Fractional product lead
A product without a lead loses direction faster than budget
When nobody owns the product's direction, the team keeps working but decisions get made by accident. We join the team and lead the roadmap, the priorities and the tough decisions, with no recruitment and no full-time salary cost.
Written by Radosław Kołacki Updated
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When is a fractional product lead worth it?
The product lead has left and nobody is leading the work. The team is growing but nobody owns the direction.
Or the company is building its first digital product and needs someone who has done it before.
Recruitment takes months, and in the meantime someone still answers to the board for the budget spent on the product.
Who is a fractional product lead for?
- A whole team works on the product, but nobody owns it as a whole
- The previous product lead has left and the successor has not started yet
- A head of product or Product Owner needs a second opinion on roadmap decisions
How it works
How does a fractional product lead work step by step?
01
We start by understanding the problem
We get to know the product, the team, the goals and the constraints. We talk to the people who make product decisions today.
02
Setting direction
We set the priorities, the roadmap and the team's way of working.
03
Leading
We lead decisions and keep the product consistent. We direct the team's work, and delivery stays with the team.
04
Keeping the rhythm
We run regular meetings and record decisions. We adjust the level of engagement from month to month.
A named person owns product direction, without months of recruitment and without the cost of a full-time role. The engagement grows or shrinks with the team's needs.
How much does a fractional product lead cost?
from PLN 2,000 net/day
A day of a fractional product lead costs from PLN 2,000 net. We start from your needs: describe where the product is today, who makes the decisions and what the team is missing. Then we talk and agree together on what makes sense: the scope of responsibility, the number of days and the way of working. We give the price after that conversation.
We start with a call about the product and the team, with no long contract up front. We reply within a few hours.
„Bettonico Sp. z o.o. recommends Squares and Radosław Kołacki with full confidence as a Business Partner worth recommending. Our collaboration started in January 2021 and so far has covered building our website and graphic design projects.”
Katarzyna Nawrocka
Google review, translated from Polish · Full review
Work
How it works in practice
Air purifier ranking: an ongoing engagement since 2022
We have been developing the platform without a break since 2022: new categories and filters come from user feedback. It is continuous product responsibility, though not in the fractional lead format.
Case study
Daily Effect: from workshop to ongoing app development
Since 2023 we have taken the app from workshops and the scope of the first version to new features and maintenance. It is a full project with delivery, not the lead role alone.
Case study
Prose Captain: Squares' own product
We run our AI assistant platform ourselves: from scope, through deployments at two clients, to development based on real user conversations.
Case study
Why Squares
We lead digital products, including medical products and complex B2B systems, where a bad decision is costly. We have been developing the Ranking-oczyszczaczy.pl platform in an ongoing engagement since 2022: it has grown from one category to eight and several thousand products. We direct the client team's work and record decisions, so the team does not depend on one person.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What is a fractional product lead (fractional product manager)?
A fractional product lead is an experienced person who runs the product for part of the week instead of full time. They own the roadmap, the priorities and the hard decisions, while delivery stays with the company's team. In the industry the role is also called a fractional product manager or an interim product manager.
How much does a fractional product lead cost?
The price depends on the scope, which we agree after a conversation. First the company describes its needs, then together we define the scope of responsibility, the number of days and the way of working, and only then do we give a figure. We bill a fixed monthly fee for an agreed number of days.
How long does an engagement with a product lead last?
An engagement usually lasts 3-12 months. We adjust the number of days from month to month, so the involvement grows around bigger decisions and shrinks as the team takes over more areas. No long contract is needed to start, and we agree the duration and scale with the team at the outset and correct them along the way.
What does a product lead do in the team?
A product lead sets priorities, runs the roadmap and keeps the product coherent. The work has four stages: getting to know the product and the team, setting the direction, leading decisions and keeping a steady rhythm of regular meetings. The lead directs the team's work, while delivery stays on the team's side. Decisions are written down so the team does not depend on one person.
When is a fractional product lead a better choice than a full-time hire?
A fractional product lead fits when the previous lead has left, the team is growing with nobody owning the direction, or the company is building its first digital product. Hiring full time takes months, while this role needs no recruitment and none of the cost of a full-time position. When a single opinion on one decision is needed, Consulting is enough.
What is the difference between a fractional and an interim model?
Fractional and interim are two ways a product lead can work. Fractional means ongoing support for a few days a month, alongside the team's own work. Interim means a fuller engagement for a set period, for example from the previous lead's departure until the successor starts. In both models billing is monthly.
How is a Fractional product lead different from UX packages?
A Fractional product lead owns the direction, while UX packages supply designer hours for getting tasks done. UX packages are bought as 20, 40 or 80 hours, from PLN 5,000, 10,000 and 20,000 net, which is PLN 250 net per hour. A product lead is billed by role and by days per week, with no pool of hours to use up.
What does a fractional product lead need from the company to start?
To start, the lead needs access to the people who currently make product decisions, plus knowledge of the company's goals and constraints. The first stage consists of conversations with those people and getting to know the product and the team. Priorities, the roadmap and the team's way of working are built on that basis.
Does a fractional product lead work remotely?
Yes, a fractional product lead works remotely, with teams in Poland and abroad. Regular meetings and recorded decisions set the rhythm, so the team knows what was agreed even on days when the lead is not present. That is how we worked with the Danish NoHo Group, among others, with the workshops held online.
Is an engagement with a product lead covered by an NDA and a framework agreement?
Yes, both an NDA and a framework agreement are available. A product lead sees the company's roadmap, data and plans, so a light NDA is signed before the first paid day of work. The framework agreement sets fixed terms, and further months and changes in the number of days are ordered under it, without renegotiating the terms.