Shaun Clowes

Guest: Shaun Clowes - Chief Product Officer at Confluent. Shaun has extensive experience in product management, having served as CPO at MuleSoft and Metromile, and spent six years at Atlassian where he built the first B2B growth team and created popular Reforge courses on retention and engagement, and data for product managers. Key Takeaways: Data-Centric AI Products: Successful AI products hinge on data quality and recency. The synthesis power of AI models like LLMs is only as good as the data they are fed. Product Management Focus: PMs should spend 80% of their time understanding the market, customers, and competitors, rather than getting bogged down in internal processes. Growth in B2B: Growth teams should prove their value, scale their operations, and integrate with other company functions to be effective. PLG (Product-Led Growth) can complement traditional sales strategies. Career Development: Diversifying experiences across different roles and industries can enhance versatility and problem-solving capabilities, akin to filling out a "bingo card" of skills. Decision-Making with Data: Use data as a compass rather than a GPS. Make decisions with 30-70% of the available data to avoid being too hasty or too slow. Topics Covered: AI and data management, product management strategies, B2B growth and PLG, career development, decision-making with data.