Are product managers like general contractors? Is business a good tool to make the world a better place? And how is running a start-up like parenting? These are some of the questions Tom asks Katie Reilly, a Partner with TechCXO, in this episode of the Fortune’s Path podcast.

Robert Carroll, leader of award winning product and marketing teams and a successful entrepreneur, talks about the differences between managing physical products and software, interface design, and why it's important to know what you want to achieve when you start a business, in this episode of the Fortune’s Path podcast.

We use the results of our survey on generational attitudes about the America economic system as a starting point to discuss what to do about American capitalism from a product management point of view.

This summer, Fortune’s Path sent a survey to all of its newsletter subscribers and LinkedIn followers. We had seen reports that Americans are reading more than ever, but reading fewer books. We wondered, what, then, were they reading, and how were they accessing the content?

Chris Gann, Vice President of Product for HealthStream, believes it's better to be skeptical than confident, but customers demand confidence. Chris's long history of working in innovation and technology has taught him the core of product management is knowing you don't know, working to get smarter, and always remaining open-minded.

Tom talks with Ann Howard, product and technology leader and Executive Vice President for XIFIN. Ann tells how making people feel comfortable and supported leads to great results, and inspires us to feel good about the future even when things are tough in the present.

Leadership is a skill. Skills start as instincts and get developed through training. If you want to be a leader, it’s helpful to know what your natural leadership instincts are.

Eric Carroll learned valuable lessons from his father’s career as an entrepreneur, and he’s applied them to his own work in non-traditional ways. Eric is a product leader with experience in education, consumer goods, and healthcare. Tom and Eric discuss deciding what kind of leader you want to be — Step 4 of the 12 Steps of Product Management. And Eric talks about managing your family as a product, complete with off-site meetings and goal-setting with your partner. Tom slips in a casual reference to reading Seneca.

Bill Horne has always wanted to be a CEO but says it’s not a job for everybody. After a decade in sales for IBM, he began his journey as President/CEO or board member at eight different companies. Bill was recently the chief executive at Quovant, a legal spend management and data analytics business, and now heads 88 Keys, an executive coaching firm. Tom and Bill talk about improving the things you can control and accepting the things you can’t, step 2 of the 12 Steps of Product Management. And Bill explains how he brings customers into board meetings.

Fortune’s Path brought its product marketing and product management skills to help Quovant achieve success at a pivotal moment in the company’s growth.