<![CDATA[Products That Count]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.orghttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CK4r!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7fde8101-d37f-497f-9fa8-1de61ed713ca_1080x1080.pngProducts That Counthttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.orgSubstackMon, 17 Aug 2026 05:44:55 GMT<![CDATA[Where are our past winners now?]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/where-are-our-past-winners-nowhttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/where-are-our-past-winners-nowWed, 12 Aug 2026 20:36:40 GMTWhile we finalize this year’s Product Builder Awards selections, I went back and looked at what happened to our past winners. Three patterns stood out, and they say something bigger about where product careers are headed.

The first: a significant share of past winners are now Chief Product Officers. If that’s you, congratulations, you earned that award a hundred times over.

The second: many of them are becoming founders. Building got so much easier with AI that there’s no reason a strong product person can’t start their own company anymore.

The third is the one I keep thinking about. Winners are moving from large companies to small ones. Many big companies have resistance to a transformation that’s already inevitable, so the best product builders have decided they can drive more change from outside than from inside.

If large companies keep losing their best innovators, they’ll have to buy their way back to relevance. This makes the move a lot more calculated than it looks. Spin off, build the company, get acquired by your former employer, and end up with more impact than you ever would have had staying put.

If any of this resonates, especially the M&A part, reply to this email and let’s have a conversation.

Know a VP, Sr. Director, or Head of Product who’s setting the standard? Nominations are open for the Product Leader Awards. Winners join me for an in-person VIP celebration this September. Click the banner above to nominate.

Check out some of our recent content from top voices in the product space.

Are you enjoying our Product newsletter? We are always striving to elevate our content and provide ample value. Please share your feedback, questions, and comments.

]]><![CDATA[Campfire AI Product Lead on Why Domain Expertise Is Your Biggest Product Advantage]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/campfire-ai-product-lead-on-why-domainhttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/campfire-ai-product-lead-on-why-domainWed, 12 Aug 2026 18:05:25 GMTWhat if your most unconventional career detour turned out to be your biggest product advantage? In this podcast hosted by iDonate VP of Product Nacho Andrade, Campfire AI Product Lead Brendan Doyle will be speaking on how his years as an auditor at KPMG and founder of a niche lease accounting software company gave him an edge most product managers don't have. He gets into the real tension between domain expertise and creative bias, how Campfire AI is building an AI-native ERP that moves fast without breaking things in a compliance-heavy space, and why anyone sitting in a "boring" industry right now has a massive opportunity to make the jump into product.

]]><![CDATA[CPO Rising Series: LegalOn Technologies CPO on Customer-First Product Leadership]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-legalon-technologieshttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-legalon-technologiesMon, 10 Aug 2026 12:02:19 GMTWhat does it take to go from practicing law to becoming the Chief Product Officer of a company disrupting the legal industry with AI? In this episode of the CPO Rising series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, LegalOn Technologies CPO Vanessa Davis will be speaking on how she made the leap from attorney to product leader, and why putting the customer first drives every major decision she makes. She also gets into how LegalOn navigated a major stack overhaul to move fully to LLMs, what the entrance of tools like Claude into legal tech means for the industry, and why DAU over MAU is her north star metric.

]]><![CDATA[Suno CPO on Why the Old Product Rules Don't Apply When You're Building on Frontier AI]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/suno-cpo-on-why-the-old-product-ruleshttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/suno-cpo-on-why-the-old-product-rulesFri, 07 Aug 2026 10:15:27 GMTWhat does it mean to build a truly AI-native product rather? In this episode of the CPO Rising series hosted by CentralSquare Technologies CPO Denise Hemke, Suno CPO Jack Brody will be speaking on how a career spanning design, a decade at Snap, and now AI music has shaped a completely different approach to product thinking. Jack shares why retention is the only metric that really matters, how he creates space for ideas that seem crazy, and why two of product management's most sacred rules don't apply when you're building on frontier AI models.

]]><![CDATA[The first AI-native role in business]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/the-first-ai-native-role-in-businesshttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/the-first-ai-native-role-in-businessWed, 05 Aug 2026 19:16:20 GMTLast week, Forbes covered our fifth annual CPO Insights Report, and Larry English caught something most takes on this data miss: product builders are rising as the first AI-native role in business.

We’re seeing the fourth reinvention of the product profession. A decade ago, product people were project managers, borrowing authority they didn’t have to move engineers. Then PLG turned them into general managers with real P&L ownership. Then they became CPOs. Now, they’re becoming product builders.

