Agile product strategy and management for small teams
I've been in product management for almost 10 years focusing on consumer and business customers. At least half of that time has been with firms focused on open source software so I'm a fan of the power of community and being as transparent as possible. Prior to my time in product management, I was in application development.
I've seen how ideas and theories can lead an organization down the wrong route resulting in wasted time, effort, and money. I believe that more focus upfront to confirm assumptions with real users goes a long way to deliver successful products. I use a variety of methods like parts of the Pragmatic Marketing Framework and the Business Model Canvas when approaching products and have been involved in many software and service launches.
Work Terms
I'm a fan of Jones Dilworth and their work for the OpenStack community so I'll lift a few bits from their work terms...
I bill at a flat rate across the board. I think that retainers don't work. They incentivize me to underservice you. They incentivize you to get more than you paid for. We’re structurally at odds from the get-go. At my hourly rate, I get paid for my time - nothing more, and nothing less.
We can work out the details but I typically invoice every 2 weeks so you stay on top of what I'm doing and it's not a paperwork burden.