Nick Turley is Head of ChatGPT, the fastest-growing product in history, with 700 million weekly active users (10% of the world’s population). He was part of the original hackathon team that shipped ChatGPT in just 10 days, helped it grow from zero to billions in revenue, and leads product for what may be the most consequential product of our time. We recorded this the day before GPT-5 launched.We discuss:1. The 10-day sprint from deciding to ship ChatGPT to Sam Altman’s tweet (and why it was originally called “Chat with GPT-3.5”)2. How they ran a willingness-to-pay Van Westendorp survey in their Discord to decide on the $20/month price point that everyone copied3. The “Is it maximally accelerated?” philosophy that drives OpenAI’s insane shipping velocity4. Why ChatGPT’s retention curve “smiles”—users leave, then come back months later using it more5. The accidental decisions that changed history, including not having a waitlist6. The impact ChatGPT will have on SEO and product growth7. The counterintuitive reason why shipping unpolished AI features beats waiting for perfection8. Why ChatGPT intentionally shipped with that “ugly” model-chooser dropdown9. How TikTok comments became a primary user research channel early on—Brought to you by:Orkes—The enterprise platform for reliable applications and agentic workflows: https://www.orkes.io/Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security: https://vanta.com/lennyPostHog—How developers build successful products: https://posthog.com/lenny—Transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-chatgpt-nick-turley—My biggest takeaways (for paid newsletter subscribers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/i/170411252/my-biggest-takeaways-from-this-conversation—Where to find Nick Turley• X: https://x.com/nickaturley• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasturley/• Website: https://nickturley.com/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:

Introduction to Nick Turley

GPT-5 launch

The vision for ChatGPT and AI assistants

The early days of ChatGPT

The success and impact of ChatGPT

Product development and iteration

Maximally accelerated: the OpenAI approach

Retention and user engagement

The future of chat interfaces

The evolution of ChatGPT

Subscription model and pricing strategies

Enterprise adoption and challenges

Balancing multiple product lines

Emergent use cases and user feedback

OpenAI’s unique product development approach

The importance of team composition

Balancing speed and quality in AI development

The role of evals in product development

The future of AI-driven content and GPTs

Philosophy and product leadership

Career journey and advice