This VP of Product Thought She Crushed Her Presentation to the Board. Then Came the Feedback (Elena Luneva)

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