AI removed the execution constraint, and most companies have been running an efficiency play. They ship faster and burn people out or do the same work with fewer people and call it a 20% gain.

Product builders are using judgment to scale both AI output and decision quality at once. They’re thinking like founders inside the enterprise, and it’s producing outsized growth without adding headcount or cost.

Join the conversation on my Linkedin and read the data behind it, our 2026 CPO Insights Report. And if you know a leader redesigning their org around this shift, forward this their way.

Nominations are still open for the Product Builder Awards, recognizing the PMs, Sr. PMs, and Group PMs setting the pace for what comes next. Click the banner above to nominate a builder who deserves to be seen.

Check out some of our recent content from top voices in the product space.

Are you enjoying our Product newsletter? We are always striving to elevate our content and provide ample value. Please share your feedback, questions, and comments.

]]><![CDATA[CPO Rising Series: BetterHelp CPO on Why CPOs Need to Think Like Business Operators]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-betterhelp-cpohttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-betterhelp-cpoWed, 05 Aug 2026 09:53:27 GMTWhat does it mean for a CPO to truly own outcomes? In this episode of the CPO Rising series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, BetterHelp CPO Terre Layton will be speaking on how product leadership is evolving in the age of AI, drawing on a career that started with AI research long before LLMs existed. Terre shares why CPOs are now business operators with product as their primary lever, how she thinks about building teams for the agentic era, and why time to value and retention are the two metrics that tell her everything.

]]><![CDATA[CPO Rising Series: ATOSS CPTO on Why Product Managers Need to Think Like Investors]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-atoss-cpto-on-whyhttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-atoss-cpto-on-whyFri, 31 Jul 2026 11:15:12 GMTWhat does it mean to run product like a mini company, and how do you say no to a multi-million dollar deal when it conflicts with your strategy? In this episode of the CPO Rising series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, ATOSS Software SE CPTO Vikas Seth will be speaking on outcome-driven product management and what the next evolution of the product leadership role looks like. Drawing on seven years growing ID Now from startup to scale-up at 10x revenue, Vikas shares his framework for closing the gaps between customers, go-to-market, and R&D, and why building enthusiasm for the product is the most underrated leadership skill.

]]><![CDATA[Trust is the new moat]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/trust-is-the-new-moathttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/trust-is-the-new-moatWed, 29 Jul 2026 18:07:10 GMTToday we launched the 2026 Q2 Product Awards eBook, and this one’s entirely about fintech, cybersecurity, and healthcare.

With over 12,000 nominations so far this year, our 29-person Awards Advisory Council had to sort through an enormous amount of noise to select the 73 winners. What they found points to three themes about where product is headed.

The first is vertical AI. The strongest products in this cohort went deep on one high-value problem inside one industry, and that depth is what made them defensible.

The second is the shift from assistants to operators. AI is now automating decisions and the execution that follows. That’s a different category of product than most teams are still building.

The third, and the one I keep coming back to, is trust as the strategic moat. The winners have earned trust in a way that’s genuinely hard to replicate.

You can find a deep dive on these themes and the winners in the Q2 eBook. Download your free copy and meet the products that are transforming their industries.

Download the Q2 Product Guide

Nominations are still open for the Product Builder Awards, recognizing the PMs, Sr. PMs, and Group PMs setting the pace for what comes next. Click the banner above to nominate a builder who deserves to be seen.

Check out some of our recent content from top voices in the product space.

Are you enjoying our Product newsletter? We are always striving to elevate our content and provide ample value. Please share your feedback, questions, and comments.

]]><![CDATA[Koah CPO on Why Ads in AI Don't Have to Be Evil]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/koah-cpo-on-why-ads-in-ai-dont-havehttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/koah-cpo-on-why-ads-in-ai-dont-haveWed, 29 Jul 2026 10:40:43 GMTWhat would it look like if every AI app had a sustainable way to make money without dark patterns or paywalls? In this podcast hosted by iDonate VP of Product and Engineering Nacho Andrade, Koah Co-Founder and CPO Mike Choi will be speaking on how he's building the AdSense for the AI app network. Mike shares what he learned from 18 months of rapid consumer app building, why AI users behave completely differently than search users, and why sponsored experiences in AI might actually be a good thing for everyone.

