S2E2 - Maximillian Piras, Explained

In this episode, Jeff and Mike interview Maximillian Piras, a Product Designer with Headliner Video. Headliner is a video creation tool designed for audio creators, making audio easily shareable across the web by automatically transforming audio clips, like this, into engaging videos. At Headliner, Max leads cross-platform UI & UX. We talk about the importance of side projects, truly listening to your customers, and some of the latest podcasting/social trends


[1:20] Max talks about escaping the day job & starting a side project, Lost Cat, that ended up being sold in the New Museum in NYC. We also covered the hard decision to wrap up a project and keep maximizing career learnings (and fun!)
[6:30] Mental model for this group indexes high on side projects. “Productive Chilling” - it’s addictive to get things going & explore the things you’re not able to do during the work week. But, it begs the question - when are there too many irons in the fire?
[9:00] Wanting to be a director as a kid that planted the seed for Max to work on Movie Posters. We talk about Max’s love of films, drawing inspiration from Saul Bass, and the formulaic nature of movie posters.
[12:30] Mike & Jeff are stoked to finally chat with someone from Headliner Video - it’s a tool that we use on the Product Explained show every Monday when we launch our videos. We hear more details from the inside and today’s current gap in the internet for optimizing for audio.
[15:30] Being scrappy, building from the ground up, and how Headliner differentiates Product & Design.
[18:00] How Headliner got started - and the classic pivot which lead to exploring social video. Eventually leaning in to customers that love your tool (podcasters in this case!)
[24:00] Max’s mental model for picking out trends & doing the right research for the right customers. For example, podcasters using short-form video content that is the hook for audio-only content. Mike & Jeff found Headliner to help automate their social content
[28:00] Rapid fire questions & rounding out the interview! We talk about Apple Podcasts, Figma, and the book recommendation of “Thinking in Bets” (Optimize for process, not outcomes).
[34:00] You can find more about Headliner at: headliner.app and find Max on social media: @maximillian.nyc