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Aleksei Politov

Practising CPO, startup advisor & fractional CPO

I help startups grow and established companies rebuild. I see customers, process and product as one system, because I have been responsible for each.

I’m not a consultant but a practitioner: a current CPO and CCO at a major Russian bank for seven years, after twelve years at my own digital agency. I started in pre-sales and client work, then built the agency’s processes as its COO, and now I own the product and the channels that bring customers in. So I don’t fix one part in isolation — I connect customers, process and product into a system that makes money. I share experience and the bruises that came with it.

Based in Lisbon, Portugal. I work with companies across Europe, in English and Russian.

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A 30-minute conversation, no strings attached. You don't need slides.

Growth

Made digital channels the main source of new customers and built a partner channel from scratch. The industry doesn’t matter here: I’ll share the principles for choosing channels — what to try, how to test, and when to stop.

Process

Cut the average time from idea to release from a month to a week, and the cost per feature went down. I lead six teams in three business units. I’ll show how our releases, goals and roles are set up — take what fits you.

Digital transformation

Seven years changing a large company with heavy processes from the inside. I seek approval only where there is risk: a short check for legality and reputation is enough to do the rest right away.

AI transformation

There is no magic wand, but there are tools that work every day. In my team that means agentic development, AI review in the pipeline, AI tests, and AI in copywriting and analytics. All of it runs on local models on our own servers. Design is next.

Who it’s for

A founder with an ideaThe very beginning: what to do first and what not to do at all.
A founder without a teamWho to look for, what to hand to contractors, what to keep.
A startup after seedThe money is raised, but growth has stalled.
A large companyWhen growth runs into how the company is built inside: approvals and blurred roles.
Not a fitIf you need a full-time leader, someone to run your sprints, or someone to take over sales.

What people come with

Founder and team

  • “I’m the product manager, HR and accountant. I leave for a week and the numbers drop” ← my favourite
  • “The team no longer fits on one call: deadlines slip, decisions get made around the process” ← this one too
  • “Is it time to hire our first PM? And how do we avoid leaving them on an island?”

First customers

  • “How do we get our first customers when nobody knows we exist?”
  • “Our first ten customers were people we know. Where do the next ones come from?”

Product and growth

  • “Growth has stalled for two months. Is it the product or the channels?”
  • “Customer feedback pulls one way, our vision pulls the other. How do we choose features?”
  • “Sales and the loudest customer write our roadmap”

AI

  • “Developers write faster with AI, but releases aren’t: everything is stuck in review and QA”
  • “We bought the AI subscriptions and work the same way we did. Leadership is waiting for the effect”

How I see the work

I say it as it is

If I don’t know the answer or my experience doesn’t fit, I’ll tell you on the first call.

A business has to make money

Process and AI matter exactly as much as they help with that. That’s where I start the conversation.

A business is built for the long run

The metric that matters most to me is LTV — what a customer brings over their whole time with you — and it only shows over time. Quick wins are fine until they turn into losses.

How it goes

  1. Introduction30 minutes. You describe the problem, I point out where I would look first. We agree on exactly what to work on.
  2. Getting into contextI study your documents and the problem itself, and talk to your team to hear another point of view. This usually takes one to two weeks.
  3. The answerA conversation or a presentation: a set of steps worth taking and a way to judge each one.
  4. What nextWe decide together: stop here, move to regular sessions, or to a fractional CPO role.

Formats

One question, one conversation

An hour or two, no deep dive: one clear question is enough to see whether we click.

Regular sessions

With you or your team, a few hours a month.

Fractional CPO

Part-time, up to 2–3 hours a day.

Why not full-time

I am a practising CPO, and what I do matters to me. That is why I don’t sell full-time work: I take on only what I can do without hurting my main job and with clear value for your business. That means up to 2–3 hours a day and a few companies at a time.

Short answers

Are you a consultant, a mentor or a coach?

None of the three. I look at your problem through my own experience and tell you what I would do and where to go next. “Advisor” is the closest word. There is no methodology with homework and no hundred-page report.

What is a fractional CPO, and how is it different from an interim one?

Fractional means a product leader for part of the time. In my case that is up to 2–3 hours a day: it is the time I actually have, and I would rather name it honestly and deliver quality than promise more. Interim means a temporary full-time leader while the company looks for a permanent one. I don’t take interim roles.

Are you about product, customers or process?

All three, because in a business they don’t live apart: without customers a product doesn’t make money, and without process it doesn’t scale. The question usually comes from one area and the cause sits in the next one. One honest boundary: I won’t hand you a sales playbook, but who your customer is and where to find them — that we will work out.

Do you work with the team directly?

Yes, it is one of the steps. While getting into context I talk to the team to hear another point of view, and regular sessions can be with you or with the team.

How much does it cost?

It depends on the format; we discuss it on the first call. How rates on the European market are set up is in my note What a fractional CPO costs in Europe.

Notes

  1. What a fractional CPO costs in Europe in 2026: €1,200–2,500 a day

    Published day rates and monthly retainers for senior fractional product leaders in Europe, what they include, and how to tell whether the price is fair.

  2. Developers write faster with AI, releases don’t: where the time goes

    Numbers on review and QA delays for AI-written code, why the bottleneck moved, and what we changed in the pipeline of six teams to cut release time from a month to a week.

  3. Your first product manager: when to hire one and how not to leave them on an island

    Data from 30+ startups on when the first PM arrives, the signs it is time, the cases where it is too early, and four things without which the hire fails.

  4. Advisor, mentor, tracker or consultant: who a startup should call

    How the four roles differ in accountability, method and pay, three questions that settle the choice, and where I sit in this grid.

Let’s start with a call

This is an introduction. Tell me the problem, and I’ll point out where I would look first.

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