technologyJun 10, 202652:14pending
EP 156 - Stop Wasting Research with Jake Burghardt
About this episode
This time we’re diving into a problem almost every product team has felt but rarely names: all the customer research you’ve already done… and then quietly forgotten.
In this episode, Jacob Burghardt joins Matt and Moshe to talk about his new book Stop Wasting Research: Maximize the Product Impact of Your Organization's Customer Insights and how to turn research from a one‑off activity into a real product asset.
Drawing on his path from early dot‑com research and UX work through consulting and a principal PM role at Amazon, Jacob shares why teams keep re‑running the same studies, ignoring past insights, and treating “research” as a meeting on the calendar instead of an input into every major decision.
His book offers a big‑tent definition of research, which includes UX, market, data science, CS insights, and more, and a practical playbook for making all of it usable, visible, and integrated into product work.
Join Matt and Moshe as they explore with Jacob:
Please leave us a review and feedback ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In this episode, Jacob Burghardt joins Matt and Moshe to talk about his new book Stop Wasting Research: Maximize the Product Impact of Your Organization's Customer Insights and how to turn research from a one‑off activity into a real product asset.
Drawing on his path from early dot‑com research and UX work through consulting and a principal PM role at Amazon, Jacob shares why teams keep re‑running the same studies, ignoring past insights, and treating “research” as a meeting on the calendar instead of an input into every major decision.
His book offers a big‑tent definition of research, which includes UX, market, data science, CS insights, and more, and a practical playbook for making all of it usable, visible, and integrated into product work.
Join Matt and Moshe as they explore with Jacob:
- How he moved from hands‑on research and design into product management, and why he stayed obsessed with the problem space
- What “research” really includes today (far beyond user interviews or dashboards)
- Why so much research gets wasted and the three root causes behind it:
- Research isn’t prepared for future use
- Stakeholders aren’t motivated to care
- Insights aren’t integrated into planning, processes, or leadership rituals
- A step‑by‑step structure from the book:
- Taking inventory of the research you already have
- Diagnosing root causes in your org
- Choosing from a “menu” of tactics that fit your context
- What good looks like: strong operating models, clear places for research to plug in, and researchers treated as builders of internal products
- How smaller orgs without Product Ops can get started: simple visibility, mapping who’s doing what research, and basic communication channels
- The link between org mindset (feature factory vs. empowered teams) and how seriously research is used
- Practical ideas for connecting research to go‑to‑market, pricing, packaging, CS, and sales enablement
- How AI is changing the research landscape, where it helps and where human judgment is still essential
- And much more!
- Book: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/stop-wasting-research
- Integrated Research: https://www.integratingresearch.com
- Medium: https://medium.com/@jakeburghardt
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakeburghardt
- Product for Product Podcast: http://linkedin.com/company/product-for-product-podcast
- Matt Green: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgreenproduct
- Moshe Mikanovsky: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikanovsky
Please leave us a review and feedback ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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