CEO of MyFitnessPal Mike Fisher: He Applied for 1 Job, Then Became CEO | EP172
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I've applied to one job my entire career and I was out of the military. I went to a hiring and I got hired. Every other job was because someone knew me, recommended me. It's all word of mouth.
That's Mike Fisher, CEO of MyFitnessPal and CTO of Etsy, a longtime tech leader who has helped scale companies, teams, and major transformations. He believes the most meaningful opportunities often begin with the relationship you build, the skills you develop, and the trust you earn along the way.
It's a really great point that often when people think about their career, they think about it in titles. I want to be a manager, I wanna be a director. I would argue what you should be thinking about is the skills that you need to develop.
In this episode, you will learn why weak ties often lead to unexpected career opportunities, why the skills you build can matter more than the title you hold, and how understanding the story behind a company can help you make better decisions, earn trust, and lead change with greater impact. Hi, I'm Ilana Golan and this is the Leap Academy Podcast. was any kind of experience. There's also there's a lot that you can translate, but there's also a lot of unlearning that needs to happen in order to launch forward. What do you think are some of the things that you needed to unlearn in order to kind of be more successful in tech?
I do think one of the things to unlearn is that in the military people really don't have the option to follow a you know a lawful command. And so when you do have to give a command of directive of like we're going to do this. there's, you know, that's the end of the conversation. And in our world, in the civilian world and in tech and stuff, people you know, your your your teams have other options. And so I think so I had to unlearn that a bit. And what I've come to think about that is I think about leadership as that sort of command is a I call it like a crystal or glass gavel, you know, being a uh like a judge's gavel. You can bang it one or two times. If you keep banging that, if that is the only leadership you have, like command, it it's gonna break.
That's
that good. And so that is something from the military. Like if you were this command and control and everyone had to follow your order because you you're the you know, the sort of senior leader, you can get away with that. You cannot get away with that in the civilian world.
Remember, every week um we take one question from our YouTube channel, Leap Academy with Zilan Gulan. So go put your questions on there right now. And at the end of the show, we will answer one question. We actually found a question from John and maybe Mike, you know, will help me answer it. Um, what is the hidden market? And it's a perfect question for this conversation. So stay till the end and I will give you a map of how you can access the hidden market. Share a little bit. I mean, I'm sure there's like moments of ho crap. Like, I don't know. Like, there's just so many decisions, so many ways, so many ideas. You guys did some MAs. Like, I mean, there's just a lot of stuff. Like, how is there moments that you're like, I can't decide anymore anything?
Like, I can't sleep at night. Like, which where is this? Well fortunately
I I can make decisions quickly and I'm I'm good at making decisions, but I er I think most people suffer from imposter syndrome.
What is the “hidden market” and why are the best career opportunities found there?
Do I have the skills and the ability for this job? And I think everybody goes through that periodically. I'm I I'm not the right person. I think you've got to understand that, you know, assuming they went through a pretty rigorous hiring process, which at this level, at C levels just in general, they do. You they select you for a reason, right? They select you because of your experience, your history, your track record, your good cultural fit. You're what you need at this time. And I do believe that about like, you know, I might not be the CEO for a certain time in this company's journey. But uh you know, but the comp they you know, the board believes I'm the right person now.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–3:24
2
What is the “hidden market” and why are the best career opportunities found there?
3:24–8:27
3
How did West Point shape Mike Fisher’s leadership style and feedback habits?
8:27–11:55
4
Why does the military emphasize debriefing mistakes and how can that practice improve tech teams?
11:55–15:49
5
What lessons did the helicopter‑tree‑strike accident teach Mike about leadership and vulnerability?
15:49–22:11
6
How did Mike transition from the Army to a tech career and what did he have to unlearn?
22:11–38:02
7
What were the biggest challenges of scaling Etsy’s technology and culture?
38:02–43:25
8
What does stepping into the CEO role at MyFitnessPal teach about imposter syndrome and decision‑making speed?
43:25–1:02:46
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
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