Productly Speaking: Real Stories for Product Managers
Productly Speaking is where product management gets real.
While other podcasts focus on frameworks, leadership systems, and executive‑level strategy, we spotlight the human side of building products: the messy moments, the unexpected failures, the lessons learned the hard way, and the breakthroughs that only come from lived experience.
Hosted by Karl Abbott, each episode brings you candid conversations with product managers and builders who’ve been in the trenches, sharing the real product stories that rarely make it into books or conference talks. It’s not about theory. It’s about what actually happens when real people try to create real products in the real world.
If you’ve ever wanted to hear the truth behind product decisions, growth, chaos, and resilience, this is your place.
Recent Episodes
S4E4: AI, Product Failure, and the Skills PMs Need for What’s Next wi…
AI is supposed to feel magical. So why does it so often leave product teams confused, overpromised, or quietly disappointed? In this episode, Karl sits down with Dina Atia, a PM working on AI products at Microsoft, to talk ab...
S4E3: Beyond Dogfooding: Balancing Complexity and Market Insight with…
What if the thing you are closest to is actually what is blinding you? In this episode, Karl talks with Jake Bowen-Bate about the quiet, human challenges of building products in fast‑moving environments. Jake shares what it r...
S4E2: Why Lean and Agile Struggle in Chunky Corporates with Katie Tam…
What happens when all the advice you followed turns out to be wrong for the job in front of you? In this episode, Karl talks with Katie Tamblin about the lived reality of building products inside what she calls “chunky corpor...
S4E1: From Failure to Breakthrough: The Product Manager’s Journey wit…
Episode Summary: In this episode of Productly Speaking , host Karl Abbott sits down with Lee Fischman—seasoned developer, product manager, executive, and author of How to Excel at Digital Product Management . Lee shares decad...
Season 4 Introduction
Welcome to Season 4 of Productly Speaking! In this short kickoff episode, host Karl Abbott introduces the theme for the season: Why do products fail and what can we learn from those failures? We’ll explore the hidden risks, o...
S3E5: The Truth About Roadmaps: Why Dates Don't Deliver with Janna Ba…
Have you ever put something on a roadmap knowing, deep down, it probably was not going to happen on that date? In this episode, Karl talks with Janna Bastow about the uncomfortable truth behind most roadmaps and the moment sh...
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