In this episode, Elias Lieberich, founder of Product Matters, joins hosts Lilly Smith and Randy Silver to unpack what really separates product practice in European companies from the Silicon Valley model — and what it actually takes to close that gap from the inside.
Drawing on his journey from Google analyst to YouTube monetisation PM to Google X, and now back in Germany working with everything from deep tech startups to German Mittelstand corporations, Elias identifies three consistent gaps he sees in European organisations: a process obsession that prizes predictability over learning, a lack of validation that means many teams — especially in deep tech — are building PhD theses rather than products, and an underappreciation of engineering and design as strategic functions rather than service centres.
But the episode is less a critique than a practical guide. Elias's core philosophy — "show, don't tell" — runs through everything: rather than selling a product religion or copy-pasting Google's operating model, the real lever is finding one concrete moment of immediate value and letting the evidence do the persuading. That might be inviting a single user to complete tasks in front of the team, or surfacing a Reddit thread that reveals how customers actually make buying decisions.
The conversation also digs into what Europe does genuinely well — world-class deep tech IP, strong education, and a more people-centred approach to change — and why the killer question for any product team, startup or enterprise alike, is still the simplest one: "Who is this for?"
Chapters
Key Takeaways
It's never about rainbows and unicorns — it's about getting a little bit better. The goal of any product transformation isn't to copy-paste a Silicon Valley model; it's to find one real thing you can improve, immediately, and compound from there.
Three gaps define European product practice. Process obsession (prioritising predictability over learning), a lack of market validation (building technology before confirming who'll pay for it), and an underappreciation of engineering and design as strategic functions — these are the consistent deltas Elias finds when he walks into a European company.
Show, don't tell. Trying to sell the idea of product management before you have evidence rarely works. Find one concrete example — a user who can't complete a task, a Reddit thread that reveals how customers make buying decisions — and let the insight do the persuading.
PMs earn influence; they're not given it. Running a listening tour — getting to know engineers, salespeople, and marketers personally before making any product moves — is how you build the trust and permission needed to actually drive change.
Change aversion is a bell curve. Most people need to see something working and proven before they'll engage. Sustainable transformation is built from small, steady drips of visible progress — not from ripping off the bandaid and announcing that everything is different now.
Deep tech in Europe has world-class IP but often lacks product discipline. Many deep tech startups are building their PhD thesis — great technology with no clear use case. Product work that begins with "who is this for?" is what unlocks the commercial potential of that research.
Europe's people-centred approach to change can be a genuine advantage. The slower, "take people with you" style of transformation — training existing personnel rather than replacing them — builds more durable organisational change than high-speed, high-churn models.
Focus on what's within your control and start today. Rather than listing everything that's dysfunctional, find the one thing you can do without permission — invite a user, find a piece of publicly available insight — and do that. The evidence will open the next door.
Keep reading
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How to communicate the value of product work
Lessons from games, big tech, & Hollywood - Laura Teclemariam (LinkedIn, Netflix, Warner Bros. Entertainment)
How to align product work to business goals | Corinna Stukan (CEO, Bizzy)