VP of Product: I was passed over for my dream role… twice! (Scott McNeely)

In this episode, Scott McNeely, Head of Product and founding team member at Epicurate and co-founder of Modern Adventure, traces his journey from “kid with an Apple II+ in his mom’s dessert business” to building and scaling product teams in travel, publishing, and tech. He reflects on growing up in humble circumstances while attending an elite LA boys’ school, stumbling into travel writing, and then helping Lonely Planet and Viator navigate the shift from print to digital products. Along the way, Scott shares how his bias for action, love of ideas, and willingness to figure things out on the fly shaped his career.

Scott opens up about the moments when those same strengths became liabilities, like a shouting match over digital transformation with Lonely Planet’s leadership, and the emotional gut punch of being passed over twice for what felt like his perfect VP role. He talks candidly about anger, grief, and self-doubt, and how he rebuilt his confidence by zooming out, leaning on movement and thinking time, and staying curious. From scaling a team from 1 to 65 at Viator to learning to delegate, slow down, and create space for others, Scott offers a grounded, human look at what it really takes to keep growing as a leader.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

• How to read your environment and decide whether to push for change or move on, using Scott’s Lonely Planet experience as a case study.

• What it really takes to evolve from “get stuff done” operator to leader of a 60+ person team, including delegation, structure, and support systems.

• A grounded way to rebuild confidence after major setbacks, from being passed over for a dream role twice to anchoring your identity beyond one job.

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Intro

(02:09) Scott’s upbringing and early influences

(08:28) Thank you to our sponsor, Navattic

(05:53) Early career pivots and first big lessons

(13:16) Pushing change and hitting resistance

(27:27) Reading your situation with clarity and EQ

(28:48) Leadership growing pains and delegation

(31:29) Scaling fast teams and personal evolution

(42:48) Career setbacks and shaken confidence

(52:09) Centering habits for focus and resilience

A huge thanks to this episode’s sponsor:

Navattic: Interactive Product Demo Software - https://navattic.com/value

Resources:

Connect with Scott:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottmcneely

Learn about Epicurate: https://epicurate.vip/

Learn about Modern Adventure: https://modernadventure.com/

Connect with Andrew:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcapland/

Substack: https://media.deliveringvalue.co

Hire Andrew as your coach: https://deliveringvalue.co/coaching

Join Growth OS: https://deliveringvalue.co/growth-operating-system