The Product Experience · 2026-06-03 · 43 min
Dave Martin has spent more than two decades in product leadership, with a string of C-suite roles, a couple of exits and a book, The Product Momentum Gap , to his name. He is also dyslexic and ADHD, and has built a career while masking the effort it takes to "think normal". In this episode he makes the case that the advice handed to neurotypical leaders often fails the roughly half of tech workers who are neurodivergent, and lays out a practical playbook for landing your message, leading the room and progressing without pretending to be someone else. Chapters 00:00) Welcome, and Dave's background in product (02:03) "I've been masking it": faking thinking normal (02:37) The meeting where your idea is ignored, then credited to someone else (03:28) AI as a "spell check for influence" (04:07) The myth that growth requires pretending to be neurotypical (05:15) Why standard leadership advice fails neurodivergent leaders (06:45) Executive presence, signal presence and signal drift (07:57) Is this universal, or specific to neurodivergence?
Move fast and DON'T break things - Vonny Laing (UX Lead, Student Loans Company)75 / 100A deep dive into the state of product in 2026 - Emily Tate (VP Product)How to build resilience in product - Lindsey Jayne (Product Advisor)How to get the most out of product coaching - Lily Smith (Managing Director, BBC Maestro) and Randy Silver (Product and Leadership Coach)Why you're not falling behind on AI - Barry O'Reilly (Author, Artificial Organizations)