In this episode about Plex, Jeff and Mike talk about archiving family photos, today's streaming hell, and at-home 'cloud' computing.

[1:01] - 600lb life and trashy TV [1:22] - What is Plex? [2:41] - What is a NAS (Network Attached Server)? [3:52] - Looking at your (wedding) photos virtually. [4:45] - ScmhOffice, Season 1, Episode 2? Plex + Artwork [5:33] - What is Plex’s Business Model? [6:28] - History of Plex [10:46] - Who is Plex for? [11:31] - Today’s streaming Hell and state-by-state legality of ripping your DVDs + PublicDomainmovies.net [12:55] - Who are the competitors? [14:30] - Our thoughts and ratings. Mike: 4.8/5; Jeff 4.3/5

In this episode about Nuro, Jeff and Mike talk about robots, last mile delivery, and pedestrian airbags at 45mph.

[0:20] Terminator and American robots [0:42] What is Nuro? Toaster-on-wheels? [2:19] Dominoes Pizza Delivery; Coke vs. Pepsi; blind taste tests; and Jeff’s Atlanta cred on the line [3:57] Trolley Car Problem, Nuro’s external pedestrian airbag, and 45 MPH robot [6:40] Nuro’s specifications, powering with renewable energy, and 100 miles of range [9:06] A geography test for Jeff, last mile delivery, and the United States Postal Service (USPS) [12:30] What is Nuro’s Business Model? [13:15] Nuro’s fleet includes Toyota Priuses and Nuro’s partnerships with Dominoes and Kroger’s [15:30] Nuro’s History, valuation, and venture financing [17:01] Who is Nuro for? How are they positioning themselves? [19:30] Mike grumpily puts on his pants instead of ordering Uber Eats [21:03] Nuro: “on-demand autonomous vehicle delivery is potentially 3 million new jobs” and their California training partnership [23:32] Who are Nuro’s competitors? [24:30] Our thoughts: Jeff and Mike Score: 4.4/5 [28:33] Bonus Mike thought on Blizzard’s StarCraft [2:37 PM] Nuro description

In this episode about Gumroad, Jeff and Mike talk about learning ukulele, the growing creator economy, and reflections from a start-up founder.

[00:45] What is Gumroad and how does it work? Gumroad "makes it easy to earn your first dollar online by selling digital products, memberships and more"
[2:16] Ukulele courses and Fix This Build That
[5:33] Is Gumroad a potential acquisition target or feature copy for the Chief Twit, Elon Musk, at Twitter?
[6:50] How Gumroad makes money with simple fees to creators
[10:30] History of Gumroad
[14:02] Who is Gumroad for?
[15:34] Jess Encamp, Parks & Rec, and Jonny Karate
[17:00] Gumroad’s competitors
[18:00] Mike and Jeff Scores, 4.05 and 4.1 out of 5, respectively and @shl’s “Reflecting on my failure to build a billion dollar company

In this episode about Tile, Jeff and Mike talk about losing credit cards, Bluetooth’s connection to a Nordic King, and Amazon’s just walk out technology.

Episode 107: Tile, Explained

[00:45] The weird things Jeff & Mike lost, and why it sucks to lose a credit card
[1:05] What is tile? And how do you not lose things ever again, even that pesky remote in your couch
[3:30] QR codes with the COVID come back and Alaska Railroad checking luggage
[5:00] Quick tangent on Bluetooth and how Bluetooth got it’s name from a long lost Nordic king
[6:30] What is Tile’s business model (hint: it’s widgets!)? Who do they partner with (hint: Big companies like HP!)
[10:40] The history of Tile, IPA or IPX?, and the Life 360 acquisition
[13:40] Casey Neistat and the stolen car - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l30V426-_S4
[15:00] Who is Tile for? And the book “Trillions”
[17:00] What is Maytag trying to charge me a subscription?
[21:00] Amazon Go - Just Walk out technology (it feels like you’re stealing!?)
[24:00] Tile’s competition and Mike & Jeff scores: 3.7 out of 5 for both

In this episode about BeReal, Jeff and Mike talk about bringing back MySpace features, Casey Neistat’s Beme experiment, and Gen Z’s future social media platforms.

Episode 108: BeReal, Explained

[01:20] BeReal is french - so how do actually pronounce the name?
[02:15] What is BeReal (hint: daily un-curated photos!)
[03:41] Mike’s first share is of us podcasting!
[04:32] BeReal’s business model (hint: it’s eyeballs!) and how US advertising is close to a zero-sum game
[06:59] YouTuber Casey Neistat’s Beme social media experiment and Mike’s fanboying of Casey
[10:00] The History of BeReal and staying power compared to ClubHouse
[14:30] Trends in gen z, is there an anti-aesthetic for Social Media? H/T to @buffalobills social media
[15:30] Who is BeReal for - rejecting perfection, and chasing the high for perfect lighting, 100s of photos, and ‘influencer’ culture. Plus the mental health toll.
[16:40] The Q4 2022 fall of social media market caps and how @homedepot is now more valuable (or similarly valued) as Meta/Facebook
[18:20] What will be Gen Z’s social media platform of choice?
[21:30] Mike pressuring his parents to buy nerf guns
[23:20] ProdEx scores: Mike 3.8 stars and Jeff 3.95 out of 5
[25:30] Season 2 is coming next year! Let us know who you’d like to hear us interview on the podcast!

