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.
Elena Luneva on What Happens After You Leave the CPO Chair
|
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
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 few weeks ago I gave a 90-second lightning talk at a conference in Miami. Experiment Live - a meetup for people who work in experimentation and product. Ten speakers, two minutes each, one slide. Mine was titled "AI grows the tree. You prune it." Here's what I meant. The opportunity solution tree Teresa Torres, who writes and teaches about continuous product discovery, has a framework called the opportunity solution tree. The short version: if you're trying to drive an outcome,...
Hi Reader, I was talking with someone who spent two decades leading large engineering teams, hundreds of people at peak. She's figuring out what's next, and she said something I keep hearing: "The thing I got good at was managing people. Delegating, figuring out who does what. But teams keep getting smaller and flatter, and I'm not sure that matters anymore." I told her the opposite is true. What I'm noticing As AI agents start doing real work, drafting, analyzing, handling customer...
Hi Reader, There are parts of parenting I would never automate. The bedtime routine. The walk to school. The moment when they climb into your lap for no reason. Those aren't on the list. But school lunch labels? The dentist reminder that could easily be a recurring calendar event? The forms that come around the same time every year? Those I've automated. Without apology. When I went independent, I told myself I wanted to be more present with my kids. What I learned is that presence has less...