Todd Katcher is the Chief Product Officer at Digital Dealership System and founder of Zony Digital Signage. He started out running a small network of ad screens in Nashville bars. A single conversation with a regular pointed him toward car dealerships, and that became a 12-year business serving thousands of dealerships.

In this episode, Kyle and Todd talk about how one conversation can change a company’s direction, and how Todd’s team builds its own tools when off-the-shelf software covers only 80% of what they need. That approach produced Zony, Convert It, PriceAlerts, and an e-signature platform. Todd explains how he decides what to build, what to keep internal, and what to take to market, including why building their own CRM didn’t make the cut. They also take an honest look at AI: where it saves real time, where it still needs a critical human eye, and why managing expectations matters. The conversation closes on Todd’s biggest lesson: making the product is rarely the hard part. Getting people to buy it is.

Key Topics

• Moving from a bar ad network, where advertisers pay, to a dealership managed service, where the venue pays
• How one conversation or introduction can change an entrepreneur’s path
• The “80% solution” test: when to buy software, when to build it, and when to productize what you built
• Why Todd put building their own CRM on hold, and what a migration really costs
• Using AI across marketing, hiring, support, and “copy-and-paste” development as a non-coder
• AI hype vs. reality: dictation as a thinking tool, and why no single prompt gives you a finished product
• How AI is changing interfaces and speed to market more than the products themselves
• Go-to-market as the real challenge: “The best product doesn’t win”

Links from the Show:

Website: Digital Dealership System
LinkedIn: Todd Katcher

More by Kyle:

Follow Prodity on TikTok

Follow Kyle on TikTok

Sign up for the Prodity Newsletter for more updates.

Kyle's writing on Medium

Prodity on Medium

Like our podcast, consider Buying Us a Coffee or supporting us on Patreon

Discover how seasoned technology executive Ken Gavranovic shares insights on building innovative products, leading digital transformation, and harnessing AI to drive business growth. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or a product leader, learn practical strategies to navigate and excel in the tech landscape.

In this episode:

• Ken Gavranovic’s journey from early computer programming to leading multi-million dollar ventures
• The importance of clear success metrics versus activity metrics in product development
• How observability and customer feedback drive product improvements
• Strategies for managing cultural and organizational change during transformation
• The impact of AI on engineering productivity and product innovation
• Practical tips for setting goals versus making rigid commitments
• The role of risk-taking in entrepreneurial success
• Future trends in AI and how they will shape business and customer experiences

Links from the Show:

Website: Ken Gavranovic
Book: Colombus Day

More by Kyle:

Follow Prodity on TikTok

Follow Kyle on TikTok

Sign up for the Prodity Newsletter for more updates.

Kyle's writing on Medium

Prodity on Medium

Like our podcast, consider Buying Us a Coffee or supporting us on Patreon

In this episode of Product by Design, Kyle Evans interviews RJ Kedziora, co-founder of Estenda, a company specializing in custom software and data analysis for healthcare. We discuss RJ's journey in technology and entrepreneurship, the importance of energy management over time management, and the role of AI in healthcare. RJ shares insights into the challenges and future of AI applications, the need for ethical considerations, and the potential for personalized healthcare solutions. He also offers advice to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to make a difference in the industry.

Links from the Show:

Website: Estenda
Book: Productive Harmony, The Power of When
LinkedIn: RJ Kedziora

More by Kyle:

Follow Prodity on TikTok

Follow Kyle on TikTok

Sign up for the Prodity Newsletter for more updates.

Kyle's writing on Medium

Prodity on Medium

Like our podcast, consider Buying Us a Coffee or supporting us on Patreon