Pete D'Alessandro - Building a Community, AI, & Product Testing with Creatives

Launch With Confidence

About This Episode:

In this episode, we had the pleasure of hosting a remarkable guest, Pete D'Alessandro, Director of Digital Products at Cast and Crew. With his extensive experience in the entertainment industry and expertise in software development, Pete brought a wealth of knowledge to our discussion.

Pete shared invaluable insights on managing beta testing and customer validation in the entertainment industry, particularly in screenwriting and customer validation processes.

D'Alessandro discusses the challenges of testing with a creative audience, saying, "No two writers work the same way. Nobody works the same way." He also shared his take on AI's impact on community building and content creation.

Key questions explored in this conversation include:

How crucial is user feedback in product development?

How can AI help make people smarter and more efficient in tasks like writing and searching for information?

What is the importance of strong relationships with clients and regularly receiving inside information to stay informed and make better decisions?

Tune in to learn valuable lessons from Pete D'Alessandro and Chris Rader on navigating the ever-evolving entertainment industry, emphasizing user-focused and agile product management.

About Our Guest:

Pete D’Alessandro has been a product manager in the entertainment industry for almost a decade, specializing in high-impact productivity tools. At Final Draft, the world’s leading screenwriting software, Pete led beta testing and customer validation through Final Draft 10 and Final Draft 11.Currently he’s the Director of Digital Products at Cast & Crew, where he’s driven customer validation to the forefront of product strategy, putting the user first.

Timestamps:

(0:00) - Intro

(1:50) - Cast & Crew, Final Draft, and the entertainment industry

(10:24) - Evolving Final Draft’s beta testing program via Centercode

(19:26) - Crafting personas and staying up to date with your audience with testing

(21:14) - The new paradigm of AI and how it affects everyone

(26:23) - Being nimble, staying on the cutting edge, and the human element

(39:40) - Understanding your audience to find real solutions

(48:37) - Beta testing as a safe space to share new ideas and collaborate with your audience

(52:45) - Advice to new product managers starting their journey in beta testing

Zero Cost Beta Testing Resources:

Beta Test Planning Kit: https://bit.ly/sw_plan_kit

Beta Recruitment Kit: https://bit.ly/recruit_kit

Centercode Visual Theming Guide: https://bit.ly/visual_themes

Beta Agreement Kit: https://bit.ly/agreement_kit

The Beta Shipping Manual: https://bit.ly/ship_manual

The Tester Engagement Pocket Guide: https://bit.ly/tester_map

Beta Test Incentive Kit: https://bit.ly/incentives_kit

Beta Test ROI Kit: https://bit.ly/beta_roi_kit

The Definitive Guide to Delta Testing: https://bit.ly/guide_to_delta ⭐️ Ready to beta test your product with Centercode? Sign up for free now and run a beta test today → https://bit.ly/centercode-home 🎉 Connect with us on social Subscribe for more videos from Centercode: https://bit.ly/centercode-yt LinkedIn — https://bit.ly/centercode-linkedin Twitter — https://bit.ly/centercode-twitter Facebook — https://bit.ly/centercode-fb Podcast — https://spoti.fi/3PNYCiJ