Fractional Product Leadership
Product leadership for founders and CEOs who need clearer bets and work that moves business forward.
No pitch, no pressure. If it's not a fit, I'll tell you.
Max Antonov
Product and technology leader · Sydney
I've taken companies from early traction through growth, improving how teams find the right problems, make faster decisions, and ship with consistency. Based in Sydney, available remotely worldwide.
I work with founder-led teams where product management is still emerging or where the founder is still carrying product decisions on their own.
Most teams do not need more frameworks or templates. What they need is to see what good product management actually looks like for their world, in their market, and have it reflected in how the team works every day.
That's what a fractional product manager or fractional head of product does: senior product leadership embedded in your team, without the cost or commitment of a full-time hire.
What does fractional product leadership mean in practice?
A fractional product leader works with your team on an ongoing basis, embedded, hands-on, and involved in the product development process.
Some teams call this role a fractional head of product or a fractional CPO. The title matters less than the outcome: experienced product leadership that shapes how your team operates week to week and builds them up towards working independently by learning the strategy, context, and business intent.
Where I've done it
15+ years
Across product and engineering, from lead engineer to product director.
7 companies
HealthShare, Backpocket, Brighte, The Iconic, Hoyts, News Corp, Yahoo!7.
3 industries
Regulated healthtech, fintech, and large-scale ecommerce, across subscription, marketplace and transactional models.
Director level
Portfolio strategy, capital allocation and product governance, reporting to CEOs.
The results behind this, conversion lifts, revenue growth, payment volumes, stay confidential to those companies. I'll walk you through the specifics on a call.
Who this is for (and isn't)
Good fit
- You have a dev team but no product leadership function.
- The founder or CEO is carrying product decisions and needs leverage.
- Product is expected to deliver, but there's no clear process behind it.
- Teams are busy, but impact is unclear.
- You're scaling and feeling the cost of poor trade-offs.
Not a fit
- You're looking for a backlog owner or delivery manager.
- You want a framework to copy-paste without ongoing execution.
- Leadership isn't willing to change how decisions get made.
Common situations I'm brought into
If these sound familiar, the issue is rarely talent, it's structure, clarity, and decision-making rhythm.
How I work with teams
Three ways to work with me, depending on what your team needs right now.
Fractional Product Leadership
I work hands-on with founder-led teams to build a product function from scratch, or step in as a fractional head of product or fractional product manager when you need experienced leadership now, without committing to a full-time hire.
- The founder is carrying product and needs to hand it off.
- You have engineers but no one shaping what to build.
- You've considered hiring a fractional product owner but want someone with genuine strategic depth.
I operate as a trusted internal leader: running discovery, shaping direction, staying close to delivery, and building the operating rhythm your business is missing.
Ongoing engagement, no minimum commitment.
Workshops
Focused, hands-on sessions on product fundamentals and specific problem areas: discovery and prioritisation in practice, stakeholder alignment and decision framing, and putting AI to work instead of just getting a briefing on it.
- You want a team that leaves with workflows they can use Monday morning, not a slide deck.
- You need a focused reset on one problem area rather than a broad training program.
Half-day or full-day, scoped to what your team needs.
Advisory
Selective, flexible support outside a full embed. Three forms this usually takes:
Product Foundation Sprint
A four-week, two-days-a-week sprint that turns a messy idea list into an agreed, evidence-backed roadmap, plus the operating rhythm to keep it current. I meet the key people, introduce a simple model for evaluating ideas (customer value, strategic fit, ROI, effort, risk), score the current backlog with your team, and run the first review board so the cadence outlives the sprint. Good when product is one responsibility inside a broader role, often a CTO's, and nobody has time to keep the roadmap current. Fixed scope, fixed price, four weeks.
Product leadership coaching
1:1 work with founders or emerging product leaders to strengthen judgment and decision-making, grounded in real decisions you're facing rather than abstract theory. Typically a three-month engagement.
