Join us as we delve into the world of successful software companies and uncover their superpowers and valuable lessons. In this episode, Mariam talks with Scott Belsky, an industry icon and expert in product development.  Scott is one of the most talented and beloved figures in the tech industry and an incredible product person.

He is an entrepreneur, author, investor, and Chief Product Officer (now Chief Strategy Officer) of Adobe, formerly founded Behance in 2006 and served as CEO until Adobe acquired the company in 2012.

Together, we explore the fascinating journey behind creating Behance, the importance of taking action, and the unique challenges faced by startups. Scott shares his insights on building exceptional products, fostering user engagement, and the future of software development. Tune in for an inspiring conversation with a true visionary! 


Questions and Topics we discussed with Scott: 

Behance story

• What were the reasons early on why how and why you decided to build Behance? What kind of issues where you trying to fix in the design community 
• You almost entirely bootstrapped the company, early on with some gigs, and why the decision later to raise money, as you were already going well and established the company? 

Building a product

• What was the hardest part about the 0 to 1 phase of Behance? What’s your advice for new founders going through it today? 
• What are some common patterns you see in building products, that make the product and design extraordinary and users sticky?

Speed

• How important do you think the speed of execution is for startups?
• What do you think about the dilemma of losing quality with speed vs perfecting the product before launch?
• What can startups do to build the execution and shipping muscle?

Finding product market fit

• When did you know you had a true product-market fit with Behance? 

Community

• How have you guys nurtured the community around Behance? It's amazing how helpful, knowledgeable, and open everyone is. 

Team

• How you built your team from day 1, what key characteristics and mindset you were looking for when bringing new team members on board? 

Adobe

• Being a small company, with a scrappy and doer team, then getting acquired by a big company with big teams and departments, can you share the biggest lessons you learned from the acquisition? 
• Adobe while being a very big company, seems to always stay on top of the game - and ahead of the curve with new innovations 
• the acquisition of Behance
• the acquisition of Figma
• the latest launch of Adobe Firefly and probably future plans with AI
• How much of them staying on top of the game is an influence of bringing and being open to such amazing talent, entrepreneurial minds, and ideas? 

The Future of no-code and Creativity

• What are some trends you’re most excited about within no-code and AI? 
• How will the new generation of kids learn, use and build the software? will they build their own?