Recruiting Product Leaders: How to Hire the Right Talent
Lauren Ipsen
Executive Recruiter & Head of Talent (formerly IRL)
2025
The Insight
Know Good Before You Need It
"Regardless of whether or not you're hiring, you should always be keeping a pulse on the market. You never want to put yourself in a position where you have no idea what good looks like."
Stay connected to the market before you have an urgent need
Build relationships with great people as advisors first
Get them involved in your product or strategy early
When hiring urgently starts, you already know who you want
The Biggest Mistake
Chasing Big Names Doesn't Mean Chasing Big Talent
"Just because someone is the best talent in the world doesn't mean they're the best talent for this role today. Who is going to be best for this specific role at this specific time?"
CPOs from Google aren't necessarily best for early-stage companies
Senior leaders at big companies are far from the actual work
Look for someone closer to the tactical execution
Hire for the need today, not the prestige on the resume
The Framework
How to Start a Successful Search
Define the outcome: What problem are you solving with this hire? Is the board just saying "we need a head of product" or do you actually know?
Get granular on mandate: What will they do in month one? What about year one? Are you building to a CPO role or hiring for a specialist?
Clarify the three buckets: Platform/infrastructure, core/consumer product, or specialist (growth/monetization)?
Architect the org structure: Do you need one person doing everything, or specific leaders for specific needs?
Build the 90-day plan: What success looks like in 3 months, 12 months, through IPO
The real question
Not "who is the best PM in the world" but "who is the best PM for this role at this moment in our company?"
Lauren's advice
Spend time upfront defining what good looks like. Searches that start unclear are doomed from inception.
The Numbers
Lauren's Track Record
85+
executives placed
7
months to land Alex Strand at IRL
"My favorite placement was Alex Strand at IRL. High emotional intelligence engineering leader who'd built Amazon Prime Day and Snapchat's messaging platform. Got him to move in 2 weeks—then I joined IRL myself."
From Twitter, Reddit, Snap, Postmates—covered consumer tech early
Placed VPs of engineering, product leads, execs
Saw first-hand product changes from hires you make
Career Playbook
For Product Leaders: Build Your Market Edge
✗Optimize for logo collectingINSTEAD →✓ Stay at companies longer where you can go deep and actually see impact, even if less famous.
✗Specialize early in one areaINSTEAD →✓ Get breadth across platform, consumer, and specialist work so you can lead cross-functionally later.
✗Wait until you need a new job to networkINSTEAD →✓ Always know which companies are thriving and which executives are building great things, regardless of job status.
✗Make moves reactively when you're unhappyINSTEAD →✓ Build your network and opportunities so you're selective about what you take, never desperate.