5 min read
When Should a Startup Hire a Product Leader?
When to hire a product leader: four signs it's time, the one test to run before you post the job, and why funding stage is a poor proxy for founders.
Forty4 Consulting
Senior product leadership, without the full-time hire.
I help early-stage and growing companies build products people rely on and the teams behind them.
Companies I've worked with
- Disney
- ESPN
- Lockheed Martin
- Nielsen
- Rent-A-Center
- LPGA
- Cadent
- Disney
- ESPN
- Lockheed Martin
- Nielsen
- Rent-A-Center
- LPGA
- Cadent
The real numbers
- 15+
- Years in product
- 3
- Product orgs built from scratch
- 50+
- PMs, designers, and analysts hired and mentored
- $100M+
- Revenue influenced
What I do
I build the product function, then make it run without me.
Most growth-stage companies do not need another framework. They need someone who has built the function before, makes the calls quickly, and leaves behind a team that runs on its own. That is the job.
- 01Fractional Head of ProductOngoing part-time product leadership for companies that need a senior operator now and a full-time hire later, or never.Learn more
- 02Product Organization Build-OutStand up or restructure Product and Design: hiring plans, role definitions, operating rhythm, discovery and delivery practices.Learn more
- 03Agentic AI Product StrategyFigure out where AI actually belongs in the product, define the evaluation and quality approach, and get a first version shipped to real users.Learn more
Product orgs
From zero to a team that ships.
A product org is a set of habits, not an org chart. I set up the hiring, the cadence, and the practices that keep a team shipping long after I leave.
- Hiring plans and leveling for product and design
- An operating cadence the whole company can see
- Roadmap and discovery practice that survives contact with customers
Building products
Products people come back to.
The hard part isn't the idea or the technology. It's picking the right problem, knowing when the product is actually working, and getting it in front of real people fast enough to learn.
- Problem and use-case selection grounded in what customers will actually pay for
- Clear signals for whether it's working, from usage to retention
- Smart use of new technology, including AI, where it genuinely makes the product better
Writing
Latest writing.
4 min read
Why Your Team Has Five Different Product Visions
Align your company on one product vision. Start with founder buy-in, understand each person's motives, and get the team moving together.
Next step
Let's talk about what you're building.
Email is the fastest way to reach me. I reply within a business day.