Scandinavian Product Podcast

Today's guest is Melissa Mills [https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissamills/], VP of Product at Ardoc, former Director of Product at Kahoot!, and former Global Product Lead at Google in San Francisco. Ardoc [https://www.linkedin.com/company/ardoq/] is a fast-growing scale-up in Norway, recognized by Gartner as a leading Enterprise Architecture Tool. Their Series D raise is one of the five largest private funding rounds by a Norwegian tech business. Many enterprise companies like Carlsberg Group are choosing Ardoc, and this episode will give you an insider view of how they build their products. Melissa and I talked about: - Ardoc's growth and product journey - Product management in big tech, startups, and scale-ups - Product Managers' valuable traits according to company stage - The importance of domain knowledge in B2B - How Product and Sales should partner - Onboarding product teams - Cultural differences between doing Product in Norway versus Silicon Valley - And so much more _ 💪 Companies I think you should know about: UX Signals [https://www.uxsignals.com/afonso] - Don’t let your busy schedule stop you from talking to users. Automatically recruit interviews and user tests with people who are using your product. Talk to them while their user experience is still fresh in their mind. Used by big companies like DNB Bank, Vipps MobilePay, NAV, and many more. Tell them Afonso sent you, and get 50% off your trial! Know more here [https://www.uxsignals.com/afonso] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit afonsofranco.substack.com [https://afonsofranco.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Would you like to know how Norway's best mobile bank builds its products? Today's guest is Thomas Allan Nygaard [https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-allan-nygaard-5aa03618/] - Product Leader at Sparebank 1, one of the largest banks in Norway and named Norway's best mobile bank. Thomas and his team are constantly trying to push their boundaries and this conversation walks you through their ongoing journey into adopting and continuously adjusting their product operating model. We covered: * Sparebank's journey from breaking the monolith * How their teams approach discovery and risk reduction * Balancing just enough discovery and risk-taking * The power of small autonomous teams * Why feedback from Beta users can be dangerous * Product Strategy as problem-solving * Using OKRs and other techniques to increase focus * Why organizational and team focus start with each individual * And more Listen now: Apple | Spotify | Youtube _ 💪 Companies I think you should know about: UX Signals [https://www.uxsignals.com/afonso] - Don’t let your busy schedule stop you from talking to users. Automatically recruit interviews and user tests with people who are using your product. Talk to them while their user experience is still fresh in their mind. Used by big companies like DNB Bank, Vipps MobilePay, NAV, and many more. Tell them Afonso sent you, and get 50% off your trial! Know more here [https://www.uxsignals.com/afonso] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit afonsofranco.substack.com [https://afonsofranco.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

