A Chief Product Officer coach who has held the seat, and the CEO seat above it.

I coach Chief Product Officers, and the VPs and heads of product stepping into the seat.

At New Relic, as EVP, I took over product after the previous leader was let go, and led product and go-to-market for a $500M+ ARR public company: 450 people across four countries, new products worth $50M+ in incremental ARR, and the product story in front of the board and on the keynote stage. Later I was Chief Product Officer at Coursedog, where we rebuilt product and engineering in nine months and the company was acquired by JMI Equity for $80M.

I was also the CEO a product leader reports to: I founded Interland, grew it to $200M and took it public on Nasdaq. So I coach the most senior product leader in the company from both chairs, at every stage I have worked in: founder-led, venture-backed growth, and a public company at $500M.

I joined New Relic as EVP right after the CEO let go of the previous leader of product. Our largest customers told us there had been little innovation in nearly three years. Sales had no confidence that product and engineering could deliver, and customers were looking at competitors.

We changed three things. A general manager to hold product and engineering to business metrics and end the finger-pointing. A quarterly planning session that set a specific share of engineering for the roadmap, for bugs and for new sales. And a cross-company escalation meeting, so no roadmap change happened without the company's leaders agreeing to it.

At the next Customer Advisory Board, the CTO of Disney and an SVP of Capital One said: “You have delivered more of the functionality we wanted in the last six months than in the last three years.” The new products from that work added $50M+ in incremental ARR.

If you are taking over after someone was fired, you have one quarter to show the company the seat works now. I have done it, and I can help you do it.

A Chief Product Officer is judged in rooms: the board meeting, the customer keynote, the advisory board, the all-hands after a missed date. At New Relic I presented product strategy to a board with partners from Benchmark, Trinity Ventures and Madrona, and former executives of Twitter, Informatica and SAP. I was the global keynote speaker at FutureStack, our customer conference, and I led our customer advisory boards, where the largest customers tell you whether the roadmap is working. I have keynoted and spoken at 50+ other events, from AWS re:Invent to the Gartner IT Symposium.

Executive presence is coachable. We work on the board narrative that leads with revenue, retention and risk before features; the keynote; the advisory board that turns customers into co-owners of the roadmap; and the one-to-one with a CEO who is running out of patience.

The seat is new. In 2023, 30% of Fortune 1000 companies had a Chief Product Officer, up from about 15% a year earlier.¹ Most of the people around you have never worked with one.

Almost everyone in it is doing it for the first time. Of the high-growth technology companies that went public between 2017 and 2021, almost all had a CPO in the role for the first time.²

It is scored on the wrong thing. In a survey of 300 product leaders, 77% said their teams were measured on features shipped, not revenue or customer outcomes.³ The CEO and the board are measuring something else.

The founder rarely lets go completely. Hiring a CPO seldom means the founder steps away from product, as one executive search firm tells founders.⁴ Somebody has to draw the line, and it is usually you.

None of that is a product management problem. It is a seat problem, and it is the part a product framework does not teach.

A good product coach knows the product seat. That matters, and it is half the picture. The hardest problems in the CPO seat sit between seats: the CEO who hired you, the COO and sales leader who live with your roadmap, the board that funds it, and the acquirer who eventually prices it.

I have held each of those chairs: founder and CEO through a Nasdaq IPO, EVP at New Relic, COO in a VC-backed turnaround, Chief Product Officer through an $80M acquisition, and a decade as a managing partner at a venture firm. I have sat on every side of the table, so I understand how the whole organization moves, not just the seat you are in.

I am also a certified coach, CEC and ICF certified since 2019, with a psychology degree. We can work on the board meeting and the person walking into it in the same hour.

Discovery call. Forty-five minutes on video, no pitch: what is actually going on, and whether I am the right person for it.

Calibration. We agree what success looks like and how we will both know, before the work starts.

Standing calls. Weekly, every other week or monthly, on video or in person.

Access between calls. The hard things do not wait for the calendar. More on the approach on the executive coaching page, and on choosing any coach in six questions to ask.

What is a Chief Product Officer coach?

A coach who works one on one with the most senior product leader on the parts of the job a product framework does not cover: the CEO relationship, the board, the leadership team and the product organization. The best ones have held the seat. I led product at New Relic, a $500M+ public company, and was Chief Product Officer at Coursedog through its $80M acquisition by JMI Equity.

How is coaching a CPO different from general executive coaching?

It is not career coaching, and it is not a product framework. The CPO seat carries problems other C-suite seats do not: a roadmap everyone has an opinion about, a founder who often still wants to own product, and a scorecard built on features. In one survey, 77% of product teams were measured on features shipped rather than revenue or customer outcomes. A coach needs to know that ground firsthand.

How high up is a Chief Product Officer, and how is it different from a VP of Product?

A VP of Product usually runs product management. A Chief Product Officer owns product strategy at the executive table, often across product, design and sometimes engineering, and increasingly a P&L: in 2023, 31% of CPOs owned one. Head of product and VP of Product are usually a level below, and titles vary by company size. The CPO seat changes who you answer to: the CEO and the board.

What should a new Chief Product Officer do in the first 90 days?

Learn before you change: customers, the sales team, every engineering lead, and what the CEO and the board believe product promised them. Then agree with the CEO, in writing, what product owns, how success is measured, and the one or two changes you will make first.

How do I work with a founder or CEO who still wants to own the product?

Name it early and split it explicitly: which decisions stay with the founder, which are yours, and how the two of you will disagree. Hiring a CPO rarely means the founder steps away from product entirely. I have been the founder in that conversation, which is why I coach it from both sides.

How does a Chief Product Officer build executive presence?

In the rooms that judge the seat: the board meeting, the customer keynote and the customer advisory board. Tell the product story in business terms first, revenue, retention and risk, and features second. I have done all three at New Relic, including the global keynote at its customer conference, and I coach them directly.

I am taking over after the last head of product was fired. Where do I start?

With the customers and the sales team, because they will tell you what broke faster than anyone inside product. Then make the trade-offs visible: a set share of engineering for roadmap, bugs and new sales, and one meeting where roadmap changes need the leadership team to agree. I took over product at New Relic in exactly that situation.

Is coaching worth it for a Chief Product Officer?

It is worth it if you are new to the seat, your scope just grew, or the CEO relationship is carrying tension. It is not worth it if the gap is a product management skill a course would close faster. Ask any coach which product seat they held and what happened to the company.

Who pays for CPO coaching, and what does it cost?

At this level the company usually pays, because it is investing in a leader it intends to keep. The price depends on cadence, length and whether the work is in person; the market ranges are in my guide to what executive coaching costs, and you get a scope and a number on the discovery call.

Do you only coach CPOs, or VPs and heads of product too?

Both. I work with sitting Chief Product Officers, and with VPs and heads of product stepping into the most senior product seat for the first time. The second group is often where coaching pays back fastest, because the habits of the new seat get set in the first year.

Do you coach Chief Product Officers remotely?

Yes. Standing calls run on video with product leaders anywhere, and I work in person when the engagement calls for it. I am based in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Tell me about your seat.

A short note is enough: where you sit, and what is on your desk. The CEO, the board, the team you inherited. I read every note myself. If you would rather talk, book a discovery call.

Or reach me directly:
(629) 304-8755
ken@kengavranovic.com