You're running the roadmap. Everyone wants a different version of it.
CPO is one of the most contested roles in a tech company. Accountable for everything, directly empowered for less than you expected.
The Chief Product Officer role looks clean from the outside. Own the product vision, drive execution, ship things customers love. In practice, you spend most of your time negotiating — with engineering about what's feasible, with sales about what's sellable, with the CEO about what's strategic, and with customers about what's actually needed. The role is about influence more than authority, and nobody trains you for that.
The CPOs and VPs of Product who navigate this well don't do it alone. They have someone they can think out loud with — someone who has lived it, made the expensive mistakes, and is willing to tell you honestly when you're about to make one yourself.
What we work on
Three challenges that define the CPO role at a startup or scaleup.
These are not hypothetical. They come up in almost every mentoring conversation I have with CPOs and VPs of Product at companies between 10 and 200 people.
- Roadmap prioritisation under pressure Sales wants the enterprise deal feature. Engineering says the infrastructure needs work first. The CEO read a competitor's blog post and now wants a pivot. How to hold a coherent product strategy when everyone is pulling in different directions — and how to communicate your decisions without losing the room.
- Product-engineering alignment Engineering thinks product changes their mind too often. Product thinks engineering is too slow. Both are right, and both are wrong. How to build a working relationship with your engineering counterpart that makes the company faster without creating resentment.
- Saying no well The hardest skill in the CPO toolkit. Not just saying no — but saying no in a way that protects the relationship, keeps the stakeholder onside, and doesn't require you to fight the same battle next quarter.
I have led product and engineering organisations at companies from startup to large telco — including VP Software Services at Elisa, Finland's largest telco, and product leadership at Utopia Music. I'm also trained in Product Management through Stanford Online. I understand both sides of the product-engineering dynamic, which is where most CPO frustrations live.
Weekly or fortnightly 1:1 calls · 6-month engagement · One spot currently available
Book a free 30-minute call →Also relevant: First-time CTO mentoring → · VP of Engineering mentoring → · Imposter syndrome →