Best Saravana Kumar Podcasts (2025)

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Recording of AI Book Club discussion about Kai-fu Lee's AI Superpowers 1:01:01

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1M ago1:01:01

1:01:01

This is a recording of our AI Book Club session discussing Kai-Fu Lee's AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order. There are 4 people in this book club discussion, and our conversation focuses on the emerging AI duopoly between the US and China. We share our own US-centric blind spots and weigh the political and cultural implic…

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How To Adjust Self-Serve When Moving Upmarket | Saravana Kumar, Kovai.co 20:33

2M ago20:33

20:33

On this episode of the Growth Machines podcast I sit down with Saravana Kumar, the founder of Kovai.co, to explore the journey of Document360, one of the products under the Kovai.co umbrella. We’ll discuss the strategies behind Document360's growth, the challenges of a crowded market, and the shift from PLG to assisted selling. Saravana shares his …

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Combining Human- and Product-Led Onboarding | Ramli John, Delightpath 19:05

2M ago19:05

19:05

This episode I have the pleasure of talking with Ramli John,founder of Delight Path and author of "Product-led Onboarding." We discuss why companies today need to focus on a hybrid approach, combining product-led and human interaction for effective onboarding. It’s what led him to write his new book, "Eureka," and evolve his focus on scalable onboa…

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Using ABM to Create Handraisers | Constantinos Yenis, Holded 22:07

3M ago22:07

22:07

In this episode of the Growth Machines podcast I speak with Constantinos (Costas) Yenis, VP of Sales and Customer Success at Holded. Costas shares his unique career trajectory from a full-stack web developer to a sales leader in a growing SaaS company. He discusses the importance of understanding customer pain points, the implementation of a produc…

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Will our next users be AI agents? The future of content delivery with Fabrice Lacroix, founder of Fluid Topics (podcast) 44:05

3M ago44:05

44:05

In this podcast, I chat with Fabrice Lacroix, founder of Fluid Topics, about the evolution of technical communication. Fabrice describes the industry's progression from (1) delivering static, monolithic PDFs to (2) using Content Delivery Platforms (CDPs) that provide dynamic, topic-based information directly to users to (3) developing content not j…

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Streamlining Lead Assignment Without Losing Revenue | Sara Archer, Chartmogul 17:48

3M ago17:48

17:48

Key Quote: "What’s good for the business is good for you. And if I’m wrong, I’ll do right by you." Summary: In this episode of Growth Machines, I sit down with Sara Archer from ChartMogul to unpack how she overhauled their lead qualification process to reduce sales workload without sacrificing revenue. With a hybrid go-to-market model and 800+ mont…

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AI Book Club recording and notes for The Singularity is Nearer, by Ray Kurzweil 55:53

3M ago55:53

55:53

This is a recording of our AI Book Club session discussing Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity is Nearer podcast: When We Merge With AI. You can watch the recording on YouTube, listen to the audio file, read some summary notes, browse discussion questions, and even listen to a NotebookLM podcast (based on the summary). There are 5 people in this book cl…

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Notes and discussion for Suleyman's <i>The Coming Wave: AI, Power, and Our Future</i> + AI Book Club recording and transcript 59:33

4M ago59:33

59:33

This post describes the key arguments and themes in The Coming Wave: AI, Power, and Our Future, by Mustafa Suleyman, for the AI Book Club: A Human in the Loop. This post not only breaks down the logic but also jumps off into some themes (beyond the book) that might be more tech-writer relevant, such as potential future job titles, areas of focus fo…

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Notes and discussion for Jonathan Warner's <i>More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI</i> + AI Book Club recording 59:40

5M ago59:40

59:40

This post has notes and questions for discussion for More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI, published in February 2025 by Jonathan Warner. Warner's book, which explores what we lose when we outsource writing to AI, is the first book in the AI Book Club: A Human in the Loop.By Tom Johnson

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Rethinking traditional approaches to release notes -- recording of WTD Australia presentation 56:52

