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The Product Leader's Edge: Daily Summaries Delivered
by KJ Green | Solo Star
The New York–based flagship publication and broadcast of Solo Star, exploring enterprise cloud architecture, applied AI, platform governance, and product leadership for a global audience. Hosted by KJ Green, each episode delivers practical frameworks, technical blueprints, and conversations for leaders building what lasts. solostarbykjg.substack.com
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- 2 weeks ago46 min
Ep 17: Executive Edge: Beyond the Product — Driving Adoption, Learning & ROI With Jonny Havey
The Executive Edge continues with a conversation about how organizations can turn learning into a strategic advantage that drives customer adoption, retention, and measurable business results. KJ Green sits down with Jonny Havey, MBA, Founder of eLearning Partners, an entrepreneur and learning strategist whose career spans accounting, entertainment, filmmaking, and business education.Jonny traces his journey from working at PwC and collaborating with award-winning filmmakers to founding eLearning Partners. He explains why traditional corporate training often becomes a checkbox exercise and why organizations should begin with business outcomes rather than simply investing in courses or content. The conversation explores how learning strategies can address performance gaps, improve customer understanding, and create measurable returns through clearly defined KPIs.KJ and Jonny examine the relationship between product adoption, customer education, and business profitability. Jonny introduces his ROI PIE framework, which considers the returns sought by purchasers, ideal consumers, and employees alongside the organization’s own objectives. Through examples involving Microsoft, healthcare, and enterprise clients, he explains why organizations must understand the different motivations of buyers and end users and tailor their education strategies accordingly.The episode closes with a discussion about AI and the future of learning. While AI creates opportunities to personalize education and make information more accessible, Jonny argues that human experience and wisdom remain essential. As technology evolves, organizations must move beyond simply delivering information toward creating learning experiences that help people apply knowledge, develop judgment, and achieve meaningful outcomes.In This Episode• How Jonny transitioned from accounting, entertainment, and filmmaking into entrepreneurship and learning strategy.• Why corporate learning programs often become checkbox exercises rather than drivers of measurable performance.• How organizations can establish ROI objectives and KPIs before investing in education and training.• Jonny’s ROI PIE framework for aligning the needs of purchasers, ideal consumers, employees, and businesses.• Why even high-quality products can struggle with adoption when customers do not understand their value.• How customer education influences purchasing decisions, product adoption, and long-term retention.• Why organizations must distinguish between the people purchasing a product and those actually using it.• How ambitious business goals can help organizations identify the right customers, stakeholders, and education strategies.• The opportunities AI creates for personalized learning and knowledge delivery.• Why human wisdom, experience, and practical application remain essential to the future of education.Key TakeawayBuilding a great product is only part of creating business value. Organizations must also help purchasers, customers, and employees understand how that product addresses their needs. Effective learning strategies connect education to measurable outcomes, align stakeholder interests, and turn knowledge into action. As AI expands access to information, human experience and wisdom remain essential to meaningful learning and lasting results.Related ReadingThe Product Leader’s Edge Publication: “Beyond the Product: Why Customer Education Is a Business Strategy.”Havey, J. (2026). How Companies Should Use Education to Increase Profits. eLearning Partners.Havey, J. (2026). If Your Customers Aren’t Using Your Product, This Is Why. eLearning Partners.About the GuestJonny Havey, MBA, is the founder of eLearning Partners, where he helps organizations leverage education to improve customer adoption, retention, profitability, and return on investment. His background spans accounting, risk assurance consulting at PwC, entertainment, filmmaking, and more than a decade of entrepreneurship. Through his learning strategies and ROI PIE framework, Jonny works with business leaders to identify performance opportunities and align education initiatives with measurable business outcomes.Connect with JonnyeLearning Partners: https
- Oct 5, 20261h 3m
Ep 16: Executive Edge: Before You Scale AI — With Hemang Upadhyay
