006: Know Your ROI: A Proven Process to Measure the Impact of Your Data Team w/ Lina Mikolajczyk of Bumble

Mar 25, 2025

Lina Mikolajczyk, the Director of Data and Advanced Analytics at Bumble, shares her expertise in transforming data teams into essential growth drivers. She discusses a 90-day plan for new data leaders to assess impact and set priorities effectively. Lina emphasizes the cultural shift needed for quick data-driven decision-making and the importance of a data maturity survey for stakeholder feedback. Throughout the conversation, she highlights the value of overcommunication in managing expectations and building credibility as strategic partners.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

Lina's First BI Tool Experience

Lina Mikolajczyk's first BI tool was Google Analytics, which she loved and mastered early on.
She emphasizes that analysts should embrace such tools as foundational for understanding stakeholder needs beyond raw SQL.

INSIGHT

Culture Drives Data Transformation

Changing tech alone won't drive data culture; the people and their mindset must shift first.
Embracing quick data-driven decision-making requires company-wide cultural adaptation.

ADVICE

90-Day New Data Leader Plan

Spend your first 90 days meeting all stakeholders and team members, focusing on learning over delivering.
Use interviews and observation to understand business data use, team skills, and identify value-driving priorities.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

The age-old question among data leaders: How do you prove to the rest of the company that your team is driving real business value?

In this episode of More than Numbers Live, Ollie Hughes sits down with Lina Mikolajczyk, Director of Data and Advanced Analytics at Bumble, to tackle this biggest of challenges head-on.

Lina shares her proven strategies for transforming data teams into business-critical growth drivers. From navigating tech stack upgrades to embedding a culture of data-driven decision-making, she provides listeners with a blueprint for success.

With experience leading data teams across industries, Lina knows how daunting it is to prove impact in a new role. She offers practical insights into building credibility, measuring success, and positioning data teams as strategic partners—not just report generators. In this conversation, she breaks down:

The 90-day plan every new data leader should follow to assess impact and set priorities
How to create a data maturity survey for candid stakeholder feedback
Why overcommunication is the secret to managing leadership expectations effectively

Tune in to learn how to prove your data team’s impact, drive business value, and gain leadership buy-in!

What you'll learn

[01:05] Lina’s first BI tool and why she fell in love with Google Analytics.
[03:00] Inside Bumble’s data team structure and tech stack evolution.
[05:19] The cultural shift required for quicker data-driven decision-making.
[07:43] A 90-day plan for new data leaders: build relationships, assess strengths, and set a strategy.
[13:10] How to create a data maturity survey for candid stakeholder feedback.
[17:23] Using survey insights to shape OKRs and track data team impact.
[20:34] Why qualitative feedback matters as much as hard metrics.
[21:09] Managing leadership expectations through overcommunication.
[23:01] Lina's advice to her younger self: don’t pigeonhole yourself early!
[25:16] The top soft skills data teams need to develop.

Downloads & links

🔥 Head to show notes for Lina's Stakeholder Survey Template

👋 Connect with Lina on LinkedIn

🔗 Check out Bumble's website

🚀 Connect with Ollie Hughes

🎙️ Subscribe to More than Numbers