Betting on People Over Profit with Natalie Nagele, CEO & Co-Founder of Wildbit

Big Bets in Product: Natalie Nagele, Wildbit

You can grow a profitable company while prioritizing people. Sometimes that means killing off a product. 

At least that’s what Natalie Nagele, Co-founder and CEO of Wildbit, believes. And for the past 20 years of building products, this bet made early on remains true. Wildbit is behind popular products, like Beanstalk and Postmark. 

In this conversation, Natalie shares how they decided to kill off a profitable product, why passion is the key to success, and how above all else, culture drives innovation. 

Takeaways: 

  • Assemble a team passionate about a product 
  • Create products for problems
  • You can become a product-agnostic culture 
  • Prioritize your people 

Things to Listen For:

  • [01:37] Wildbit’s journey to today 
  • [03:21] Why betting on people pays off 
  • [05:14] Wildbit’s five-phase innovation model
  • [08:14] When to consider ending a product
  • [11:19] What it means to be a product-agnostic culture
  • [19:03] How an open-book organization serves innovation 
  • [26:24] Breakdown with Anna and Christian