Melody Olson

About Melody Olson

I spent 17 years at Google leading engineering teams: 220+ engineers most recently on platform teams on Google Maps building geospatial understanding for the model of the world. I loved the work. Building at scale and watching people grow into leaders themselves. What I\'m Working On I\'m writing Activated: From Busy to Breakthrough. A book about where leaders go deep and where to get out of the way so their teams build what matters. Drawn from 17 years at Google and 30+ interviews with leaders across Netflix, NVIDIA, Datadog, Anthropic, and beyond. Alongside the book, I work directly with a small number of leaders navigating rapid growth or transformation, usually through focused sessions or short-term advisory. Most come in feeling the pressure to move faster — AI is reshaping what\'s possible, the bar is shifting, and they want their teams to keep up. What we usually find together is where their depth as a leader is helping and where it\'s getting in the way. How to Connect → The Newsletter: Activated — a weekly 3-minute briefing on where leaders go deep. → Advisory: I work with a small number of leaders navigating rapid growth or transformation. → Speaking: Available for keynotes and workshops on building teams that move.

Experience

1. Advisor & Writer

   Activated

   Oct 2025 — Present

   Writing Activated: From Busy To BreakthroughInside every innovative company, there are teams that reshape markets and teams that can\'t get out of their own way, even with similar talent and resources. The difference isn\'t how hard the leader works. It\'s where they go deep. Drawing on seventeen years at Google and interviews with leaders at Netflix, NVIDIA, Anthropic, and beyond, Activated shows what it actually takes to build an extraordinary team — and why most leaders are aimed at the wrong thing.I share weekly insights from this work through a newsletter and advise a small number of senior product and engineering leaders navigating rapid growth and organizational change.

Education

• University of Colorado Boulder

  BS, Computer Science

Skills

• Online Advertising
• Product Development
• Management
• Java