7M ago56:52

56:52

I gave a presentation to the Write the Docs Australia group on using AI to write release notes using file diffs, on Feb 16, 2025. Here's the recording, presentation description, and transcript.By Tom Johnson

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My 2025 trends predictions for tech comm 21:17

9M ago21:17

21:17

It's that time of year again when we take to analyzing trends. If you know me, you're probably gearing up for a load of AI-optimistic predictions because, as I've noted in previous posts like Unpacking the issues from AI, I'm an AI optimist. However, my AI optimism isn't based on hype or the current tech zeitgeist. Rather, I'm an AI optimist becaus…

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[Podcast] GenAI and Document360: Conversation with Saravana Kumar 49:36

12M ago49:36

49:36

This podcast explores GenAI in technical documentation scenarios, highlighting the AI features and capabilities provided in Document360. I talk with Saravana Kumar, CEO of Kovai.co, which makes Document360, about how AI is changing search functionality and reducing support costs in knowledge bases. We discuss practical applications of AI for techni…

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Driving Growth and Go-To-Market Efficiency with PLG | Jesse Ervin, Nylas 22:24

1y ago22:24

22:24

In this episode of the Growth Machines Podcast, host Vincent Jong speaks with Jesse Ervin, CRO at Nylas, about the company's journey from a sales-led approach to a hybrid product-led sales model over the past two years. Jesse introduces Nylas and describes how the migration from traditional sales to a product-led growth strategy has impacted the co…

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Adding Sales to a Scaling Product-Led Business | Kristen Habacht, Typeform 19:32

1y ago19:32

19:32

In this episode of the Growth Machines podcast, host Vincent Jong speaks with Kristen Habacht, Chief Revenue Officer at Typeform, about integrating sales into a product-led growth framework as a company scales. Kristen discusses the evolution of Typeform from a PLG pioneer to incorporating sales without creating artificial barriers for customers. S…

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Learnings From a 2-Year Journey Towards Product-Led Growth | Sindre Haaland, SalesScreen 18:55

1y ago18:55

18:55

In this episode of the Growth Machines podcast, host Vincent Jong speaks with Sindre Haaland, CEO of SalesScreen, about the company’s nearly two-year journey to launch a Product-Led Growth offering. Sindre discusses SalesScreen history, their sales gamification platform, and the challenges and strategies involved in shifting from a sales-led to a p…

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Leveraging Trials When Selling Complex Products | Laura Erdem, Dreamdata 20:56

1y ago20:56

20:56

In this episode of the Growth Machines podcast, host Vincent Jong talks with Laura Erdem from Dreamdata about their unique approach to combining product-led growth and traditional sales in their go-to-market strategy. Laura delves into her role and the evolution of Dreamdata's sales strategy, from a sales-led model to incorporating a free trial pro…

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Podcast: Task decomposition and complex tree diagrams 18:38

1y ago18:38

18:38

This tutorial will help you understand task decomposition by guiding you through the process of creating a complex tree diagram that's too sophisticated for an AI tool to create at once. Whether you're creating tree diagrams or not, it doesn't matter. This is just an example of how to break down complex information into smaller chunks and pass it i…

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Podcast: Using long-token contexts to quality check an entire API doc set 21:58

1y ago21:58

21:58

One of the advantages of recent Gen AI updates is the massive token input context. When you can pass in an entire set of documentation as an input, you have a much stronger possibility for powerful prompts. In this tutorial, I share some quality-control prompts you can use that deal with entire doc sets as inputs, as well as explain some of the cha…

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Podcast: Using file diffs for better release notes in reference docs 17:31

1y ago17:31

17:31

You can use AI prompts when creating release notes for APIs by leveraging file diffs from regenerated reference documentation. The file diffs from version control tools provide a reliable, precise information source about what's changed in the release.By Tom Johnson

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Podcast: Populating documentation templates using AI 22:47

1y ago22:47

22:47

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to use AI to populate documentation templates with the source material you've gathered. For example, API overviews often follow a highly structured template. This technique can be a quick way to get an initial draft of documentation, which you can then edit and review with SMEs.…

