-Saving Tools & GPTs

• Windsurf: Agentic Integrated Development Environment (IDE) - basically an AI code editor (similar to Cursor etc.) that both collaborates with you like a Copilot and can also tackle complex tasks independently like an Agent

• Hex: powerful AI powered workspace for data science, analytics and visualisation

• PostHog: Open-source product analytics, session recording, feature flagging and A/B testing that you can self-host.

Remember, as a subscriber you can access the full time saving tools database for fast approaching 300 time-saving tools relevant for product managers and founders 🔥. Check the link below to access 👇️ .

🍔 Blog Bites - Essential Reads for Product Teams

Design: Best UX of 2024

Starting the year off as we left 2024 with another Built for Mars banger - Peter’s "Best UX Bites of 2024" highlights ten exceptional user experience patterns that stood out last year.

These examples showcase how thoughtful design can elevate everything from onboarding to retention, blending creativity with functionality to drive engagement and delight users. From Arc's interactive onboarding toggle to Canva's clever cancellation flow, these ideas demonstrate how small, intentional design choices can have a big impact.

Engineering: How To Ship Products at Big Tech Companies

In this short piece, Sean Goedecke (Git hub Staff SW engineer) talks about how he thinks about shipping product from an Engineers POV.

“A project is shipped when the important people at your company believe it is shipped." This reframes shipping from a technical achievement to a social construct, highlighting why technically competent leaders sometimes fail to deliver successfully.

In large organisations, shipping success depends more on social dynamics and trust-building than pure technical excellence. Understanding this distinction is crucial for engineers transitioning into leadership roles and companies wanting to improve their delivery success rate.

TL;DR: Successful delivery requires prioritising delivery over perfection, maintaining leadership trust through clear communication, anticipating problems early, and understanding that shipping is ultimately a social construct within organisations rather than just a technical milestone.

2025 Predictions: Bill Kerr’s 12 11 Takes of Christmas

It’s that time of year for predictions!

Whilst not 100% product focused, Bill Kerr has a solid opinion IMO, so his twelve provocative predictions and observations about the tech industry's future are worth a quick read.

Although, weirdly I only count 11 🤷 .

The takes range from cultural shifts in smartphone usage to major AI industry developments, offering a critical perspective on some of tech's biggest names and trends. From predicting Mr. Beast's declining influence to forecasting Trump's economic impact and the rise of agentic AI, these takes challenge conventional wisdom while highlighting significant industry transitions.

Take a look at the full article here, or the headlines below.

🎙️ Pod Shots - Bitesized Podcast Summaries

Remember, subscribers get access to an ever growing database of all the top Podcast summaries we’ve ever created. Check it out below 👇️ 

🎨 Developing a Unique Product Management Style

In our 1st Pod Shot of 2025 we’re revisiting Product Talk. In this episode, Nicole Castillo, VP of Strategic Products at News Corp, shared invaluable insights about developing an authentic product management style. She covered her journey from customer service to leading strategic products and super useful experiences from the importance of customer service background in product management, to the value of being transparent and authentic in communication and her approach to sunsetting products with empathy and logic. So let’s dig in to these valuable lessons and more!

🎙️ Listen to the full episode here

📆 Published: December 20th, 2024

🕒 Estimated Reading Time: 4 mins. Time saved: 33 mins🔥

Developing a Unique Product Management Style

🌟 The Foundation: Customer Service Mindset

The path to product leadership isn't always straight. For Castillo, it began in customer service – a foundation that proved invaluable for her product management career. "Being part of customer service is actually really critical to what makes me a really great product person today," she explains.

Key Takeaways for Product Leaders:

• There’s no one way to being a great PM, but customer service experience helps develop empathy and understanding of user needs

• Learning to read between the lines of customer feedback is crucial

• What customers say they want isn't always what they need

• The ability to interpret feedback and identify underlying needs is a critical skill

🧭 Navigating the Stakeholder Maze

One of the most challenging aspects of product management is balancing stakeholder expectations with customer needs. Castillo advocates for transparency and authenticity in communication, even when delivering difficult messages.

