Survivorship Bias Pitfalls
Kelsey Nichols
43:10
Listen On:
Episode Description
This episode of the Bounce podcast explores the concept of resilience in product careers. It features Kelsey Nichols, CTO at Landing, who discusses her unconventional path into product management and the challenges she faced along the way. The episode highlights the importance of learning from failures and creating a safe space for experimentation in product development.
Bio
Kelsey Nichols is the Chief Technology Officer at Landing, leading its technology division which encompasses Product, Design, Engineering, and Business Intelligence. After a successful career transition from education to technology, she worked on Shipt's engineering team- laying the foundation for her expertise in software development and technical leadership. Kelsey started as Landing's first employee, and prior to her current role held key positions such as Vice President of Product and Director of Engineering. Her passion for both people and technology goes beyond the bounds of Landing, Kelsey is also a co-founder and advisor for two Birmingham startups - CLUTCH! and Moxi, respectively, demonstrating her entrepreneurial spirit and deep commitment to building high-performing teams and fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration.
Kelsey Nichols (LinkedIn)
Show Notes with Timestamps
0:05 | Introduction to the podcast and hosts
0:57 | Welcome to Kelsey Nichols, CTO at Landing
1:07 | Kelsey describes her career journey from ESL teacher to engineer to product manager and back to engineering
3:36 | Kelsey talks about her transition from engineering to product management
8:14 | The benefits of having a diverse background in product development
9:33 | The event that led Kelsey to focus more on the "why" of product development
10:57 | Areas where product leaders might miss the mark according to Kelsey's experience on the engineering team
13:19 | Challenges of integrating a new product team and common friction points
14:36 | Building a product department from the ground up and how it's similar to building a product
16:33 | Initial challenges and concerns about the success of the product department at Landing
17:40 | Why looking at failures can be just as valuable as looking at successes (concept of survivorship bias)
21:15 | The importance of embracing failure and creating a safe space for experimentation
23:34 | Kelsey's experience as the longest-standing product leader at Landing (in jest)
24:29 | The importance of creating a safe space for product development
25:12 | The reality of failure and success rates in product development
25:28 | Transitioning from Engineer to Product Leader
28:34 | The Danger of Saying No in Product Management
29:03 | Creative Strategies for Handling Feature Requests
32:18 | Building Relationships with Stakeholders
34:33 | The Importance of Business and Customer Focus (34:33)
36:09 | Problem-Solving as a Core Skill
36:58 | The Value of Customer Research
38:21 | Learning from Mistakes