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Podcast: Gathering source material for context input 18:02

1y ago18:02

18:02

One of the most successful strategies for using AI is to pass in an abundance of source material that can augument and inform the AI's responses. In this tutorial, I cover strategies for gathering this material, including what types of documents to look for, optimal ordering, pitfalls to look out for such as outdated or slanted information, and mor…

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Podcast: Creating high-fidelity, thematically organized notes from engineering meetings using AI 15:29

1y ago15:29

15:29

For AI tools to generate accurate information for documentation you're writing, you need to pass in source material. This usually means meeting with engineers and product managers to gather information about the product. In this tutorial, I share prompts for turning those meeting transcriptions into organized, readable meeting summaries. These clea…

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Enabling Self-Service in a Regulated Industry | Andrew Davies, Paddle 21:03

1y ago21:03

21:03

In this episode of the Growth Machines Podcast, Vincent Jong hosts Andrew Davies, CMO of Paddle, to discuss how Paddle went from a product-led model back to a sales-led model to end up in its current hybrid state.Andrew provides insights into Paddle’s transition from a sales-driven model to an integrated product-led and sales strategy, the importan…

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Finding the right moment to activate the sales team | Susann Johansen, Oneflow 16:44

1y ago16:44

16:44

In this episode of the Growth Machines podcast, I speak with Susann Johansen, Head of Growth and User Experience at OneFlow, about how they introduced Product-Led Growth at Oneflow, a traditionally sales-led company. Susans shares the evolution of OneFlow's go-to-market strategy, the challenges of implementing a freemium model, and the nuances of s…

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How Userpilot Balances Product-Led and Sales-Assisted Growth | Yazan Sehwail, Userpilot 18:58

1+ y ago18:58

18:58

In this episode of the Growth Machines podcast, Vincent Jong talks with Yazan Sehwail, co-founder of Userpilot, about integrating product-led strategies with human touch for optimal sales and expansion. Yazan shares Userpilot’s journey from focusing on one feature to managing complex product offerings, highlighting their approach to balancing free …

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The more you give, the better your leads get qualified | Mathias Thulin, GetAccept 17:45

1+ y ago17:45

17:45

On this episode of the Growth Machines podcast I speak with Mathias Thulin from GetAccept. He shares how they developed the Go-to-Market model for GetAccept going from sales-led to freemium and now a combination of sales-led and free trial.As of today combines a free trial, an interactive product tour, and a book-a-demo option in an intuitive way. …

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[Podcast] Uncovering and communicating the value of your tech comm teams' work, with Keren Brown 47:32

1+ y ago47:32

47:32

In this podcast episode, I talk with Keren Brown, VP of Marketing and Value at Zoomin Software, about strategies for technical writers to demonstrate their value within their organizations, especially in light of recent layoffs in the tech industry. We discuss aligning documentation work with high-priority initiatives, quantifying the impact of tec…

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Finding your place on the PLG and Sales spectrum | Japna Sethi 32:05

1+ y ago32:05

32:05

In the seventh episode of the Growth Machines podcast, I speak with Japna Sethi, Product and Growth leader at Calendly. Previously she has been a lead for Product and Growth at Dropbox and she built and led the Growth team at Productboard from the ground up. Each of these companies dealt with a large flow of incoming users and Japna shares how they…

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Using in-app messaging for tailored user experiences | Todd Olson 18:35

1+ y ago18:35

18:35

In the sixth episode of the Growth Machines podcast, I speak with Todd Olson, the co-founder and CEO of Pendo, about leveraging in-app messaging for tailored user experiences and the impactful role of Product-Led Growth (PLG) in sales operations. We discuss robust PLG strategies employed by companies ranging from startups to large enterprises, incl…

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The sales paradigm shift | Leah Tharin 28:30

1+ y ago28:30

28:30

In the fifth episode of the Growth Machines podcast, I sit down with Leah Tharin. Leah is a leading Product-Led Growth (PLG) advisor for scaling B2B companies and Interim CPGO of GotPhoto. She led products like Jua and Smallpdf and is portfolio growth advisor to VC funds like Notion Capital. She writes about her experiences and hosts a podcast on L…