Strategic Approaches:

• Be candid and transparent in communications

• Use humour effectively when appropriate

• Get comfortable with being uncomfortable

• Maintain authenticity in your management style

• Focus on the problem, not just the solution

🤖 Embracing AI with a Critical Eye

As someone spearheading AI initiatives at News Corp, Castillo describes herself as a "cynical optimist" when it comes to AI implementation. Her approach offers valuable insights for product managers navigating the AI hype cycle.

AI Implementation Guidelines:

• Start with the problem, not the technology

• Balance excitement with practical application

• Consider both internal efficiency and external product opportunities

• Maintain focus on brand trust and reliability

• Don't force AI solutions where traditional approaches work better

🛠 Sunsetting Products: The Art of Letting Go

One of the most valuable insights Castillo shared was her approach to sunsetting products. Her experience offers a great perspective in how to handle what can be a challenging aspect of being a PM.

Sunsetting Strategy:

• Approach with fresh eyes and objectivity

• Focus on data and business impact

• Consider the human element – both users and team members

• Present logical arguments backed by metrics

• Frame it as an opportunity for team growth and resource optimisation

🤝 Building Psychological Safety

Castillo emphasises the importance of creating an environment where team members feel safe to take risks and learn from mistakes. Her approach to leadership focuses on empowering team members while providing a safety net.

Leadership Principles:

• Remove "failure" from your vocabulary

• Take responsibility for team decisions

• Encourage calculated risk-taking

• Share personal experiences and lessons learned

• Foster an environment of continuous learning

🎯 Developing Your Unique Style

Perhaps the most compelling advice from Castillo is her approach to developing a unique product management style. She brands herself as the "Mary Poppins of product management," demonstrating how personal branding can make your approach memorable and authentic.

But for me it highlights there is clearly no “one right way” to be a PM, so find your style, and what works for you and hone that.

Style Development Tips:

• Identify what makes you unique

• Apply your personal experiences to product management

• Create a memorable way to communicate your approach

• Stay authentic to who you are

• Use your background as a strength

🌍 Driving Change: The DEI Perspective

Castillo's success in organising the Global Women in Tech Conference at News Corp provides valuable lessons in driving organisational change and promoting diversity in tech.

Change Management Strategies:

• Speak up when you see opportunities for improvement

• Take initiative in proposing solutions

• Build coalitions across the organisation

• Secure budget and support through clear value proposition

• Focus on sustainable, long-term impact

💡 Final Thoughts

The key to successful product management isn't about following a predetermined playbook – it's about developing your own authentic style while maintaining a framework of core product management principles. But as with any framework, it should be flexible enough to allow you to adapt to address new, complex situations. As Castillo demonstrates, your unique experiences and perspective can become your greatest strengths in leading product teams and driving innovation through such uncertainty.

The most successful product leaders aren't those who perfectly follow a template – they're the ones who understand their unique strengths and leverage them to build better products and stronger teams.

Want to know more quickly? Just ask the episode below [web only]👇️🤯
or if you prefer, 🎙️ Listen to the full episode here

📅Timestamps:

• 00:00:00 - Introduction and Sponsorship

• 00:00:22 - About Products That Count

• 00:00:53 - Welcome to Product Talk

• 00:01:37 - Introducing Host Justin Lebo

• 00:01:48 - Guest Introduction: Nicole Castillo

• 00:02:48 - Nicole's Reaction to Winning the Award

• 00:03:10 - Nicole's Background and Career Journey

• 00:06:06 - Importance of Customer Service Experience

• 00:08:04 - Navigating Stakeholder and Customer Expectations

• 00:11:09 - Challenges in Sunsetting a Product

• 00:16:07 - Shifting Focus from Tech-Led to Product-Led

• 00:17:08 - AI in Product Management

• 00:20:48 - Future of Product Management with AI

• 00:23:06 - Growing and Empowering Teams

• 00:26:32 - Creating a Culture of Risk-Taking

• 00:29:29 - Global Women in Tech Conference

• 00:32:59 - Final Advice for Product Leaders

• 00:36:23 - Closing Remarks and Call to Action

That’s a wrap.

As always, the journey doesn't end here!

Please share and let us know what you would like to see more or less of so we can continue to improve your Product Tapas. 🚀👋

Alastair 🍽️.