Keynote: Leading through Change - When two cultures combine
summary
A marketing product org navigates a $12 billion acquisition and dozens of leadership changes while merging product visions and processes; headcount jumps 1600 to 15,000 people, priorities flip, and daily firefighting rises. Concrete moves include an off-site leadership reset, reforming teams, writing leadership principles, using customer panels and engagement scores, demanding measurable work and preserving speed/velocity. Communication becomes relentless — repeated up to 700 times — and the outcome is clearer roles, a shared roadmap and regained momentum as product and community priorities get aligned.
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chapters (11)
- 0:00Welcome
- 2:27Why I’m excited
- 3:09My journey and style
- 9:51MailChimp and Intuit cultures
- 14:24Early shock of acquisition
- 16:33Losing a mentor
- 23:10Grief in merger
- 24:13Rebuilding leadership trust
- 30:16New leadership principles
- 34:52Surviving acquisitions
- 36:37Closing thoughts
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