The Executive Edge begins with a conversation about what organizations need before AI can create meaningful value. KJ Green sits down with Hemang Upadhyay, a product leader and AI strategist with more than 16 years of experience across engineering, digital commerce, enterprise platforms, and AI-powered products.Hemang traces his journey from engineering into product leadership and explains how his questions evolved from “Can we build this?” to “Should we build this?” and, in the AI era, “Can people trust the system when it makes or executes a decision?” The conversation then moves into AI-powered commerce, the evolution from machine learning to generative and agentic AI, and why adding AI to a fragmented customer journey does not automatically create an intelligent one.KJ and Hemang explore the foundations organizations need before scaling AI: reliable product data, capable platforms, clear business outcomes, appropriate governance, human oversight, and a deliberate approach to autonomy. Hemang also introduces his TRUST framework and explains why organizations should prioritize the data that matters most to the customer rather than allowing enterprise-wide cleanup efforts to delay experimentation indefinitely.The episode closes by widening the leadership question. As AI moves from recommending to acting, product and technology leaders must decide where automation creates value, where guardrails are necessary, and where human judgment must remain.In This Episode• Why Hemang moved from engineering into product leadership and how that changed the questions he asked.• Why AI initiatives should begin with customer and business problems rather than a desire to deploy AI.• How machine learning evolved into today’s generative and agentic AI landscape.• What AI-powered commerce actually means across discovery, decision-making, purchasing, fulfillment, and support.• How B2C and B2B AI-commerce journeys differ in complexity, stakeholders, rules, and accountability.• Why product data, existing platforms, and operational foundations matter before AI is scaled.• How to prioritize high-value data and use pilots instead of waiting for perfect enterprise readiness.• Hemang’s TRUST framework for governed data, consent, identity, safe boundaries, human oversight, traceability, recovery, and accountability.• How to think about AI autonomy based on risk and when humans should remain in the loop.• Why leadership is less about having every answer and more about creating clarity, ownership, and better decision-making systems.Key TakeawayAI capability alone does not create transformation. Organizations create value when capable technology is supported by trustworthy data, appropriate platforms, clear governance, measurable outcomes, and people who understand where automation should end and judgment should begin.About the GuestHemang Upadhyay is a product leader and AI strategist with more than 16 years of experience spanning engineering, digital commerce, enterprise platforms, AI-powered customer experiences, and large-scale platform transformation. His work focuses on translating complex technology into meaningful customer and business outcomes.Related ReadingKumar, R., Pandey, C. P., & Upadhyay, H. (2026). The Future of Responsible Investment: AI, Automation, and Human Judgment. In AI and Automation in Green Investment Platforms: Next-Generation ESG.The Product Leader’s Edge Publication: “AI Is the Feature. Readiness Is the System.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit solostarbykjg.substack.com
- Sep 28, 20264 min
Interlude — From Building to Leading
The Builder’s Series is complete, and Season 1 of The Product Leader’s Edge is entering its final stretch.In this short interlude, KJ reflects on what emerged from conversations with seven founders building across beverage, travel, wellness, community and belonging, art, AI, and digital experiences—and how those conversations reinforced the Season 1 thesis that product leadership shows up everywhere.But the product itself is only one part of the build.Customer experience, capital, technology, operations, people, and the broader systems surrounding a product all shape whether an idea can become something valuable.KJ also reflects on a theme increasingly shaping his work: technology is ultimately built for people, and the human element is what amplifies technology—whether we’re talking about AI, cloud, cybersecurity, or the products built on top of them.With just three episodes remaining in Season 1, KJ also shares updates on The Product Leader’s Edge Medium publication, Inside Solo Star, and what’s ahead as Season 2 begins to take shape.In this interlude:* Why the product is only one part of the build* What seven founder conversations revealed about product leadership* The relationship between people, business, and technology* Why the human element matters across AI, cloud, and cybersecurity* The growing Product Leader’s Edge platform* A look ahead to the final three episodes of Season 1 and Season 2🎙️ The Product Leader’s EdgeA Solo Star Media & Technology production. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit solostarbykjg.substack.com
- Sep 14, 202652 min