]]><![CDATA[CPO Rising Series: Optum Fmr CCO on Building Products That Work for 150 Million People]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-optum-fmr-cco-onhttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-optum-fmr-cco-onMon, 27 Jul 2026 17:23:14 GMTWhat does it take to build products that work for 150 million people in one of the most regulated industries in the world? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Jay Patel, Optum Fmr Chief Consumer Officer Rita Khan will be speaking on how product leadership is transforming healthcare at scale. Rita shares why understanding the full stakeholder ecosystem matters more than quick UX wins, how she frames investment portfolios to earn executive trust quarter by quarter, and why she only hires "shapers" who refuse to accept the industry's constraints as excuses for bad experiences.

]]><![CDATA[CPO Rising Series: Perk CPO on Why Now Is Product's Biggest Moment]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-perk-cpo-on-whyhttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-perk-cpo-on-whyFri, 24 Jul 2026 12:38:47 GMTWhat happens to product leadership when anyone can create a product in minutes? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Axiom Law CPO Katrina Benjamin, Perk CPO Nikita Miller will be speaking on why this might be the biggest moment in product leadership history. Nikita shares how roles across product, design, and engineering are converging in exciting ways, why the best AI is invisible to users, and what urgency and conviction really look like in a company that's growing fast.

]]><![CDATA[Product needs to own the M&A agenda]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/product-needs-to-own-the-m-and-ahttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/product-needs-to-own-the-m-and-aWed, 22 Jul 2026 19:31:00 GMTIn my recent conversations with Chief Product Officers, I’m seeing a real disconnect between the product function and finance. Finance has always owned corporate development. The logic made sense: buy EBITDA-positive, profitable mid-market companies to improve your numbers. But those companies are not adopting AI fast enough.

Product leaders see this clearly. They’re watching massive amounts of innovation that is going to disrupt those companies. So the product organization needs to do three things:

See everything. If your M&A scouting is limited to your known competitive set, you’re already behind.

Pick winners immediately. The best product organizations are moving to partnership and investment before the rest of the market even knows a company exists.

Turn product builders into product investors. The signal-gathering has to be distributed across the organization.

The companies that put product at the center of their M&A strategy will have a structural advantage over the ones still letting finance lead. If this resonates with you, I'd love to chat. Please reach out or tag me on Linkedin with your take.

Nominations are still open for the Product Builder Awards, recognizing the PMs, Sr. PMs, and Group PMs setting the pace for what comes next. Click the banner above to nominate a builder who deserves to be seen.

Check out some of our recent content from top voices in the product space.

Are you enjoying our Product newsletter? We are always striving to elevate our content and provide ample value. Please share your feedback, questions, and comments.

]]><![CDATA[CPO Rising Series: Ingram Micro Fmr CPO on Transforming a Legacy Enterprise into an AI-Native Platform]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-ingram-micro-fmrhttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-ingram-micro-fmrMon, 20 Jul 2026 16:54:11 GMTHow do you transform a 45-year-old, $52 billion enterprise into an AI-native platform business and take it public in the process? In this episode of the CPO Rising series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, Ingram Micro former CPO Ambrish Verma will be speaking on the frameworks he used to navigate tech debt, allocate innovation capacity, and build the moat that repositioned a legacy distributor as a technology platform company. He also shares what happened when he asked Claude to play the role of a board member and challenge every assumption in his strategy.

]]><![CDATA[Former eBay CPO on Building Product Teams That Win]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/former-ebay-cpo-on-building-producthttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/former-ebay-cpo-on-building-productFri, 17 Jul 2026 18:52:12 GMTWhat does it take to turn a stagnant product org into one that grows a company's stock price by 59% in three years? In this episode of the CPO Rising series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, former eBay and Sam's Club CPO Eddie Garcia will be speaking on how great product leadership creates outsized business returns. Eddie shares his 343 portfolio framework, the concept of "positionless product development," and the Scan and Go story that went from three grassroots employees to multiple billions in sales.

]]><![CDATA[Why “AI-powered” isn’t enough anymore]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/why-ai-powered-isnt-enough-anymorehttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/why-ai-powered-isnt-enough-anymoreWed, 15 Jul 2026 18:39:19 GMTI keep coming back to the same observation from this quarter’s product evaluations: most AI products are still built to differentiate, not to earn trust.

Differentiation shows off what a product can do, while trust proves why someone should actually rely on it. Many teams still treat responsible AI as a PR problem. But the products that hold up are the ones that treat explainability and governance as the actual product.

