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With Heavy-Hitting Expertise,
ProductTheory is Right-Sized for Everybody.
With shared backgrounds in incubation, 0-1 growth, and market-ready innovation that stretch across the business, high tech, government, media, and academic innovation/research/strategy sectors, we are here to support grassroots innovation teams, rogue enterprise product leaders, and early-stage founders alike. Because that's who we are, and it's what we believe in.
We care deeply about the work we do. Just like you do.
Ali Maaxa, Ph.D.
(415) 294-1794
Ali is a tech veteran and product strategist with 20+ years helping companies build products people actually want. She's worked at AWS on AI innovation, led strategy at New Relic's product incubator, and founded MaaxaLabs to bring behavioral science to product strategy. She's helped dozens of startups and 0-1 products launch, from Recreation.gov to stealth AI data security tooling. She's a celebrated global author and speaker with honors from the Mellon, Peacock, Wilgus foundations and is faculty with Duke, UNC, Virginia Tech, and more.
Jaron Heard
Jaron is a seasoned AI dev who has worked with Aclima.io through porpoise.studio to design & develop public platforms for air quality data and architect a 10x faster data visualiation design & development workflow. Prior to that, he worked at CIVIC as Creative Director and Data Visualization Lead, designing, building, and creating conditions for collaboratively designed and developed public data platforms incorporating principles of Data Feminism. Heleverages technology to share and redistribute information, resources, participation, and power. If you have a project that aims to make the world more just, equitable, or sustainable — reach out!
Sasha Chedygov
A well-rounded software engineer who has worn a lot of hats throughout his career, Sasha has helped multiple startups successfully launch products into the market and has been a part of three acquisitions. He has worked on just about everything: full stack web and mobile apps, statistical regression algorithms, desktop apps, warehouse automation software, and all sorts of integration projects with legacy systems.
Although he hates over-engineered software, Sasha loves over-engineered food. When he's not coding, he enjoys making one-of-a-kind cocktails and cooking needlessly complex dishes at home.
Ben Goertz
Having worked at companies like Walmart, Nike, and eBay, Ben spends a lot of time thinking about complex systems and has first-hand experience delivering reliable software at massive scale.
Before diving head first into software, Ben was an Emmy award winning video editor and producer. He loves Portland and enjoying everything the beautiful Pacific Northwest has to offer, especially with friends and family.
We meet innovators, founders, and rogue product people where they are.
Core
We strip away the fluff and focus laser-sharp on what actually matters for your product's success: no consultant theater, just the essential insights and actions that move the needle.
Cycles
We work in fast, iterative sprints that let you test, learn, and pivot quickly without getting stuck in endless planning phases or waterfall delays.
Cocktail
We blend the best methodologies from design thinking, lean startup, and agile development into a custom approach that fits your specific product challenge, not a one-size-fits-all framework.
Capability
We don't just give you recommendations. We roll up our sleeves and help you build the internal skills and processes your team needs to keep innovating independently after we're gone.
Low-Overhead
We keep our process lean and our team small so you get principal-level expertise without the bloated agency markup—more of your budget goes to building, not bureaucracy.
Sliding Scale
We adjust our pricing based on your stage and resources, so whether you're pre-revenue or scaling fast, you can access the same quality strategic guidance that fits your current reality.
Our Approach
Us in Numbers
$100M+
Clients’ Income during the Last Quarter
146
Startups Served
355
Business Partners in over 30 Countries
32
Mainstage Product Talks