# PMF Studio > Senior product operators who embed with your team to accelerate product-market fit. Results in weeks, not quarters. No consultants, just doers. PMF Studio is a Toronto-based product consultancy founded by Oz Nazilli. We help VC and PE firms stabilize investments, founders reach product-market fit faster, and executives scale product capacity without hiring delays. Every team member brings 10-15+ years of hands-on experience building products at companies like Shopify, Deloitte, Wealthsimple, FreshBooks, Unbounce, Kajabi, Bose, Mozilla, and Ford. We're not an arm's-length consulting group. We embed with you as an integrated team focused on bringing your mission and vision to life. ## Our Principles - **Focus on Empathy**: Empathy for our clients, the end users, and one another. We start by understanding your constraints, your customers, and your goals—then build from there. - **Validate Early, Reduce Risk**: The clearer we are on our hypotheses around problems and personas, the more cost-effective our approach will be. We test assumptions fast so you don't waste time or money. - **Bring Best-in-Class Thinking**: Our product development best practices are refined over hundreds of client projects. You get 15+ years of pattern recognition, not theories from a textbook. ## Our Values - **Collaborative, not transactional**: We're partners, not vendors. We embed with your team, share knowledge openly, and leave you better equipped to succeed after we're gone. - **Real collaboration**: We sit in your Slack, attend your standups, and make decisions alongside you. We're not external advisors—we're part of the team. - **Growth with integrity**: We chase growth, but not at the expense of building something sustainable. Short-term wins matter less than long-term product health. - **Honest feedback**: We tell you what we see, even when it's uncomfortable. You hired us to be straight with you, and that's what you get. --- ## Services ### Product Discovery URL: https://pmfstudio.com/services Most products fail because they solve the wrong problem. We help you validate your direction with deep customer research, rapid prototyping, and evidence-based insights, in 2-3 weeks. **What we do:** - Comparable, competitor, and corpses research - Provisional persona creation workshop - In-depth 1:1 interviews with key target segments - Clickable prototypes and fake door tests to validate value propositions - Jobs to be Done working sessions **Outcomes:** - Actionable market and competitor research - Validated personas with clear motivations, decision-making processes, and pains - Validated feature set and UI/UX, ready for development - Quantitative and qualitative data to inform product roadmap ### Product Strategy URL: https://pmfstudio.com/services A great product needs a clear strategy. We help you prioritize ruthlessly, optimize pricing and packaging, and define a roadmap that aligns with your market and business goals—so you build the right things in the right order. **What we do:** - Product vision workshop - Pricing & packaging optimization - Go-to-market and distribution strategy - MVP definition and roadmap prioritization - Product portfolio definition **Outcomes:** - Product strategy understood and bought in by your leadership team - Product pricing optimized for maximizing LTV - A go-to-market approach aligned with your target market - A clear path forward for 18-24 months ### Product Growth URL: https://pmfstudio.com/services Growth doesn't happen by accident. We help you build systems that drive acquisition, activation, and retention—with analytics, experimentation frameworks, and optimization strategies that turn data into action. **What we do:** - Current stack audits across data aggregation, analysis, and action - North Star workshops - Analytics schema and tracking plan creation - Reporting and dashboard setup - A/B testing plan definition **Outcomes:** - A modern product stack - A strategy to optimize awareness, acquisition, activation, engagement, and retention - A product analytics setup that helps you understand the ROI of each feature - A playbook to continue data-driven decision making ### Product Pods URL: https://pmfstudio.com/services Need capacity fast? We provide embedded teams of senior PMs, designers, and engineers who integrate with your team and own outcomes. Fractional or full-time, project-based or ongoing—we scale to fit your needs. **What we do:** - Fractional product leaders (part-time or full-time) - Full product pods (PM + Designer + Engineer) - Flexible engagement models (project-based or ongoing) - Specialized support: design, engineering, marketing, data **Outcomes:** - Senior