We’re also moving into a world where AI systems increasingly talk to other AI systems. Many products are still designed for a single kind of user in mind, and that mismatch is where trust breaks down fastest.

We’ll go deeper on this next week in the Q2 Product Awards eBook, with the full data behind what’s actually building or breaking trust in fintech, healthcare, and cybersecurity right now.

In the meantime, if you want to hear this conversation in more depth, tune in to Intuit Director of Product Rosa Gonzalez’s or Unit21 Sr Product Leader Dhiraj Bhat’s take on trust in the AI era.

Check out some of our recent content from top voices in the product space.

Are you enjoying our Product newsletter? We are always striving to elevate our content and provide ample value. Please share your feedback, questions, and comments.

]]><![CDATA[Spotnana CPO on Building Care as a Product]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/spotnana-cpo-on-building-care-ashttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/spotnana-cpo-on-building-care-asWed, 15 Jul 2026 09:46:05 GMTWhat does it mean to build care as a product? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Turo CPO Tom Wang, Spotnana CPO Sarosh Waghmar will be speaking on why trust is the foundational design principle in travel tech, how AI can make a stranded traveler feel like someone said "I got you," and why the modern CPO has to be fluent in three languages simultaneously, customer pain, business model, and technology trajectory. He also shares why cleaning the infrastructure gutters is the unglamorous work that makes everything else possible.

]]><![CDATA[CPO Rising Series: SignalWire EVP of Product on Why the Business Model Is the Product]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-signalwire-evphttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-signalwire-evpMon, 13 Jul 2026 10:02:18 GMTWhat if the PM-to-engineer ratio flipped and there were two product managers for every engineer? In this episode of the CPO Rising series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, SignalWire EVP of Product Adam Kalsey will be speaking on why the bottleneck in software has shifted from building to knowing what to build, and why the business model is just as much a part of the product as the technology. He also shares how he built an autonomous product ops intern using Claude and OpenClaw and spent almost $50 an hour on tokens in the process.

]]><![CDATA[CPO Rising Series: Why Opportunity Cost Is Still the Only Thing That Matters]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-why-opportunityhttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-why-opportunityFri, 10 Jul 2026 09:45:29 GMTWhat does a former touring DJ who accidentally built one of the internet's first MP3 stores have to say about product leadership? In this episode of the CPO Rising series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, Intuit SVP of Product Wyatt Jenkins will be speaking on why managing opportunity cost is the heart and soul of product management, why the PM who doesn't make their engineering team twice as good shouldn't be there at all, and why the systems of record layer will survive the so-called SaaS apocalypse. He also shares how he uses Claude to become a deep vertical expert on a dog walk.

]]><![CDATA[The best in Fintech, Healthcare, and Cybersecurity]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/the-best-in-fintech-healthcare-andhttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/the-best-in-fintech-healthcare-andWed, 08 Jul 2026 20:48:18 GMTToday, we announced the Q2 2026 Product Award winners. Our Awards Advisory Council spent several weeks evaluating thousands of products across fintech, healthcare, and cybersecurity, and the data is already revealing something interesting.

The strongest nominees were the ones who buried AI so deep into compliance and decision-making that removing it would mean rebuilding the business. Trust is the new moat. The winning products treat verification and auditability as infrastructure.

The full Q2 eBook is coming in a few weeks with the deep-dive data and stories behind each winner. For now, meet this quarter’s winners below.

Meet the Q2 Product Award Winners

Forward this to someone building something worth watching this quarter. And if you know a product that should be in front of our Council next quarter, send it our way.

Check out some of our recent content from top voices in the product space.

Are you enjoying our Product newsletter? We are always striving to elevate our content and provide ample value. Please share your feedback, questions, and comments.

]]><![CDATA[CPO Rising Series: Pipedrive CPTO on The End of One-Size-Fits-All Software]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-pipedrive-cptohttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-pipedrive-cptoWed, 08 Jul 2026 18:26:02 GMTWhat if your SaaS product built itself to fit every user the moment they signed up? In this episode of the CPO Rising series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, Pipedrive CPTO Joe Futty will be speaking on why customer expectations are about to shift more dramatically than at any point since mobile went mainstream and what that means for how product teams build, hire, and think about personalization. He also shares his three-bucket framework for navigating any new CPO role, and why the lines between product, engineering, and design are dissolving into something new.

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