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.
Why I Went Fractional (4 years later)
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Hi Reader, This month marks 4 years since I started Chill Labs and went fractional. What I’m Noticing It wasn’t because I wanted less work. It was because I wanted better, more interesting work. Work with people I choose. Going fractional was my first act of “automating myself” as an entrepreneur. Not with AI, but by redesigning how I work. Now, I use them in tandem: I work with a portfolio of clients, and I automate the parts of work that don’t need me. That’s the Automate Yourself philosophy: use every tool available to spend more time on work that actually matters to you. Your Next Move I keep hearing from folks in my orbit: “I’ve been thinking about going fractional.” The curiosity is there. The clarity on how to go about it? Not so much. That’s why my colleague Rana Mumtaz and I are hosting a free 30-minute lightning lesson on Maven next week: 📅 Thu, Feb 19 at 12:30 PM PT So You Want To Go Fractional We’ll give you an overview of how to assess if fractional is right for you and how to identify your niche using product discovery principles. In the meantime: Block 30 minutes to write down the last 3 projects that energized you. Look for the pattern. That’s your niche hypothesis. Missed our January fractional roundtable with Ha Nguyen, Tommi Forsström, Prerna Singh, and 100+ other product leaders & fractional practitioners? Here are the 4 playbooks we captured. Something I learned from the roundtable: people are hungry for a place to connect with other fractional professionals and collaborate, so I’ve started curating one. Want to be included in the directory? Fill out this form I know not everyone on this list is thinking about fractional work.
Life Beyond the Screen I want to be clear: going fractional doesn’t necessarily mean working less. I work hard. I have significant impact across multiple organizations. The difference is agency. I decide when I work, what problems I take on, and who I work with. I pick the problems that I want to solve. Four years in, I can’t imagine going back. What would you do differently if you had more control over your time? That’s the question, whether it’s going fractional, automating with AI, or something else entirely. Listen to the Automate Yourself podcast: Find me online: Let’s Chillaborate, PS: Know someone thinking about going fractional? Forward this to them, it might help. 😊 |
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.
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Hi Reader, This month on Automate Yourself, I sat down with Yves Junqueira, a former Google SRE and founder of Pipeboard. We explored how automation is transforming what's possible for solopreneurs and small teams, and Yves shared insights from his journey building AI tools that help businesses do more with less. What we covered: - The automation mindset from Google: How Yves's SRE background shaped his approach to building systems that scale without constant human intervention - Empowering...