Fractional CPO — Product leadership that knows what not to build.
Your team is busy, but the numbers aren't moving. Everyone has something they want built, and nobody's job is to choose. We step in as your part-time CPO: steering the roadmap, making sure ideas are tested before they're built, and helping you say no to most of them, so your team works on what matters.
- 20+ years building products
- Founded and exited a studio
- B Corp founder
- Reviewed quarterly
Sound familiar?
- Your team ships steadily but the numbers stay flat. Lots of roadmap, not much to show for it.
- Every stakeholder has something they want built, and nobody has the authority to say no.
- You can build it yourself. What you need is help deciding what's worth building.
- Discovery happens after the decision is made, if it happens at all.
- You're about to commit a quarter of engineering time to something nobody has tested.
What you get from a fractional CPO
Roadmap, discovery, delivery
Discovery that's more than a box-ticking exercise, a roadmap that's clear about what it's trading off, and delivery that's joined up with both. Product and technical decisions are usually the same decision seen from two angles. What to build and what it'll cost are one conversation. That's why this role is worth more when it understands the engineering, not just the user.
Someone willing to say no
Most product problems in a growing business aren't a lack of ideas. They're a lack of anyone whose job is to say no to most of them. Every stakeholder has something they want built, and none of them are wrong, which is the problem. Someone has to decide what goes into version one, put up with being unpopular for it, and be right often enough to keep everyone's trust. That's the job.
A clear picture first
We spend a couple of weeks on your product (the roadmap, how discovery works, what's shipping and what it's achieving) and give you a written report on what we found. It's yours to keep whether or not we carry on, and it's priced on its own, so stopping there is a real option.
From first chat to working together
A conversation
45 minutes on your product, who it's for, and where it's falling short. No deck needed.
A short diagnostic
A couple of weeks looking at your roadmap, your discovery process and what's shipping. You get a written report either way.
Ongoing steering
A set number of days a month steering the roadmap with you and your team: priorities, discovery and the big trade-offs. Fixed monthly fee, reviewed every quarter.
Handover
We leave behind a way of making decisions, not just a document describing one. When the time's right, we help you hire a full-time product lead.
What a good CPO changes
Without the right help
- A busy team shipping features that don't move the numbers.
- A roadmap set by whoever shouts loudest.
- A quarter of engineering time spent on an untested idea.
- You, refereeing every request yourself.
With Lode in your corner
- A roadmap everyone understands, and the reasons behind it.
- Fewer things shipped, and more of them working.
- Evidence before decisions, not after.
- Someone with the authority to say no, so it isn't always you.
Fractional CPO: your questions answered
What is a fractional CPO?
A senior product leader who works with you part-time. It's steering, not managing: setting the product direction, shaping the roadmap, making sure discovery happens before decisions, and helping you and your team say no to the wrong things. Your product manager or team runs the day-to-day. We make sure it adds up to something that moves the numbers.
Will you manage our product team day to day?
No. Your product manager or lead developer keeps running the day-to-day. We set the direction with you, help with the big trade-offs, and make sure the roadmap is built on evidence. If you need someone full-time, we'll help you hire them.
Do we need a CTO or a CPO?
Early on, they're usually the same job, and we do either or both. A simple test is where it hurts. If delivery is late, unpredictable or fragile, you need the technical side. If the team ships steadily but builds the wrong things, you need the product side. We'll tell you which you need rather than sell you the bigger option.
We already have a product manager. Is this different?
Usually, yes. The difference is authority, not ability. A product manager runs the roadmap day to day. A CPO sets the direction it follows, and can say no to a founder or an investor without it turning into a resignation. Plenty of good product managers are held back because there's nobody above them to take a hard call to. That's often where a fractional CPO helps most.
How is it priced?
A fixed monthly fee for an agreed scope, reviewed every quarter, not a day rate. The diagnostic that usually comes first is priced separately, so you can take the report to your own team and stop there.
Can we pay in equity instead of cash?
Yes. Advisory for equity puts product and technical leadership into your business instead of cash, or alongside it. Take a look at investment and equity partnerships to see how those deals work.
Start with a conversation.
Tell us what your product is, who it's for, and where it's falling short. That's all we need to get started. No deck required, and we usually reply within a couple of working days.
Or email hello@lode.venturesThanks, we've got your message.
We read every message ourselves and usually reply within a couple of working days.