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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 this week’s 🌮 Product Tapas.

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What’s cooking this week? 🥘

GPT-5 drops with user revolt (nostalgia sells), browser wars get delusional (Perplexity's math doesn't add up), Google launches everything everywhere all at once (classic), and China casually breaks solar records while we weren't looking.

Let's go 🚀

📰 Not boring

💰 Money Talks

The numbers went stratospheric this week. Anthropic at $350B. A domain name for $70M. A seed round at $300M for a company managing code that AI writes. Runway pivoting from "AI video tool" to "world models" mid-raise - and investors said yes. The money isn't chasing products anymore - it's chasing the belief that whoever controls the AI layer controls everything downstream. Stripe at $140B is the quiet signal: the infrastructure players are being priced like nations while the application layer scrambles.

🤖 The Agentic Explosion

Stripe merges 1,000+ AI PRs weekly. DuoLingo ships agents for PMs. Chrome creates an "agent-readable web." Notion becomes a platform. The shift happened while everyone was debating whether agents "really work" - they just started shipping. The pattern isn't one breakthrough product; it's stacks of major companies simultaneously embedding agents into their existing workflows. When your documentation has an MCP server and your IDE treats agents as team members, the question flips from "should we use agents?" to "why aren't we already?"

📱 Consumer & Platforms

OpenAI puts ads in ChatGPT at $60 CPM. Anthropic runs Super Bowl spots mocking ads. Altman calls it "dishonest." Meanwhile users revolt when OpenAI retires GPT-4o because they're emotionally attached to a language model. The AI consumer market just split into two radically different visions - one monetises attention, the other charges for sanctuary. And Apple? Siri delayed again. Gemini at 750M MAUs. The window to matter in consumer AI is closing faster than anyone at Cupertino seems to realise.

💀 Software Is Dead (Or Is It?)

Anthropic launches plugins - $300B wiped off software stocks in a week. Databricks CEO says SaaS is dead. Nvidia CEO says that's "the most illogical thing in the world." Google says AI hasn't hurt search - while Ahrefs data shows AI Overviews cut clicks by 58%. Everyone is simultaneously right and wrong. The nuance nobody wants to hear: software isn't dying, but the growth premium is. When Amazon and Google are spending $385B on AI infrastructure, the question isn't whether SaaS survives - it's whether it matters at the old multiples.

🛠️ Developer & AI Adoption

4% of GitHub commits now come from Claude Code. Benchmarks are meaningless. Copilot usage is declining. One developer shipped 50 projects in two months then burned out. Anthropic's own data says devs can only fully delegate 0-20% of tasks. The hype says AI replaces developers. The data says something stranger: it makes them faster at building things they shouldn't build, while eroding the deep thinking that made their best work possible. "I miss thinking hard" might be 2026's most important developer essay.

⚖️ Workplace, Culture & Regulation

Harvard finds AI makes people work more, not less. Meta ties bonuses to AI usage. The people who embraced AI earliest are burning out first. OpenAI disbands its safety team. Half of xAI's founders have left. The Anthropic cofounder wants you to hire humanities majors. Spot the pattern? The AI industry is moving so fast it can't retain its own people, can't keep its promises about reduced workloads, and can't figure out whether AI tools are saving time or creating new attack surfaces. Meanwhile, Europe quietly bans infinite scroll and Spain follows Australia on under-16 social media. The adults are arriving - slowly.

Ship the message as fast as you think

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⌚ Productivity Tapas: Time-Saving Tools & Workflow Automation

Honestly buzzing to have Wispr Flow as this week's sponsor. I've banged on about voice-to-text in this newsletter more times than I can count - and Wispr is a big reason why. It's not just another dictation tool. It's the foundation layer that makes everything else work: the AI workflows, the prompt chains, the agent orchestration. None of that matters if your input speed is still bottlenecked by a keyboard. Don't believe me? Listen to Katie Parrott explain it in much clearer terms than I can. Voice-to-text isn't a nice-to-have anymore - it's the unlock that makes LLM-powered productivity actually stick. If you're not voice-pilled yet, this is your sign. 🎙️🔥

They have an Android waitlist on the go right now. Use my referral to boost!

In other time-saving news:

  • Supaboard: Connects to your business data and delivers insights that explain what changed, why it changed, and the next best actions instantly - without SQL

  • ManePaw: native macOS app that lets you search and chat with your documents, code, images, and audio — all using local AI.

  • ChaChing: gives you Stripe Billing’s features at 50% less while maintaining your processing with Stripe.

    Remember. Product Tapas subscribers get our complete toolkit - 550+ personally tailored, time-saving tools for PMs and founders. Your shortcut to efficiency and what's hot in product management 🔥

Check the link here to access.

🍔 Blog Bites - Essential Reads for Product Teams

Strategy: How Loom Revolutionised Internal Communication

Tom explores Loom's impactful transformation into a corporate social network, highlighting its strategic development of screen recording tools. By focusing on simplicity and widespread adoption, Loom has effectively encouraged all employees to engage in seamless video communication. Read the full article here.

💡 "Video messaging saves everyone a meeting, can be watched at 2x speed, and lets recipients jump around to focus on relevant topics."

❝

Key Takeaways

• Broad Accessibility: Loom’s tool is designed for universal use among employees, unlike traditional tools targeted at specific roles. This enables organisations to purchase licenses for the entire workforce, enhancing overall efficiency.

