97: Adam Fishman - Killing Projects for a Living: Mozilla’s Stage-Gating Secrets
AI Wrappers vs. Real Problems: Building Beyond the Hype Cycle with my buddy Adam
We might also mention our favorite topic again, the NPS, maybe :D
Chapters
00:00–03:30
Adam’s role at Mozilla: Building beyond Firefox, managing innovation, and why “killing projects” is critical.
03:30–15:30
Stage Gating 101: How Mozilla’s framework prioritizes ideas, allocates resources, and avoids “innovation theater.”
The 5 stages: Discovery, Exploration, Viability, Growth, and Sustaining.
15:30–30:00
AI’s Double-Edged Sword: Turbocharging prototyping vs. drowning in “wrapper” tools.
Why distribution (not product) is the new battleground for SaaS.
30:00–45:00
Corporate Innovation Realities: Avoiding “software sprawl,” managing founder-minded PMs, and surviving existential pivots.
Adam’s take on AI-driven sales tools: “We’re flooding the zone with crap.”
45:00–01:00:00
Hot Takes: Why B2B SaaS companies built on “forms + databases” are doomed, and the future of AI agents.
Audio:
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Season 4 of the Product Tea
We spill the tea on how to go to Market through Product-led Sales and Product-led Growth in B2B and the realities of senior leadership.