capacity in 2 weeks without the hiring delay - Team members who embed and own outcomes, not just execute tasks - Flexibility to scale up or down as priorities shift - Knowledge transfer so your team is stronger when we leave --- ## Engagement Models ### Discovery Sprint (2-4 weeks) Short, focused engagements to validate direction, identify opportunities, or audit current state. Perfect for de-risking decisions before you commit significant resources. Ideal for early-stage founders validating product direction, VCs conducting due diligence on portfolio companies, and executives evaluating new product opportunities. ### Project-Based (4-12 weeks) Defined scope and deliverables with clear outcomes. We work alongside your team to tackle specific challenges—from strategy definition to growth system setup. Ideal for companies with a specific problem to solve, teams that need expert guidance for a defined initiative, and organizations building internal capability. ### Embedded / Ongoing (3+ months) Fractional or full-time team members who integrate with your organization. We own outcomes, scale with your needs, and provide continuous support as you grow. Ideal for growth-stage companies needing ongoing capacity, portfolio companies requiring operational support, and teams scaling product organizations. --- ## Who We Help ### VC & PE Partners URL: https://pmfstudio.com/who-we-help/venture-partners We deploy battle-tested product teams into portfolio companies that need a reset. We're senior product operators who embed with your portfolio company's team, diagnose what's actually broken, and execute the fix. You get clarity in 2 weeks and measurable progress within a quarter. **Common problems we solve:** - Stalled traction with unclear path forward. The team is working hard, but the product isn't gaining momentum. Metrics are flat or declining. - Burning time you don't have. Every week brings emergency calls, troubleshooting sessions, and explaining the same challenges to the board. - No senior product leadership to execute the turn. Hiring a Head of Product takes 4-6 months and costs $200K+. Every quarter of guessing burns runway you can't recover. **Our process:** 1. **The Audit (Weeks 1-2)**: Product teardown, team interviews, customer feedback analysis, competitive positioning review. Honest, data-backed diagnosis of what's holding the company back. 2. **The Action Plan (Weeks 3-4)**: Focused 90-day turnaround roadmap with clear priorities, realistic milestones, and resource requirements. Aligned with your investment thesis. 3. **Execution Support (Month 2+)**: We embed with the team as fractional product leaders—owning outcomes, unblocking progress, shipping results. Weekly visibility into what's actually happening. **What we offer:** - 2-week diagnostics - 90-day turnaround plans - Embedded execution - Flexible engagement models ### Startup Founders URL: https://pmfstudio.com/who-we-help/startup-founders We help founders find product-market fit faster without burning runway on the wrong thing. Through structured customer discovery and validation sprints, we identify the right problem to solve, prioritize what matters most, and validate direction before burning engineering months on the wrong features. **Common problems we solve:** - Runway is ticking down. You have 18-24 months to prove traction. Every month building features customers don't want is capital you'll never recover. - Uncertainty about what to build. Customer interviews sound positive, but they're not converting. Your roadmap is full of ideas, but you're not sure which ones move the business forward. - Hiring feels premature and risky. A Head of Product costs $150K+ and takes months. You can't afford another expensive mistake. **Our process:** 1. **Discovery (Weeks 1-2)**: 15-20 in-depth customer interviews to uncover real pain points, buying behaviors, and willingness to pay. You join every conversation. 2. **Synthesis & Prioritization (Weeks 3-4)**: Analyze interviews, identify patterns, distill insights into validated personas and prioritized problems. Map roadmap against customer evidence and business impact. 3. **Validation (Weeks 5-6)**: Prototypes, landing pages, and experiments to validate demand with real users. Learn fast, pivot cheap, build with certainty. 