"Level 1: Shipping ⛵"

"The dilemma is that while CPOs add significantly greater value than junior and senior PMs, they are expensive resources"

"To successfully navigate this dilemma, let’s break it down by understanding the product needs your business is likely to encounter."

"First off, know that your PM’s job is to drive decisions. The higher stakes your decision, the more experience you’d want in your PM to help drive those decisions."

"Before product-market fit, many hypotheses are being tested, so each decision has minimal impact as you only have 5 customers."

"But most successful businesses will outgrow their initial product staff and need experience at the table as their audience grows. So by understanding your future needs today, you can find ways to get what you need without overspending."

"The real question might not be how long can you survive, but how soon will you start benefiting from the contributions of an experienced product leader."

"the best way to judge whether or not your company needs to hire a CPO, or a fractional CPO, is by assessing where you stand on this hierarchy of needs."

"The most basic need that a PM satisfies is shipping features. At smaller companies, your tech lead and/or your first PM will handle this need."

"This can range from debating with design on the right feature specifics, to testing some of those specifics with customer input. From communicating the feature on a specification to engineering to working with engineering day-to-day to ensure a successful release of the new feature."

"Level 2: Planning 🚂"

"The role of a more senior PM is to continually challenge product-market fit and keep the team aligned on a 3-6 month, mid-term vision, of the product. This role requires considerably more EQ on both the customer and the stakeholder management front."

"On the customer front, the PM needs to be able to creatively draw out real customer needs. This survey and interview technique is more of an art than a science, and comes with experience."

"build the vision for the product using multiple inputs, then rally your team on this vision."

"Level 3: Strategic ✈️"

"You have product-market fit and enough runway to survive 2-3 years. So it makes sense for your PM to start visioning for the 2 year mark."

"Don’t confuse this with the overall company vision, which is a BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) laid down by the founder that can be as far out as 5-10 years."

"Your Strategic PM, usually director level or VP level, will take that company vision, and lay out the pathways that pave your way towards that BHAG. This PM will raise a debate on the validity of each of those pathways, and explore ways to test and de-risk each."

"These decisions move the company down a very different path, and rallying stakeholders through these decisions is what your Strategic PM will do."

"Level 4: Strategic Partnering 🚀"

"You’re looking to bolster your moat with product bets while designing an organization that will sustain your growth."

"Your CPO will help set and reinforce that culture for your product organization. You might be courting very lucrative and strategic enterprise accounts beyond a basic customer relationship."

"Partnerships from outside the company become important, and your CPO needs to bring these opportunities to the table alongside your CEO and CFO. Your CPO will take your BHAG moonshot and lay out the 5 year plan to it, identifying key product holes that you must fill with product bets or M&A opportunities before getting to the moon."

"Finally, your CPO tells your powerful product story, for your board, for your customers, for your team, and helps you keep the funding or revenue flowing."

"For example, fundraising, assessing product bets, winning key enterprise accounts, designing the organization for growth, and product vision facilitation are often better accomplished with a well-networked part time CPO who has an outside perspective."

"On the other hand, ongoing board relations, carrying the product vision and building culture are better handled with a full time dedicated hire."