post

B2B product management

Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning (ML)

Building Product Teams

Business Strategy

Data Driven Product Management

Digital Transformation

Diversity and Inclusion

Minimum Viable Product

OKRs

Prioritisation

Product Design

Product Research

Product Development Process

Product Ethics

Product Discovery

Product Leadership

Product Management Career

Product Strategy

Stakeholder Management

🌎 <a href="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/world-product-day/" style="color:#FFFFFF;text-decoration:underline;">Happy World Product Day!</a> Be sure to celebrate product, yourself, and your peers today! 🎉

Successful product management in companies where it’s least understood

Measuring critical user journeys – Javier Andrés Bargas-Avila (UX Director, Google)

A new way to look at applied experiments

Product survey findings: Only 15% of users are embracing AI features 

Building high-performing product teams: The PDLC approach

Footer About

Footer Contribute

Footer Get Involved

Footer Links

Mind the Product

Guest Post

Overcoming the 20% feature usage challenge

Product Management

Three product leaders to learn from at #mtpcon inside Pendomonium

Kate's product management, org design, and marketing background spans more than 25 years. She has had a front-row seat to the evolving ways products are discovered, defined, built, and delivered and now takes her hands-on experience into organizations of all shapes and sizes as a consultant, coach, and advisor; helping to create authentic, high-performing cultures, teams, and products. Her consulting experience has taken her around the world, guiding clients that range from disruptive start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Her first book,
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hiring-Product-Managers-beyond-culture-ebook/dp/B08H2JMC96/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=kate+leto&amp;qid=1614946477&amp;sr=8-1" rel="nofollow"> Hiring Product Managers: Using Product EQ to go beyond culture and skills</a>, has recently
been released by Sense &amp; Respond Press. Find out more at <a href="https://www.kateleto.com/" rel="nofollow"> www.kateleto.com</a>.

Kate Leto

<p><a href="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/question_freelance.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-2423 alignright" title="Questions about freelancing as a product manager" src="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/question_freelance-300x182.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="182" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/question_freelance-300x182.jpg 300w, /wp-content/uploads/2012/11/question_freelance.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>Just over a year ago, I left a full-time position as head of product at moo.com and dove into the un-chartered waters of freelance product management work. After nearly 15 years of full-time work, my goal was to work three or four days a week while I started my own business.</p>
<p>I was so attracted to the idea of flexibility and independence that freelance offers, but of course, scared stiff about the &#8220;great unknowns.&#8221; You know, little things like: &#8220;What if I can&#8217;t find any projects?&#8221; What if I&#8217;m terrible at this?&#8221; What if companies only really want full-time people?&#8221; What if I run out of savings and then can&#8217;t get another full-time job?&#8221; Panic ensued.</p>
<p>Well, I&#8217;m very happy to say the risk of going freelance and chasing my own little dream of being my own boss has worked out quite nicely.</p>
<p>Over the past year, I&#8217;ve been asked by many product managers about the ins-and-outs of freelance, so thought I&#8217;d just jot down some of the most common questions and my experiences thus far.</p>
<p>In this first post, I&#8217;ll talk about finding that first client and what type of projects are out there for freelancers.</p>
<h2>How did you get going and find your first client?</h2>
<p>It&#8217;s just like finding any other new job &#8211; it takes some time, networking, research and most of all knowing what type of project you want and sticking to your guns until you find it. On my journey to get that initial gig, I was offered a few full-time positions, which were tempting, but it took awhile to get that first freelance project.</p>
<p>I didn&#8217;t realize at the time &#8211; but looking back, the idea of freelance or consultant product management was a bit new to the London scene. As we all know, product management is growing quickly in London, especially within the tech and media spaces. Thus, leaders in organizations of all sizes are starting to look to Product as an essential role. However, the idea of having someone in a few days a week or to consult on a project was different, and a somewhat unsettling for many people that I talked to.</p>
<p>After meeting a number of people, and being completely honest about my availability and interests, it was basically all about finding an organisation that could benefit from my capabilities and experiences in the amount of time available.</p>
<p>So basically, just put the word out with your friends, colleagues, Linkedin network. Know what you want to do, and stick to your guns until you find it. Simple as!</p>
<h2>What type of work do you do as a consultant?</h2>
<p>It really depends on the organisation, its needs and what your strengths are. Once you start talking to folks, you&#8217;ll see what their needs are &#8211; Is it managing a specific product? Putting together a research or requirement finding process? Helping them build a team? Plan a roadmap? Coach others to become product managers?</p>
<p>The type of work you&#8217;ll do as a consultant can be as varied as the type of work you do now in a full-time positon. Of course, as a freelancer, you can choose to only take on the bits and pieces you&#8217;re really interested in &#8230; but I have to say, it doesn&#8217;t happen often that I find a project that is exactly the type of work I enjoy. So, be prepared to make some compromises.</p>
<p>But hey &#8211; you&#8217;re freelance &#8211; it&#8217;s up to you!</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Over the next few weeks, if there&#8217;s interest, I&#8217;ll do a few more posts, addressing more questions &#8230; so please add your questions in the comments below, or send them directly to me: <a href="mailto:kateleto@gmail.com">kateleto@gmail.com</a></em></p>
<div class="g g-21"><div class="g-single a-170"><a class="gofollow" data-track="MTcwLDIxLDEsNjA=" href="https://www.pendo.io/pendomonium/"><img decoding="async" src="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MTP-Footer_ad.png" /></a></div></div>

The life and times of a Product Management Consultant …

Kate Leto

Comments

Read next