The flagship engagement
The Product
Clarity Session
Two hours. One problem, properly named.
Most leaders don’t need another advisor with a framework. They need uninterrupted time with someone who has built, broken, and rebuilt products — and who will ask the questions nobody around the table is asking.
Request a sessionThe fee covers the two hours, the preparation, and the written reflection afterwards. No proposal, no retainer, no scoping call about the call.
Two places open this quarter. Prefer something ongoing? There's a monthly arrangement from €250.
Not sure yet? Start with a free 20-minute call. Twenty minutes, no pitch, nothing to buy at the end — so we can both tell whether the paid session is worth your time.
What has come out of sessions
Anonymised, with permission. Details changed, outcomes not.
A fourteen-item roadmap cut to three, with a one-line reason each survivor survived.
B2B SaaS founder, team of nine
A rebuild that had been debated for months was cancelled in the session. The real problem turned out to be onboarding.
Marketplace founder, pre-Series A
A hire that felt urgent was deferred; the same money went into two experiments that answered the question instead.
Founder of an Irish product company
If once isn't enough
Standing Clarity
Some leave a session with what they came for. Others realise the harder part is holding onto it — week after week, as the roadmap grows again and the noise comes back. Standing Clarity is for them: a monthly arrangement where the thinking doesn't stop when the two hours do.
From €250 to €750 a month, depending on how close you need me. Month to month. No notice period, no minimum term — if it stops being useful, it stops.
Standing Clarity — Quiet
€250 per month
A monthly check-in and a line open in between.
- One 45-minute call each month
- Email and voice notes between calls, answered within two working days
- A short written note after each call
Founders and product leaders who mostly need a steady sounding board.
Standing Clarity — Close
€500 per month
Two conversations a month and a hand on the roadmap.
- Two 60-minute calls each month
- Roadmap and decision review whenever something big is on the table
- Written reflection after each call
- Same-working-day replies between calls
Leaders in a stretch where the decisions are coming quickly.
Standing Clarity — Alongside
€750 per month
Weekly rhythm, closer to the work.
- A weekly 45-minute working session
- Review of specs, hiring plans, architecture calls and investor material
- Time with your team when it helps, not instead of you
- Priority on anything urgent
Teams building through a funding round, a rebuild, or a first real team.
Most start with the two-hour session and move onto a monthly arrangement afterwards, if it makes sense. You don't have to decide now — the free 20-minute call is the right place to work out which of these you actually need.
Limited to 2–3 clients at a time.
How it works
Before
A short note, not a brief
You send a few paragraphs on where you are and what's nagging at you. I read it properly. There's no intake form, no discovery phase, no scoping call about the call.
During
Two hours, one problem
We work through what you're actually building and why. I ask questions that are hard to answer quickly. You do most of the talking. I keep pulling the thread until the real problem is on the table and named in plain language.
After
A written reflection
Within a few days you get a short document: the problem as I heard it, what I'd stop, what I'd test next, and the decision I think you're avoiding. Two pages, not twenty.
What you leave with
- One sentence that names the real problem
- A shorter, defensible roadmap
- Language your team can repeat without you
- The next cheap experiment, clearly defined
- A decision made, calmly
Who it's for
Founders, product leaders and leadership teams who are past the idea stage and into the harder part — where the roadmap is growing, the team is busy, and the story is getting harder to tell.
It isn't for teams looking for delivery capacity, an audit report, or a second opinion to validate a decision already made.
Limited to 2–3 clients at a time, so the thinking stays deep.
"I need to spend two hours with Mike" is the entire point. If that thought has occurred to you, it's probably worth acting on.
Common questions
- What is a Product Clarity Session?
- Two focused hours with Michael O'Callaghan to name the real problem behind your product, followed by a short written reflection sent within a few days.
- How long does it take and what do I receive?
- The session itself is two hours. Afterwards you receive a two-page written reflection: the problem as I heard it, what I'd stop, what I'd test next, and the decision I think you're avoiding.
- Who is it for?
- Founders, product leaders and leadership teams in software and product businesses past the idea stage, where the roadmap is growing, the team is busy, and the story is getting harder to tell.
- Who is it not for?
- It isn't for teams looking for delivery capacity, an audit report, or a second opinion to validate a decision already made.
- How do I prepare?
- Send a few paragraphs on where you are and what's nagging at you. There's no intake form, no discovery phase, and no scoping call about the call.
- Is there an ongoing option instead of a one-off session?
- Yes. Standing Clarity is a monthly arrangement from €250 to €750 depending on how close you need me: a monthly call at €250, twice-monthly with roadmap and decision review at €500, or a weekly working session at €750. Month to month, cancel whenever it stops being useful.
Have a difficult product problem?
I'm always interested in conversations where something is complicated, unclear or not working quite as it should.
Tell me what you're seeing, what you have tried, and where the problem seems to resist a simple answer. I read every note myself.
Not ready to write a note? Start with a Product Reality Check if you would prefer a defined first step.
Prefer to read first? Lessons from the Workshop