Product hiring support
Defining the role correctly, setting the bar, and running a hiring process that finds someone who can actually do the job, not just interview well. From writing the brief to assessing candidates. Engagement structure varies.
Not a retainer. Not decks. Scoped to what's actually needed.
What does it cost?
Fractional product leadership is typically structured as a monthly retainer based on days per week, starting from $12,000 a month. It's significantly less than a full-time CPO hire, which runs $250k to $380k all-in for a senior person in Sydney, and you can start and stop without a lengthy notice period. The Product Foundation Sprint is a fixed four-week engagement, quoted upfront once we've scoped it on a call.
Every engagement starts with a 30-minute conversation to understand your context. From there I'll outline a proposed structure and rate, no obligation.
What changes when this works
- Clearer product direction and sharper trade-offs.
- Faster decisions with less founder involvement required.
- A team that can run discovery and delivery without being managed.
- Fewer alignment meetings, more actual progress.
- Product that ships and moves the business forward.
- A product operating rhythm the business can sustain without you in every call.
How I work differently
- I embed, not advise from the sidelines.
- I focus on judgment and decision quality, not rituals.
- I work with real problems, not hypothetical frameworks.
- I care more about what's different in 90 days than what looks good in a deck.
My background
I've operated as a fractional product leader in founder-led organisations where product had to earn trust, not assume it, often stepping in when teams were stretched, decisions were slow, and the gap between strategy and delivery was growing.
15+ years across startups and scale-ups. Based in Sydney, available remotely worldwide. I'm also a Startmate mentor, and founded SoundingBoard, a place for product people to compare notes with someone who has been there.
Writing
On product, AI, and how the two collide.
For most of the last decade, the hard part was building software. Engineers were needed, e...
Most teams don't have a decision-making problem. They have a decision-conditions problem....
I spent the first few years of my career as a software engineer before I discovered produc...
Most product strategies are roadmaps in disguise. Even your leadership team is probably us...
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a fractional product leader and a fractional CPO?
Mostly seniority and scope. A fractional product leader typically operates at Head of Product level across discovery, prioritisation, and delivery. A fractional CPO adds executive responsibilities such as portfolio strategy, investor communication, and team design. For many founder-led Australian companies, the work overlaps and the title matters less than the mandate.
How is this different from product strategy consulting?
A strategy consultant usually delivers a recommendation or defined output. A fractional product leader stays embedded, makes decisions with the team, and owns outcomes week to week. A focused Product Foundation Sprint can solve a specific strategy and roadmap problem without requiring an ongoing engagement.
How many days per week do you work with a company?
Typically one to three days per week, depending on the scope and the team. I limit the number of simultaneous engagements so I can stay close to the decisions and delivery work.
What is the minimum engagement length?
There is no minimum commitment for ongoing fractional leadership. Most engagements run for three to six months and can extend from there. The Product Foundation Sprint is a separate fixed four-week engagement.
Can you help with fundraising or board communication?
Yes. I can make product strategy legible to investors and boards through a clear narrative, a credible roadmap, and defensible prioritisation. I can also help leadership answer difficult questions about product direction, risk, and return.
Do you work in person or remotely?
Both. I am based in Sydney and can work in person with Sydney teams. I also work remotely with companies across Australia and internationally.
What does a focused product strategy engagement produce?
The Product Foundation Sprint produces an agreed, evidence-backed roadmap, clear reasoning behind the priorities, and a practical decision model and review cadence the team can keep using. The output is working material for the team, not a slide deck that sits unused.
Do you work with non-tech businesses?
I work with tech-enabled businesses where software is central to how the company creates or captures value. If you are building a product or platform, the model is likely relevant even if the company does not describe itself as a technology business.
Let's talk
If you're unsure whether this is the right next step, that's usually a good sign. Drop me a line and we'll talk through your context, no pitch, no pressure. If it's not a fit, I'll tell you.
