I work the other side
of the table too.
My current CPO engagement didn't come from a founder — it came from the investment fund that owns the company. Hired by the fund's CEO, operating inside the portfolio company, reporting results in the format an IC actually reads. That's the working arrangement these offerings are built on.
From the current fund engagement
+30%
MRR in one quarter through ARPU expansion — no new logos
KPI system
Quarterly KPIs installed to match the fund's standard across its portfolio
GM exit
Leadership restructured into an accountable three-function team, mid-engagement
Portfolio Product Diagnostic
The Audit format applied to 3–5 portfolio companies in sequence, then a fund-level synthesis: common gaps across the portfolio ("4 of 5 don't have a metrics tree"), per-company fix sequences, and a maturity read you can act on.
Best for
Value-creation programs, post-investment 100-day plans, annual portfolio reviews.
Pre-Investment Product DD
A pre-deal Audit of the target's product org: maturity of the 8 decision systems, execution risks, key-person dependencies, and a 100-day plan ready for the IC memo.
Best for
B and C-stage SaaS deals where product execution is a primary value driver.
Embedded Operator
Acting CPO inside a portfolio company, engaged by and reporting to the fund. Strategy execution, leadership restructuring, KPI systems matched to your portfolio-wide standard, board-ready reporting every quarter.
Best for
Post-acquisition transitions, leadership gaps, companies between product leaders.
How fund engagements work
Confidentiality across the portfolio
Engagements are scoped per portfolio company with a standard NDA. Cross-portfolio insights are anonymized and aggregated; specific findings stay with the company being audited.
Conflict of interest
I disclose any portfolio overlap before engaging and decline engagements where the conflict is material. For non-competing companies in the same fund, I work in parallel without restriction.
Reporting to LPs and ICs
Each engagement ships a written report with sized impact, sequenced fixes, and outcome tracking — formatted to lift cleanly into board materials and IC updates.
Contracting
B2B contract via RootCause Consulting (operating since 2021), engaged by the fund or by the portfolio company directly — whichever fits your structure.
I was able to offload completely unto Catalin and focus on other areas of the business.
Markel Palmstierna
COO · Omni Calculator
Start with one portfolio company.
A 30-minute call to scope — bring the company you're least sure about, I'll bring the diagnostic plan.
Book a free 30-min call