In this episode, Nathalie Criou joins Zero to One: Product Journeys to share insights from a career spanning Google, Amazon, Twilio, Docker, and her own start-up, RidePal.
Nathalie talks about why every great product starts with a painful, expensive, human problem, what it means to stay married to the problem rather than the product, and how to balance innovation with customer readiness.
We discuss lessons from scaling at Google Ads, navigating tough trade-offs at Amazon, and building product cultures grounded in humility, empathy, and clarity. Nathalie also shares her perspective on the future of product management, why focus beats force, and why, bad PMs will become extinct, and good ones will be dangerous.
A thoughtful conversation on the craft of product, leadership at scale, and building systems that are both useful and joyful.
In this episode, I sat down with Ryan Johnson, CPO at CallRail, a $100M+ PLG company serving over 200,000 businesses. Ryan’s path into product wasn’t traditional - he started in finance and operations before scaling product orgs at companies like Virtue (acquired by Oracle), Banjo (SoftBank-backed), and now CallRail.
We spoke about how he leads with transparency and trust, and what it takes to scale product in a high-growth, AI-driven company.
In this episode:
How CallRail launched its Voice AI assistant from POC to product in months
Navigating trade-offs in AI onboarding, PLG vs sales motion, and time-to-value
What exec-level decision-making actually looks like from a CPO seat
The difference between fundraising stories and reality -from $100M rounds to Oracle acquisitions
How to find your “PM stage fit” and build a career with self-awareness
If you’re a PM navigating scale, new tech, or just figuring out what kind of product leader you want to become - this will be an fun and interesting listen!
Trust is one of the hardest things to measure in product, and one of the hardest things to earn.
In this episode, Akshay Bhargava shares how he grew from early engineering roles into senior product leadership, with lessons from scaling security, developer tools, and observability products across Oracle, FireEye, Malwarebytes, 1Password, and New Relic.
We cover:
How stepping up as an engineering manager led him into product
Building and launching Oracle’s first cloud security product
The product that helped Malwarebytes double revenue and save customers from ransomware
Moving 50+ products to consumption pricing at New Relic
How he operationalizes trust across different types of products
What he means by “coach and verify” and “purpose-built innovation”
Why PMs who ignore AI today will be left behind tomorrow
A thoughtful conversation with a leader who has shipped through complexity and scaled with conviction.
What does it take to go from warehouse operations to Senior PM at Amazon by 24, then build an AI platform that helps PMs level up faster?
A special episode of Zero to One this week as we dive into entrepreneurship and product , I’m joined by Nabeel Khan, founder of Nayru and former Amazon product leader. At Amazon he owned product strategy for the software used to build the vast majority of their warehouses. Today he’s channeling those lessons into personalized, AI-driven upskilling for product talent.
We cover:
Breaking into product from ops and moving to Senior PM at 24
Owning the toolchain that builds Amazon warehouses and consolidating 70 tools into a focused suite
The tough trade offs in B2B at scale balancing current users with a future vision
Building product sense through end to end process mapping, mentorship, and real user time
Why he founded Nayru and how AI creates truly personalized learning plans
Outcomes from the community including promotions to Director and VP
Practical advice for PMs eyeing entrepreneurship runway, validation, and doing the role where you are
How AI will change the PM craft and why the role becomes more important, not less
Nabeel shares a systems-first, practical playbook for growing as a PM, leading at scale, and turning learning into career acceleration. Hope you all enjoy!
What does it take to build products across every wave of innovation - from telecom and wearables, to crypto, AI, and enterprise SaaS?
This week on Zero to One, I’m joined by Chander Chawla, a product leader whose journey has spanned startups and big tech alike. From co-founding Ever App to leading product at Open Garden and Meta, he’s consistently been at the edge of what’s next.
In this episode we dive into:
The lessons behind building products used by hundreds of millions, from public Wi-Fi to wearable tech
What it’s like betting $40M+ on a hardware product, and the foresight and fortitude it takes
How to simplify and earn trust when introducing complex tech like crypto and AI to everyday users
The trade-offs he faced building in high-stakes environments, and the frameworks he leans on today
His four-part framework for product leadership: user experience, profit, tech advancement, and competitive advantage
Why the best PMs lead with empathy, judgment, and communication
Chander brings decades of perspective across industries, and this conversation is packed with insights for anyone looking to build with clarity, courage, and long-term impact.
What does it take to build products that can succeed in highly complex, regulated, and fast-changing enterprise environments?
For the 11th episode, I’m joined by Palak Kadakia, a product leader whose career has spanned Microsoft, UiPath, and now Trase. She’s led teams through IPO journeys, scaled enterprise platforms, and built AI-driven products designed to serve industries where precision and trust matter most.
We dive into:
• How to scale product orgs in hypergrowth while keeping customer trust at the center
• What PMs often overlook when building for regulated industries
• Balancing platform extensibility with simplicity in enterprise software
• Lessons from navigating IPO readiness and product-market fit at UiPath
• Building AI-driven products that solve real-world industry problems
• How to approach strategy shifts - from corporate scale to startup urgency
• The mindset shift needed when moving between enterprise giants and early-stage ventures
• Her bold take on where enterprise product leadership is heading next
Palak shares candid lessons on building resilient teams, making high-stakes product calls, and creating impact across multiple stages of company growth.
