How to Humanize Products - Ryan Frederick

Ryan Frederick is a Columbus Ohio-based serial entrepreneur, author of two books: The Founder’s Manual & Sell Naked, and a product person at heart. 

He’s been part of starting and growing several software and service companies. He’s an angel investor; mentors and advises entrepreneurs and start-ups, as well as corporate innovation leaders. And he helps companies build great software products and solve data challenges for competitive advantage as a Principal at AWH, a product and data consulting firm. 

One of the reasons I launched this podcast was to talk to interesting people like Ryan.

An individual who I wouldn’t come across as I focus on enterprise strategy, digital transformation, and immersive tech.

Which is the exact reason I loved this discussion so much. 

I learned a lot in my 40 + minutes chatting with Ryan. We discussed the human elements of building products. The concept of friction, and more specifically, that the best products have the least amount of friction for their end user.

We talked about customer validation, its critical importance for any product owner, and the necessity to approach it ‘in the negative’. People will answer the questions you ask, according to Ryan. So if you ask people what they like about a product, they’ll answer you. What any product owner really wants to know is what their end users don’t like. That’s the catalyst for continuous improvement. 

It’s a topic that has application in so many parts of our lives, and I’m grateful to Ryan for joining us to illuminate some of the darker corners.

Ryan Frederick

Ryan Frederick has had the privilege of being part of starting and growing several software and service companies. He has helped companies grow from inception to viability, through to sustainability. During the evolution of these companies, Ryan has served on company boards and been instrumental in capitalization activities. 

Ryan combines a unique blend of business acumen and technical knowledge having originally been a developer who migrated to the business side. He now helps companies build great software products and solve data challenges for competitive advantage as a Principal at the product and data consulting firm, AWH.

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