Overview
Launching a product doesn't need to be painful. I partner with you to scope, prioritize, and ship a truly minimum viable product, one that makes sense for your team, timeline, and users.
I've taken 11+ products from zero to one across healthcare, defense, fintech, and enterprise SaaS. The most common mistake I see is building too much before learning anything. The second most common mistake is building too little and calling it an MVP when it's actually a prototype nobody can use. I help you find the line.
Who this is for
This works well when you have:
- A validated idea but no clear path from concept to shipped product
- A founder or product team debating what belongs in v1 versus what can wait
- A development team ready to build but no prioritized backlog or delivery plan
- A deadline (a demo day, a pilot launch, a board meeting) and you need to ship something real by then
- A regulated domain where "move fast and break things" isn't an option
If you already have a product that's shipping but something feels off, a Product Audit & Reset is a better starting point.
What you get
Discovery sprint (week 1). I map your assumptions, identify your riskiest bets, and interview key stakeholders and early users. You get a prioritized list of what must be true for this product to work.
Scope and roadmap (week 2). I work with your team to cut scope ruthlessly. We define the smallest version of the product that tests your core value proposition. You get a delivery plan with clear milestones, not just a list of features.
Build coaching (weeks 3-8). I stay involved during development: running standups, reviewing priorities as new information surfaces, and helping the team make tradeoff decisions without losing momentum. I don't write code, but I make sure the team is building the right thing in the right order.
Launch support. Before launch, we define success metrics, build a feedback loop, and plan the first week of learning. You ship knowing what you're measuring and what comes next.
Typical engagement
- Duration: 4-8 weeks
- Commitment: 10-20 hours per week
- Format: Embedded with your team (remote, with on-site for key workshops)
- Deliverables: Prioritized roadmap, scoped backlog, delivery plan, success metrics
Frequently asked questions
Impact in practice
Measured outcomes from engagements like this one
FLUXX Health
MVP live in under 6 months. 47% engagement and 800+ quiz completions, above typical early-healthtech benchmarks, driven by intent-based re-engagement rather than guilt-driven notifications. 38% drop in quiz abandonment. Organic search nearly tripled month over month. AI recommendations validated against a 20-member Clinician Advisory Board.
Sperity Health
Took the product from a Wix site to a functioning, HIPAA-compliant MVP validated with an 18-member first cohort. The Sperity Score gave members a single daily metric instead of a data dump. Built 5 member personas, service blueprints, and onboarding journey maps, and left behind delivery rituals the team runs without a fractional leader.
US Space Force SLD45 Capabilities Development Division (CDD)
MVP cycle time fell from 6 months to 2 weeks, a 92% reduction, because the OA bottleneck was broken once for everyone rather than worked around team by team. First app reached production. Trust restored across engineering, security, and leadership.
Related work
Case studies from engagements like this one
FLUXX Health
Launching FLUXX: An AI-Powered Menopause Platform
MVP live in under 6 months. 47% engagement and 800+ quiz completions, above typical early-healthtech benchmarks, driven by intent-based re-engagement rather than guilt-driven notifications. 38% drop in quiz abandonment. Organic search nearly tripled month over month. AI recommendations validated against a 20-member Clinician Advisory Board.
Sperity Health
Designing a Wellness MVP for Biomarker-Driven Preventative Care
Took the product from a Wix site to a functioning, HIPAA-compliant MVP validated with an 18-member first cohort. The Sperity Score gave members a single daily metric instead of a data dump. Built 5 member personas, service blueprints, and onboarding journey maps, and left behind delivery rituals the team runs without a fractional leader.
US Space Force SLD45 Capabilities Development Division (CDD)
U.S. Space Force - Platform Delivery Modernization
MVP cycle time fell from 6 months to 2 weeks, a 92% reduction, because the OA bottleneck was broken once for everyone rather than worked around team by team. First app reached production. Trust restored across engineering, security, and leadership.
What clients say
FrankProduct Designer, U.S. Air Force“When I met Kate, I didn't know what it took to create a product. She trained and led our team that had ZERO experience: she guided us through a Discovery process, planning and design workshops, helped us outline an MVP - and we delivered the first usable product in under 120 days. Kate showed a true passion for building useful software and a knack for facilitating any group meeting. Three years later, she's one of the best PMs I've been fortunate to work with - she directly contributed to my growth as a Product Designer.”
JoelFounder/Entrepreneur, Penn State Launchbox“Before our team worked with Kate, we were unsure about our product direction. We left each consultation with her confident in our next steps. Her advice got us thinking about how users might perceive our product once it was in the market, which helped us solidify our user experience and onboarding flow. I would implore you to work with Kate and trust the experience she's got.”
Jian WeiDirector, Platform Design, Zendesk“It was amazing to partner with you to drive the initial product MVP. You played an important role pushing to clear technical debt and establish key UX! We all appreciate the way you show up for the team and are always so enthusiastic, energetic, and passionate in sharing the team's progress. Your storytelling and presentation skills are something the design and product team have learned a lot from. Thank you for being such an amazing PM to work with.”
From the playbook
Practices I use with teams during this type of engagement
Try it yourself
Free tools related to this service
Related writing
Posts that go deeper on this topic
A/B Testing for Product Managers: Beyond the Basics
Lessons from healthcare, government, and startup product teams on designing experiments that drive real decisions.
Zero to One in Regulated Spaces
Building products in healthcare and clinical research means working with real constraints: HIPAA, audit trails, clinician trust. Here is what I have learned about shipping in environments where the rules are not suggestions.
Metrics to Motivation: Building Health Products That Coach
Three health products. Three different conditions. One shared lesson: the data doesn't change behavior. What you do with it does.
You might also need
Services that pair well with this one
Founder Product Coaching
You've got the vision. Now what? I coach startup founders through product decisions, hiring, prioritization, and investor comms so you stop second-guessing and start shipping.
UX Research & Synthesis
I run user interviews, extract insights, and deliver clear takeaways you can act on fast - without the fluff.
Sprint Engagement
A focused 2-4 week engagement to unblock a specific problem: stuck roadmap, team misalignment, AI strategy gap, or delivery stall.