For investors, operating partners and boards
An independent read on the product, from someone who has run one.
Product is the part of a software business that's hardest to assess from the board pack. I've been VP Product and CPO, I read code, and I write for investment committees.
When investors call
You’re about to invest and the product story came from the founders
The deck says the roadmap is strong. You’d like someone who has run product at VP level to look at the backlog, the specs and the metrics and tell you whether it is.
A portfolio company keeps slipping
Every quarter the roadmap moves right. You can’t tell from the board pack whether it’s the plan, the team, or the CEO. Someone independent can.
You’re writing a 100-day or value-creation plan
Finance, sales and ops you can assess. Product is the part that’s hard to judge from outside, and the part where the plan tends to be vaguest.
The company says it’s "doing AI"
Everyone is. The question is whether it’s a feature, a cost line, or a real advantage, and whether the team can ship it. I’ve shipped AI products since 2018 and can tell the difference.
What to buy
Before or just after a deal
Product Due Diligence
From £10,000, ten working days
Findings, risks, a maturity scorecard and a recommended first 100 days.
For a company that's slipping
Roadmap Reset
From £8,000, two weeks
The roadmap cut to outcomes the board will back, done with the team rather than to them.
Between product leaders
Fractional or interim Head of Product
From £5,000/month
Senior cover while you hire, or a permanent part-time seat for a company that doesn't need five days of it.
For a quick first look at one company, the personal review (£195) reads its roadmap and tells you what I'd want to look at.
Questions people ask
- What does product due diligence cover?
- The roadmap, backlog and specs; how product decisions get made and by whom; the metrics the team actually looks at; interviews with leadership, product, engineering and (where allowed) customers; and a maturity scorecard you can compare across companies. Ten working days, written for an investment committee or board.
- Can you work across several portfolio companies?
- Yes. The scorecard is the same for each, which is the point: it gives you a comparable view and a shared language with the CEOs.
- What happens after the diligence?
- If the company needs help, the Roadmap Reset or a fractional engagement follows, and the diligence fee is credited against it. If it doesn’t, you have an independent report and I’ve told you so.
- Have you worked inside an investor-owned business?
- Yes. I helped create and launch a new venture inside a PE-owned software group, taking it from an ideas list to paying customers and building the AI-led delivery pipeline behind it.
Talk through a company
Thirty minutes. Bring the board pack; I'll tell you what I'd want to look at.
Taking on one new client from November 2026.