Elena Luneva, VP of Product at GoFundMe, opens up about the hard-earned lessons that shaped her leadership journey—from navigating layoffs early in her career to building a business unit from scratch at Nextdoor. In this episode, Elena shares how receiving career-altering feedback about her confidence changed her trajectory, why moving from “being right” to “being effective” became a career mantra, and how she learned to lead through massive uncertainty.
Elena opens up about:
The feedback that hit her “like a freight train” and what she did next
How growing up as an immigrant shaped her relationship with vulnerability
Why psychological safety and hiring rigor became non-negotiables for her as a leader
Things to listen for:
(00:00) Learning tough career lessons through feedback
(01:16) Growing up between Russia, Canada, and New York
(04:29) Early signs of curiosity and connecting different worlds
(07:01) Perfectionism and cultural expectations
(11:20) Building a new business unit at Nextdoor
(13:39) Processing painful feedback and working with a coach
(15:35) The shift from being “right” to being “effective”
(29:08) A hiring mistake and its fallout
(35:23) How to speak up when it’s hard
(40:37) Leading a business unit through the COVID-19 crisis
(49:04) What’s missing from a LinkedIn-perfect career story
(50:18) How reframing fear helped Elena move forward
This episode is presented by:
Navattic: Interactive Product Demo Software - https://navattic.com/value
Appcues: User Engagement for SaaS - https://appcues.com/value
Resources:
Connect with Elena:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elenaluneva
Substack: https://elenaluneva.substack.com/about
Elena’s Maven course: https://maven.com/elena-luneva/business-impact
Connect with Andrew:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcapland/
Substack: https://media.deliveringvalue.co
Hire Andrew as your coach: https://deliveringvalue.co/coaching
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