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Introducing PLG when you are doing sales | Ben Williams 21:18

1+ y ago21:18

21:18

In the fourth episode of the Growth Machines podcast, I sit down with Ben Williams, a product and growth executive with over 20 years of experience at companies like Snyk and Cloudbees, and the author of The Product-Led Geek. We talk about how to combine Product-Led Growth (PLG) with sales strategies to drive company growth. Ben shares insights fro…

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Secrets to Success from Leadfeeder's Growth Model | Pekka Koskinen 18:42

1+ y ago18:42

18:42

In the third episode of the Growth Machines podcast, I talk with Pekka Koskinen, Co-Founder of Leadfeeder (nowadays part of Dealfront). He explains how they developed a successful Product-Led Sales model long before PLG became a buzzword.Leadfeeder was founded in 2012 when Pekka and his co-founders hit a wall with traditional sales methods in their…

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Pricing challenges in PLG | Kyle Poyar 29:37

1+ y ago29:37

29:37

In the second episode of the Growth Machines podcast, I talk with Kyle Poyar, Operating Partner at Openview and writer of the Growth Unhinged newsletter. We talk about what to do when you have a pricing model in place for a sales motion and are considering to introduce PLG.Pricing and packaging can be an enabler or blocker when thinking about produ…

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Introducing a self serve plan at Amplitude | Franciska Dethlefsen 26:17

1+ y ago26:17

26:17

In this first episode of the Growth Machines podcast, I talk with Franciska Dethlefsen, the Head of Growth Marketing at Amplitude. We discuss the recent experiences they’ve had launching the Plus plan, a new self serve option for Amplitude. We focus on how companies can successfully transition to a product-led strategy if they are doing sales today…

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[Podcast] Breaking ground: New API documentation course at UW, with Bob Watson 53:05

1+ y ago53:05

53:05

In this podcast, I chat with Bob Watson about an upcoming API documentation course he'll be teaching at the University of Washington. Bob has extensive experience working as an API technical writer at big tech companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google. The UW reached out to Bob to develop this new course offering. The 14-week evening course will…

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My 2024 technical writing trends and predictions 28:28

1+ y ago28:28

28:28

I've been mulling over whether to write a trends post this year. There's so much uncertainty, it's hard to feel confident about how the tech writing profession will play out. But little trends-related ideas keep surfacing in the back of my mind, so I decided to write out some of my thoughts. Before I jump into this, I want to say that I’m much more…

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Podcast: Notes and themes from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig 1:03:29

2y ago1:03:29

1:03:29

These are some notes and thoughts from reading Robert Pirsig's classic philosophical novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, published in 1974. My reading here focuses more on the technical writing aspects and themes from the book. Some themes include Classic versus Romantic modes of thought, the concept of Quality, our relationship with …

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Webinar recording: Experiments and use cases for AI from a tech writer’s perspective 1:02:34

2y ago1:02:34

1:02:34

I recently gave a webinar titled 'Experiments and use cases for AI from a tech writer’s perspective' on December 8, 2023. The webinar was sponsored by the STC Washington, DC - Baltimore Chapter. In this presentation, I shared some personal experiences in using AI for different writing-related use cases, explaining what I’ve found helpful. These use…

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30+ ways I’m using AI in everyday writing life as a technical writer, blogger, and curious human 44:33

2y ago44:33

44:33

In this post, I provide over 30 real-life examples of how I'm using AI on a daily basis, not just for technical writing tasks but more broadly in life, including summarizing content, explaining concepts, answering questions, troubleshooting problems, and having engaging conversations for a variety of tasks and scenarios. In my view, AI use cases ar…

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Podcast: The evolution of podcasting, with Ed Marsh 57:24