My guest today is Beth Stensen [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethstensen/]. Beth is a gem in the Design world in Norway. She was Head of Design at Ruter (the company responsible for the plan, coordination, order and market of public transport in Oslo & Akershus), she then became the CEO at Netlife (famous for their Y Oslo Conference), and now she's the Head of Design at Posten Bring - the leading post company in the Nordics. Beth has a lot of experience with transformations and this conversation is packed with insights and advice from her journey - as well as reflections on the Product Movement and how it's impacting Design, and its future. We covered: * The “Product” Movement and its impact to Design * Making room for the intangibles * Reflections on “tension” between Design and Product * Ruter’s transformational journey * A practical example of what a great Product Vision looks like * Tips to navigate transformation as a Designer and Design leader * Insights from Beth’s journey at Posten Bring so far * The Future of Design * And more I really loved talking with Beth. There’s so much wisdom here. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did :) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit afonsofranco.substack.com [https://afonsofranco.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Today’s guest is the one and only Christina Wodtke [https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinawodtke/] - Professor at Stanford and author of several bestsellers, including the famous book on OKRs “Radical Focus [https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Focus-Achieving-Important-Objectives-dp-0996006087/dp/0996006087/ref=dp_ob_title_bk]”. We covered: * Foundations and misconceptions about OKRs * Prerequisites for successfully use OKR * Why OKRs might not be for you * The importance of psychological safety and strategic context * Outcome-based key results vs. output-based results * Cross-functional team collaboration and shared objectives * Cadences and Principles * Exploratory OKRs * Challenges in large organizations with complex dependencies * And more Christina is a legend and one of my biggest references. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did! _ References: Article: Why context and culture matter in leading with objectives [https://afonsofranco.substack.com/p/why-context-and-culture-matter-in] Aligned: Stakeholder Management for Product Leaders [https://www.amazon.com/Aligned-Stakeholder-Management-Product-Leaders/dp/1098134427] Team Topologies: Organizing Business and Technology Teams for Fast Flow [https://www.amazon.com/Team-Topologies-Organizing-Business-Technology-ebook/dp/B09JWT9S4D/ref=sr_1_1?crid=7P5OZ0PA9RX2&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.fkrIHqMAVF-HH87KlVLrbKSN1TPtgWgT3FP1br0hJyUCKESkGwDXJ-gtM81x-dJEqgIh915D5zigHEzD7ftYmIQ_dIrJLjR6OJHoP95MDHW3spntLNY_2TUx4f0wH78RoxpmucaZyYfdWVaocJDFTfLDC-Uq_dGCFbjxSnQbno_WOoXEUt5RIy4acwtLNekM85GreVAkUrisGWpZYdih6obO-R-q49RBBrdFYqxK9Xw.stexQ-IEH71cIud04NnogcE0Kp_zvR7eZb2-S0XyCis&dib_tag=se&keywords=team+topologies&qid=1731656431&s=books&sprefix=team+to%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C186&sr=1-1] The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists [https://www.amazon.com/Crux-How-Leaders-Become-Strategists/dp/1541701240/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3BWIOUVU1YU99&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.XNhaZ1gmbCtEECyATvKFRQdF8x3Ks1HASuJ9YB7vpdvGLD0zGIz0uu0JOsvbdUZwkTgNH43T73zAcEv1NWlJxcWjWJkQcVP6yDwzHIEQQ6tSt4LnOZr1BB179NEyIyX6rvyNzasyLfzxVLfIshE807rMo6iLcOSrBJ2BZHh_vV3t50PGbROAuA4OZY-mHm3f71bcyS7LVrIzDHFI6gn99dpKnP6ZCnhTIzZj4uk0KbA.ria96zdny7EJTboMspbkb5-Jt9mpiONzrBkP_4KZabs&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+crux&qid=1731656471&s=books&sprefix=the+crux%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C174&sr=1-1] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit afonsofranco.substack.com [https://afonsofranco.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

I've interviewed more than 30 Product leaders in Scandinavia, and this is one of those conversations. Subscribe for free so you don’t miss out on future conversations and related content Today I'm talking with Marius Røstad [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariusrostad/] - CPO at Aidn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/aidn-no/posts/?feedView=all] - and Espen Sundve [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sundve/]- former CPO at Oda [https://www.linkedin.com/company/careersoda/posts/?feedView=all], who’s now a Senior Advisor at Schibsted [https://www.linkedin.com/company/schibsted-asa/posts/?feedView=all]. Marius used to head up product at Ruter before joining Aidn as Chief Product Officer. Aidn is one of the coolest healthcare scaleups in Norway, aiming to disrupt healthcare. Espen has also held product leadership roles before joining Oda as its CPO, where he thrived for 7 years. Oda is Norway’s leading online grocery store. How does Oda build products and organize itself? What are some of the principles behind their success? And how is Aidn doing that today, one of the most interesting tech scaleups in Norway in the healthcare space? You'll find out soon, as well as learn both Marius and Espen's perspectives on being more strategic, their views and approach to product strategy, team topologies, the importance of speed, how to foster alignment when you’re scaling fast - and so much more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit afonsofranco.substack.com [https://afonsofranco.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]