Listen to this episode on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts
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:
- Follow Teresa Torres: https://ProductTalk.org
- Follow Petra Wille: https://Petra-Wille.com
Mentioned in this episode:
- Founder mode
- Marty Cagan: Founder-Style Leadership
- Vercel/v0 CEO Guillermo Rauch on building taste: from Lenny Rachitsky’s Linkedin post
- Continuous discovery (Read Teresa’s Everyone Can Do Continuous Discovery—Even You! Here’s How
- The “great man” theory
- Steve Jobs and the myth of the lone product visionary
Join the Conversation:
Have thoughts on this episode? Leave a comment below.
Full Transcript
Full transcripts are only available for paid subscribers.