• Frictionless Experience: The platform simplifies the creation and sharing of video messages, eliminating cumbersome steps that plague other recording software. This ease of use promotes habitual engagement with Loom across teams.

• Network Effects: Even non-users can view and interact with Loom videos, which creates organic growth within companies. This shareable nature compels employees to promote the tool without formal incentives, enhancing user adoption.

• Strategic Development: Loom’s focus on solving real communication challenges rather than merely providing a product has been pivotal. The platform has evolved into a vital communication tool that not only improves efficiency but also builds community within companies.

Tom, Strategy Breakdowns

People: Navigating the Technology Hiring Wars

Bill Kerr explores the intense rivalries behind tech hiring practices, spotlighting battles for talent among giants like Apple and Google. He emphasises how direct communication and negotiation tactics play pivotal roles in these competitive interactions. Read the full article here.

💡 "One of us must change our policy" - Steve Jobs exemplifies the fierce negotiation techniques that can dictate tech giants' strategies.

❝

Key Takeaways:

• Talent Poaching: The ongoing battles for hiring top talent often lead to tension between tech companies, with poaching being a contentious issue. Notably, Steve Jobs confronted Adobe's CEO over their recruitment efforts of Apple employees, highlighting the high stakes involved in protecting talent.

• Corporate Relationships: Relationships between rival firms can be fluid, as seen in the dynamic between Apple and Google. Tensions arose over recruitment practices, yet communication skills played a crucial role in managing these corporate interactions, with Sheryl Sandberg's diplomatic approach helping to ease tensions.

• Confrontation vs Diplomacy: The contrast in negotiation styles between Jobs and Sergey Brin during talent disputes shows that direct confrontation isn't the only way to address issues. Brin's more diplomatic efforts sought to maintain a working relationship despite the pressure from Jobs’ aggressive tactics.

• Legal Ramifications: The fierce competition for talent led to informal 'no-poaching' agreements among top tech firms that later drew legal scrutiny. This highlights the delicate balance between competitive hiring practices and compliance with legal standards.

Bill Kerr, Open Source CEO

Productivity: The PRD's Evolution in the AI Age

Bandan Singh delves into the transformation of Product Requirement Documents (PRDs) in light of AI advancements. He argues that while the PRD is not dead, it must evolve to ensure teams maintain alignment on critical building decisions. Read the full article here.

💡 "When AI can help you build anything, the real competitive edge is knowing exactly what’s worth building."

❝

Key Takeaways:

• Historical Context: The PRD has transitioned from extensive documents in the pre-Agile era to concise formats that prioritise alignment and flexibility. This evolution reflects the need for quicker responses to user feedback and market changes.

• AI Impact: Generative AI tools can accelerate the production of PRDs but may lack the critical insights that real-world understanding provides. As a result, teams need to focus on synthesising these outputs rather than relying on them entirely.

• Modern PRD Roles: The role of product managers is shifting from being mere document authors to orchestrators of complex ideas, emphasizing strategic judgement and prioritising customer problems over mere feature lists.

• Collaborative Documentation: The best modern PRDs act as living hubs, integrating various resources such as prototypes and market analysis, bringing teams together to maintain alignment on goals rather than just serving as formalised records.

Bandan Singh, Substack

🎙 Pod Shots - Bitesized Podcast Summaries

Remember, we've built an ever-growing library of our top podcast summaries (120 or so). Whether you need a quick refresher, want to preview an episode, or need to get up to speed fast - we've got you covered.

Check it out here

TODAY’S POD SHOT

Most companies dream of Netflix's culture - high performers, radical candor, freedom without bureaucracy. Elizabeth Stone, Netflix's first economist-turned-CTO, reveals the uncomfortable truth: it only works because of something most companies won't commit to.

Key insights from the full article:

  • 🏗️ Talent density is the foundation — Netflix's culture only works because of exceptional people everywhere. Without high talent density, practices like radical candor and freedom without process create chaos rather than innovation. It's the prerequisite, not the goal.

  • 🎯 The Keeper Test keeps standards high — Managers regularly ask: "If this person quit today, would I fight to keep them?" If not, have the conversation. This mental model forces proactive performance management and prevents teams tolerating mediocrity.

  • 💬 Radical candor requires continuous feedback — No performance reviews at Netflix. Instead, expectations are crystal clear, feedback is specific and immediate, and managers help people close gaps. Tough conversations happen privately, not in public meetings.

  • 🔓 Freedom demands exceptional judgment — Unlimited vacation, no strict processes, minimal approvals - these only work with people who have strong judgment. Most companies shouldn't attempt this without first achieving talent density.

  • 🧠 Economics trains you to see incentives — Understanding unintended consequences and predicting second-order effects is invaluable. Elizabeth's economics background taught her to simplify complex problems and translate between technical and business domains.

  • 🚀 Career acceleration comes from making others successful — Not long hours, but dedication to excellence. Responding quickly, following through on commitments, setting teammates up for success, and translating between technical and non-technical stakeholders.

  • 🔬 Centralised data teams stay objective — Netflix resists embedding data teams in business units. Centralisation enables functional excellence, career mobility, and most critically - objectivity. Data teams become truth-tellers, not story-tellers.

  • 🏃‍♀️ Endurance sports build mental resilience — Triathlons and cycling taught Elizabeth to navigate highs and lows, sustain through challenges, and recover from setbacks. These skills translate directly to leadership resilience.

EXPLORE THE FULL GUIDE →

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 🍽️.

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