“The data leads you. It does not tell you exactly where to go, but it offers suggestions about the direction to take your product.
My business partner and I had a suspicion that we were prioritizing the wrong features. Instead of asking customers directly for feedback, we observed their behavior and used that data to inform our product decisions.
Historically, product managers have wanted product feedback, but it is often difficult to collect and use. The rise of APIs has made gathering feedback much easier, yet many product managers remain stuck in older ways of working.
It is tempting to say, “I want to build this,” and assign ten or twenty developers to work on pet features.
We believe that model of product management is fading. You will increasingly rely on data—both customer and qualitative data—because if competitors do so, they will be closer to the customer, serve them better, and you risk falling behind.
In a world where intelligence is widely accessible and anyone can build nearly any feature at minimal cost, what truly matters?
I am not one to make predictions, but a few factors stand out as difficult to replicate:”
-Kareem Mayan
In this episode, we’re joined by Kareem Mayan, co-founder of Savio.
Savio.io is a product management platform that centralizes and organizes customer feature requests and product feedback, enabling B2B SaaS teams to build evidence-based roadmaps and prioritize features that matter most.
Kareem has more than two decades of experience in product management and entrepreneurship—including roles at ESPN and MySpace, and three successful startup exits.
Here’s what we cover in the episode:
Transforming product management and SaaS operations with AI, machine learning, and automation
Building user-centric products through deep customer understanding and feedback
Centralizing and acting on customer feedback with integrated tools and platforms
Making data-informed decisions by blending analytics with qualitative insights
Preventing churn proactively using predictive analytics and early warning systems
Where to find the topics:
00:53 Lessons from Mayan’s first startup experience
02:39 Insights from subsequent ventures
05:05 The importance of sales and marketing
07:10 Product management and customer feedback
08:01 AI and the future of product development
13:34 Qualitative feedback in B2B SaaS
17:01 Starting the current company
18:49 Transition to a mid-market strategy
19:05 Prioritizing customer feedback
19:32 Savio’s approach to feedback management
20:36 Founders’ journey and insights
21:52 Challenges and solutions in product management
22:13 Data-driven product development
26:57 Balancing big wins and incremental improvements
31:49 Steve Jobs myths around customer feedback
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