Nourish Care, a rapidly expanding healthcare technology firm, recently secured investment from Livingbridge, setting the stage for substantial growth in both revenue and team size.

As part of this growth journey, Nuno Almeida, CEO of Nourish Care, sought the guidance of Nick Black, a seasoned product strategy advisor, to help navigate the crucial process of hiring the company’s first Chief Product Officer (CPO).

Challenge

We didn’t know what good looked like. Nuno Almeida, CEO

Nourish Care’s CEO, Nuno’s goal was to hire a CPO who could professionalize product management practices and rapidly scale the business. In doing so he faced several hurdles:

1. Unique company culture: As a founder-led organization, Nourish Care had a distinct culture that required a CPO who could not only excel in their role but also align with the company’s values and vision.

2. Lack of product management expertise: Nuno Almeida recognized that his own knowledge of product management best practices was limited.

3. Urgency to capture opportunity: This added pressure to find a CPO who could quickly develop and execute a plan to turn the product around and communicate this strategy to stakeholders.

Solution

The most valuable thing I learned from working with Nick was to look at the things that are the most important to Nourish in the next 12 to 18 months and then map that back to the candidates’ experience in the last 2-3 years. There’s a huge temptation to allow candidates to talk about things they did 15 years ago. Nuno Almeida, CEO

As an experienced chief product officer, Nick worked closely with Nuno Almeida to provide guidance and support throughout the CPO hiring process. Nick’s role included:

1. Acting as an experienced sounding board, helping to build conviction in Nourish Care’s beliefs about what was important for the role.

2. Providing structure to the hiring process, including a framework for assessing candidates based on the company’s top priorities for the next 2-3 years.

3. Designing a workshop that allowed candidates to demonstrate their skills and approach to product management in a real-world context.

Results

With Nick’s guidance and support, Nourish Care was able to build consensus among the senior management team and board on the top candidate and hire a CPO who aligned with their values and had the necessary skills and experience to lead their product team and drive business growth.

Testimonial

Nick’s support was invaluable throughout our CPO hiring process, helping us build conviction in our beliefs, structure the process effectively, and ultimately make the right hire for our company. The workshop he designed was particularly impactful, allowing us to see candidates’ skills and approach in action. I would strongly recommend Nick to any company looking to mature their product practice and drive business growth. Nuno Almeida, CEO, Nourish Care

Ace Your CPO Hiring

Nick offers a free to download e-book to help founders hire their first product manager.

If you’d like help hiring your chief product officer you can book an office hours with Nick.