Netflix’s Diego Ávalos on Overcoming Bias: How External Advisors Can Help You See Your Product’s True Potential
In today’s rapidly evolving media landscape, companies face the challenge of navigating bias—whether that’s internal bias clouding judgment or market trends pushing for certain content directions. Diego Ávalos, Vice President of Content for Netflix in Spain, Portugal, and the Nordics, understands the value of objective, external perspectives in determining the true potential of a product. Through his work at Netflix, Diego Ávalos has leveraged external advisors to help the platform continually assess content with fresh, unbiased eyes, ensuring that diverse and innovative projects reach global audiences.
Bias, particularly internal, can limit a company’s ability to objectively evaluate its own products. This is especially true in creative industries like media and entertainment, where passion and investment in projects can obscure market realities or emerging trends. External advisors offer a crucial outside perspective, helping decision-makers recognize blind spots and identify opportunities for growth. As someone tasked with managing content in diverse regions, Ávalos has seen firsthand how relying on advisors can shape programming choices, ultimately leading to a more inclusive and successful content slate.
One of the key challenges companies face when evaluating their products is confirmation bias—favoring information that supports pre-existing beliefs or desires. For Netflix, a global platform with an expansive content portfolio, it’s critical to avoid this pitfall. In his role overseeing content in various markets, Ávalos has worked closely with external advisors to ensure that content selection and development are informed by data-driven insights and objective evaluations. These advisors provide a fresh, independent look at programming decisions, ensuring that projects are aligned with both market demand and Netflix’s broader strategic goals.
In regions like Spain, Portugal, and the Nordics, where local culture and audience preferences play a significant role in content success, having an outside perspective can be especially valuable. External advisors offer Netflix the ability to assess how well a project resonates with audiences across these regions, providing feedback that can lead to critical adjustments in production, marketing, or distribution strategies. Diego Ávalos has utilized these insights to push Netflix’s content offerings beyond conventional approaches, ensuring that the platform stays ahead in a competitive market.
Furthermore, external advisors often bring a wealth of experience from outside the company’s immediate industry, contributing a diverse range of viewpoints that help uncover hidden opportunities. For Ávalos and his team, this has meant broadening the scope of what’s possible within their content portfolio. Advisors can help validate ideas that might have otherwise been overlooked due to internal bias or market assumptions, resulting in a richer and more varied content library for Netflix’s global audience.
Ávalos’ strategic use of external advisors highlights a key lesson for businesses across industries: an objective viewpoint can be the difference between a good product and a great one. As explored in his interview with Ideamensch.com, by recognizing and overcoming internal biases, companies can unlock the true potential of their offerings, making more informed decisions that align with long-term growth. For Netflix, this approach has allowed the platform to maintain its edge in an increasingly crowded content marketplace, delivering diverse, high-quality programming that resonates with audiences worldwide.
In an environment where creative decisions are often deeply subjective, Diego Ávalos has demonstrated the power of using external advisors to ensure objectivity. Through this process, Netflix continues to deliver innovative content while remaining responsive to market trends and audience preferences. By embracing outside perspectives, companies like Netflix can overcome bias, see their products’ true potential, and set themselves up for continued success.