Teams of 5–15
Fractional leadership for teams of 5–15
This is where things start to break. The founder can't be in every conversation anymore. Communication that used to happen naturally now requires effort. Features get built that nobody asked for, or worse, that duplicate what someone else is already working on. Lightweight leadership structures make the biggest difference at this stage, and it's where fractional leadership is most cost-effective.
Challenges at this size
- •Founder is the bottleneck for every decision, and it's slowing everything down
- •Team is big enough that informal communication no longer works
- •Hiring is happening but onboarding is "sit next to someone and figure it out"
- •Engineering is shipping but there's no product strategy guiding what gets built
What we bring as Head of Product
We take ownership of your product direction. That means defining what to build and why, aligning engineering and commercial priorities, and creating the roadmap discipline that turns founder intuition into repeatable product decisions. We run discovery, set priorities, and make sure each sprint goes on work that matters.
A clear product strategy your team can work from, roadmaps tied to revenue, and a way of prioritising that holds up in practice. Your team knows why it is building what it builds.
What you need at 5–15 people
At 5–15 people, you need to introduce structure without killing the startup energy. That means clear product direction, basic delivery cadences, and enough operational scaffolding that the founder can step back from day-to-day management. A fractional leader builds these foundations and helps you hire the right permanent people when the time comes.