Do THIS to Build a $1M+ Product Team (ex Google, Bitly PM)

Product Growth Podcast

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Do THIS to Build a $1M+ Product Team (ex Google, Bitly PM)

Most PM teams are not returning an ROI on their cost ($1M+). In today's episode, Matt LeMay and I break down how to deliver strong ROI as a Product Team.

Aakash Gupta

Apr 29, 2025

Transcript

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Brought to you by:

Linear: Plan and build products like the best
Miro: The innovation workspace: your team’s canvas
Amplitude: Try their 2-min assessment of your company’s digital maturity

Today’s Episode

Imagine a Product Management content creator who…

Reddit actually likes?

Yep, the most “complain-y” part of the internet actually loves Matt LeMay. His book Product Management in Practice, consistently gets praise there.

So, when I heard he was launching a second book, that too on the important subject of how to be impact-oriented as a product team, I had to have him on.

Today, we’re chatting about:

Impact-First Product Teams - 01:13
How to Win the Love of Reddit - 14:38
Breaking the "Low Impact Death Spiral" - 31:14
How His Business Breaks Down as an Author - 53:15

Check It Out

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Key Takeaways

Here were my favorite takeaways:

The business expects a return on its investment in product teams—with teams costing roughly $1 million annually, you must proactively manage the conversation about why your work matters to the business.
Most organizations perpetuate low-impact work through the "low impact death spiral"—teams choose easier, less scrutinized projects that lead to complicated products, making high-impact work even harder, which further incentivizes low-impact work.
Understanding your business's next existential milestone is critical—whether it's raising funding, hitting quarterly revenue targets, or expanding to new markets, this determines how you should measure your team's success.
The most commercially-minded product leaders are often the happiest—by accepting that success depends on factors outside your control, you can focus on contributing what you can and find greater satisfaction in your work.
Many product teams have goals stored in multiple disconnected places—this creates confusion about what success actually looks like and makes it impossible to drive day-to-day decision-making.
Draw a direct line from your work to business impact—keep your goals no more than "one step away" from company goals, using clear statements like "converting X single-product users to multi-product users will contribute Y revenue."
Breaking free of Silicon Valley best practices is liberating—most companies operate in different commercial contexts than big tech, requiring different approaches and tradeoffs.
The question every team should ask: "If you were CEO, would you fully fund this team?"—this mindset shift helps people understand the resource investment their team represents and evaluate their true impact.
Product managers should prioritize clarity over comfort—addressing miscommunications or misconceptions immediately prevents much bigger problems down the road, even if it feels awkward.
Platform teams can demonstrate impact by directly connecting to the metrics of teams they support—they should focus on how their work helps other teams deliver more impact or deliver impact more quickly.