A senior PM, on retainer.

A monthly fee based on how often you need us and what we cover. A founder who wants weekly strategy calls and a maintained roadmap pays less than a team that needs a near full-time product lead in every ceremony. The slice is agreed at kickoff and reviewed each quarter. Three months minimum, then 30 days notice. The first month is discovery: users, metrics and the backlog as it really is, and the roadmap that comes out of it is yours to keep whether or not the engagement continues. When you hire a full-time product manager, the handoff is part of the fee: roadmap, research, the prioritization framework, a stakeholder map and a 30-day transition plan, and we will interview the replacement if you want us to. Book a call and we send the quote with the scope written down.

No. A project manager moves tickets through a board. A product manager decides which tickets exist in the first place. We do the second job: user research, prioritization under pressure, and owning why the team is building what it is building. That means running user interviews and turning the findings into prioritized bets, writing the specs engineers actually need, saying no to the wrong work, and standing behind those calls in front of founders, engineering and stakeholders. A project manager keeps the delivery machine moving; we decide what goes into it. The two roles work well together, and a strong project manager makes our job easier. What we are not is a note-taker who types up what others decided. If that is the role you need, we are not the fit, and we will say so on the first call.

Founders set the vision. We take the parts they hate or are bad at, which is usually user research, prioritization under pressure, and writing the specs engineers actually need. Most founders feel the roadmap get sharper, not the authority taken away.

Own it. We make the trade-offs, say no to the wrong work, and stand behind the decisions in front of founders, engineering, and stakeholders. If you want a PM who only types up what others decided, we are not a fit.

We run it. User interviews, synthesis, and turning the findings into prioritized bets. If the research scope is big enough to need a dedicated researcher, we will tell you and scope it properly.

Whichever fits your team. We have run all three. Smaller founder-led teams usually do well on Shape Up. Growth-stage teams with real dependencies usually land on Scrum or a mix. The framework serves the team, not the other way around.

Clean handoff. Roadmap, research, prioritization framework, stakeholder map, and a 30-day transition plan. A lot of our engagements end with us interviewing the replacement and handing them a team that is already shipping.