We help companies
discover and deliver great
products.
Faster.

Our Interim/Fractional Product Managers/Owners, Product Ops, or Product Leaders cover parental leaves, scale your Product Management team quickly, or lead key initiatives while bridging the gap until a full-time employee joins.
We onboard fast, align teams and deliver outcomes.

100+
Clients from Startups to Publicly Listed Companies
350+
Cross-functional Teams Effectively Supported
50
In-House Product Managers & Product Leaders

Clients

deepL
Tier Mobility
Backmarket
Omio
Curalie
Freeletics
A logo for Scout24
Apriwell
Alira Health
Ecosia
Blinkist
Remote
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EcosiaOmioFreeleticsRemoteScout 24Backmarket

Supplier Of

capabilities

We discover and deliver great products as Interim/Fractional Product Managers while upskilling your team.

Our Services

It takes on average 3-9 months to find the right Product Manager to hire as a full-time employee. In the meantime, someone needs to fill in the void: drive cross-functional initiatives, decide what is worth building, and help the development team deliver the best outcomes.
We fill this gap, deliver great outcomes and smoothly onboard the new hire to set them up for succes.

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Interim Product Manager or Product Leaders

Cover parental leaves for 3-12 months. Or unstaffed permanent positions as it takes 3-9 months/role.  Get temporary help to drive product discovery and delivery for a deadline and create big impact in a short time.

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Product Discovery Lead

Discover the next impactful initiative or product, market and user research to business model, etc.
Run a low or no-code pilot/MVP: discover, ideate, align the team, run and kick-off the next iteration.

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Product Coach or Consultant

Coach your Product Management team to reach their full potential. Create and streamline processes from 0 to 1 including Product Operations and Program Management. When needed restructure the team or scale.
Learn more about coaching

our services

Our Product Managers are experienced in scaling B2C and B2B Products

Why Work With Us

We delivered great outcomes at different stages and in a variety of industries: mobility, car sharing, e-commerce, health tech (including regulatory compliance), wellness, travel, edtech, cybersecurity, real estate, logistics, social media, cybersecurity, IoT, AdTech, FinTech (credit cards, invoicing, royalties), prop tech, HR, tech.

We've covered all areas from product growth, conversion, retention, payments, platform, complex integrations and data products.

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Product Strategy and Roadmapping

We create product roadmaps from post product market fit, to market expansion, scaling and beyond. We drive product vision and shape product strategy. If not already there, we'll set up the right North Star Metric, OKRs and KPIs  for each team to create significant impact.

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Web, Mobile and Platform Products

Comprehensive understanding of the state of the art web and mobile technologies including working with high traffic iOS and Android apps. We have Technical Product Management experience and also worked with highly regulated products (Medtech, FinTech).

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Continuous Product Discovery and User Research

We balance intuition and the scientific approach to make effective and timely product choices. We're hands-on, data-driven and experimental. We collaborate with other roles to uncover opportunities, test hypotheses and build lovable and successful products.

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Cross-Functional Team Collaboration

We often work with cross-functional teams (e.g., Engineering, User Experience, Design, Program Management, Product Operations) teams. We're comfortable with Agile (Scrum, SaFe, Kanban), Shape Up and above all, very pragmatic.

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High Traffic and/or Complex Digital Products

Most of our clients are scale-ups or larger. We're used to aligning numerous stakeholders for complex hight traffic products. Our excellent communication skills help us convince senior leadership and motivate large distributed teams to execute timely on our initiatives.

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From Discovery to Launch to Scaling and Beyond

We have led go-to-market strategies and teams, for digital products from MVPs to product market fit, scaling and hyper-growth phases. We conduct market research and competitive analysis, uncover market opportunities and help your product's success.

Want to understand how we can support your team?
We're excited to learn more
Why work with us

We onboard blazing fast

Our experienced interim Product Managers onboard fast as we are accustomed to switching teams and projects. This makes us more agile and capable of handling onboarding easily while bringing in a fresh perspective and new ideas.

How we work
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Viktoria joined us at Freeletics as an interim Product Manager while we were still searching to fill a full-time candidate and I couldn't be happier with how quickly she onboarded and jumped into the new challenges she was facing!

Erin
Erin Mclaine

Head of Product at Freeletics

In just a few months Mirela managed to ship many experiments and iterations in a mature, core revenue flow, some failing some succeeding, influencing future product strategy at Scout

Stephan Schubert
Stefan Schubert-Peters

Head of Product at Immobilen Scout 24

Why work with us

Benefit from the
Hive Brain of our
Product Managers

All our PMs are full time with Product People and on a permanent contract. They went through a 7-step hiring process including hands-on assessment and reference checks. After joining Product People, they all receive extensive mentoring by senior colleagues and the founder, yearly learning budget and paid learning days.

All our PMs benefit from each others diverse backgrounds, exchange knowledge via sharing sessions and hands-on coworking, and tap into 100+ years of our combined PM experience.