In this episode about Dscout, Jeff and Mike talk about male body shaving, market research in pop culture like Mad Men, and getting paid to be a research participant.
Episode 109: Dscout, Explained
[00:20] Researching baby strollers and Instagram ads
[01:40] Mike’s first Boston job typing up market research results for male bodying shaving
[03:20] What is Dscout? (hint: two-sided marketplace for market research)
[05:10] Dscout’s recruit tool and fine-tuning your target audience. Is your mom really a good candidate?
[06:52] Jeff’s experience using Dscout & being a ‘baseball card’ researchers can choose from
[09:30] Dscout’s business model - taking a small percentage from transactions, and different tiers for different customer needs
[11:30] History of Dscout & the debate of the century: Is Chicago a burgeoning tech hub? Or is it just a market research hub?
[14:30] h/t to Dscout’s Product Marketing team - ProdEx loves seeing easy to read/share/understand case studies from real customers.
[15:30] Who is Dscout for? Mad Men and the genesis of Market Research
[17:15] Dscout competitors, Mike & Jeff’s experience in their day jobs looking for customer insights via market research
[22:20] ProdEx scores: Mike 4 stars and Jeff 4.6 out of 5 - a new Jeff high!!!
[23:30] Season 2 is coming next year! Let us know who you’d like to hear us interview on the podcast!

In this episode about Wren, Jeff and Mike talk about the size of a ton of carbon dioxide, climate anxiety, and how you can start making a difference today.
Episode 110: Wren, Explained
[00:40] Mike’s passion and sustainability filibuster
[1:30] MIT Technology Review - What is a ton of carbon dioxide? Hint - it’s a cube full of telephone poles that weighs as much as a great white shark.
[4:00] The IPCC, avoiding 1.5 degrees celsius warming, and how carbon dioxide/greenhouse gas emissions overfilling the earth’s atmosphere are analogous to a bathtub overflowing with water.
[5:00] Carbon Mitigation vs. Carbon Removal vs. Carbon Capture. Also - what do we do with all of this carbon that we capture?
[6:45] What is Wren? Hint: your “All in One Climate Subscription”
[7:30] What’s the average carbon footprint in the US? Wren’s carbon footprint calculator.
[8:15] How do you choose how much carbon to offset? What about changing your behaviors like eating less meat or driving less?
[10:30] Not all carbon credits are made equal; for example forest preservation to carbon removal efforts like Climeworks. John Oliver’s expose on the pitfalls behind Carbon Capture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p8zAbFKpW0
[13:00] Scientific American published a study that in general, the more you earn - the higher your individual carbon footprint
[14:00] What’s the benefit for customers for paying for a service like this? For customers like Mike, they’re deeply passionate about this space, much of the benefit is realized in feeling like you’re ‘doing your part’ vs. the Tragedy of the commons problem.
[16:30] What will it take for real changes to occur?
[19:30] What is Wren’s business model? Wren indexes highly on transparency and brings a portfolio approach to your subscription dollars.
[22:00] Some of Wren’s portfolio projects include Biochar in California, Mineral weathering in Scotland, and tech enabled rainforest protection.
[24:00] The History of Wren - and how the team was initially focused on HR software before heading to Y Combinator
[27:15] Wren’s target customers are likely climate conscious people that want to spend money to see climate action implemented. Also Climate Anxiety is real.
[30:00] Other competitors in the space are great - like Zopeful, but no climate solution is a bad solution - we need all hands on deck.
[31:20] ProdEx scores: Mike 4.9 stars and Jeff 4.3 out of 5; if you’re interested in Wren - check out www.wren.co/join/mikealcazaren to get your first month free.
[32:30] Season 2 is coming next year! Let us know who you’d like to hear us interview on the podcast!

In this mega-recap episode, Jeff and Mike summarize all 110 of the Product, Explained episodes & set the groundwork for Season 2 - Product, Explained - Expert Edition.


Episode 111: Product, Explained - The S1 Recap
[0:40] Avatar or Airbender or James Cameron?
[3:30] Rapid Fire Metrics! Jeff guesses the top three listened-to episodes. (Air Table, Figma, & Theranos).
[5:00] Apparently putting Elizabeth Holmes’ Face on social posts is podcast marketing that works.
[6:45] Rapid Fire Metrics Pt. II! Jeff guesses the average Mike & Jeff scores. Jeff’s favorite product is a total surprise. Mike’s favorites aren’t a surprised: sustainability-related products.
[10:30] Metrics Pt. III! Jeff and Mike talk about our intentions behind episode length.
[13:00] The tables turn and Jeff asks and answers questions about our equipment, from hardware, software, to our processes. We record individually via Audacity and then edit the files in Descript (our no-no word is “TYPO”). We post via pinecast’s platform and then use Headliner to create social media posts. Google Docs is our guiding platform that we color code for who says what. Mike & Jeff are both using Shure studio monitors.
[19:30] Jeff & Mike talk about our favorite Season 1 product themes: two-sided marketplaces, productivity tools, and new pricing models. We also touch on our favorite podcasts (h/t to Cover1 Buffalo Bills podcast) that we listen to and draw attention to (The Tim Ferriss Show; Pivot with Kara Swisher & Scott Galloway)
[27:15] Things we were most wrong about! And Mike becoming a BeReal addict.
[39:00] General Disappointments, like AirBnB and Snapchat. Sometimes timing is everything as well.
[41:20] Favorite Episodes, Least Favorite, Most Memorable Episodes.
[end] Season 2 is coming soon ! Let us know who you’d like to hear us interview on the podcast!