Antonia Landi knows what she’s doing when it comes to building products - and she’s not afraid to shake things up. She’s been in the trenches, making tough calls, scaling teams and figuring out what actually works.
This week, we get into her journey, her approach to Product Management and the lessons she’s picked up along the way.
If you’re into real talk about building great products, you’ll like this one.
The Rockstar Experience: Passion, Crunch and Scale
Quality assurance at Rockstar Games wasn’t just testing - it was an immersive experience in one of the biggest game launches of all time. GTA Online required a round-the-clock testing cycle, with night shifts running from 9 PM to 6 AM, ensuring seamless transitions between teams. The sheer scale of the project, with millions of players eagerly awaiting its release, created a unique environment. Rather than feeling pressured, the team thrived on the collective energy of dedicated fans working on a product they deeply cared about.
Security was a key concern. Employees could mention working at Rockstar but not disclose specific details. Mobile phones were banned from the office, and internet access was restricted. At one point, an attempt to spy on the workspace led to a mix-up with an accountancy firm’s office instead. The experience reinforced the importance of communication as a critical skill, ultimately laying the groundwork for a future in Product Management.
Transitioning from QA to Product
Moving from gaming to wellness, Asana Rebel provided a new challenge: transitioning from QA to Product in a fast-growing startup. Initially brought in to set up QA processes, the role quickly evolved into writing user stories, facilitating ceremonies and working closely with leadership. The shift happened gradually, highlighting how organic transitions shape career paths.
Scaling a team from 30 to over 200 employees brought significant challenges and key takeaways. Growth isn’t just about hiring - it’s about managing processes intentionally. Avoiding unnecessary bureaucracy while ensuring clear communication and knowledge transfer is crucial. The transition from informal to structured operations can be painful, but resisting change leads to inefficiency.
Building Product Teams from Scratch
As the first Product Manager at LivingPackets, the challenge was twofold: building a Product function while driving execution. Managing both B2B and B2C applications required constant trade-offs. A beautifully designed B2C app meant little without the necessary B2B infrastructure to support it. Marketplace dynamics made it essential to strike the right balance.
Working alongside founders added another layer of complexity. Many had deep industry expertise and strong opinions, requiring a structured approach to research and data collection. Understanding customer needs had to be systematic, ensuring decisions weren’t driven by assumptions alone.
The Leadership Shift
Moving into a leadership role at Zenjob meant stepping into strategic conversations and redefining leadership style. Leading by influence had always been the approach, but formal leadership required finding an authentic voice in decision-making rooms. Imposter syndrome was inevitable, but leadership isn’t about mimicking others - it’s developing a unique approach.
Driving engagement through internal initiatives became a major focus. A 300% increase in newsletter engagement was achieved by solving real user needs. Internal adoption isn’t about pushing processes - it’s about providing tangible value. If something helps teams do their jobs better, engagement follows naturally.
Fast-Fire Round: Insights on Productivity, Books, and Skills
Essential Daily Product
A simple notebook remains indispensable. Handwritten notes play a crucial role in capturing thoughts, organizing ideas, and synthesizing discussions before translating them into structured plans. While digital tools help with tracking, the act of writing creates clarity that no app can fully replicate.
The Best Book for Product Managers
Radical Focus by Christina Wodtke stands out as a must-read. It masterfully contextualizes the power of OKRs, providing tangible guidance on implementing goal-setting frameworks that drive real results. More than a methodology, it’s a strategic approach to aligning teams and priorities effectively.
The Most Underrated Skill in Product Management
Communication is the most essential yet often underestimated skill in Product Management. Poor communication creates barriers to collaboration, leads to misalignment, and slows down execution. Strong communication, on the other hand, breaks down silos, creates understanding and ensures the right decisions are made at the right time.
Product Management in 2025: Trends and Challenges
AI Adoption in Product Management
The rise of AI has led to discussions about whether PMs who resist adopting it risk falling behind. While AI can automate repetitive tasks, the fundamental skills of a PM - like stakeholder management and strategic thinking - remain uniquely human. While AI streamlines documentation and repetitive tasks, the human elements of Product - relationship-building, stakeholder management, and strategic thinking - remain irreplaceable. AI is a tool, not a substitute.
The Data-Driven Dilemma
Becoming overly data-driven risks diminishing creativity in Product Management. Data provides insights but should not dictate every decision. Numbers offer trends and validation, but intuition, experience, and qualitative research remain essential components of decision-making.
Product-Led Growth: The Only Path to Scaling?
Product-led growth dominates discussions, but it isn’t a universal solution. Industry context matters - PLG strategies that work in SaaS often fail in Big Pharma or hardware. A one-size-fits-all approach to scaling simply doesn’t exist.
Product Manager vs. Product Owner: Time to Merge?
The distinction between Product Owner and Product Manager remains inconsistent. Some POs handle end-to-end Product responsibilities, while some PMs focus solely on execution. Titles matter less than ensuring one person bridges customer needs with engineering execution. Splitting responsibilities unnecessarily increases complexity and misalignment.
The Reality of Product Management
Product Management is often framed as a rigid discipline with strict methodologies that must be followed to the letter. In reality, most PMs operate in imperfect environments, adapting processes to fit unique company structures and cultures. Success in Product isn’t about following a fixed playbook—it’s about making things work within the given constraints.
Rather than striving for an idealized version of Product Management, the focus should be on pragmatism. Every company, product, and team operates differently, and adaptability remains the most valuable skill in the field.
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This post is sponsored by Product Operations Coaching Program by Antonia Landi
Exclusive 1:1 coaching program that will teach you everything you need to know to successfully run a Product Operations function in your organization.
