Sheet F · Fractional · Product leadership · St. Louis, MO
Senior enough to run it. Hands-on enough to build it.
I’m Jake Heberlie, a Chief Product Officer and former Slalom Senior Director based in St. Louis. I step in as your fractional product leader to set the direction, lead the team and build the thing. Twenty years of product and consulting experience from Edward Jones, Mastercard, Enterprise and Eastman, at a part-time rate.
No junior team swapped in after the contract is signed. You get me, in your office, leading and shipping.
It starts with a free 1-day discovery workshop at your St. Louis office. No commitment.
38.63° N, 90.20° W · STL
Based in St. Louis. In your office, not on a video call from three time zones away.
5 of 7 fractional seats open.
§ Sound familiar? Where I usually come in
You need a product leader who delivers. Not necessarily a full-time one.
The product seat is empty?
The search is taking months and the roadmap can’t wait. I step in now, keep things moving, and help you hire the right person.
A key initiative has no owner?
Leadership funded it, but nobody owns it end to end. I own it, from the first workshop to something real in users’ hands.
Sold a partner, staffed with juniors?
You met the senior people in the pitch and then never saw them again. With me, the person you hire is the person who shows up.
The roadmap is a wish list?
Every request is a priority, so nothing is. I tie the roadmap to the number leadership actually cares about and make the trade-offs visible.
An AI mandate with no plan?
The board wants AI and the pilots keep stalling. I start with how the business runs, then find where AI moves a number.
Business and IT talk past each other?
I’ve sat on both sides of the table. I translate, make the call, and get both sides building the same thing.
No product practice to speak of?
I helped write Eastman’s digital product playbook and took it to every business unit. I can stand one up for your teams and coach your PMs.
Not on the list?
If it needs someone to lead it and get it built, it’s on the table. Tell me about it.
Book a call
§ Why fractional Leadership and delivery, sized to the need
Big-firm experience. No B team.
I spent years on the consulting side at Slalom. I know how big firms staff engagements. This is the version I’d want to buy.
§ Whiteboard to outcome Where the workshops led
Workshops that led to million-dollar outcomes.
Almost everything I’ve shipped started the same way: the right people, a whiteboard and a day or two. Here’s where a few of those rooms led.
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The workshop 
The outcome 01 Rentvine · Property management software
From a first workshop to running the roadmap
I ran Rentvine’s first product workshop while I was still at Slalom. By the end, they asked me to come on full time to own the roadmap and the product experience. That led to PE investment and three straight years of hitting our annual growth targets.
4,682% three-year revenue growth · Inc. 5000 #60
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The workshop 
The outcome 02 Eastman · Core
From the shop floor to a patented product
Installers were cutting expensive film by hand, panel by panel. The workshop won executive backing for a six-week discovery with installers in the field, and that discovery became Core: plotter-ready cut files from a pattern-maker’s car-part library, with nesting that cuts material waste.
$30M first-year revenue · 2 design patents
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The workshop 
The outcome 03 Eastman · Fluid Genius
From lab samples to a number plant operators can act on
Heat transfer fluid keeps chemical plants running, and when it degrades, plants risk equipment damage, shutdowns or a safety incident. We turned slow back-and-forth with the lab into a single fluid-life score. It started with another six-week discovery, this time with customers in Germany. By then we were writing Eastman’s digital product playbook and taking it to every business unit.
13 awards, including CIO 100
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The workshop → the outcome 04 Enterprise · Field operations
From a small discovery to a multi-program account
Field crews juggled systems that weren’t built for a tablet. A lean workshop and discovery for one unified experience, mobile around the car and docked at the counter, landed our first team to redesign the primary field-ops experience. It reset the relationship and opened the door to more work.
$11–12M multi-program account
§ How it works Four steps, no big upfront bet
Start free. Prove it. Then decide together.
