Meet Lukáš Foglar, co-founder and Chief Product Officer at LutherOne. In this interview, he shares what drew him to the company, what people often misunderstand about product work, and what keeps him energized.
In this edition of our Employee Spotlight series, we sat down with Lukáš Foglar to talk about the messy reality of product work, trusting your gut, and staying “caffeinated” along the way.
What brought you to LutherOne?
When our CEO and founder first approached me, I got excited about the idea and its potential, as well as the wonderful people I'd be working with. My whole career has been about designing and delivering experiences for people, whether employees or customers, and that's something I've always been excited about. So, this felt like a very organic move. And when you have a great idea that aligns with your passion, and people who can execute it, it's a no-brainer.
What's misunderstood about your job?
Oh, there are many things.
Although the job may sound glamorous to some (and it sometimes surely is), dreaming up features and shipping vision, it's actually a lot messier than one would imagine.
Most of the time is about balancing benefits and effort, killing ideas, pushing back on sales requests, and protecting meaningful roadmap items from well-meaning people who need yet another feature yesterday.
The bulk of the week is research, customer conversations, writing specs, testing, but also re-explaining the same decision to five different teams in five different formats because nobody read the first doc. That being said, technical skill is often overrated for the job, and communication skill and common sense are underrated.
Also, people sometimes think every decision here comes stamped with a chart behind it. In practice, we do chase the numbers hard, but data only gets you so far. Many concepts and emotions you simply cannot fit into a spreadsheet, and some decisions get made on a gut feeling, often for the sake of speed.
What have you changed your mind about?
How much time do you have?
Operating in an environment that constantly changes, with shifting expectations and needs, you need to change your mind about many things, every day. You need to stay true to your vision and direction, what and why you're building, but pivoting and even admitting you were wrong are key prerequisites for progress in my opinion.
Take the things that happened in the past five to ten years. If we'd been stubborn about every single idea and feature, we'd be in real trouble today. The customer has changed, is changing, and with the technology we have now, that pace is only going to pick up.
What gives you energy at work?
People. People I work with. People I work for, our customers. There's nothing better than watching a real need get met, or even exceeded, and knowing you had a hand in it.
I'll also be honest that some of it surely comes from a place of high-functioning anxiety. It's not something I'd necessarily recommend, but it does keep me moving during the stressful stretches, and over time I've learned to let it push me forward instead of wearing me down.
Best feedback you've ever received?
Try not to get overwhelmed by the amount of work ahead of you. Focus on the next item first, and use the energy from accomplishing it to tackle the next one. I got this advice from someone very early in my career, back when I was drowning in my first bigger role, convinced I was an imposter and that I'd never dig out. Still makes me smile thinking about the small, and in reality often unimportant, things that drove me insane back then.
Your colleagues' three words for you?
Well, we happened to build a tool for that as part of the LutherOne platform. My top three include inspiring, innovative, and performer. Pulling that list actually made me grin a little, as I'd never use those words myself, ask me on a good day and I'd probably just say "caffeinated." But hey, that's the beauty of the tool, it helps you open your eyes a little and build on your strengths.
What are you most proud of?
Easy. LutherOne. If you'd told me eight years ago that from thin air (read: tears and sweat) we'd be supporting businesses in over 50 countries all over the world, I'd have stopped to grin a little. A lot of grinning in this interview.
But honestly, I feel incredibly proud of what the team has achieved and keeps on building.
Advice for your younger self?
Honestly? I always struggle with similar questions. I wouldn't give myself any advice. It's the same answer as if I could change one thing. Of course, I every so often look back and think how I could have done this or that. Take all that time I spent sweating every little detail, draining at times, and probably unnecessary half the time. But it's exactly what built my reputation for being capable and having ownership. Would I have gotten the same opportunities without it? I am where I am because of all the things I've been through, good or bad, so hoping that I'd change one thing for the better and everything else would stay the same feels a bit naive.
What do you enjoy outside work?
Any type of movement. Gym, HIIT classes, running, which is a bit of a paradox since I'd do anything to avoid PE as a kid. What stayed with me, though, is tapping into my creative side, from painting to leatherwork.
Recently, I've been enjoying a lot of reading, which helps me ground myself and decompress.
