Fractional CPO · From $15,000/mo · embedded, two to three days a week
Most fractional CPOs advise. I build
A fractional Chief Product Officer who sets product direction with you, then designs the product and ships the production code, embedded in your standups at your cadence. Output is shipped product, not decks. The same seat also does product and design due diligence for investors and boards.
Or book a 20-minute call first. No pitch, just fit.
01
Direction that arrives as software
Strategy is agreed in writing, then the highest-leverage slice is designed and coded by the same person who set it. Nothing is lost translating a deck into a backlog.
02
Embedded, not a weekly call
Standups, roadmap reviews, hiring and vendor calls, and shipped work in between. Two to three focused days a week, at your cadence, on your tools.
03
The same seat does diligence
For investors and boards: a hands-on product teardown, a code and architecture read, and a risk-ranked memo I defend on a call. Independent, no carry, no stake.
Receipts
Products owned end to end.
Strategy, design, and code from one seat. Each opens the case study.
What the seat owns
Direction, design, code, and the diligence.
Scoped to outcomes, not days. Typical engagements run two to three embedded days a week; capacity is capped at a small number of clients on purpose.
As your fractional CPO
- Direction. Product strategy and roadmap owned with you: what to build, what to kill, what order. Board-ready.
- Design. The product designed personally: UX, UI, and the brand it lives in. No handoff to a design team.
- Code. Production front-end shipped where it moves the roadmap fastest. Next.js, React Native, SwiftUI.
- Team. Your designers and engineers directed and their ceiling raised; hiring and vendor calls handled as they surface.
As diligence for investors
- Product teardown. Using the product hands-on, not reading a checklist from outside.
- Code and architecture read. What is solid, what is debt, what is a rewrite waiting to happen.
- Velocity signal. Can the team ship what the roadmap promises.
- Risk-ranked memo. Findings your partners can act on, defended on a live call. One to two weeks, scoped to the deal.
Pricing
Ownership, or execution.
The difference between the two rungs is who sets direction. Diligence engagements are scoped to the deal on a call.
Fractional CPO
From $15,000/mo
Per month, month to month, quarterly, or annual. Two to three embedded days a week.
- Product strategy and roadmap, owned with you
- The product designed personally
- Production code shipped where it moves the roadmap
- Standups, roadmap reviews, hiring and vendor calls
- Diligence for your investors as an engagement type
You own direction, need execution?
$12,000/mo
Product Partner: continuous design and engineering, shipped weekly, with you setting the roadmap.
- Continuous feature development
- Design and engineering under one roof
- Weekly shipping rhythm
- Pause or cancel anytime
The first 30 days
Product, not a deck, by week four.
01
Week 1
Audit
Product, roadmap, team, and codebase read hands-on. The one metric that decides, agreed in writing.
02
Week 2
Direction
What ships first and why, board-legible. Hiring and vendor decisions that are blocking, unblocked.
03
Weeks 3 to 4
The first slice
The highest-leverage piece designed and coded to production. You see product, not slides.
04
Ongoing
Your cadence
Embedded two to three days a week: standups, roadmap reviews, and a shipped increment every week.
Fit check
Built for some, not everyone.
This is for you if
- Funded, with every product decision landing on a founder who is out of bandwidth
- A roadmap that changes weekly because nobody owns the why
- Re-platforming or going zero to one and unable to afford a wrong first architecture
- Investors or a board that needs an independent read on a product before the check clears
Not built for
- Pre-idea, with nothing to own yet. A short strategy call is the right first step
- You own direction and need pure execution. That is Product Partner
Twenty years, 200+ products
Artyom Sklyarov
Booking.com, Marriott Edition, Hard Rock, and Loews on the brand side; venture-backed startups on the product side; and a stretch leading feature design at Apstra through its acquisition by Juniper Networks, most of it under NDA. The code still ships from the same chair, which is the only reason this seat is worth the price.
Capacity is a small number of concurrent clients by design. The form asks what I would own; I reply within 48 hours.
Hire your Fractional CPO
Tell me about your team and your roadmap. I'll personally review it and reach out within 24 hours.
Step 1 of 3
About you
The fine print
Questions, answered.
A senior product leader who owns product strategy for your company part-time, typically two to three days a week, at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire. They set direction, own the roadmap, and are accountable for what gets built. Here the definition goes one step further: the same person also designs the product and ships the production code.
From $15,000/mo, month to month, quarterly, or annual. A full-time CPO costs several hundred thousand a year plus equity; most fractional CPOs charge a similar monthly figure for advice alone. This one designs and ships the product too.
Those are execution: you set direction, I design and build it. Fractional CPO is ownership: I set product direction with you, then design and ship it. If you need someone accountable for what gets built, not just how it looks, this is the tier.
It is scoped to outcomes, not days. Typical engagements run two to three focused days a week embedded in your workflow: standups, roadmap reviews, and shipped work in between. Capacity is limited to a small number of concurrent clients on purpose.
For VCs, PE, boards, and acquirers: a hands-on teardown of the product, a read of the code and architecture, a signal on team velocity, and a risk-ranked memo I defend on a call. Independent, no carry, no referral fee, under NDA. One to two weeks, scoped to the deal on a call.
No, I direct them and raise their ceiling. Strategy, priorities, and product design come from me; your team keeps shipping with clearer direction, and I write production front-end where it moves the roadmap fastest. If you have no team yet, I am also the team. That is the zero-to-one case.
Five things in writing: a product diagnostic and strategy summary, an outcome-focused roadmap with the prioritization model behind it, a discovery and validation cadence your team keeps running, a pricing and packaging review, and a product organization and hiring plan. Plus the shipped slices along the way, which is the part most fractional CPOs do not do.
Week one is an audit of product, roadmap, team, and code. Week two is direction agreed in writing: what we ship first and why. Weeks three and four are the first shippable slice, designed and coded. You see product, not a deck.
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What is a fractional CPO?
A senior product leader who owns product strategy for your company part-time, typically two to three days a week, at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire. They set direction, own the roadmap, and are accountable for what gets built. Here the definition goes one step further: the same person also designs the product and ships the production code.
Ready? Hire a Fractional CPO. Direction in writing in week one, a shipped slice by week four, and the diligence seat is the same person.