4. **Execution (Week 7+)**: Embedded 2-week sprints. Shipping, testing, iterating based on customer feedback. Weekly progress updates and clear accountability. **What we offer:** - Deep customer discovery - Ruthless prioritization - Rapid validation - Sprint-based execution - Discovery sprints from $25K-$50K ### Growth-Stage Executives URL: https://pmfstudio.com/who-we-help/growth-stage-executives We provide the senior product capacity growth-stage companies need in 2 weeks, not 4 months. Whether you need a diagnostic audit, fractional product leadership, or a full embedded product pod, we provide senior operators who integrate with your team, own outcomes, and deliver results within a quarter. **Common problems we solve:** - Roadmap is slipping. Features are late, milestones are red. You need capacity, not more crisis management. - Team at 120% capacity. Your best people are burning out. You need more hands, not longer hours. - Hiring is too slow. That senior PM role has been open for 3 months. Great candidates go off the market in days. - Pressure from all sides. Sales needs features, the CEO wants velocity, the board wants results. **Our process:** 1. **Discovery Call (Day 1)**: 30-minute call to understand capacity gaps, roadmap priorities, and team structure. 2. **Team Matching & Kickoff (Week 1)**: Match with senior operators who have relevant industry and stage experience. Alignment on priorities and OKRs. 3. **Integration (Week 2)**: Embed with your team. Attend standups, sprint planning, stakeholder meetings. Start contributing immediately. 4. **Execution & Iteration (Week 3+)**: Own outcomes, ship features, deliver weekly progress updates. Scale up, down, or pivot focus as needs evolve. **What we offer:** - Product audits (2-week assessment) - Fractional product leadership (VP/Director level, 2-4 days per week) - Strategy & prioritization - Embedded product pods (PM + Designer + Engineers) --- ## Team ### Oz Nazilli — Founder & Chief Product Officer Oz is the founder and CPO of PMF Studio with 15+ years of product management experience across B2B and B2C. Before PMF Studio, he was CPO at Thin Air Labs and led product at TWG, acquired by Deloitte Digital in 2021. Through hundreds of engagements with companies like Shopify, Wealthsimple, and FreshBooks, he saw the same patterns: unclear direction, wasted engineering cycles, and teams stuck between expensive consultants and risky hires. He specializes in customer discovery and product growth. ### Sihan Shi — Product & Marketing Partner Sihan is a product and marketing leader with 15+ years supporting startups and scaling organizations. She provides fractional leadership on business operations, product thinking, and marketing strategy. Sihan sits on the Board of APM Canada and Volta - Atlantic Canada's AI Startup Incubator. ### Sahab Yazdani — Engineering Partner Sahab is a technical leader with 15+ years developing and maintaining digital products. He's the co-founder of Quadratica and previously served as Partner at Deloitte Digital and VP of Engineering at TWG. He specializes in architecting solutions for financial services and enterprise products. ### Preet Singh — Design Partner Preet is a UX and design practitioner with 14+ years working with clients from enterprises to early-stage startups, including Chan Zuckerberg Foundation, Quicken Loans, and Xero. He's also the founder of DesignX, one of the largest UX & Design communities in North America. ### Shehzad Akbar — Data & Product Partner Shehzad is a product leader with 12+ years leading design, engineering, and product teams at Bose, Mozilla, and Ford. He brings expertise in data infrastructure, analytics, and cloud products, helping companies become better at data-driven decision-making. ### Tamara Grominsky — Product Marketing Partner Tamara is an award-winning product marketer with 11+ years building and scaling product marketing teams. She helps companies identify their best customers and package value compellingly. Previously Chief Strategy Officer at Unbounce and VP of Product Marketing at Kajabi. Founder of PMM Camp. --- ## Case Studies ### Deeleeo — From Broad Targeting to Breakout Growth URL: https://pmfstudio.com/case-studies/deeleeo Result: 300% revenue increase in the first year. Testimonial: "Right away, we could tell where to spend time and energy. It just made everything more efficient. I'm a big believer that luck is when preparation meets opportunity. This work helped us be ready." — Jackson Payne, Founder, Deeleeo ### Trusty — From Product Idea to Market-Aligned Purpose URL: https://pmfstudio.com/case-studies/trusty Result: $1M pre-seed funding secured. Testimonial: "They didn't just tell us what to do. They showed up, worked alongside us, and helped us see what we were missing. Within weeks, our entire product strategy shifted." — Sarah Chen, CEO, Trusty Testimonial: "The research changed the trajectory of the product. It wasn't just about features - it changed the purpose." — Randy Frisch, Founder, Trusty ### PayEvo — Product Discovery & Prioritization URL: https://pmfstudio.com/case-studies/payevo Result: 12+ product ideas validated. Testimonial: "We were able to get objective data and a positioning strategy that showed us a clear path forward. We're still going back to that research today. It redefined our product roadmap." — Richard Switzer, Product Team Lead, PayEvo --- ## Notable Clients RBC, Interac, Shopify, Deloitte, EY, Kajabi, Coinsquare, FreshBooks, Loblaw Digital, Unbounce, AllVoices --- ## Why Teams Choose PMF Studio - **Senior operators only**: Every team member has 10+ years leading at companies like Shopify, Deloitte, and Wealthsimple. No junior teams. No learning on your dime. - **Doers, not consultants**: We don't deliver PowerPoints and disappear. We embed with your team and own the outcomes alongside you. - **Battle-tested in B2B**: Deep expertise in B2B SaaS, fintech, and enterprise products. Long sales cycles, complex stakeholders, and everything in between. - **Results in weeks, not quarters**: Start in 2 weeks. See results within a quarter. No 6-month contracts, no endless scoping. --- ## Frequently Asked Questions **How quickly can you start?** We can typically start within 2 weeks of signing the agreement. For urgent situations—like a struggling portfolio company or a critical product deadline—we can often begin even faster. We keep our team lean and senior, so we don't need long ramp-up periods. **Who will actually be doing the work?** Every engagement is led by senior practitioners with 10-15+ years of experience. You'll never get junior team members or offshore resources. We assemble the right team based on your needs: typically led by Oz or one of our senior partners, with additional specialists brought in as needed for design, engineering, or marketing. **What if our priorities change mid-engagement?** We build flexibility into every engagement. For project-based work, we work in sprints and can adjust scope as you learn. For embedded/ongoing work, we can scale up, scale down, or shift focus as your priorities evolve. We're here to solve your problems, not just execute a fixed plan. **What happens when the engagement ends?** We're committed to building your team's capability, not creating dependency. Every engagement includes knowledge transfer—documentation, training, and clear handoffs. Our goal is to leave your team stronger and more capable than when we started. Many clients bring us back for new challenges, but never because they can't operate without us. **Do you work remotely or on-site?** We're based in Toronto and work primarily remotely with clients across North America. For critical workshops, kickoffs, or strategy sessions, we can travel to you. Most clients find that remote collaboration with regular video check-ins works perfectly well and moves faster than traditional on-site consulting. **Are we locked into a long-term contract?** No. Discovery sprints and project-based work have defined timelines (2-12 weeks typically). For embedded/ongoing work, we typically work month-to-month or in quarterly commitments—not year-long contracts. We earn your business every month by delivering results. **How do you measure success?** We define success metrics together at the start of every engagement—whether that's validated customer insights, a clear roadmap, improved conversion rates, or delivered capacity. We have regular check-ins to ensure we're on track. **How are you different from hiring a full-time PM, a big consulting firm, or a freelancer?** vs. Full-time hire: We start in 2 weeks instead of 4 months of recruiting. You get 15+ years of experience immediately, not someone who needs ramping. vs. Big consulting firms: We're senior operators who execute, not junior analysts who make PowerPoints. We embed with your team, and we cost a fraction of McKinsey or Bain. vs. Freelancers: We're a vetted team with a proven track record, not a hit-or-miss contractor. You get consistent quality and deep expertise across product, design, and engineering. --- ## Core Pages - [Home](https://pmfstudio.com) - [About](https://pmfstudio.com/about) - [Services](https://pmfstudio.com/services) - [Case Studies](https://pmfstudio.com/case-studies) - [Venture Partners](https://pmfstudio.com/who-we-help/venture-partners) - [Startup Founders](https://pmfstudio.com/who-we-help/startup-founders) - [Growth-Stage Executives](https://pmfstudio.com/who-we-help/growth-stage-executives) - [Contact](https://pmfstudio.com/contact) ## Contact - Email: hello@pmfstudio.com - Book a Call: https://cal.com/oz-nazilli-pmf/20min - LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/company/pmf-studio - Location: Toronto, ON, Canada