How we work
110+
Years of Product
Management
20+
Languages
25+
Nationalities
PhDs
MBAs
why work with us
Flexible contracts that fit your needs
4 weeks cancelation

Our Interim Product Managers onboard fast as we are accustomed to switching teams, products and industries every 3-6 months and have a playbook which we update with each new client engagement.

How we work
3 - 10 days
to kickoff from contract signing date.
Yes, we can start ASAP.
2 weeks
onboarding time for our PMs.
We start contributing fast.

case studies

Case study

Freeletics

Discovery
Case study

WHO

Delivery
Case study

Zenhomes

Discovery
Case study

Zalando

A/B Testing
Case study

Rotageek

Discovery
Case study

Pliant

Discovery

client testimonials

Don't take our word for it, see what our clients say

Mirela and her team at Product People played an invaluable role in supporting the scaling of the Ometria product team. I was impressed how all the team were all comfortable adapting to our processes and ways of working and were able to quickly get up to speed.

Tom Hazeldine
Tom Hazeldine

fmr. VP at Ometria

I was lucky to have Product People supporting on driving the discovery on a new and complex opportunity. They worked themselves into the topic with ease and showed a high sense of ownership to connect with all relevant stakeholders and deliver results.

Zalando logo
Manuel Müller

Principal Product Manager at Zalando

Product People representative was acting as the Interim Product Manager at Tier Mobility GmbH when I joined. They were driving setting up a new product area and brought a lot of structure for the team and stakeholders.

Katharina Marquordt
Katharina Marquordt

Head of Product at Tier Mobility

Alex's sessions were so great and helpful! Despite I was skeptical about the coaching sessions, I am glad that I was wrong - Alex shared very concrete, pragmatic, and supported by real examples knowledge.

Danail Marinov
Danail Marinov

Product Manager GFK

Client testimonials

Product People team member proved to be an effective Product Manager, taking on product leadership for two small teams, mobile and web, working in fast iterations with a designer, giving transparency over their pipeline.

Stephan Schubert
Stefan Schubert-Peters

fmr. Product Manager at Scout24

Product People joined us at Freeletics as an Interim Product Manager while we were still searching to fill a full-time candidate and I couldn't be happier with how quickly they've onboarded and jumped into the new challenges they were facing!

Erin
Erin McLaine

frm. Head of Product at Freeletics

Product People showed great empathy, an eye for detail, as well as a very structured approach to product management – all assets, which I consider crucial to success in the role. They managed their product in an analytical, outcome-driven way and with strong, effective communication.

Marian Sutholt
Marian Sutholt

fmr. Product Lead at WeShare

I had the pleasure to work with Product People team member during my tenure at Cosuno and saw them as experienced and seasoned, capable of both handling various business stakeholders and providing a clear scope for the team at work.

Alex Duduka
Alex Duduka

fmr. Engineering Manager at Cosuno

Client testimonials

I recently worked with Product People on a consultative project where they've advised our team on applying a product lifecycle approach to the development of a new digital product concept. I found them to be super knowledgeable, but at the same time, very pragmatic.

Victoria Lee
Victoria Lee

Senior Director Global Analytics and Consulting at HAVI

I worked with Product People whilst I was VP Product at Ometria and they joined us as an Interim Product Manager. They were a real asset to the team in the 4 or 5 months we worked together. Product People were hard working, reliable and very detail oriented.

Tom Hazeldine
Tom Hazeldine

fmr. VP Product at Ometria

I had been working with Product People representatives for about 4 months, but this time is more than enough to evaluate them as a hard-working, high-motivated and self-organized person. They brought many improvements in the working process we have.

Omio Logo
Oleksiy Rodin

fmr. Engineering Manager at Omio

Product People managed to organize and prioritize our backlog in record time. They helped a lot with shielding the team with constant requests from external and internal partners. They helped put in place a process to make prioritization easier and let the team be more focused.

John Nikolakis
John Nikolakis

Engineering Manager at Omio

our team

Diverse team of 50+ Product
Managers and Product Leaders

61%
Women Including Leadership
20+
Locations and Languages
7
Unbiased Hiring Process Steps

COMMUNITY EVENTS

Meet our product management community of 30,000+ Product Managers and Leaders. Our weekly live-streamed events feature speakers from Google, Amazon, Facebook, LinkedIn, Spotify, Reddit, Tinder, Bumble, Microsoft, Delivery Hero, HelloFresh, Zalando, Ada Health, Headspace, Grover, Uber, Volkswagen, Daimler, Stripe, Klarna, N26, Zoom and more.

Product People Community
Frequently Asked Questions
When can you start?
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We're usually available to start ASAP, meaning 3-10 bussines days from the moment our contract is signed. In some cases, it was the next day.

How much will it cost?
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We bill for time and material. Our day rate depends on the seniority of the client-facing representative, contract length (3+ months), allocation (2-4 days/week), volume, and complexity. We're happy to extend an offer once we understand the scope of work and your needs better. Schedule a call to help us prepare an offer for you.

Why is it more expensive than a full-time hire in Europe?
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ASAP Availability: Hiring a full-time employee takes 3-9 months from publishing the job to their first day at your company. We manage our “bus factor” and ensure service continuation without losing knowledge or momentum, even if our representatives become unavailable on short notice (e.g., COVID-19).

