Nick Turley
Head of ChatGPT at OpenAI
Nick Turley is the Head of ChatGPT at OpenAI, where he leads the development of the fastest-growing product in history. He was part of the original team that launched ChatGPT, helping it grow from zero to billions in revenue.
Episodes (1)
Insights (17)
ChatGPT Started as Temporary Hackathon Project
case studies lessonsHackathon volunteers shipped an open-ended ChatGPT before the holidays, expecting to wind it down, but strong retention pushed them into full product mode.
Model Is The Product
strategic thinkingNick explains that ChatGPT’s model must be iterated on exactly like a product, using user research, data science and rapid feedback loops.
Follow Curiosity and Smart People, Not Money
leadership perspectivesNick advises prioritising work that excites your curiosity and surrounding yourself with energising people rather than chasing money.
ChatGPT's $20 Price Point Started as Demand Control
growth scaling tacticsThe $20 subscription was launched mainly to turn away casual demand and evolved into a huge consumer and enterprise revenue stream.
Fixing ChatGPT's Sycophancy Problem
case studies lessonsAn update made ChatGPT overly complimentary, so they investigated, defined new sycophancy metrics, and saw measurable improvement by GPT-5.
Evals: Translating Product Goals to ML Teams
strategic thinkingWriting evals is simply articulating ideal behaviour so researchers understand product goals, becoming the lingua franca between PMs and ML teams.
Surround Yourself With Smart People
leadership perspectivesNick bases career and life choices on the belief that you become the average of the people you spend the most time with, so he deliberately surrounds himself with energising mentors and colleagues.
AI Product Development Requires Dual Approach
strategic thinkingNick explains that building AI products requires simultaneously working backwards from model capabilities and practising classic customer-driven product management.
Ship AI Products Fast to Learn What to Polish
strategic thinkingNick argues that with AI products you discover what to improve only after launch, so the team aims to ship daily.
Enterprise Version Launched to Counter Corporate Bans
case studies lessonsFacing bans despite 90 % Fortune 500 usage, the team rapidly shipped an enterprise version and now counts 5 million business subscribers.
Nick Mines TikTok Comments for ChatGPT Use Cases
growth scaling tacticsNick scans viral TikTok comment threads packed with thousands of examples to surface emergent use cases and product ideas.
Map Team Skill Gaps Before Hiring
strategic thinkingTreat hiring like executive recruiting by first mapping each team’s missing skills instead of filling generic PM, EM, and designer slots.
Incentives Drive Product Behavior
quotesNick cites Munger to underscore why incentives matter for product behaviour.
Polish vs Ship: Reason From Scratch
strategic thinkingDecide whether to polish or ship by reasoning from scratch about learning value, not by following inherited processes.
Is This Maximally Accelerated Approach
strategic thinkingNick applies the rule of asking why something cannot be done now to keep work moving at maximum speed.
Setting the Resting Heartbeat for Teams
leadership perspectivesNick sees part of his role as establishing the team's default pace so everyone knows how fast to move.
Smart People With Ideas Drive OpenAI Innovation
leadership perspectivesOpenAI lets anyone with a strong idea pursue it, reflecting its research-lab roots and fuelling much of their product innovation.