The Real Product Bottleneck Is No Longer Building, with ETHAN COLE

In an AI-powered world, building is getting faster but deciding what’s worth building is harder than ever. Ethan Cole, PhD, president of PMA LA and a product leader whose experience includes the NFL, NBC, and DirecTV, joins Jeff Keyes to discuss how product management is changing, why teams need a stronger North Star, and why customer value matters more than chasing engagement or shipping features. They explore the hidden costs of speed, including maintenance and tech debt, the growing overlap between product, design, and engineering, and why today’s product managers need to understand revenue, profitability, and customer impact. For product managers, leaders, designers, engineers, and founders, this conversation offers a practical reminder: lasting success comes not from building everything you can, but from making better decisions and staying focused on what matters.