Tom was joined by Laura Jackson from creative content agency Not Actual Size to talk about content, a topic that often gets forgotten about and not given the focus it deserves. NAS design content and manage communities for some of the biggest brands in the world and their words are seen by millions.

Along the way they talked about

• What content actually is and why it's so important to people
• What teams can do to bring a more rigorous content focus to their workflows
• Useful frameworks for content success and the importance of accountability 

The Lighthouse Podcast returns, and we've had a format re-shuffle! 🎉

In our 'Spotlight' section we take a deeper dive into a topic we know will give a ton of value to product teams. This episode, Head of Client Services Shelley joins us to discuss product maturity; what is is, why it matters, and how forward-thinking organisations can make improvements.

Further product maturity reading and resources:

•  How user-centric is your organisation?
• User-centricity is for everyone
• Transforming the traditional: The challenge of user-centricity for large organisations
• Register your interest in the Lighthouse Product Beacon and find out how mature your organisation is

In 'Housework' - where we discuss the inner workings of a creative agency - we hear from Senior Client Manager Jolien on how small changes to status reports had a big impact on client happiness and even created a potential new revenue stream. And you thought reporting was boring!

We round up with a recap of our last ManyHands event, where we brought talented product professionals together to work on a fun fictional problem. Yes, one team really did consider offering 'war as a service' to world leaders.

• Find out more about ManyHands and register your interest in taking part

Want to get in touch with Bianca Berning? Have a look at all of her work here. 

Want to learn more about font design? Have a look at Dalton Maag!

For this edition of the Product Leadership Podcast we invite John Monks from Curve once again, where he talks to Tom on how to facilitate remote workshops and allow for creativity to flow - even when you’re miles away from your team 🌎

We cover ideas about:

• What to think about when preparing a remote workshop 🕵🏼
• How to best utilise modern tech to enhance the experience (and not replace it) 🌟
• Tips and techniques for keeping the energy flowing and people engaged 🙌🏼

Use the discount code LIGHTHOUSE2020 for 20% off any Curve workshops 💸

Download the workshop planning canvas 📜

Learn more about Curve’s amazing workshop workshops here curve.cc 👀

In this episode of the Product Leadership Podcast Tom is joined by Jonathan Hollis from Mountside Ventures. 

They chat about the wide range of funding options available to startups, how Jonathan's company makes the fundraising process more efficient for both investors and startups, and the effect Covid-19 has had.

Along the way they cover:

• What startups should do in preparation for taking their proposition to market.
• Why the UK is a great place to invest in early-stage companies (and to be an early stage company!)
• How funds have responded to the need for remote investing, and what goes on in an institutional investor's head.
• How similar the process really is to the one we see on Dragons Den.

Grab Mountside's list of funds still active during Covid-19 here 👀

John Monks from Curve talks to Tom about how to run amazing creative workshops and the main pitfalls to avoid. Along the way we discuss:

• How to manage troublemakers
• Ways to encourage collaboration with teams
• Why PowerPoint is just the worst

Stop thinking of launch as a date in the diary, and instead focus on the smaller, more subtle stages and release your product by increments.

Dan and Tom discuss how little is actually needed to start sharing your ideas, and the stages involved in using a 10x launch strategy.

Along the way they cover:

#1 Not being afraid to launch to a tiny group - you're ideally placed to speak to users directly when your idea is still just a scribble on the back of a napkin, so now's the time to get feedback.

#2 Early stage MVPs and faking it before you start to scale.

#3 The importance of experimenting while you're still able to move quickly- and how established companies envy this ability to release something imperfect and learn.

#4 Tom's preferred sandwiches if you invite us to your launch party. (No plain cheese, please.)

Read more about the 10x Launch Strategy here