What I Do

Product leadership that moves commercial metrics.

I embed in your business as a Fractional Chief Product Officer (CPO), identify where product is the constraint, and lead a focused reset designed to move ARR and NRR within 90–180 days.

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The Problem

Most product teams are busy. Few are commercially effective.

If any of these sound familiar, your business likely has a product-revenue disconnect — the most common and costly problem in growth-stage B2B SaaS:

  • "Our roadmap is full but revenue isn't growing"
  • "We don't know which customers we're really building for"
  • "Our NRR has been flat for two quarters"
  • "We're shipping features but not closing expansion deals"
  • "Our board wants a product strategy and we don't have one"
  • "We need product leadership but can't justify a full-time Chief Product Officer hire"

This isn't a team performance problem. It's a product leadership and strategy problem — one that a focused Fractional Chief Product Officer (CPO) engagement is built to solve.

The Method

A four-stage product reset. Built for commercial outcomes.

Every engagement follows the same structured process — four stages, 90–180 days, measurable outcomes at each step.

  1. 01

    Diagnostic Signals

    A rapid product performance diagnostic that identifies where product is the commercial constraint. Covers ARR growth efficiency, NRR trend, roadmap coherence, ICP clarity, and your team's operating model. Within two weeks, you'll know exactly what's broken and why.

  2. 02

    Strategic Reset

    Revenue-led product vision, ICP and positioning reset, portfolio simplification, and a board-ready product strategy. The output isn't a deck — it's a product strategy your commercial team can sell against, and your board can hold you accountable to.

  3. 03

    Execution Rewire

    Operating model transformation. Decision rights are clarified, the roadmap is rebuilt for commercial impact, discovery discipline is installed, and the innovation pipeline is rebalanced from maintenance-heavy to strategic. Your team starts shipping work that moves metrics.

  4. 04

    Revenue Unlock

    Cross-sell by design, pricing optimisation, AI monetisation strategy, activation and attach metrics. The product stops being a cost centre and starts directly contributing to ARR and NRR movement — the outcome your investors are looking for.

Engagement Models

How we work together

Three levels of Fractional Chief Product Officer (CPO) engagement, matched to the depth of leadership your business needs. All include the four-stage reset methodology.

Advisory CPO Embedded CPO Executive CPO
Price £3,000/month £6,000–£9,000/month £15,000+/month
Days/month ~2 days 4–6 days 10+ days
Format Strategic counsel Active team leadership Full C-suite leadership
Includes Bi-weekly calls, roadmap review, stakeholder alignment, async guidance Weekly planning, discovery facilitation, roadmap & OKR setting, sprint participation, stakeholder management Board-level strategy, organisation design, investor relations, cross-functional leadership
Best for Founders needing strategic product input alongside an existing team lead Businesses that need active Chief Product Officer leadership without the full-time hire Companies requiring full C-suite product coverage, often during PE-led resets

Fixed-Outcome Projects

Prefer a defined scope? Fixed-outcome projects are available for specific strategic needs.

Product Strategy Reset — £5,000–£8,000 (4–12 weeks)
Discovery Sprint — £8,000–£12,000
Product-Market Fit Assessment — £6,000–£10,000
Go-to-Market Plan — £10,000–£15,000

Early-stage startups: equity advisory also available at 0.25–1% equity + £500–£1,500/month retainer where equity aligns incentives.

Is This For You?

The right fit matters.

I work best with a specific type of business at a specific type of moment. Here's how to know if that's you.

Good Fit

  • PE-backed B2B SaaS with a product-revenue disconnect
  • Post-Series A/B scaleup where ARR growth is stalling or inefficient
  • Portfolio platform in reset mode under investor pressure
  • CEO or Head of Engineering acting as de facto product lead
  • Growth-stage software business with flat NRR or unfocused roadmap
  • Typically 10–200 employees with an existing product team

Not a Fit

  • Pre-revenue or idea-stage startups without a product
  • B2C consumer products
  • Pure UX or design consultancy work
  • Engineering-only or CTO-equivalent roles
  • Short-term freelance feature delivery
  • Companies without a defined revenue model

About Mike

Senior product leadership. Commercial accountability.

Mike Doherty — Fractional Chief Product Officer

Mike Doherty is the founder of Product Leaders Advisory. He has twelve years of experience as a senior product leader across VC-backed and PE-backed platforms, post-Series A/B scaleups, and founder-led SaaS businesses.

His approach is commercially grounded. Every engagement is measured against ARR acceleration, NRR improvement, and pricing optimisation — not feature velocity or strategic output.

Mike has been featured by Insight Partners on product leadership and developer productivity, lectured and mentored at Dundee University, Edinburgh University and Stanford University, and publishes thought leadership on Substack. He is based in the UK and serves clients across Europe and globally.

He doesn't do pre-revenue ideation, B2C product work, or pure advisory without a commercial mandate. If you're in reset mode and need a Fractional Chief Product Officer (CPO) who moves metrics, he's built for that.

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FAQ

Common questions

Get Started

No pitch. No obligation.
Just a conversation about your product challenge.

Book a free 30-minute call. If there's a fit, I'll tell you what a reset looks like for your business — and what it would take to move the metrics that matter.

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