In this episode of Season 2 Project Zero, host Alex Tuck welcomes Dave Reinhold, founder of Venture CPO, a product management consultancy that helps clients build digital products from zero to one. They discuss why product and project management are often conflated and how the functions complement each other, with Dave framing project management as building things right and product management as building the right things. Dave shares his path from studying MIS and working as a technology auditor at Deloitte to discovering product management and moving into startups, where product managers often must also handle project work. He describes a formative early-2000s reporting/BI implementation at the International Securities Exchange and highlights the importance of relationships, communication, and attention to detail. They explore how AI is accelerating product work—especially requirements and “vibe coding” prototyping—while stressing the need for human judgment, and Dave cites healthcare AI as a particularly exciting use case. Dave closes with advice to his younger self to take more career risks, to learn to be comfortable in the unknown,

00:00 Season Two Kickoff

00:30 Meet Dave Reinhold

01:10 Product vs Project

02:18 Origins in Tech

03:30 Discovering Product

04:51 Why Roles Blur

06:31 Defining Both Jobs

07:32 Project Zero Story

08:30 Reporting Build Lessons

10:34 Relationships Matter

13:03 Skills That Win

14:32 AI in Product Work

15:35 Vibe Coding Prototypes

22:09 AI Beyond Business

26:07 Career Advice and Wrap

Connect with Dave Reinhold

• LinkedIn: Dave Reinhold
• Email: dave@venturecpo.com
• Website: venturecpo.com

Connect with Alex Tuck

• Personal LinkedIn: Alex Tuck
• Website: www.tuckconsultinggroup.com
• Company LinkedIn: Tuck Consulting Group

Email: alex@tuckconsultinggroup.com