[01] APPLIED AI STUDIO[02] SOFTWARE · AGENCIES · OPERATIONS[03] VANCOUVER, PACIFIC[04] SHIPPED 2026-10-25
Building software got cheap. Judgment did not.
I’m Darren Card, a product and technology leader. Dacard is my applied AI studio. Bring me in full-time as VP of Product, CPO or CPTO, fractionally, or for one project. I decide with you what is worth building, own every call, and show you whether it landed.
Book a call →
Employee #1 and CPTO at Lexful: paying customers in 12 months on a $3M pre-seed. VP Product & Technology at Cognota: the pivot was key to a $5.5M Series A.
/WORK
Twenty years of work sits behind every call.
Seven companies over twenty years, and the studio’s work now. Open the experience checklist to see what each role covered.
WHERE I’VE WORKED
LexfulAI knowledge platform for IT teamsCPTO, employee #1Paying customers in 12 months2025 TO 2026↗CognotaLearning platform for L&D teamsVP Product & TechnologyRevenue 3x, pivot key to a $5.5M Series A2021 TO 2024↗Elastic PathHeadless commerce for enterprisesDirector, ProductProven through iPhone launches, Black Friday and a COVID pivot2019 TO 2021↗UnbounceLanding pages for marketersDirector, ProductFeatures measured on outcomes2018 TO 2019↗AllocadiaMarketing ROI for enterprisesDirector, Product & DesignBriefed analysts to define the category2015 TO 2018↗QuickMobileEvent apps for conferencesDirector, Product & DesignCustom builds became one platform2013 TO 2015↗Vision CriticalResearch communities for brandsVP, ProductCustom work became 0-to-1 products2009 TO 2013↗And earlierAgency, gaming and streamingCo-founder, then productRan an agency for 6½ years1999 TO 2008↗
EXPERIENCE CHECKLIST · 15 CHECKS ACROSS 7 COMPANIES
| Experience | Lexful | Cognota | Elastic Path | Unbounce | Allocadia | QuickMobile | Vision Critical |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product | |||||||
| AI & ML in product | Yes | Yes | Not claimed | Yes | Yes | Not claimed | Not claimed |
| Led product & engineering | Yes | Yes | Not claimed | Not claimed | Not claimed | Not claimed | Yes |
| First product leader | Yes | Yes | Not claimed | Not claimed | Yes | Yes | Not claimed |
| Customer discovery | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 0 to 1 | Yes | Yes | Not claimed | Not claimed | Not claimed | Yes | Yes |
| Team & org building | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise customers | Not claimed | Yes | Yes | Not claimed | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Portfolio & pricing | Yes | Yes | Not claimed | Not claimed | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Unit economics & P&L | Yes | Not claimed | Not claimed | Not claimed | Not claimed | Not claimed | Yes |
| Board & investors | Yes | Yes | Not claimed | Not claimed | Not claimed | Not claimed | Not claimed |
| Category shaped | Yes | Yes | Not claimed | Not claimed | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Platform & technology | |||||||
| Platform | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not claimed | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| APIs & extensibility | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not claimed | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Data & analytics | Yes | Yes | Not claimed | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Security & compliance | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not claimed | Yes | Yes | Yes |
- LexfulAI & ML in productLed product & engineeringFirst product leaderCustomer discovery0 to 1Team & org buildingPortfolio & pricingUnit economics & P&LBoard & investorsCategory shapedPlatformAPIs & extensibilityData & analyticsSecurity & compliance
- CognotaAI & ML in productLed product & engineeringFirst product leaderCustomer discovery0 to 1Team & org buildingEnterprise customersPortfolio & pricingBoard & investorsCategory shapedPlatformAPIs & extensibilityData & analyticsSecurity & compliance
- Elastic PathCustomer discoveryTeam & org buildingEnterprise customersPlatformAPIs & extensibilitySecurity & compliance
- UnbounceAI & ML in productCustomer discoveryTeam & org buildingData & analytics
- AllocadiaAI & ML in productFirst product leaderCustomer discoveryTeam & org buildingEnterprise customersPortfolio & pricingCategory shapedPlatformAPIs & extensibilityData & analyticsSecurity & compliance
- QuickMobileFirst product leaderCustomer discovery0 to 1Team & org buildingEnterprise customersPortfolio & pricingCategory shapedPlatformAPIs & extensibilityData & analyticsSecurity & compliance
- Vision CriticalLed product & engineeringCustomer discovery0 to 1Team & org buildingEnterprise customersPortfolio & pricingUnit economics & P&LCategory shapedPlatformAPIs & extensibilityData & analyticsSecurity & compliance
How to read it The role did it Blank: not claimed here
- AI & ML in product
- Lexful · AI-native
- Cognota · generative reports
- Unbounce · applied ML
- Allocadia · recommendations & personalisation
- 0 to 1
- Cognota · in place of a prototype
- QuickMobile · in place of custom builds
- Led product & engineering
- Lexful · CPTO
- Cognota · VP Product & Technology
- Vision Critical · the custom software division, a 0-to-1 team
- Customer discovery
- Lexful · design partners
- Cognota
- Elastic Path
- Unbounce
- Allocadia · a quarterly customer advisory board
- QuickMobile
- Vision Critical · products built with customers
- Unit economics & P&L
- Lexful · AI unit economics, to a 75% gross margin
- Vision Critical · the custom software division’s P&L
- Security & compliance
- LexfulCognotaElastic PathAllocadiaQuickMobileVision Critical
Counts new platforms, as well as new companies.
Every other tick comes from the case pages and the CV.
Titles are as held. At Allocadia and QuickMobile, the Director role was the company’s first product leader.
