Early Stage Web3 Fractional Product Leadership
Common Product Management Mistake
This mistake could be costly in hidden but dramatic ways
I saw it first hand at a company.
The decision at the time seemed right.
But in the end, cost the company time and market opportunity.
That mistake: deploying an IC PM into Product Leadership as they scaled instead of actual Product Leadership.
Is it possible for IC to scale? Of course, naturally.
I tried to coach the IC to change functions to be a Product Leader.
But it’s too little too late.
Especially when the CEO is not a product-led founder, this creates a downward death spiral.
As reason: there is no mental model for Product Leadership in web3.
What is Product Management in Web3?
Some Web3 companies have tried to distance themselves from "Web2" where product management has a somewhat clearer role.
They either misinterpret it or undervalue it all together.
What makes it worse is that, as a result, often those who are in product management hurt do not perform the function, perpetuating the negative perception.
This guide is for early stage web3 companies on the role and value behind product leadership.
And, in fact, this might be just as important as IC-level product management -- if not more -- at these early stages.
The Asymmetric Trade
You can still get the outside leverage, pace, strategy and focus without a full time CPO.
Your leverage in a Fractional CPO will help scale up, as a follow on to a first PM or as the hire before your first PM.
Why?
Product Management is Not the Same as Product Leadership
The false trade-off is hiring the IC and expecting product leadership.
It could happen.
But if you're like most companies, you'll actually experience negative setbacks than benefits.
Product Leadership is much more about operating at a higher, organizational level on these four cylinders...cylinder that a strong PM IC should know, but often can't get up from under the weight of the details.
- Product Sense and Strategy
- Execution and Metrics
- Leadership and Drive
Benefits of a Strong Product Leader
What happens if you get this wrong?
I saw it, and it was costly. I tried to coach upwards for the Head of Product to shift from IC to Leader, but this is a hard transition.
- No clear, strong strategy
Without a clear strong strategy, lots of problems emerged. Multiple initiatives. Misplaced priorities. Missed deadlines. Losing customers.
Basically, without a clear product strategy, it was chaotic.
Some parts were busy.
Some parts coasted.
No one was having real impact.
Strategy matters.
Fear and ideologically driven culture
Sure, people can say glibly, culture beats strategy; but they feed each other.
In the absence of a strong product strategy, highest paid person's opinion ruled one day, the most vocal, ideologically extreme person ruled the next.
Executive-Level Alignment
An external yet embedded CPO can do the hard job, one that I saw a HOP elevated from IC often can’t: drive challenging executive discussions.
All the big mistakes were made because the HOP didn’t have sufficient skills to navigate the power asymmetry with the CEO.
But these sharpening conversations are also crucial conversations to help distill the best focus.
Focus means speed and success.
Driving the Pace
One of the challenges the IC to HOP had was he was focused on addressing break fix and refining the tooling.
This had the wrong pace for a company.
It was reactive and exhaustive.
Pace driving is more akin to crew: ensuring every rower is aligned and on pace.
IC PMs often overlook that communication that is impactful and relevant drives pace.
It worked fine when it was 5 developers and someone debugging.
But when there’s a regular cadence of pace based on a wide aperture of Product your team can move more quickly.
Ruthless Prioritization
The IC mindset for speeding up our delivery was using something called “The Betting Table.”
All the different products, interesting experiments, were put on a six week sprint and whoever worked out then great.
But that’s like trying to get a strong rowing cadence where everybody has their own tempo for dipping their oars in. Each trying their own thing and just looking to get to some finish line.
Product
Low Risk, High Value
These packages are designed to lower the asymmetric risk in the beginning: you don't fully know who I am and what I can do.
Asymmetric value is the goal, and from my experience in web3 and other companies, this is the difference between PM Leadership and IC PM.
Driving Your Product Narrative - 30 Day Sprint
What is the benefit of getting this clear?
- Prioritization internally for shipping the right things fast is easier
- Marketing is clearer: have a constant drumbeat on the narrative that matters
- BD is easier: a strong story can empower lower-cost outreach efforts
Why is this a Product Leadership deliverable versus Marketing?
Because the intersection of who is served and what is the product strategy must inform the narrative.
$5000 to get the first sprint, with a rough draft slide deck for a 20-minute talk to nail the big beats.
Extend to a total 90-day validation session, feature roadmap.
The Real Product Development Cycle - 30 Day Sprint
Many small companies think "process" will slow things down.
And they are right: bureaucratic process does slow things down.
But getting scared at a standard flow doesn't mean it's process heavy.
Multiple touchpoints, check-ins, can be done in a single Slack.
But without a language and agreement on how things should flow, product development is slow -- code may be shipped fast -- but product development encompasses more than that.
$5000 to try, this is an ongoing development that become a foundation, but can be turned into a 90-day alignment and roll-out.
Customer Advisory Board - 30 Day Sprint
Companies that push this off, no matter how small, are missing asymmetric returns on the effort.
Building a Product-Led CAB gives Product, when you begin to build it out, the real super power that they need to ensure growth.
The CAB is the foundation for all launches.
The CAB is the foundation for all BD efforts.
It takes time, dedicated focus, and often gets relegated outside of Product Leadership.
Don't make this mistake.
Start the program today.
$5000 for 30-day Sprint
Strategic Ruthless Prioritization Roadmap - 30 Day Sprint
Most people make the mistake of what a roadmap should be.
I've seen where they think it's a detailed waterfall product schedule.
Some think it's a jumble of OKRs.
Others use it as the wishlist of all the amazing outcomes and benefits.
Others use it as a backlog for buzzwords.
No! The Roadmap should achieve three things:
- It conveys a crisp execution-oriented version of the Strategic Narrative
- It must be the razor for cutting things to achieve higher focus
- It must give a feeling of momentum because everyone has a common direction
Yes, the Roadmap is wildly changing, that's fine.
But the Sprint should deliver one clear solid agreement and it is the razor for everything.
How did I learn these lessons?
Although I have experience in product leadership, I came into a web3 product under a Head of Product.