Ep 15: Building Belonging with Whitney Pollard of homii
Builder’s Series: Building Belonging with Whitney Da'Gail of homii Global What does it actually take to feel like you belong somewhere new?After a layoff, Whitney Da’Gail spent a year traveling through South America and Southeast Asia before settling in Vietnam. That journey eventually led her to build homii Global, a community platform focused on helping people find trusted communities, experiences, and spaces where they can feel connected.In this Builder’s Series conversation, Whitney joins KJ Green to talk about how homii evolved from a travel concept into a broader community platform, what she learned from building community in Vietnam, and why belonging can be just as important as logistics when entering a new city or culture.They also discuss MVP testing, cultural context, trust and safety, founder sacrifice, choosing the right co-founder, and balancing a long-term vision with what needs to happen in the next 30, 60, and 90 days.In this episode:* Building homii from lived experience* Why belonging became bigger than travel* Testing community ideas before turning them into technology* Trust, safety, and cultural awareness* Founder tradeoffs and sacrifice* Choosing the right co-founder* Why founders have to make the decision and show upConnect with Whitney Da’Gail LinkedIn: Whitney Pollard Instagram: Whitney Da’Gail homii Global Instagram: @homi.global This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit solostarbykjg.substack.com
- Aug 31, 202632 min
Ep 14: Building a Creative Life That Takes Up Space with Olivia Brown
What happens when creativity becomes more than a talent—and begins to shape a business, a healing practice, and a platform for community? In this Builder’s Series episode of The Product Leader’s Edge, KJ Green sits down with Olivia Brown, founder of OliviaGeorgette Studios and a multidisciplinary artist, designer, instructor, and community builder.Olivia shares how she evolved from working primarily in graphic design to embracing traditional art, painting, engraving, teaching, and live creative experiences. She explains why her work became more resonant when she stopped creating what she thought people wanted and began sharing art that felt personal and authentic.The conversation also explores what happened when Olivia realized she had outgrown exhibiting inside spaces created by other people. That realization led her to host her own art shows, design complete OliviaGeorgette experiences, and confidently take up space as an artist and founder.KJ and Olivia also discuss art as a source of healing, the importance of representation, the opportunities and concerns surrounding AI-generated design, and how Olivia used her creative platform to mobilize support for families in Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa.As Olivia looks toward the next stage of her business, she reflects on the challenges of being the owner, artist, marketer, and event coordinator—and why building a strong team will be essential to scaling OliviaGeorgette Studios.In This Episode* Becoming a multidisciplinary artist* Moving between digital design and traditional art* Creating authentically instead of chasing social media expectations* How art can support healing and emotional release* Representation and creating art that feels like a “visual hug”* The impact of AI on artists, designers, and creative ownership* Recognizing when you have outgrown someone else’s space* Building immersive art shows and community experiences* Using creativity to mobilize support for Jamaica * The realities of scaling a founder-led creative business* Defining success through impact, collaboration, and reach* Taking up space in creative and corporate environmentsAbout Olivia BrownOlivia Brown is the founder of OliviaGeorgette Studios and a Caribbean-American multidisciplinary artist, engraver, designer, entrepreneur, and creative facilitator based in New York.Through vibrant artwork and immersive creative experiences, Olivia celebrates self-love, body positivity, culture, and the beauty of Black and Brown communities. Her creative practice includes hand-painted canvases, custom apparel and accessories, murals, engraved keepsakes, and her signature Plant & Paint workshops.Her work is grounded in a belief that art can help people feel seen, create space for healing, and bring communities together.Episode Chapters00:00 – Introducing Olivia Brown 02:10 – What it means to be a multidisciplinary artist 02:55 – From graphic design back to traditional art 05:46 – Making the personal communal 08:09 – Continued learning, creative evolution, and AI 11:37 – Outgrowing other people’s spaces 14:10 – Representation and art as a visual hug 16:06 – Painting as healing and emotional release 18:45 – Making creative experiences accessible 21:31 – Using art to support Jamaica 28:12 – The challenges of building a founder-led business 30:07 – Olivia’s definition of success 32:44 – Create, Teach, or Exhibit 35:03 – What it means to take up space 39:08 – Where to connect with OliviaLearn More About OliviaGeorgette StudiosIf you’d like to explore Olivia’s artwork, attend one of her creative experiences, or learn more about OliviaGeorgette Studios, you can connect with her below.