The CPO in a VC- and PE-backed business carries a different brief to any other product role. They own the product strategy, set the roadmap, and are accountable for the commercial outcomes that flow from it. Most product executives have led teams. Fewer have owned the P&L consequences. We find the ones who have.
A CPO assessed against your product thesis and exit timeline -- not a generic product leadership framework.
Access to a network of VC- and PE-proven CPOs who've owned product strategy in sponsor-backed businesses before.
A shortlist built from market coverage that goes beyond active candidates -- including those not looking.
This isn't a search for a product manager who's been promoted. It's a search for a commercially-accountable product leader who can own the roadmap, build the team, and drive the outcomes your value creation plan depends on.
Before we write a brief, we understand your product, your market, and what the CPO needs to deliver at this stage of ownership. Are you driving product-led growth? Consolidating a platform post-acquisition? Building the product story for exit? The brief is different in each case and we write it accordingly.
We build the profile together. Not a job description -- a picture of the person. The product background, the commercial track record, the VC and PE experience required, and the leadership style that fits your engineering and commercial teams. A CPO who can't hold a board-level conversation about product economics is the wrong hire regardless of their roadmap credentials.
We map every viable CPO candidate against your profile. That includes people actively looking and -- more importantly -- those who aren't. We look specifically for candidates who've operated at the intersection of product strategy and commercial accountability. That's a narrower pool than it looks.
We approach candidates personally. The firm's identity is protected until we've established genuine interest and fit. No volume outreach. Every approach is individual and specific to the mandate.
Every shortlisted CPO goes through structured competency interviews, a VC- and PE-specific leadership assessment, and early-stage reference validation. We test for commercial instinct, board-level communication, and the ability to make product decisions fast under resource constraint. Vision is common. Accountability for outcomes is not.
Three to five candidates. Each comes with a full written assessment, not a CV summary. You make the decision from this document -- not from the first interview.
We manage the offer, navigate competing interests, and stay close through the first 90 days. The first quarter is when product direction gets set. Our placement retention guarantee reflects our confidence in every hire we make.
Whether you have an active CPO search, are scaling a product function post-acquisition, or want to understand what the right profile looks like at your portfolio company's stage -- we welcome a confidential conversation.