Your product roadmap is a mess. Fix it.

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You're building features nobody asked for. Your development team is drowning in technical debt. Customer churn is climbing because your product doesn't solve real problems. And your roadmap? It's just a wish list of ideas with no clear strategy.

You need someone who understands what makes products successful, not just what makes engineers happy. Someone who's launched products that users love and investors fund.

Enter fractional CPOs: product leaders who've built category-defining products and can turn your feature factory into a growth engine.

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What a Fractional CPO Actually Does

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Our fractional CPOs aren't project managers with product titles. They're strategic product leaders who:

• Define product strategy aligned with business goals and market opportunities
• Implement customer research that reveals what users actually need (not what they say they want)
• Build product roadmaps that balance user needs, technical constraints, and business objectives
• Establish product metrics that matter for growth and retention
• Design user experiences that drive adoption and reduce churn
• Manage technical product debt before it kills your development velocity
• Lead cross-functional teams to ship features that move the needle
• Implement product discovery processes that reduce the risk of building the wrong things
• Optimise onboarding flows to get users to their "aha moment" faster
• Plan product launches that actually drive adoption and revenue

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When You Actually Need a Fractional CPO

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You're ready if:

• Your team is building features but user engagement isn't growing
• You have product-market fit but need help scaling product excellence
• Your technical co-founder is drowning in product management tasks
• Customer feedback is overwhelming and you don't know how to prioritise
• Your development team needs clear direction and strategic focus
• You're planning major product pivots or expansions

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You're not ready if:

• You're still validating your core product hypothesis
• You have a strong product leader who just needs more resources
• Your biggest challenge is technical execution, not product strategy
• You're pre-revenue and still figuring out basic product-market fit

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What This Actually Costs

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• ‍Typical Engagement: 2-3 days per week, $1,500-$2,500/day depending on experience
• ‍Sweet Spot: $8K-16K monthly vs. $30K+ for a full-time CPO
• ‍ROI Timeline: Product improvements typically visible within 60-90 days
• vs FTE: A full-time CPO costs $250K-400K+ plus equity. Most startups see clear ROI within the first quarter.

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Real Problems Fractional CPOs Solve

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• ‍"We keep building features nobody uses" A fractional CPO implements proper customer research, usage analytics, and discovery processes that ensure you build what users actually need.
• ‍"Our product feels like a collection of random features" They develop cohesive product strategy, streamline user experiences, and create products that feel intentionally designed.
• ‍"Users sign up but don't stick around" They analyse user behaviour, optimise onboarding flows, and design features that drive habit formation and long-term engagement.
• ‍"Engineering and product are constantly fighting" They establish clear communication processes, realistic roadmaps, and technical requirements that keep everyone aligned.

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Common Engagement Types

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• ‍The Product Strategy Overhaul (6-12 months) Your product lacks clear direction. They research the market, analyse user behaviour, and develop comprehensive product strategies that drive growth.
• ‍The User Experience Optimisation (3-6 months) Users love your core product but struggle with everything else. They redesign key flows, improve onboarding, and create experiences that drive adoption.
• ‍The Product-Market Expansion (9-18 months) You're moving into new markets or customer segments. They research new use cases, design features for different users, and manage complex product evolution.‍
• The Technical Product Rescue (6-12 months) Technical debt is crushing your product velocity. They work with engineering to prioritise fixes, redesign architecture decisions, and balance technical excellence with business needs.

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Why Shepherd CPOs Ship Winners

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• ‍They're customer-obsessed builders: Our CPOs have launched products that millions of people use and love, not just products that checked feature boxes.
• ‍They balance vision with execution: They dream big but ship incrementally, building products that solve real problems while advancing long-term vision.
• ‍They speak engineering and executive: They can dive deep into technical discussions and present product strategy to boards with equal fluency.
• ‍They're data-driven decision makers: They use quantitative and qualitative data to make product decisions, not just opinions or HiPPO (highest paid person's opinion).

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Typical Engagement Timeline

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Most engagements run 6-18 months, with many continuing as ongoing product advisors. Here's what a typical engagement looks like:

• ‍Month 1: Product audit and customer research
• ‍Month 2-3: Strategy development and roadmap planning
• ‍Month 3-6: Feature prioritisation and experience optimisation
• ‍Month 6+: Strategic product leadership and team development

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