What type of Product Leader do you need to hire?

This persona of Product Management leader is typically hired by an early-stage startup. Whether seed-funded or Series A-backed, this scrappy player/coach takes the baton from a first-time Founder.

Their mandate is to turn an idea into a working prototype or scale an MVP into a full-fledged product and business with product market fit and paying customers.
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This persona of Product Management leader is typically hired as the second product leader, taking the baton from a senior individual contributor who saw the release of the first iteration of the product. At this point, the company has achieved product market fit and has paying customers. They have also secured a Series A or Series B round of financing to fund the next chapter of development and growth.

Organizationally, they manage individual contributors or “leads” who provide some level of work oversight. They will often become a champion of instituting best-in-class Product Design and influence how their products are launched through value messaging and GTM initiatives. Their mandate includes introducing processes and frameworks to deliver a scaleable, repeatable process for how products are delivered from concept to launch.

This persona of Product leader is being hired for their lived experiences, leading a larger business and larger or more complex product organization. They are hired when a business requires a strategic leader who will apply a build/buy/partner lens on how to accelerate product led growth. 

Organizationally, they are a leader of leaders, often with Directors or Group PM leaders reporting directly to them. They often report to a CEO/Founder or, in some cases, to a CoFounder/CTO level. Their mandate is to identify opportunities that enable a business to scale.

This persona of Product Management leader is typically hired at a strategic point in the growth of a business. This persona of leader is found working at the Board level, making strategic decisions about new channels to capture growth (SaaS ARR growth) while optimizing the organization to deliver.

Organizationally, the CPO is accountable to the CEO and Board while responsible for the end-to-end product and design organization. They may also be responsible for data teams. In some companies, they have additional responsibilities for Product Marketing. They lead, influence, and coach others, no longer hands-on in product management work. A small number of CPOs are dually responsible for the development organization, referred to as a CPTO: Chief Product & Technology Officer.

This hire is often considered influential in a future exit strategy. This hire may unlock larger investment rounds from investors who become bullish on the potential a CPO can bring to the company.

This persona of Product Management leader is an industry expert who understands the ICP and is the obvious Voice of the Customer. They have previously solved for the problem-set either for a competitor or have come from the client side. 

In a tech company whose products are organized by industry vertical, this product leader is likely to be one of several product leaders reporting to a CPO-level leader, each with their own industry vertical focus.

As the champion of an industry vertical, this Product Management leader is also working cross-functionally with the sales, marketing, and GTM teams to ensure the narrative is relevant to the needs of the industry. This persona of product leader is responsible for ensuring their customers are generating value from their investment in the software. Ultimately revenue and customer growth of their vertical is the outcome this product leader is responsible for.