A comprehensive program launching this Summer to help product people get what they want and need from their careers.
40% off at launch. No obligation to buy. Opt-in to be a beta tester.
A successful product career is more than a series of jobs.
It's the skills you develop, the people you work with, and the values you aspire to.
It's what you achieve, and how you turn those achievements into the recognition and rewards you deserve.
It’s also about more than work. We have lives, partners, families, and financial commitments. During the decades we’ll be working, our priorities will shift along the way.
At the same time, the world we’re working in isn’t standing still. Technology evolves (yes, AI!). Businesses - and whole sectors - succeed, and fail. Today’s dream job might only last until tomorrow’s re-org.
So yes, you need to be great at your job, but you also need to actively manage your career in order to get what you want and need through all of this change.
It’s not enough to have a vision and hope for the best. You need to make moves now that will get you where you want to be in 2 - 3 years time.
This means focus. It means deciding what really matters to you and creating a plan to achieve it. It means owning your career.
I devised the Vital 9 based on decades of managing and coaching product people through this kind of change, and from learning (sometimes, the hard way) what actually works.
It’s a self-paced program combining interactive assessment, video, audio and text to help you decide what matters, build your plan and own your product career.
If you’re interested - you can sign up now for the early bird list and/or to be a beta tester and get a 40% discount at launch.
The price for the programme will be comparable with a single coaching session.
Get what you want and need from your product career
40% off at launch. No obligation to buy. Opt-in to be a beta tester.
About the Vital 9
The Vital 9 are the nine ingredients that you need over the duration of your career.
I’ve based them on a mix of personal experience, academic research and countless coaching conversations over the years.
I’ll talk more about the specific ingredients as it gets closer to launch - but they fall into three groups
⚡ Catalysts
The sparks that help you do your best work
The environment and people that give you energy. When these are good, everything feels easier. When they're missing, even small wins feel like pushing rocks uphill.
🛠️ Achievements
The engine room of your career
What actually propels your career forward. These are the things you highlight on your CV, talk about in interviews, and use to push for advancement.
💰 Rewards
What are you getting in return?
You invest a lot in your work. Are you getting a good return on that investment?Not just immediate compensation, but your overall financial progress and how the market values you.
40% off at launch. No obligation to buy. Opt-in to be a beta tester.
About me
My career has spanned decades of product development from the earliest days of the web.
I’ve held product leadership and exec roles at Amazon, The Guardian, LOVEFiLM, Sky, The RAC and QA Ltd. I’ve also consulted at a range of organisations.
I’ve had a great career overall But, I’ve also had to deal with set-backs, redundancy, imposter syndrome, and the challenge of doing a full-on job, while also helping to raise three children.
I haven’t got everything right. But the mistakes I’ve made have become lessons I can now pass on to others.
Along the way I’ve hired, developed, managed and coached dozens of product people. In fact, having helped some really great people with their careers is probably the thing I’m most proud of. This is what three of them say about me
“Working with Simon has been an incredible experience. He possesses a deep understanding of product and excels at coaching and developing individuals. He consistently pushed me to reach my full potential with practical, actionable advice. I highly recommend him to anyone looking to thrive in the product field.”
Nick, Product Director“One of the most accelerated and valuable periods of my professional growth was working for Simon. He has a great sense of strategic simplification and a real focus on action that’s oriented to customer-centric commercial outcomes. I’d highly recommend working with him as a product coach and mentor!”
Dan, VP of Product“Simon is an amazing boss and coach. What I value most is his ability to reframe my thinking. He brings clarity and focus. I’d recommend him to any ambitious product leader who wants to increase their impact and progress their career.”
Becky, Head of Product
The Vital 9 programme builds on all of this experience and realising that even great careers consist of successes and failures, good times and bad.
Or (as Oprah put it) ‘You can have it all. Just not all at once’.
We all have to make trade-offs and compromises - the skill is in knowing which ones to make when.
About the program
The Vital 9 is a self-paced programme that includes
Introductory booklet (pdf and ePub)
Supporting Video and Audio content
Interactive assessment tool
Tool to define your goals and create and track a rolling 12 month plan (with reminders for regular check-ins)
Optional: Product Manager Skills assessment tool
The three phases of the programme
🧠 Decide What Matters
Understand the each of the Vital 9 ingredients. Look back at your career, take stock of your current situation, and decide what you need to focus on for the next few years. This isn't just about professional development - it's about everything you're trying to achieve personally and financially.
🧭 Build Your Plan
Create your rolling 12-month plan using product techniques you already know. Yes, there will be OKRs! Yes, there will be an outcome-based roadmap! You'll balance both Optimising (improving your current situation) and Positioning (setting yourself up for 1-3 years out).
🚀Own your career
Make career management an ongoing process. Get regular reminders to check in on your plan and adapt where necessary. Learn practical strategies for dealing with setbacks, market downturns, and the times when everything seems to go wrong. Because even after you land that promotion or new role, you still need to keep managing your career
How much will it cost?
I know that’s the question you most want answering, and I don’t have an exact answer yet.
What I will say is that I want to make this much more affordable than a coaching program; and a fraction of, say, a Maven AI product management course!
If you sign up below - you’ll be the first to know..and you’ll get a whopping great discount. Whatever the price is!
Join the Early Bird list
40% off at launch.
No obligation to buy
Opt-in to the (limited) beta program to get a ‘white-glove’ assessment