Fractional product leadership · Silicon ValleySenior product leadership,
with all the risk on us.
Get the next release scope your team and board agree on (what's in, what's out, and why) locked within 30 days. It starts with a free 45-minute Product Strategy Review.
2-minute application · No pitch on the call · Limited engagements at a time
The Ship-Right Guarantee. If your next release scope isn't locked within the first 30 days, your second month is free. And the review itself is free: you keep the findings whether you hire David or not.
The Ship-Right Guarantee
If your next release scope isn't locked within the first 30 days, your second month is free. No hoops, no awkward conversation. David carries the risk of hitting the deadline, not you.
If release scope isn't the key deliverable you need, you can discuss on your call with David which deliverable falls under the guarantee.
And before you spend a cent, the Product Strategy Review is free. You keep every finding whether you hire David or not.
You can't lose on this.
The review costs nothing
45 minutes, one-on-one with David. A senior second opinion on your roadmap and release plan.
The findings are yours
Walk away with the gaps we found, whether you work with David or not.
Second month free
If your next release scope isn't locked within the first 30 days, your second month is free.
No open-ended retainer
A defined 3- to 6-month project with concrete deliverables. You know exactly what you're getting.
Funded, building fast, and nobody truly owns product.
Your team is mostly engineers. Maybe you are too. Product gets owned by whoever has time, and the cracks show up right when investors start asking questions.
- ✕Your engineers are effectively deciding the roadmap.
- ✕The next release keeps growing, and the ship date keeps moving.
- ✕Your board asks when it ships and what's in it, and the answer changes every meeting.
- ✕Prospects love the demo, then deals stall. Nobody can say the value proposition in one sentence.
- ✕You know you need a CPO, but a full-time hire is months away and too expensive to get wrong.
A one- to two-quarter slip burns runway and investor confidence. Deals are lost. The cost of waiting is far higher than the cost of fixing it now.
Three steps. Zero risk at every one.
Apply
Answer a few quick questions about your stage, team and next release, so David can prepare.
Get your review
David runs your product through all six Ship-Right checkpoints and shows you exactly where it's breaking down.
Decide
Keep the findings and run with them, or bring David in, backed by the second-month-free guarantee.
What one slipped release really costs you.
A release with too much, or the wrong things in it, rarely slips by a week. It slips by a quarter or two. Here's what goes with that.
Runway
Every extra month of building is a month of burn with nothing in market.
Investor confidence
A board that keeps hearing a new ship date starts asking harder questions.
Your window
The segment you're aiming for won't wait. Someone else ships into it. Deals are lost.
Your team
Engineers burn out building features nobody prioritized. Frustration builds.
The Ship-Right Product Framework
Six checkpoints that turn a fuzzy product plan into one your team can build and your board can back. Your free review runs your product through all six.
Strategy
A clear, compelling value proposition for a clearly defined target segment.
Roadmap
A roadmap that makes sense and supports the strategy.
Release Scope
What must be in your next release, what can wait, and why, in a requirements doc.
Positioning
Compelling, and aligned with your target segment.
Go-to-Market
A realistic GTM plan, plus new routes to market worth testing.
Delivery Plan
The right trade-offs, so you ship on schedule instead of slipping a quarter or two.
What you walk away with, in 45 minutes.
- Your biggest product gap, named plainly and prioritized.
- A first cut of your next release in/out list.
- Where your positioning and go-to-market are breaking down.
- A clear view of what to focus on next, and why.
Product Strategy Review
What working with David looks like.
A defined 3- to 6-month project, not an open-ended retainer. Here's the shape of it.
Written product strategy review
A deeper pass on all six checkpoints with your team, written up so everyone's working from the same page.
Next release scope locked
What's in, what's out, and why, in a requirements doc your engineers can build from and your board can back.
Roadmap, positioning and go-to-market
A roadmap that aligns with your strategy, positioning that's compelling to your target market, and a realistic GTM plan.
Ship it on schedule
David stays through delivery, making the trade-offs that keep the release on time, and can help you define and hire your permanent CPO.
What you'll actually have at the end.
Product roadmap
Prioritized, and tied to the strategy.
Requirements doc
Release scope your engineers build from.
Positioning
A value proposition aligned with your segment.
GTM plan
Realistic, with new routes to test.
Delivery plan
Trade-offs that keep you on schedule.
Find your biggest product gap in 45 minutes. Free.
Keep the findings whether you hire David or not.
Product leadership proven at Amazon, Broadcom and Dialog.
You're not getting a generalist consultant. You're getting a senior operator who has led product inside companies that ship at scale.
Product experience at scale
Senior product experience inside one of the most demanding product cultures in the world.
Product at enterprise scale
Senior product and platform experience inside a global technology leader.
Product and go-to-market
Product and go-to-market leadership, turning strategy into releases that reach the market.
Why founders choose a fractional CPO first.
| David (fractional CPO) | Full-time CPO hire | Big consultancy | Founder keeps owning it | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Productive in | Weeks | Months of search | Long discovery phase | Already stretched |
| Who does the work | David, personally | The hire, or junior staff | Junior staff | You, at midnight |
| Commitment | Defined 3 to 6 months | Salary + equity + search fee | Large retainer | Your time |
| Outputs | Roadmap, PRD, positioning, GTM | Varies | Slides | Whatever fits in |
| Risk reversal | Second month free | None | None | Slipped quarters |
Is this for you?
David takes on a small number of engagements at a time, so the review is reserved for teams it can actually help.
A great fit if you're…
- A founder, CEO or head of development at a funded tech startup
- Without a full-time product leader yet
- Heading toward a release or board milestone in the next 12 months
- Ready to act if the review shows a fit
Not a fit if you're…
- ✕Pre-seed or unfunded
- ✕Already working with a full-time CPO
- ✕Looking for a workshop, not hands-on help
Questions founders ask
Is the review really free? What's the catch?
It's free, and there's no pitch on the call. It's a senior second opinion on your plan. If there's a fit, David will tell you what working together looks like. If not, you keep the findings anyway.
What does an engagement cost?
Engagements are defined 3- to 6-month projects, typically $15,000 to $20,000 per month. Compare that with a one- to two-quarter slip, or a full-time CPO's salary, equity and search fee.
How does the guarantee work?
If your next release scope isn't locked within the first 30 days, your second month is free. The 30 days start at kickoff, and the guarantee is written into your engagement agreement.
We plan to hire a full-time CPO. Why not just wait?
That's often the right long-term move. David is the bridge: he sets the strategy now, so you stop losing quarters, and can help define and hire the permanent role.
Our founder already owns product. Do we still need this?
David supports founders rather than replacing them. The review shows what's slipping, what's missing, and what should change. He helps founders realize their vision.
Won't we just get a slide deck?
No. Ship-Right outputs are working documents: roadmap, requirements doc, positioning, go-to-market plan and delivery plan. Things your engineers can build from.
What happens after the review?
You get your findings either way. If there's a fit and you want help, David outlines a defined 3- to 6-month project with clear deliverables. If not, there's no follow-up pressure.
Who will I actually work with?
David, personally. There's no junior team doing the work behind the scenes, and he stays through the release.
Why does David only take a few engagements at a time?
Because he does the work himself. That's what keeps the quality senior, and it's why the review is reserved for teams it can actually help.
What should I bring to the call?
Your current roadmap, release plan and pitch deck, if you have them. Rough is fine. And bring your list of known product-related problems, for example, releases slipping or product definition fuzzy.
Stop guessing what's in your next release.
Get a senior second opinion, free, with zero risk.