In this episode of the podcast, I have an in-depth conversation with Aishwarya Ashok, Product Manager at Zoho and Creator of “The Prodcastt”, “The Founder’s Foyer”, “One Good Thing” and “100+NotTech”. The Founder’s Foyer is a space where creators, founders, and builders look for all the foundational concepts and support to grow their ideas into products. We discuss a broad-spectrum of topics ranging from her transition from Product Marketing to Product Management, advice for future and current Product Managers, product sustainability factors, Carnatic music, heritage walks, possibilities for AI, and much more!
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Key points in this episode:
- Emphasis on empathizing with users, picking and solving the right problems, and keeping personal preferences in check when giving feedback.
- Her comparison of Product Management to Stand-Up comedy.
- An in-depth analysis of the success of Duolingo and how it has proved to be a great example of a win-win for both the product and the user.
- The importance of social metrics and her non-belief in labels that restrict thinking.
- A closer look at her strong work ethic and how she’s given herself the freedom to explore new things, including her newfound love of ‘urbanscaping’.
- Her love for her home city, Chennai, and how it influenced her thinking.
- How her grandparents instilled in her a sense of punctuality and a proactive spirit that she carries with her to this day.
Additionally, this episode features an interesting ‘Deep Fire’ (questions) round filled with some fun, deep, and detailed responses by Aishwarya.
Quotes:
- “Being into ‘product’ is like developing a mindset.”
- “Keeping identity fluid is important for observing and absorbing.”
- “No-code democratises idea to creation.”
- “Predominant trait for being a PM is knowing what a product is for.”
- “As soon as you’ve labelled it, you’ve defined it, as soon as you’ve labelled it, you constrained it.”
- “Questioning is a very powerful tool which a lot of us underutilise.”