Don’t Build What They Ask For, Build What They Need: Driving Product-Led Growth Through Customer Insight
Manage episode 476867969 series 3409022
In this episode of SaaS Stories, Leah Rankin, Chief Product Officer at SightMinder, shares how deep customer insight—not just feature requests—drives meaningful product innovation in hospitality tech.
Leah shares how a chance meeting at Telstra sparked her career in tech, the early disruptor days of cloud-based hospitality solutions, and what it really means to drive product-led growth in a fast-evolving industry. We explore how SightMinder matches the right guests with the right hotels, the power of data and AI in shaping guest experiences, and how to build high-performing, diverse, and collaborative teams.
From leadership philosophies to the future of hospitality tech, this episode is packed with insight, candour, and inspiration for anyone navigating the ever-changing world of SaaS.
If you're navigating product strategy, team leadership, or the future of SaaS in a data-driven world—this one’s for you.
Key Takeaways:
💡 Product-Led Growth: Why the best SaaS platforms are intuitive, self-serve, and built with adoption, upsell, and retention baked in.
🏨 Smart Hospitality: How SightMinder helps hoteliers match with the right guests (not just more guests)—and why it’s like “dating” for hotels.
📊 Data Strategy: Why data is the new oil in hospitality tech—and how SightMinder is investing in AI and a Chief Data Officer to lead the charge.
🚀 Innovation Culture: Hackathons, discovery squads, and giving everyone space to contribute big ideas—how innovation is embedded across teams.
🧠 Servant Leadership: Leah’s leadership philosophy on trust, active listening, and creating an environment where people can be their true selves.
🕰️ Pacing Change: Why patience matters—even in fast-moving SaaS—and how bringing others on the journey can lead to more sustainable transformation.
Chapters
1. Meet Leah Rankin of SightMinder (00:00:00)
2. SightMinder's Origin as a Disruptor (00:04:55)
3. Innovation and Data in SaaS (00:08:36)
4. Product-Led Growth Strategy (00:13:44)
5. Leadership Philosophy and Team Building (00:18:56)
6. Future Trends in SaaS (00:30:42)
7. Remote Work and Final Advice (00:35:16)
47 episodes