You might remember Dollar Shave Club skyrocketing to popularity after they released a viral video and embraced a “no B.S.” approach to business. As one of the first major D2C brands, the company used insights they gained at the front of the pack to pioneer a budding industry. In many ways, how we understand D2C today is thanks to DSC.  Tsega Dinka, recently vice president of digital product at Dollar Shave Club, was there for it all as one of the company’s first product managers. On Better Product, he reflects on how the experience taught him to align product and non-product teams and what’s required to build an inclusive brand people will remember.

Better Product

Unpacking Dollar Shave Club’s “No B.S.” D2C Approach with Tsega Dinka

Non-profit boards are experiencing a culture shift. For the first time, many boards are leaning into virtual formats, creating new opportunities for more people to get involved.  Krista Martin, vice president of growth at Boardable, examines these changes every day in her work. She explains how the movement to online will make boards more accessible, and more accountable, to the communities they serve.  Takeaways:  Non-profit boards are entering a period of transition.  Transparency on boards often comes down to making the right info available.  Boardable is evolving as a product to help boards rethink how they operate.  Things To Listen For: [0:55] What Boardable is and why the product focuses on non-profits [1:54] The traditional way boards meet  [3:05] How going fully virtual forced boards to change  [4:00] How Boardable’s internal experiences with hybrid work informed the product [5:35] Why boards today are facing a “culture shift”  [6:10] Boardable product features that level the playing field for involvement  [7:08] Why context is everything in virtual board meetings  [7:40] Virtual board meetings create opportunities for community engagement  [8:40] Krista’s personal experience serving on a board as a young mother [10:00] Why non-profit boards should reflect the communities they serve [11:30] How to create a “board culture” [14:10] An exploration of Boardable’s product features  [17:30] The challenges to creating diversity on non-profit boards  [18:10] Technology can’t solve all problems, but it can introduce change faster 

Boardable’s Krista Martin on Representation & the Future of Non-Profits

Solving your own problems can be a shortcut to discovering a need in the market. Liana Herrera, Co-founder of Bottomless, recognized an opportunity to disrupt the coffee industry while working through her own frustrating experiences. She joins us to share her journey and how her team is transforming the world one cup of coffee at a time. Liana’s learned several critical lessons that can apply to any tech company, from the importance of the customer experience in shaping your brand to keeping your vision simple. Takeaways:  Solving personal problems can lead to a market opportunity  Your brand is more than your product – it’s the experience. Stay focused on your goals  Things to Listen For: [02:00] The problems that inspired Bottomless [05:30] Differentiating from other coffee subscriptions [07:30] Early problems in the business [09:30] Opportunities to improve D2C engagement [10:30] Creating a frictionless experience [12:00] Customer experience influences your brand [13:00] Removing negative emotions  [14:00] Imagining the perfect experience [16:00] Experience-oriented tech [17:00] Staying focused on your goals [17:45] Building a sensor-enabled marketplace [19:00] Measuring success through retention [20:00] Experimenting to grow [21:30] Surprises throughout Liana’s journey [23:30] Trends in growth channels [26:00] Looking toward the future of Bottomless 

Creating a Frictionless D2C Experience with Liana Herrera, Bottomless

Ben Clark is the Chief Technology Officer of the leading D2C mattress company Casper Sleep. As a senior tech leader of a popular D2C brand, Ben says it can be difficult to stay ahead of the curve and set trends. For him, the key to success in D2C is simple: stay curious and examine your failures.  A lot of context switching comes with managing digital products for a physical products company. To navigate it, Ben and the Casper team embrace elegant simplicity, both in their products and strategy.  Ben shows us that great ideas can come from anywhere. At Casper, he’s seen that true innovation involves cross-functional collaboration and open conversations.

Staying Curious and Examining the Failures of D2C with Ben Clark, Casper

From Mailchimp’s humble monkey beginnings to a huge acquisition and SurveyMonkey’s recent rebrand, we’re talking about brand glow-ups & grow-ups in this episode. Consider it a “what not to wear” for brands.  Meghan and Christian explain how MailChimp and SurveyMonkey have used their brands to connect with customers. The takeaway? Brand leaders should go all-in on any decision. Email Christian with design questions: christian.beck@innovatemap.com Email Meghan with brand questions: meghan.pfeifer@innovatemap.com

Monkeying Around with Product Brand

After getting many questions from startup founders about starting with product design vs. product brand, Christian and Meghan take on the debate. Of course, they’re both important, but when you’re tight on cash and talent, which should you prioritize?  We won’t spoil their conclusions, but here's a hint: it depends Don’t worry - Meghan and Christian explain exactly what “it depends” on. Whichever path you choose - design or brand - don’t neglect collaboration. Your brand and product need to stay connected as you iterate. Revisit to our conversation with Dominik Zane, CEO of Around, for more about how to stay connected:  https://betterproduct.community/better-product/a-new-wave-of-collaboration-with-dominik-zane-around/ Email Christian with design questions: christian.beck@innovatemap.com Email Meghan with brand questions: meghan.pfiefer@innovatemap.com

Should You Start with Product Brand or Product Design? The Answer Depends.

Since 2013, Fabletics has been doing things differently. They created a membership program for shoppers, which goes beyond a subscription model to build a relationship with shoppers. They also built their own tech solution because the market wasn’t mature enough to meet their needs. Their custom-built tech solution allows them to blend in-store and online shopping unlike any traditional retailer and collect data that sets them up to better understand and serve their customers. Mel Cummings, VP of Product at Fabletics, joins us to share how her team is elevating the entire shopping experience in a way that wouldn’t be possible without their unique approach to technology.  Mel also discusses using data to uncover opportunities, enabling deeper customer connections, and the importance of knowing your “why.”

