Why the Best Product Leaders Think Beyond Delivery
In this episode of Between Product and Partnerships, Cristina Flaschen talks with Francesca Smedberg, Product Leader (formerly VP Product at Rillion). Together they explore how product management has changed over the past two decades, what it takes to move from shipping features to achieving outcomes, and how curiosity and collaboration can transform a team.
A Career Built on Curiosity and Experience
Francesca began her career in market research and spent years helping companies test products and pricing strategies. When she joined a startup in 2009, she started as an analyst and quickly became deeply involved in how products were built. She worked alongside engineers to digitize traditional market research processes, replacing surveys and reports with virtual environments and interactive tools.
She was often building tools to solve her own problems, creating workflows that would save time and improve insight for customers. Without realizing it, she was already doing product management. Over time she led analytics, digital production, and eventually the tech and product teams. That broad mix of data, customer, and technical work shaped her leadership style and gave her a deep understanding of how products come together from the inside out.
Seeing Product Management Mature
Francesca and Cristina discuss how product management has become more defined as a discipline. Early in her career, most of the focus was on delivery. Teams worried about whether they could build something, not necessarily whether they should.
Today the focus is different. Good product management connects discovery, delivery, and business context. It asks questions before committing resources and pushes teams to understand problems before defining solutions.
Turning a Feature Factory into an Outcome-Driven Team
When Francesca joined Rillion, the company had a long history and a complex platform shaped by mergers and acquisitions. Teams were busy, but their work often felt reactive. She saw an opportunity to help them move from feature volume to measurable impact.
Her approach was practical. She encouraged clear priorities and learning through action. Instead of asking what to build next, her teams began by asking why. They defined goals tied to company strategy and measured their success by what changed, not by what shipped.
Building Cross Functional Teams
Francesca describes how she and her engineering leaders restructured the organization to support this new mindset. They built smaller, cross functional teams with clear missions and room to make decisions.
This structure encouraged focus and accountability. It reduced the friction of silos and helped people think less about whose job something was and more about what needed to be solved. Mixing people with deep institutional knowledge and those new to the company also brought balance.
Lessons for Aspiring Product Managers
Francesca offers advice for people who want to move into product. She suggests learning from established voices in the product community, studying examples from real companies, and finding mentors who can share their own experiences. She encourages people to start within their current organization if possible. Moving internally allows them to learn the product deeply while building trust across teams.
Connect with the Speakers
Connect with Cristina: www.linkedin.com/in/cristina-flaschen/
Connect with Francesca: www.linkedin.com/in/francesca-smedberg/_
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