Your business can't run faster when everything runs through you.
You know misalignment between the product roadmap, go-to-market, and financial plan is slowing growth — but you can't be in every conversation to debug the problem.
Why product quietly becomes the gap.
Early on, one founder wears every hat — product included. As the company scales, functions get handed to leaders: engineering, sales, finance, operations. But product ownership tends to fall through the cracks, in one of four ways:
Knows product — no bandwidth
The founder keeps the role (often an ex-CPO) but is now stretched across the whole company. They know they should delegate; they haven't.
Doesn't see it as a role
A non-product founder assumes the CTO or the team has it covered. Product management was never understood as a distinct function.
Thinks it's handled — but isn't
Roadmap and execution drift: no one ties the roadmap and R&D spend to the revenue plan shown to investors.
A full-time CPO doesn't fit
The gap is real — but it doesn't yet justify an experienced full-time hire burning cash. The bet becomes a junior PM, or experienced talent brought in fractionally.
The Growth Engine Diagnostic.
A fixed-scope engagement that finds exactly where your product, go-to-market, and financial plan are out of sync — and what to do about it.
BEFORE
You're the only person who can connect product roadmap priorities, go-to-market activities, and revenue & expense projections — because nobody else sees how it all fits together. You're drowning in decisions that shouldn't require you.
AFTER
You have a clear picture of exactly where your product, GTM, and financial plan are out of sync, what to do about it, and how to delegate to maintain alignment without being involved at every step. You have time to build your business, and your team is empowered to deliver product.
What you get
- Disconnect map — a clear picture of where product, GTM, and revenue aren't aligned.
- Prioritized fixes — ranked by impact and effort, so you know what to tackle first.
- Ownership recommendations — who should own what: you, your team, a new hire, or me.
- Implementation options — three paths forward with different levels of support.
Plus: an AI roadmap reality check
I've built AI products since 2016 — before the hype. I'll tell you whether AI belongs in your roadmap, where specifically, and whether your competitors' AI claims are real or theater. Sometimes the right answer is "don't use AI," and I'm not afraid to say so.
Who I work with.
Founders and CEOs, from early-stage startups to about $50M ARR.
I'm a good fit when you're
- Too stretched to own the roadmap — strategy and product are drifting apart.
- Not yet at the scale for a full-time CPO or VP of Product.
- From a non-product background, or moving from CPO to CEO.
- Ready to delegate product, not own it.
- Working in my core expertise (industrial technology) or growth areas.
I'm not a good fit when
- You're pre-product hypothesis — it's too early.
- You're a product founder who wants to drive the roadmap yourself.
- Your vision and mission sit outside my core expertise or growth areas.
Case studies.
Chat marketing automation
Oak, Inc.
Challenge: Oak's first product wasn't scaling — people loved the idea but didn't use it, and subscribers churned. Product and go-to-market were misaligned, with negative return on ad spend and a short runway.
What we did: Audited product, technology, financials, and partnerships; identified a new ideal-customer persona within existing partner relationships; validated demand with discovery interviews and prototypes; rebuilt go-to-market around a partner-led B2B model with reset pricing and financial plan.
Outcome: Renewed investor interest — a six-figure institutional check plus a dozen-plus angels onboard.
"John took us from 'we have an idea' to 'we're selling an idea.' With clearer messaging, investors stopped asking questions and started making suggestions."
Industrial test & measurement
Soliton Technologies
Challenge: Soliton saw strong traction with one offering and a chance to grow faster, but lacked the in-house product-management bandwidth to build a multi-year strategy. Demand was clear — yet no one was planning how to maximize the opportunity.
What we did: Guided a three-year financial model for the offering; developed technology and channel partnerships; built a cross-selling campaign into the existing customer base; recommended a pivot from cost-based to value-based pricing for add-on services.
Outcome: Four more partnerships in progress, and value-based add-on pricing that's now accretive to profit margin.
"Expect a well-rounded professional with deep industry expertise, proven results, and the versatility to scale with your organization — someone who consistently overdelivers and earns the kind of trust that lets you put them in front of your most important customers."
Music production technology
Audialab, Inc.
Challenge: Audialab had a compelling new product, Interloper, nearly ready — but when the CEO took a day job after AI-driven market shifts stalled revenue, no one was left to drive the launch across a lean, decentralized team.
What we did: Created a launch plan with clear deliverables, dependencies, and ownership; managed customer, affiliate, and distributor relationships; coordinated an early-access release with launch partners; built process around key bottlenecks without over-structuring the team.
Outcome: The CEO kept operations running while holding a separate job, with critical market feedback flowing in from launch partners.
"John stepped in and created the structure we needed — clear deliverables, dependencies, owners. He mobilized the team and shipped an early-access version. Interloper launched. Revenue came back. Simple as that."
About John.
I'm John Bongaarts, founder and principal of Chiptown Consulting. I spent seventeen years at National Instruments in industrial test & measurement — including leading NI's entry into semiconductor production test, which grew to 1,000-plus systems deployed and more than $100M in revenue over six years.
Later I led AI investment strategy for a Fortune 500 company, chaired its AI governance committee, and brought a first-of-its-kind generative AI product to market in 2024. I've since held fractional head-of-product roles at Oak and Audialab, and advise pre-seed startups.
I hold B.S. degrees in physics (magna cum laude) and astrophysics from the University of Minnesota, and I write about AI and the economy at Artificial Economics. Home base is Taylor, Texas.
Let's talk about your growth engine.
A conversation costs nothing, and I'll tell you honestly whether the diagnostic is right for you. Call or text, or send an email.