Discovery workshopFree · 1 day on-site
A working session at your office with the people who own the problem. We get clear on where you’re trying to go, what’s in the way, and where senior product leadership would make the biggest difference. Your team does a little prep beforehand, so the day goes to decisions. You leave with a shared picture of the problem, even if we never work together again. Seats are limited (5 of 7 open), so I review every request. See where these workshops have led ↑
Opportunity mapPaid · fixed fee
I turn the workshop into a short list of bets, each with a business outcome target and a realistic timeline. It’s worth having even if you stop here. Together we pick the one to prove first.
Proof of conceptMilestone-based · on-site
A working version, built fast, alongside your team. I still ship code, so this isn’t a slide deck about what could be built. If the build needs more hands, I bring in specialists I’ve worked with for years, and I stay the one leading it.
Fractional leadershipOngoing · lead and deliver
Once the proof lands, I stay on to lead and deliver: owning the roadmap, running the team, and building the parts that need building. Not just another voice in the decision meeting. Part time at 6–20 hours a week, scoped as a project when there’s something specific to deliver, or tied to the outcomes we agreed on. Scale up for a big push, scale down when your team has it.
- DISCOVERYFree workshop
- MAPFixed fee
- PART TIME6–20 hours a week
- PROJECTScoped to one initiative
- OUTCOMESPaid for results
§ Who you get One leader who builds, every time
You hire me. You get me.
Jake Heberlie · St. LouisTwenty years across product, UX and design leadership. Consulting at Slalom, leading UX at Edward Jones, and most recently a Chief Product Officer who still ships production code.
I’ve been the outside consultant, and I’ve been the executive on the inside. That means I know how to work inside a large organization: get the right people in the room, make the case to leadership, and keep a big initiative moving through the politics.
“I’ll wear your team jersey.”
I’ve said it to every team I’ve worked with, and I mean it. I’m in the room, at the whiteboard and in the code, chasing the same number you are. I don’t hand over a deck and disappear.
That’s also why seats are limited. I only take on as many companies as I can show up for in person.
§ FAQ Before you book
Questions I hear first.
What does this cost?
The discovery workshop is free for qualifying companies. The opportunity map is a fixed fee we agree on up front. After that, fractional leadership runs 6–20 hours a week. If there’s one specific initiative to deliver, we can scope it as a project instead, or tie the fee to the outcomes we agree on. Either way it’s a fraction of a full-time executive, and you’ll always have a number before we start.
How much of your time do we get?
Usually 6 to 20 hours a week. It flexes with the work: closer to 20 during a big push, closer to 6 once your team has it. We set it together after the discovery workshop. If you need something specific delivered, we can scope it as a project with its own timeline instead.
Why would we use you instead of a consulting firm?
You get the experienced person doing the work, not a team staffed under them. I’ve done the big-firm version at Slalom, and the experience is the same. What changes is that nobody swaps in after the pitch, there’s no blended rate, and I’m across town, not a flight away.
Who qualifies for a free discovery workshop?
St. Louis companies, or St. Louis offices of larger ones, with a real product or technology problem and a leader who can make decisions in the room. I review every request and confirm on the intro call. Seats are limited, so I’m upfront if it’s not a fit.
Will you work with our existing team and vendors?
Yes. Most of the job is making the team you already have more effective: your PMs, your engineers, your IT group and the vendors you already pay. I fill the leadership gap. I’m not trying to replace anyone.
How soon will we see something working?
The proof of concept is designed to get to a working version fast, on-site with your team. Most take 2–6 weeks.
Do you only work in St. Louis?
St. Louis is the point: I can be in your office for the meetings that matter, not on a screen. If you’re a St. Louis office of a company headquartered elsewhere, that works too. For anything that needs a flight, we’ll talk it through on the call.
§ In their words From people I’ve built with
Don’t take my word for it.
“We knew we needed Jake during the workshop. It was amazing how fast he understood our business.”
“Jake helped build our Digital Products playbook with his workshop approach.”
§ Book 5 of 7 fractional seats open
5 seats left. Want one?
Start with a 30-minute call. If it’s a fit, we’ll schedule your free discovery workshop.
Not ready for a call?
Send me a short note about the initiative or the gap you’re trying to fill. I’ll reply with how I’d approach it.