Deb Liu Is Using Learnings from Facebook to Build Ancestry episode artwork

EPISODE · Nov 21, 2023 · 26 MIN

Deb Liu Is Using Learnings from Facebook to Build Ancestry

from Leadership Next · host Fortune

Ancestry - the company best known today for analyzing user DNA to help build out family trees - actually started almost 40 years ago as a publishing entity focused on genealogy. CEO Deb Liu, who took the reins in 2021, is now charged with finding new ways to expand Ancestry's offerings. She's well-prepared for that task, Liu told hosts Alan Murray and Michal Lev-Ram, after 11 years as an exec at Facebook. "I think part of what makes Facebook really special is that it really believe(s) in actually building products and having product-lead growth," Liu said. "And I think that that's really important." In this episode of Leadership Next Liu shares what brought her to the CEO role at Ancestry, the challenges women leaders continue to face in the workplace, and how growing up in a small Southern town impacted her leadership style. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

Ancestry - the company best known today for analyzing user DNA to help build out family trees - actually started almost 40 years ago as a publishing entity focused on genealogy. CEO Deb Liu, who took the reins in 2021, is now charged with finding new ways to expand Ancestry's offerings. She's well-prepared for that task, Liu told hosts Alan Murray and Michal Lev-Ram, after 11 years as an exec at Facebook. "I think part of what makes Facebook really special is that it really believe(s) in actually building products and having product-lead growth," Liu said. "And I think that that's really important." In this episode of Leadership Next Liu shares what brought her to the CEO role at Ancestry, the challenges women leaders continue to face in the workplace, and how growing up in a small Southern town impacted her leadership style. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

NOW PLAYING

Deb Liu Is Using Learnings from Facebook to Build Ancestry

0:00 26:47

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

Wild WinsDay Wild WinsDay Pump the hump with WILD WINSday 🐪💪: Your 3-minute weekly video boost for leadership, sales, marketing, and business breakthroughs to WIN the day! NEWMORROW SESSIONS - A PodCast Series on the Future of Hospitality Mario C. Bauer, Florian Schneider, Axel Weber & Dr. Tillman Bardt The Newmorrow PodCast is more than a podcast — it's a platform for open dialog on the future of our business, a platform for those building what doesn’t exist yet. Here, we share and embrace our passion for the hospitality industry, but we won’t romanticize the journey. We ask the tough questions, confront uncomfortable truths, and prepare for a future that resists easy answers. We believe that the tougher and wilder times become, the more openly, honestly and humanely people need to talk to each other and act together. We believe, openness, togetherness, and truthfulness should also be cornerstones of a professional community to develop our utopian idea of „open source“. This is a space where visionaries don’t just imagine the future — they wrestle with the paradoxes that shape it: success vs. happiness, data vs. instinct, stability vs. reinvention. Join leaders, entrepreneurs, and thinkers as they share not what made them — but what’s actively shaping them, now and next. So tune in Leading From All Sides Abbie Mirata Discover the various styles of leadership, from leading at the forefront to steering from behind, rising to the top or empowering from the bottom. We'll explore horizontal and vertical leadership, leading through your brand, and even leading in your most intimate relationships. Join me in engaging conversations with special guests who are leaders in their careers, communities, and families. Gain insights, perspectives, and invaluable lessons that challenge traditional notions of what it means to lead. Hyperfluent Hypio Hyperfluent transmits straight from the heart of Hyperliquid, where culture, creativity, and capital converge. Anchored by the architects of Hypio—the decentralized cultural virus—each episode archives the minds engineering the blockchain built to house all finance. These conversations are traceable artifacts in HyperEVM’s evolution: not just what’s being built, but why it matters, how it mutates, and where it’s taking us next. Listen in for the blueprints, the blind spots, and the narrative weapons shaping tomorrow’s markets.Hyperfluent: learn the language, ride the wave, spread the strain.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Leadership Next?

This episode is 26 minutes long.

When was this Leadership Next episode published?

This episode was published on November 21, 2023.

What is this episode about?

Ancestry - the company best known today for analyzing user DNA to help build out family trees - actually started almost 40 years ago as a publishing entity focused on genealogy. CEO Deb Liu, who took the reins in 2021, is now charged with finding...

Can I download this Leadership Next episode?

Yes, you can download this episode by clicking the download button on the episode player, or subscribe to the podcast in your preferred podcast app for automatic downloads.
URL copied to clipboard!