Pick your path, let’s build

I work with companies that have strong domain expertise and want to turn it into products, ventures and growth. Hands-on when you need execution, hands-off when you need direction. Always with a stake in the outcome.

Let’s talk: erlend@hovgaard.no

Book a slot in my calendar
Team working together around a table in a corporate workshop

For corporates

Problem: Innovation often stalls in PowerPoints, steering groups, or fails at execution.

Solution: I work hands-on as part of your team: product, service design, and venture building with clear stage-gates and outcomes. Or hands-off as a sparring partner, running workshops, framing opportunities, and steering teams through critical stages.

Founder working at a screen with code on multiple monitors

For founders

Problem: Technical founders often struggle to move from idea to MVP that sells, to win early customers, or to reach product-market fit and secure investors.

Solution: I step in at the stage you're at, hands-on or hands-off: shaping the strategy, building and testing MVPs, attracting customers, and raising capital. Sometimes project-based, sometimes as a co-founder-type partner combining sweat and equity.

How we can collaborate

Three common engagement models, adapted to each project.

  • Fractional/interim product lead

    For founders and established teams.

    I step in as your product leader: building new products, fixing stalled growth, and scaling what works. Strategy, discovery and delivery, plus a sparring partner who pressure-tests decisions and builds the muscle to keep shipping after I'm gone.

  • 90-day venture path

    For corporate ventures and startups.

    A focused engagement to take an idea from fuzzy to validated: structured discovery, a working prototype, and evidence of real demand, in 90 days. AI-augmented so we move faster without cutting corners on rigor.

  • Full product team on retainer

    For teams productizing expertise without in-house product capacity.

    A complete product capability without the hires: product leadership from me, design and engineering from a trusted senior network, accelerated by AI tooling. One partner, one monthly fee, focused on outcomes.

Let’s talk


erlend@hovgaard.no
+47 99 35 39 89
Linkedin >

Book a slot in my calendar