What Engineers Get Wrong About Product Development

Join Tracy Lee, CEO of This Dot Labs, in this episode of Leadership Exchange as she sits down with Nachi Desai, a technology leader who has held CTO roles at Beckett Collectibles, Nothing Bundt Cakes, and Oriental Trading Company.In this conversation, Tracy and Nachi explore the challenges of transitioning from engineering to leadership and the importance of understanding the business side of technology. Nachi shares insights from his career, including the hard lessons learned through failure, the shift from focusing on personal success to empowering others, and the value of mentorship. He also discusses why engineers should "eat their own dog food"—immersing themselves in the products they build to truly understand user needs.

Keypoints from this episode:

- Transitioning from engineering to leadership requires a mindset shift. Leadership isn’t about being the smartest person in the room—it’s about enabling others to succeed. Engineers looking to step up must develop soft skills, business awareness, and the ability to drive consensus.

- Failure is the best teacher in leadership growth. Nachiket shares how his biggest leadership lessons came from failures, including losing his first C-level job due to a lack of engagement with peers. True growth happens when leaders embrace failure as a learning opportunity.

- Understanding the business is just as important as understanding the tech. Engineers who want to grow into leadership roles must go beyond coding and understand business fundamentals—listening to earnings calls, engaging with finance and marketing teams, and solving the right problems instead of chasing trends.

- "Eat your own dog food" to build better products. A great leader and engineer should immerse themselves in their product. Whether it’s baking at Nothing Bundt Cakes or collecting trading cards at Beckett Collectibles, Nachiket emphasizes the importance of using the products you build to truly understand customer needs.

Chapters

0:00 – Intro: Tracy Lee & Nachi Desai on Leadership
1:01 – Nachi’s Journey: From Engineering to CTO
3:55 – Learning Through Failure & Coaching
10:02 – Engineers vs. Leaders: Mindset Shifts
13:10 – Why Business Context Matters for Engineers
18:26 – Growth, Communication & Culture Lessons
25:20 – Mentorship, Motivation & Endgames
29:26 – Reflections & Final Thoughts

Follow Nachi Desai on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nachiket/

Sponsored by This Dot: thisdot.co