548: Product Management vs Project Management with Bethan Ashley

Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

What if, instead of asking how to integrate AI into your product, the question was, should you? During this episode, Jared Turner and Sami Birnbaum interview Senior Product Manager at thoughtbot and Founderland Startup Mentor, Bethan Ashley, who shares her insights and advice on how and when to leverage AI tooling. Sharing her career journey leading up to this point, Bethan makes the key distinction between project management and product management, and why this is essential to understand. Next, you’ll hear about her views on the importance of talking to customers about your products and the different ways to reach them effectively. We get into some of the classic reasons that products fail, the appropriate time to bring in a product manager, and a few of the techniques, prompts, and exercises that Bethan favors when mentoring others. Join us as we unpack how to avoid common pitfalls, discuss practical steps to overcome the fear of failure, and share advice for those seeking to put AI tooling into their product. Thanks for tuning in.

Key Points From This Episode:

From building bespoke apps for companies to product management, mentorship, and more: Bethan Ashley’s career journey.
Distinguishing between project management and product management.
Why talking to your customers is fundamental to successful products.
Some of the many different ways to reach customers.
Classic reasons that products fail.
How to identify the point at which a product manager has become a necessity.
Bethan’s path to mentorship through Founderland.
The Speedy Eights exercise that she uses to prompt ideas.
Advice to avoid common pitfalls: just get started.
Exploring the obstacle created by the fear of failure.
Strategies from the book The Mom Test.
Insights on AI in the day-to-day product management space.
Advice for those seeking to put AI tooling into their product.
Spicy takes on product management.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Bethan Ashley on LinkedIn
Founderland
Customer Discovery Playbook
The Mom Test
Gamma
Gemini
Loom
Figma
Motion
WIP is waste
Jared Turner on X
Jared Turner on LinkedIn
Will Larry on X
Will Larry on LinkedIn
thoughtbot
thoughtbot on LinkedIn
thoughtbot on X
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