2y ago57:24

57:24

In this podcast, I talk with Ed Marsh about podcasting. You may have listened to Ed Marsh's Content Content podcast previously. As an experienced podcaster, Ed has a lot of insights and thoughts about podcasting. We discuss what initially drew him to start podcasting, the equipment and logistics involved in podcasting, different formats that engage…

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Podcast: Tech writing and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, with Dan Grabski 42:12

2y ago42:12

42:12

In this episode, I chat with Dan Grabski, a senior content developer based in Portland, both about his recent WTD talk titled 'Zen and the Art of Manually Creating API Documentation' and Robert Pirsig's 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.' Dan explains the importance of focusing not just on technical details of implementations but also on i…

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Doing research with AI tools -- avoiding the trap of fabricated URLs 14:56

2y ago14:56

14:56

In this short podcast, I explore using AI tools to do research, the potential for fake URLs, and how to deal with the fabrication. I started by using Claude to summarize a podcast and provide a list of salient points, including the potential counterargument. What I didn't expect was for Claude to fabricate a list of imagined research and then summa…

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Notes for Building the Cycling City: The Dutch Blueprint for Urban Vitality 46:49

2y ago46:49

46:49

In Building the Cycling City: The Dutch Blueprint for Urban Vitality, Melissa and Chris Bruntlett describe how the Dutch achieved so much cycling success, and how other cities might do the same. The authors bring up a variety of techniques and approaches the Dutch have used, such as seamlessly integrating cycling with public transit, pursuing custo…

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My experience trying to write original, full-length human-sounding articles using Claude AI 37:30

2y ago37:30

37:30

You can use AI tools like Claude to help you write full-length content. By going paragraph-by-paragraph, you can direct the AI while seemingly maintaining your own voice and ideas. However, despite my attempts to use AI with writing, I've found that it's harder to pull off than I thought. I can get close, but due to the way AI tools are trained, th…

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Chatting about AI trends and tech comm with Fabrizio Ferri Benedetti 49:01

2y ago49:01

49:01

In this podcast, I chat with Fabrizio Ferri Benedetti, a tech writer in Barcelona who blogs at passo.uno and works for Splunk, about various AI news topics. We talk about the Forrester AI jobs impact forecast, the community element in documentation, the way the profession is changing with AI, content design roles with LLMs, how complex processes an…

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[Podcast] AI and APIs: What works, what doesn't 1:00:58

2y ago1:00:58

1:00:58

In conversations about AI, a lot of tech writers are asking what kind of scenarios is AI good for? What works, what doesn’t? In which scenarios? You may have read my responses to these questions before in previous posts, but this time I recorded a podcast with slides. In the podcast, I try to pull together these ideas into more of a narrative shape…

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Presentation recording: Specialization myopia syndrome and the content journey 50:52

2+ y ago50:52

50:52

This is a recording of a presentation called Specialization myopia syndrome and the content journey, which I gave to a company's private tech comm event. With their permission, I'm posting it here. You can watch the recording via YouTube or listen the audio file as a podcast.By Tom Johnson

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Podcast: All about Redocly, with founder Adam Altman 36:16

2+ y ago36:16

36:16

In this podcast, I chat with Adam Altman all about Redocly, an authoring/publishing tool for creating API documentation. Topics we discuss include why he started Redocly, the approach to API doc tools, what explains the continued popularity of Redocly, the docs-as-code approach to API tooling, and more.…

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Podcast about Archbee -- a new documentation tool with a block-based editor, API publishing capability, content re-use, and more 29:09

3y ago29:09

29:09

Archbee is a relatively new documentation tool that offers a block-based editor, API publishing capability, content re-use, and more. The initial version of Archbee was released in early 2019. Since then, the product has been steadily ramping up in features and growing its customer base. In this podcast, I chat with Claudiu Dascalescu about Archbee…

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Keynote presentation to STC India 2022 57:12

3+ y ago57:12

57:12

This post is part of a series that explores tech comm trends that I've either followed or forgotten, and why. The overall goal is to better understand the reasons that drive trend adoption or abandonment in my personal career. This post contains a keynote presentation I gave to STC India on March 26, 2022.…