Tech-Enabled Retail with Mel Cummings, Fabletics

D2C is becoming the new way we buy anything. From groceries to furniture, brands are cutting out the middleman and selling their products directly to the end consumer.  Next-level products are what make this D2C transformation possible. In this series, we’re talking to the people behind a few of those products: Melanie Cummings, VP of Product at Fabletics Ben Clark, CTO of Casper Sleep Tsega Dinka, VP of Digital Product at Dollar Shave Club Liana Herrera, President & Co-founder of Bottomless We also take an inside look at building products at a company that doesn’t identify as a tech company. And of course, Christian and Meghan will share the mic in exploring the brand implications of a D2C strategy.  How does this impact the retail industry as a whole? We’ll explore that too. But mostly, this series will make you want to open up your phone and start shopping.

D2C Series Kick-Off: The New Way We Buy

Meghan continues our The Minute conversations around how to start with design. Kate Donahue, Head of Product Marketing at Pitch, talks about how they were rigorous about the design decisions before they even had a product in the market.

The Minute: Rigorous Design Decisions with Kate Donahue

You’ve probably seen consumer brands drop a new line of footwear or clothing, but have you considered using the same approach  with your product? We’re exploring the impact ‘product drops’ can have on your business   in this episode of Better Product. When it comes to fashion brands, these product drops generate excitement and create exclusivity helping brands break through the noise. .  Meghan and Christian explain the phenomenon while sharing examples of how brands  can apply it for themselves. Resources Product ‘Drops’ Aren’t Just for Sneaker Brands: https://builtin.com/marketing/product-drops-digital 

From Fashion to Software: Product Drops Can Surprise Your Customers

Our last series may have been about the future of work, but another theme emerged: how to start with design. Dominik Zane, CEO & Founder of Around, shares they are a design-focused team putting an emphasis on the seemingly insignificant details. But those are the details that add up to create the delightful experience they’re known for.

The Minute: Creating a Delightful Experience with Dominik Zane

In this episode, Christian & Meghan review a new app called Postdates. You read that right: It's like Postmates, the food delivery app, but with the twist of gathering all the stuff you left with your ex. That's a huge difference between the products—but the brands are nearly identical. We're calling this phenomenon of new products trailing existing brands "brand skitching," named after the skateboard maneuver made famous in Back to the Future. Listen now to hear Christian & Meghan's take on what a world of pop-up tech could look like, what happens when you take an idea too far, and how Newton's law creates interesting product opportunities.

Brand Skitching: What Postdates Shows Us About A World of Pop-Up Tech

Organizations around the world are figuring out what work will look like now and in the future. No one has the answer, but everyone is trying to crack the code to create the ideal work environment.  We’re wrapping up our Future of Work series, where we explored products that transform  the way we work, collaborate, and communicate.  In this final episode of the series, we look back on our conversations with these trailblazing leaders: Chris Byers, CEO of Formstack Kate Donahue, Head of Product Marketing at Pitch Alexander Embiricos, CEO and Co-Founder of Remotion Dominik Zane, CEO and Founder of Around Paige Costello, Product Lead at Asana We reflect on what we’ve learned and share some of the themes that stood out across conversations.

Future of Work: The Wrap-Up

In a crowded space with established players, it can be hard to differentiate your product. Add in managing user expectations with your own innovative product vision, and you’ve got a real challenge on your hands. This is the challenge Kate Donahue, Head of Product Marketing at Pitch, has tackled. She joins us to share her journey to help shape the future of work by focusing on the entire presentation creation experience. Kate explains that her team fights inertia. They go after people who use multiple tools now and show them it’s possible to use just one. Pitch aims to be a complete presentation tool. They think about design from the start, focusing on the full user experience, from gathering assets to receiving feedback. Kate shares how user research helps determine whether feature parity or an innovative approach will be most valuable. She also explains how, by creating a minimal UI.

A Product Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts with Kate Donahue, Pitch

We’ve all felt the exhaustion of back-to-back video calls. We know studies explain some of this fatigue: seeing ourselves on camera for hours at a time, for example. But is there more to the problem? Alexander Embiricos, Co-founder of Remotion, believes that the problem is work isn’t meant to revolve around scheduled meetings. Teams need to build relationships, collaborate, and do solo work on their own time. Taking call after call can suck the creative energy out of the best of us. So, what can we do? Alexander thinks we need to focus on meeting at the right times — and not at the wrong times.  He also believes that we need to prioritize strong relationships and geographic diversity to grow sustainable teams. Remotion helps remote teams connect better, and Alexander shares the journey he experienced with his co-founder — the problems they confronted first-hand and the solution they built to solve them.

Building Connected Remote Teams with Alexander Embiricos, Remotion

Digital products don’t just live online. They are made up of people, experiences, and awe-inspiring innovation. This show shares the stories of industry-leading companies whose products have a soul, a mission, and a vision. Through engaging conversations with CEOs, entrepreneurs, and innovators, hosts Christian and Anna explore the notion of what it takes to build better products. Better Product weaves a narrative story about the good, the bad, and the ugly of ideating and activating the digital products that have launched businesses and changed the world. Listen weekly to understand how digital products are created, how design influences adoption and ultimately, why product means everything

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Better Product

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