# Ways to work with Zoltán Petres

Priority: a permanent CPO / VP Product role. Alongside the search, a small number of mandates.

## Chief Product Officer

A permanent executive seat, owning product, design and the investment case.

- **For:** Scale-ups from Series B and platform businesses where product has to carry the P&L, especially marketplaces and AI-native services.
- **Cadence:** Full-time
- **Duration:** Long-term
- **Outcomes:** A product strategy the board, the CFO and the teams all recognize; A portfolio governed by return, with the courage to stop things; A product organization that develops its own leaders

This is the main act. I am selecting my next permanent CPO or VP Product role, ideally in a business where product, data and commercial logic meet: two- and three-sided marketplaces, B2B platforms, and companies moving AI from slides into production.

## Interim CPO

Full-time leadership for a defined mission, with a clean handover.

- **For:** Companies between product leaders, after a reorganization, or before a funding round that needs a credible product story.
- **Cadence:** Full-time
- **Duration:** 3 to 9 months
- **Outcomes:** A stable, motivated product team and an operating rhythm that sticks; A strategy and roadmap the next leader can inherit; Hiring support for the permanent successor

An interim mandate starts with a written mission and ends with a handover. In between, I run the function as if it were mine.

## Fractional CPO

Senior product leadership one or two days a week.

- **For:** Seed to Series B companies that need executive product judgment before they need a full-time executive.
- **Cadence:** 1 to 2 days a week
- **Duration:** 6 months and up
- **Outcomes:** Product strategy and a portfolio tied to unit economics; Coaching for the product lead you already have, or help hiring one; Board-ready product narrative and metrics

Fractional works when the company has people who execute and needs someone who decides what is worth executing.

## Advisory

A sparring partner for founders, CEOs and boards.

- **For:** Founders and CEOs working on marketplace economics, pricing and take rates, AI investment cases, or product organization design.
- **Cadence:** A few hours a month
- **Duration:** Ongoing
- **Outcomes:** Sharper investment decisions on product and AI; An outside read on strategy, pricing and positioning; Introductions where they are genuinely useful

Monthly sessions plus async access. I am most useful on the questions that are expensive to get wrong: business model, portfolio and organization.

## Coaching

One-to-one coaching for product leaders stepping up.

- **For:** Heads of Product and new CPOs moving from running teams to running a function, and founders taking on the product role.
- **Cadence:** Every two weeks
- **Duration:** 3 to 6 months
- **Outcomes:** A clear leadership operating system for your own context; Stronger executive communication with the CEO and the board; A development plan you actually use

Coaching and developing operators is the part of the job I have been rated highest on. These sessions are practical, challenging and built around your real calendar.

## Talks & workshops

Keynotes and hands-on workshops for leadership teams.

- **For:** Conferences, leadership offsites and product teams.
- **Cadence:** A single day
- **Duration:** Half or full day
- **Outcomes:** Topics: marketplace unit economics, AI in production, revenue per FTE as a product metric; Workshops that end with decisions, not just notes

Talks draw on 15+ years of shipping and stopping things, with real numbers and the decisions behind them.

## FAQ

### Are you looking for a permanent role?

Yes. My priority is a permanent CPO or VP Product role in a company where product carries the P&L: marketplaces, B2B platforms and AI-native services. I take on a small number of advisory, coaching and interim mandates alongside the search.

### What is the difference between interim and fractional?

Interim is full-time for a defined mission of three to nine months, usually while you hire a permanent leader. Fractional is one or two days a week over a longer period, for companies that need executive product judgment before they need a full-time executive.

### Do you work remotely?

I am based in Berlin and work across Europe. Remote works well for advisory and coaching; interim and permanent roles benefit from regular time on site.

### Which industries do you know best?

Two- and three-sided marketplaces (food and grocery delivery, classifieds, travel metasearch), B2B platforms including climate-asset procurement, and personalization and recommendation systems.

### How do we start?

Book a 30-minute call. If there is a fit, I write a short mission statement with scope, outcomes and cadence, and we agree on it before any work starts.

Book a call: https://zoltan.peaktopeak.hu/contact