#29 Navigating hyper scale, leading in extreme crises, hardware vs software, and more | Tor Erik (ex-CPO at Easee) and Stian Øien (CPO at Futurehome and Ex-VP at Easee)

My guest today is Tor Erik Skårdal and Stian Øien - two former product leaders at Easee, once one of the fastest growing tech companies in Norway and the largest platform of EV chargers for homes in the Nordics.

This is one of the most vulnerable conversations in the podcast so far.

Most people in Norway and Sweden know how difficult Easee’s journey has been.

From being one the fastest growing tech companies in Europe, to having to layoff most of its people after a sudden sales ban in a crucial market.

Tor Erik (former CPO at Easee), led Product in the company at a very challenging time.

Stian (now CPO at Futurehome and former VP at Easee), led Product at Easee from the early days and all the way to potentially even becoming a new Norwegian unicorn. Speaking of hyper scale…

So how does a crisis like this impact your leadership approach and how product teams are led? What’s the reality inside a company that is hiring several people every week versus a company that’s forced to let go most of its people?

We talked about that and much more:

* Leading teams with outcomes

* Killing ideas fast

* Lessons learned from hyper scale

* Managing hardware products vs software

* The reality for Product teams in times of extreme crisis

* And more

This episode is part of a series where I interview 20+ CPOs across Scandinavia. Subscribe for free so you don’t miss out.

This conversation was extra special in many ways, and also nostalgic (I worked with Stian when he was leading Product and with Tor Erik who was a PM in one of my teams).

Happy to be able to share this special chat with all of you.

Hope you enjoy it! :)

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit afonsofranco.substack.com