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Hi Reader, What happens when a 20-year product leader walks away from the corporate track and bets on herself? Elena Luneva spent her career leading product at Nextdoor, OpenTable, BrainTrust, and BlackRock. Then she went independent. Not because she was pushed out, but because she already knew how to do the old job. She wanted to learn something new. What we covered:
Key takeaway: Everyone's talking about building. Elena's focused on the harder question: you built a thing, now who's going to buy it? As building gets easier, the people who understand go-to-market, pricing, and positioning will matter more than ever. Question to sit with: If you decided to go independent tomorrow, what would you do with those first three months? Connect with Elena: Substack | Maven | LinkedIn Enjoying the podcast? A quick rating or review helps more people find these conversations. Pick your platform: YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify Let's Chillaborate, Dina Founder, Chill Labs PS: Know someone thinking about going independent? Forward this to them. They'll thank you later. 💙 |
Chill Labs is a boutique consultancy helping companies think strategically, solve business problems, and streamline operations utilizing Product Management, Software Engineering principles and AI. Combining a decade of experience running complex, globally distributed software products with expertise in product discovery, user research, and strategy, Chill Labs helps companies build products that users want and do so in a way that supports growth and scale. Dina Levitan, Founder and Principal at Chill Labs, based out of Seattle, WA, brings over 15 years of experience as a product and technical leader ranging from startups to companies like Google.
Hi Reader, A friend of mine recently told me she was trying to "call in" more of the right clients. I loved that phrase. It sounds a little spiritual, a little intentional, a little like something you'd hear at a retreat. But when I asked her what she meant, it was completely practical: get clear about what you want, then tell everyone you know. Whether you call it manifesting or marketing, it starts in the same place: clarity. What I'm Noticing Many people I talk to, whether they're going...
Hi Reader, What happens when a leadership development consultant who's never written code decides to automate her entire PhD? Nathalie Salles spent her career in human development at Facebook and Google, coaching leaders and scaling talent programs. Now she's doing a PhD on AI, workplace, and gender. And somewhere along the way, she became a builder. What we covered: How she taught herself n8n with zero coding experience and built a pipeline that processes over 1,500 research papers...
Hi Reader, Last week I facilitated a workshop for grad students, and one of them wasn't sure her restaurant job counted as "real experience." It hit me: this isn't just a student problem. I hear the same thing from mid-career professionals every week. "I don't have the right AI skills." "My background isn't technical enough." "There's so much to catch up on." What I'm Noticing Everyone's chasing the same playbook right now. Prompting courses. Context engineering. AI certifications. Tool after...