Taste - All Things Product Podcast with Teresa Torres & Petra Wille

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Is "taste" the must-have skill of the AI era — or just the latest tech buzzword? In this episode, Petra Wille and Teresa Torres unpack the growing hype around taste as a differentiating human trait in a world where AI is eating through design, delivery, and discovery. Teresa pushes back hard: taste is rarely defined, can't be easily taught, and risks becoming a cover story for "my preference trumps yours." Petra adds nuance, acknowledging the real pattern-recognition that comes from years of product experience — while questioning whether it's actually worth investing in. Together they trace the idea back to its roots: product sense, founder mode, and the enduring myth of the lone visionary. What they land on instead? Discovery skills, customer understanding, and learning to collaborate with AI — because taste without evidence is just opinion.

Show Notes

  • What Is "Taste" — and Why Is Everyone Suddenly Talking About It?

  • The Problem with Defining Taste

  • Taste vs. Preference

  • Will AI Eat Taste Too?

So What Should You Actually Invest In?

  • Discovery skills — understanding customers, matching solutions to real needs

  • Human-to-human interaction skills

  • Learning to collaborate with AI effectively

  • Critical thinking and judgment grounded in evidence

Key Quotes

"It's just this month's flavor of founder mode." — Teresa Torres
"It's not about your taste. It's about your customer's taste." — Teresa Torres
"I am a strong believer that you develop product sense and taste over time. It's never finished." — Petra Wille

Resources & Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

Petra Wille