🌐 OliviaGeorgette Studios Website📸 Instagram🎨 Artwork, Workshops & Custom CreationsAbout The Product Leader’s Edge The Product Leader’s Edge is a podcast and publication by KJ Green exploring how founders, operators, and product leaders build products, companies, and careers in the age of AI.Through conversations with builders across technology, startups, media, and consumer brands, each episode uncovers the decisions, tradeoffs, and lessons behind building something that lasts.Continue the conversation:📬 Solo Star Newsletter🎙️ The Product Leader’s Edge Podcast💼 Link
- Aug 17, 20261h 32m
Ep 13: Building in the Age of AI with Nick & Laura Rackley of Vibe Otter
What happens when the barrier to building starts to disappear? In this special episode of The Builder’s Series, KJ sits down with Nick and Laura Rackley, co-founders of Vibe Otter, to explore what it means to build products and businesses in an era where AI is making creation faster and more accessible.Nick and Laura share their journey from corporate careers into entrepreneurship, how early customer feedback helped shape Vibe Otter, and why they’re focused on making AI-powered building accessible beyond traditional technical audiences. The conversation explores rapid experimentation, finding early customers, building as a co-founder couple, and the growing importance of distribution when launching a product becomes easier. The episode also goes under the hood of Vibe Otter, including how AI, system prompts, APIs, and cloud infrastructure come together to power the platform. Then, rather than simply talking about building, KJ, Nick, and Laura put the idea to the test by attempting to build an AI-powered church finder live during the episode, glitches and all.Later, the conversation flips as Nick and Laura ask KJ about his own journey into podcasting, why he created The Product Leader’s Edge, and what he has learned from documenting builders while building a media platform of his own.Throughout the conversation, one question keeps resurfacing: If everyone can build, what actually matters?The answer may increasingly lie beyond the technology itself—in understanding the customer, choosing the right problem, earning distribution and trust, and having the judgment to know what is worth building.In this episode:* Building and testing an MVP before everything is perfect* Going from corporate careers to entrepreneurship* Designing AI products for everyday users* Using customer feedback to shape the product* Building Vibe Otter as a co-founder couple* Why distribution still matters when AI makes building easier* What AI is actually doing underneath modern applications* The cloud infrastructure behind the AI era* Building an AI church finder live* Why websites alone don’t create customers* Bootstrapping versus venture capital* KJ’s journey into podcasting and The Product Leader’s Edge* What becomes valuable when everyone has the ability to buildThe Builder’s Series explores the people, decisions, experiments, and lessons behind building companies, products, communities, and new ideas.This episode also serves as a bridge into Applied AI Foundations, coming in Season 2 of The Product Leader’s Edge.Learn More About Vibe Otter🌐 Vibe Otter📸 Instagram🦦 If You Can Text, You Can Build a Website — or a whole app.Tell the Otter what you want: pages, booking, customer logins, hosting, and more — then turn the idea into something live.About The Product Leader’s EdgeThe Product Leader’s Edge is a podcast and publication by KJ Green exploring how founders, operators, and product leaders build products, companies, and careers in the age of AI.Through conversations with builders across technology, startups, media, and consumer brands, each episode uncovers the decisions, tradeoffs, and lessons behind building something that lasts.Continue the conversation:📬 Solo Star Newsletter🎙️ The Product Leader’s Edge Podcast💼 LinkedIn📺 YouTube📬Medium Publication This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit solostarbykjg.substack.com
- Aug 3, 202656 min
Ep 12: Building Wellness as Infrastructure | Joi James, Founder of finding joi