Flexibility without liability: A full-time employee comes with a lot of responsibility and liability. We're a service provider, and our services have 4 weeks' notice to allow for a smooth handover if your plans change. Unlike layoffs, there's no team morale impact, as we always aim to exit on a high note and leave things in order. Many of our clients have returned at a later date thanks to this approach.

Mitigate Opportunity cost: A development team in Europe costs €500,000-€1,000,000/year with overhead. Try a back-of-napkin calculation with the opportunity cost from not launching a critical initiative the right way or having them spend time on low-value initiatives. Although more difficult to quantify, decreased team morale and communication breakdown can also happen when a Product Manager is missing for too long.

Why do great Product Managers join Product People instead of working directly for one of your clients?
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Talented and ambitious Product Managers join us to accelerate their career and see behind the curtain of Europe’s best product companies, instead of potentially stagnating in one company or sector and working on only one product. With us, they work on a wide range of B2C and B2B products across many industries and with different company sizes (from series A+ to publicly listed). We support companies through hyper-growth, downturns, and all of life’s challenges.

Product Managers also join to work closely with and learn from other high-caliber individuals. At Product People, we focus on hiring for skills rather than solely based on CVs or past experience. We have an extensive hiring process, which you can learn about in our candidate interview guide. Our team members have comprehensive 360 feedback cycles every 3 months - not only on client work but also with internal initiatives. With a strong internal growth mentality, we actively develop and promote our people.

How do you handle vacations and sick leaves? Do we risk not having an interim PM for a few weeks during the enagement?
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We take vacations seriously and also allow our PMs to recharge via paid sabbaticals and optional 4-day work weeks. Nevertheless, we take measures to provide uninterrupted service to our clients. All of our PMs are accompanied by an Associate PM, which is complimentary for the client. This person acts as a backup to limit the “bus factor” and can step up to cover short vacations and sick leave. If a longer leave is planned by the leading PM, we onboard and train another PM of the same level or higher to keep the momentum. Any time invested in handovers is complimentary to the client; we will make sure that the client's team doesn't experience any overhead.

How do you ensure you can onboard quickly?
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At Product People, we aim to minimize the new PM onboarding overhead for the companies by hiring the best Product Managers and training them in serving as interim PMs. This is achieved by implementing two core elements in our organization: a rigorous hiring process and weekly internal trainings.

 Firstly, the PMs at Product People are all full-time employees of the company and have gone through a 5-step recruiting process. We do not necessarily care about the years of PM experience as long as candidates show great product sense, strong communication skills, and mental flexibility. We test product management skills and knowledge, as well as soft skills.

Secondly, we train our PMs on a portfolio of the best PM practices and how to successfully onboard to a new product and team. These two approaches help our PMs to adapt quickly in an interim role, creating impact within the first two weeks. This may involve dealing with demotivated teams and difficult stakeholders; our team is able to assess and delicately maneuver the cultural landscape. As all of our PMs have worked in multiple industries, they are not afraid of dealing with new topics and, moreover, can always lean on the rest of the Product People team for advice and guidance.

When should I hire an Interim/Freelance Product Manager?
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1. Interim Product Manager (or Product Leader)
Parental leave or extended sick leave covers usually range between 3 and 9 months. We also bridge the gap with permanent positions, while you’re searching for the right fit; this can vary from 3 to 12 months, depending on the role. We recommend a two-week overlap with  your departing PM for a smooth handover and to minimize knowledge loss.

We can also tackle important and urgent initiatives that your product team doesn't have capacity for: driving product discovery and/or delivery to meet a deadline, we can create  a measurable impact in 3 months.

2. Product Coach or Consultant (or Program Manager/Product Ops)
As a coach for your product management team members, we appraise their respective skill sets and set up personal development plans. We can also help streamline product operations and grow product thinking in your company, whether during hyper-growth or at scale. Read more about the coaching options we offer.

3. Product Discovery
Discover the next impactful initiative or product using market and user research to create a clear business model. We can help run a low or no-code MVP pilot; discover, ideate, align your team, and kick-off with a set budget or timeline in mind. We support your team with iterative processes to develop better products.

Can you fill Product Leadership roles on an interim basis?
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Yes, we are happy to fill in Product Leadership roles (CPO, Director of Product, VP Product, Head of Product, Lead PM) on an interim basis to support your company leaders taking leave (parental, sabbatical, health-related) or while you are recruiting. Our Group PMs and Senior PMs have 6-10 years in Product Management, as well as extensive experience in coaching and mentoring junior PMs. They can also support your organization in defining a PM leveling structure, PM development plans, hiring and an onboarding strategy. You leverage their individual expertise, as well that of Product People, based on hundreds of PM interviews we have conducted and over fifty PMs we have trained internally.

Can you also provide our in-house PMs with training/coaching?
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We can help upskill your team through structured workshops, Product Management bootcamps and individual coaching programs. For topics or activities, we don't cover, we have trusted partners and courses to which we can refer you.

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