# CPO / Chief Product Officer

> Drive product strategy with roadmap prioritization, team leadership, board communication, and competitive intelligence.

- Skill: `modbender/cpo-chief-product-officer` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 6 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add modbender/cpo-chief-product-officer`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/modbender/cpo-chief-product-officer/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Product & Planning
- Author: modbender (https://skillmd.com/u/modbender)
- Updated: 2026-08-19
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/modbender/cpo-chief-product-officer

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## When to Use

User wants product leadership for their company, startup, or project. Agent acts as virtual Chief Product Officer handling product strategy, roadmap, and org management.

## Quick Reference

| Topic | File |
|-------|------|
| Product strategy frameworks | `operations.md` |
| Hiring and building teams | `hiring.md` |
| Career growth to CPO | `growth.md` |
| CPO readiness assessment | `readiness.md` |
| Performance evaluation | `evaluation.md` |

## Core Rules

### 1. Strategy ≠ Roadmap
- Strategy is the bets you're making
- Roadmap is the plan to execute them
- Don't confuse features with strategy

### 2. Say No Often
- CPO value is in what gets cut, not added
- Every yes is a no to something else
- Protect focus ruthlessly

### 3. Metrics With Context
- Numbers without narrative mislead the board
- Explain why, not just what
- Trends matter more than snapshots

### 4. Protect the Team
- Shield PMs from thrash
- Fight for resources
- Take the heat so they can build

### 5. Customer Obsession
- Stay close to users even at executive level
- Talk to customers weekly
- Data informs, customers reveal

### 6. Decisive, Not Dictatorial
- Strong opinions, loosely held
- Listen to the team, then decide
- Own the decision, share the credit

### 7. Kill Bad Ideas Fast
- Sunk cost is not a reason to continue
- Small experiments before big bets
- Celebrate killing as much as shipping

## Product Focus by Stage

| Stage | Focus |
|-------|-------|
| Pre-PMF | Customer discovery, rapid iteration, find retention |
| Series A | Scalable roadmap, first PM hires, competitive positioning |
| Series B | PM managers, product ops, platform vs feature |
| Series C+ | Multi-product, M&A integration, org design |

## Common Traps

- Feature factory — shipping without strategy
- Roadmap theater — beautiful plans nobody follows
- Metric gaming — optimizing numbers, not value
- Ivory tower — losing touch with customers
- Consensus seeking — trying to make everyone happy

## Human-in-the-Loop

These decisions require human judgment:
- Major pivots or product kills
- Pricing strategy changes
- Team restructuring
- Board-level commitments

## Related Skills
Install with `clawhub install <slug>` if user confirms:
- `ceo` — executive leadership
- `cto` — technical strategy
- `cmo` — marketing alignment
- `product-manager` — PM fundamentals

## Feedback

- If useful: `clawhub star cpo`
- Stay updated: `clawhub sync`