What happens when care is treated as optional instead of foundational?In this episode of The Product Leader’s Edge, KJ Green sits down with Joi James, founder of finding joi, a holistic wellness platform creating psychologically and physically safe spaces for Black womxn and femmes navigating institutional environments.Joi shares how her experience with burnout, wellness coaching, somatic healing, and Pilates shaped the foundation of finding joi. What began as a personal healing journey has evolved into a growing wellness technology platform connecting Black womxn and femmes with culturally responsive resources, practitioners, workshops, coaching, and community.Together, KJ and Joi explore what it means to design care as infrastructure—not simply as a workplace benefit. They discuss how institutions can create safer systems, why trust breaks when leaders fail to model care, and how community-engaged design can produce solutions grounded in the lived experiences of the people they serve.Joi also opens up about building a business as an act of self-trust, protecting her own capacity while supporting others, and becoming both the builder and the first user of her product.In this episode, we discuss:* Why care and psychological safety should be treated as infrastructure* The institutional responsibility to create safer environments* How chronic stress affects Black womxn and femmes* Why trust is often the first thing to break when care becomes optional* Designing safety as an experience rather than simply stating it as a value* The role of discovery, accessibility, movement, and community in healing* Turning lived experience into a scalable wellness platform* The productivity paradox and its connection to burnout* Why organizations must co-create solutions with the people they serve* Building a business from a place of self-trust* Protecting your capacity while doing care-centered work* Why leaders must model the wellness practices they encourageAbout Joi JamesJoi James is the founder of finding joi, a stress recovery coach, Pilates instructor, and community-engaged designer. Her work sits at the intersection of wellness, social impact, racial justice, philanthropy, and systems design.Through finding joi, Joi is building an ecosystem of leadership coaching, workshops, movement practices, live experiences, and digital wellness resources designed for Black womxn and femmes.Learn More About finding joiIf you’re interested in holistic wellness, leadership coaching, or learning more about Joi’s work creating safer and more restorative spaces for Black womxn and femmes, you can connect with finding joi below.🌐 finding joi Website📸 Instagram💼 LinkedIn✨ Wellness Services and ExperiencesFollow the finding joi by Joi James on substack! About The Product Leader’s EdgeThe Product Leader’s Edge is a podcast and publication by KJ Green exploring how founders, operators, and product leaders build products, companies, and careers in the age of AI.Through conversations with builders across technology, startups, media, and consumer brands, each episode uncovers the decisions, tradeoffs, and lessons behind building something that lasts.Continue the conversation:📬 Solo Star Newsletter🎙️ The Product Leader’s Edge Podcast💼 LinkedIn📺 YouTube📬 Medium This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit solostarbykjg.substack.com
- Jul 20, 202634 min
Ep 11: Building Trust Through Travel with Tabetha Taylor-Cintorino
What does it take to build a business people trust with life’s biggest moments?In this episode of The Product Leader’s Edge, I sit down with Tabetha Taylor-Cintorino, founder of Travel with Tab , to explore how she built an award-winning travel business rooted in trust, customer experience, and thoughtful service.We discuss entrepreneurship, building a service-based business, the evolving role of AI in travel, creating memorable customer experiences, and why product leadership extends far beyond technology.Whether you’re a founder, product leader, consultant, or service professional, this conversation offers practical lessons on building businesses that people trust.In this episode we discuss:* The journey behind building Travel with Tab* Why trust is the ultimate competitive advantage* How AI is changing the travel industry* Building a personal brand and finding product-market fit* Entrepreneurship, resilience, and continuous learning* Creating exceptional customer experiences* Why product leadership exists beyond technologyLearn More About Travel with TabPlanning your next vacation, celebrating a milestone, or looking for expert guidance on your next adventure? Connect with Tabetha and explore how Travel With Tab can help bring your travel plans to life.🌐 Travel With Tab Website📸 Instagram✈️ Schedule a Discovery CallAbout The Product Leader’s EdgeThe Product Leader’s Edge is a podcast and publication by KJ Green exploring how founders, operators, and product leaders build products, companies, and careers in the age of AI.Each episode uncovers the frameworks, decisions, and lessons behind building something that lasts.Continue the Conversation📬 Solo Star Newsletter🎙️ The Product Leader’s Edge Podcast💼 LinkedIn📺 YouTube This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit solostarbykjg.substack.com
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About The Product Leader's Edge
The New York–based flagship publication and broadcast of Solo Star, exploring enterprise cloud architecture, applied AI, platform governance, and product leadership for a global audience. Hosted by KJ Green, each episode delivers practical frameworks, technical blueprints, and conversations for leaders building what lasts. solostarbykjg.substack.com
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