Focus · 01
Scope.
The single biggest tell of a leader who isn't yet operating at VP is scope drift — the pull back into IC craft. We work on what to own, what to delegate, and what to let others take.
Leadership MentorshipBrian Fenn · illogicalproject
The leap you're trying to make starts with an application.
Exclusive, disciplined mentorship for product and design leaders serious about scaling their impact. Bandwidth is limited. I only work with leaders who are ready to do the work.
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Engagement
Custom · 3 months
Cadence
Biweekly 1:1s
Limit
5 active clients
The five-client limit isn't marketing — it's the maximum I can hold without the work getting thin. When it's full, it's full.
The work
Focus · 02
Voice.
Executive presence is shorthand for a real skill: writing and speaking with conviction at decision tempo. We work on the artifacts a VP actually ships — the memo, the deck, the all-hands, the board-prep one-pager.
Focus · 03
Narrative.
Roadmaps don't move organizations. Stories do. We work on the executive narrative that turns a backlog into a thesis and a thesis into something the CEO will fund.
Focus · 04
Transitions.
IC craft to org leverage. Manager to leader of leaders. Two-team scope to multi-org. The moves are different at each step, and the failure modes are specific. We name them and rehearse them.
Mentor
The leap you're trying to make is one I've made and watched dozens of others make.
Senior Director roles across Nike and Dick's Sporting Goods; earlier work at Amazon and Microsoft. Co-authored the PM career ladder for the 300-person Nike Direct Product org — the ladder that defined what crossing each line actually meant. Hired, coached, and developed teams of 120+ across product, design, and engineering on three continents.
In their words
Brian actually responded, and then he actually showed up.
They were telling three different stories, and recruiters were splitting the difference on all of them.
I’m still on the journey, but I’m on the right one now, and I don’t think I get here without Brian.
Dean Davis
Marketing Ops → Product
I've sent hundreds of cold LinkedIn messages in my career. Most go nowhere. Brian actually responded, and then he actually showed up. I came to him in the middle of a career pivot, trying to move from a decade in Marketing Operations into Product Management, with a resume, a portfolio, and a LinkedIn profile I thought were solid. He looked at all three and told me the truth: they were telling three different stories, and recruiters were splitting the difference on all of them.
What followed wasn't a checklist or a template. It was a real conversation about who I am, what I actually want, and what path made the most sense given where I was starting from. By the end of our first real session I had a lane, a strategy, and a version of my story I could actually stand behind.
What separates Brian from anyone else I've encountered in this space is that he genuinely cares. Not in a vague, motivational-poster way. In the way where he reads your materials thoroughly before getting on a call, gives you feedback that is honest even when it stings a little, and then stays in your corner as you work through it. He has more patience than I probably deserve, an open door every time I've needed it, and a way of making you feel like your career actually matters to him, because it does.
I'm still on the journey, but I'm on the right one now, and I don't think I get here without Brian. If you're serious about building a career in product and want someone who will be straight with you, invest real time in you, and actually know what they're talking about, this is your person.
The application
Be specific. The friction here is intentional — it helps me understand where you are, where you're trying to go, and whether the shape of this engagement is a fit.
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