Trust the Journey with Kelly Waldher – Episode 95

“The power of the team is so, so much greater than any one individual.”

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Episode Summary

Kelly Waldher is the Vice President of Marketing for G-Suite at Google. Prior to Google, he was the Executive Vice President and General Manager at Qualtrics. Prior to that, Kelly spent fourteen years at Microsoft where he was the General Manager of Office 365 and held a variety of corporate marketing roles, including the Global Product Marketing Lead for the commercial and consumer portfolio of products.

In this episode, Aviv and Kelly explore Kelly’s wealth of experience working for large software platform companies such as Microsoft and Google. Kelly analyzes and breaks down his personal three-legged stool of success: working with the right people, building a great product and making a lasting impact. Finally, Kelly reflects on the lessons he’s learned throughout his career and speculates on future technology trends.

Essential Learning Points:

• 00:40 – Aviv introduces today’s guest, Kelly Waldher who speaks to his experience at Qualtrics, Microsoft and Google and what he enjoys most about the work he does
• 08:00 – Kelly breaks down his ‘three-legged stool’ and recalls the decision to transition from chemical engineering to marketing
• 15:00 – How Kelly developed and evolved his marketing career at Microsoft
• 20:58 – Kelly shares his thoughts on his unique experience as General Manager of Office 365, top lessons he gleaned in this capacity and why some great product ideas fail
• 28:09 – Kelly provides an example of what a great product launch looks like
• 32:10 – Kelly speculates on technology trends that may transform our lives and society over the next ten years
• 36:35 – Kelly addresses the concerns that cynics may have about these changes in technology
• 39:44 – Misconceptions people have about large software platform companies like Microsoft and Google
• 41:38 – Advice Kelly would give to his 25-year-old self and a moment in Kelly’s career where he expressed courage
• 44:54 – Two learnings Kelly values above all others and parting words of wisdom from Kelly

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