What does it take to build a product org that can thrive across stages - from 0 to 1, and then to $100M+ scale?
This week on Zero to One, I’m joined by Ibrahim Bashir, a seasoned product executive whose career has spanned Kindle Fire, Twitter, Box, and Amplitude. He’s led high-impact product teams across B2B SaaS, platforms, and infrastructure, helping companies evolve from single-product to multi-product strategies.
We cover:
Ibrahim shares a thoughtful, systems-driven view of product, and what he’s learned from scaling teams, making hard calls, and building with intention.
What does it take to scale from a single-product company to a multi-product platform, without losing customer focus or speed?
This week on Zero to One, I’m joined by Yair Levin, a product leader who’s helped companies like SoFi, Gusto, Remitly and Velocity Global do just that. From launching new fintech products to leading platform teams and building with AI at scale, Yair brings a thoughtful, execution-first lens to complex product challenges.
We cover:
His 4-part validation framework to de-risk 0-1 bets
Lessons from scaling Gusto from payroll to multi-product
How SoFi prioritized stock vs. crypto using a clever painted door test
Building AI as a problem-solver, not a shiny object
Creating moats through cross-product integration
The biggest mindset shift for PMs trying to move into leadership
Yair also shares the early product decisions that shaped his career, how he thinks about autonomy in product teams, and what to watch as AI continues to reshape the product landscape.
What does it take to build products that serve real, often overlooked customer needs, while aligning with both business goals and social impact?
This week on Zero to One, I’m joined by Prashanthi Ravanavarapu, a product leader whose career has spanned fintech, enterprise platforms, and mission-driven innovation. From her early days at PayPal to scaling teams at Workiva, she’s built inclusive, human-centered products that drive meaningful outcomes.
We cover:
Prashanthi also shares her perspective on trade-offs, mentorship, and why PMs should treat their careers like a product.
In this episode of Zero to One, I’m joined by Krishnan Nair, SVP of Product at 21Co, whose journey spans from launching Samsung’s first Smart TV app marketplace to leading product in streaming and crypto.
We unpack the lessons behind building regulated digital asset platforms, the frameworks he uses for product trade-offs, and how experimentation, data, and user-centric design have shaped his approach.
Krishnan also shares predictions on stablecoins, tokenization, and advice for PMs making the leap to leadership.
On this episode of Zero to One, I sit down with Brian Huss, VP of Product at PrizePicks, where he’s helped scale the platform into one of North America’s fastest-growing sports apps.
We talk about what it takes to build truly fan-first products, how to balance monetization with great UX, and the behind-the-scenes story of launching PrizePicks Arena.
Brian also shares lessons on product leadership at scale, and where he sees the future of sports, gaming, and interactivity heading.
On this episode of Zero to One, I’m joined by Vivek Bedi, a product leader who’s built and scaled platforms at Goldman Sachs, LearnVest, Northwestern Mutual, and high-growth SaaS companies.
We cover his shift from eng to product, how he approaches digital transformation in complex orgs, and why product leadership starts with empathy. He also shares takeaways from his book You: The Product, focused on how PMs can take control of their careers by treating themselves like a product.
If you’re building in SaaS or Fintech, leading product at scale, or just thinking about your next career move, this one’s packed with insight.
On this episode of Zero to One, I’m joined by Nachi Periakaruppan, a Cybersecurity focused product leader with deep experience building security and mobile products at scale. He’s led teams at Oracle, McAfee, and Malwarebytes, shaping mobile security portfolios that protect millions globally.
We talk about his tranistioning into product from engineering, the complexity of building user-first security on mobile, and why sometimes the best product decision is the simpler one.
Nachi shares practical lessons on leading in regulated spaces, adapting to rapid market changes, and keeping your product strategy grounded in real customer need.
On this episode of Zero to One I’m joined by Errol Apostolopoulos, an B2B SaaS and AI focused product leader who’s built and scaled AI-powered SaaS platforms across Crimson Hexagon, Equifax, and Case IQ.
We talk about his path from engineering to product, the lessons from scaling startups through IPO and M&A, and what it takes to build responsible, agentic AI systems in highly regulated environments.
Errol shares his approach to leading with empathy, navigating unexpected trade-offs, and why understanding the commercial side of product is key to success. More about Errol on his website too.
On this episode of Zero to One I’m joined by AJ Jindal, a product and growth leader who’s scaled PLG engines at Sentry and AppDynamics, founded and sold an AI-first SaaS startup, and now leads product at Rippling.
We talk about how he transitioned from engineering to product, what it took to build and exit Fulcrum, and how he’s helped shaped the future of data activation at Census.
AJ shares real-world lessons on building AI-first platforms, running high-impact PLG, and navigating the shift from founder to product leader.
On this episode of Zero to One I’m joined by Andrew Ramm, a seasoned product and business leader who’s led major transformations at Amazon, Autodesk, and Avid.
We talk about how he scaled AutoCAD globally, turned around Amazon’s Alexa Internet business, and what it really takes to lead product in high-complexity environments.
Andrew shares practical lessons on org design, strategic clarity, and how product leaders can stay effective as their scope scales.