Agency owner? I co-founded and ran a digital agency, 1999 to 2006. For agencies →
NOW · 03Studio work in progress, and the R&D. Nothing is named until each party agrees
2026 TO NOWClient, unnamedBuilding one system to run the whole jobFind the work, price it, run it, bill it. Prototype delivered; the pilot is next.WATCH2026 TO NOWProject, unnamedOne-off work is becoming a packaged productThe business case, packages and pricing, and the partner model.WATCH2026 TO NOWDacardTesting whether shipped work shows what landedThree scoring frameworks, and Throughline, a prototype that reads one company’s public record against them.R&D, NOT SCORED
ILLUSTRATIVE
/METHODAGENT WORKA PERSON’S CALL
Agents make it. Someone owns it.
01 · DECIDEChoose what is worth buildingWhen anything can be built this week, choosing is the expensive part. I write the stop list first.
02 · SHIPLet agents do the makingAgents draft the specs, code, tests and docs. A person signs anything that reaches a customer, a regulator, or the books.
03 · PROVEScore whether it landedThe landing brief sets the bar before the build: a behaviour, in named accounts, by a named date. Then the work is scored landed, watch, or stalled.
/SERVICES · 03
I work with 3 types of companies, and I stay with it throughout.
Full-time, fractional, or by the project. A full-time seat is a normal hire. Fractional and project work starts with discovery, the smallest piece of work, and you can stop after it with what it produced. Timing and price are set after it, in writing, and what I build sits in your accounts from day one.
FOR SOFTWARE, DATA, AND PLATFORM COMPANIES
A product and technology leader
I work full-time as VP of Product, CPO or CPTO at a Series A to C company, or fractionally for AI-native teams that need the operating model before the headcount.
- One owner for the portfolio and the roadmap
- The team, pricing and packaging
- What to build, buy, partner on, or stop
- Taken to the board in plain numbers
Agents in production
For a pilot that demos well and has not shipped: one agent live on real work.
- Evals agreed before launch
- A permission model scoped per role, and per customer where your records are split by customer
- A cost per run, set against what the same work cost before, that your finance team can plan against
PROOF
A product and technology leader
- Cognota: first product and technology leader; revenue tripled, and the enterprise pivot was a key element of a $5.5M Series A.
- Lexful: employee #1 to paying customers in twelve months.
- If I take a full-time seat, I stop taking new studio work and hand current work over.
Agents in production
- Lexful: agents in production under a permission model set per customer and per role, an MCP server so outside agents called in under the same rules, and every release gated on evals.
- I still build in Claude Code most working days.
SCOPE
VP or chief, full-timeFractional CPTOPortfolio & pricingBoard & investorsPilot to productionEvals before launchUnit economics
FOR DIGITAL AND CREATIVE AGENCIES
Turn an agency’s best one-off work into a product: packages, pricing, the software under it, and the partners who deliver it. You keep the craft and the client.
PROOF
- Background: I co-founded and ran a digital agency from 1999 to 2006.
- In progress: a project, not named or described. Business case, packages, pricing and decks delivered; first buyer meetings are under way and nothing has sold, so it says watch.
SCOPE
Packages & pricingSoftware under the packageDelivery partnersA pilot with a sales bar
FOR OWNERS AND OPERATIONS LEADS AT SERVICE BUSINESSES
Busywork goes to Claude; decisions stay with people.
- Small teams: a ready-made setup on Claude for Small Business
- Bigger operations: one system built around how they run
- Each automation scored landed, watch or stalled against a landing brief written before the build
PROOF
- In progress: a client, not named or described. System design, plan, and prototype delivered; the pilot is next, so it says watch.
SCOPE
Claude for Small BusinessBuilt around your systemsApproval on every outside-facing draftScored: landed, watch, stalled
The lab ships in public.
Experiments I run on myself first, in public. Read them, try them on your own team, and tell me what they got wrong.
ILLUSTRATIVE
LAB 01R&D PROTOTYPE ↗
ThroughlineResearch, not part of the offer: a working test of the thesis that shipped work can be read for whether it landed.ILLUSTRATIVEFOUR STEPS, A SAMPLE TEAM
ASKING
DRAFTING
RUNNING
MEASURED
LAB 02TOOL ↗
Where you standUp to four questions place your team on one of four steps, from asking AI in a chat window to knowing what it returned, with the next move. Nothing is stored.NOTESLATEST THREE
How data and work flow
Every tool and how it connects
How a change ships
LAB 03NOTES ↗
The paper trailMy dated notes on what worked, what broke, and what I would do again.HOW THE STUDIO WORKSAROUND ONE PRINCIPAL
AGENTS MAKE ITSpecs, code, tests and docs, drafted with agents under my review.
SPECIALISTS JOIN
DESIGNDATAENGINEERINGSECURITYCHANGE
People I’ve shipped with, by the project, approved by you.THE PRINCIPAL DECIDESDarren CardOn every engagement. I find out what matters with you, own the decisions, and sign what goes out.
YOU KEEP ITThe decisions, the code, the tests and the playbook stay with your team, in your systems.
/STUDIO
Dacard stays small, so you always work with me.
I run Dacard. I’ve spent twenty years in software product, the last five with engineering too, most recently as employee #1 and CPTO at an AI company. Specialists join by the project, under your access rules and your NDA. You always know whose name is on a decision. The limit is plain: I’m one person, which is why a full-time seat stops new studio work.
BASEDVancouver, Pacific time
HOURSEarly mornings for Eastern teams
ENGAGEMENTSFull-time, fractional, by the project
OPEN TOVP of Product, CPO or CPTO, Series A to C
CURRENTLY BUILDING WITH
My record →- MotherDuck
- PostHog
- Linear
- Granola
- Claude
- GitHub
- Vercel
- Supabase
- Claude API
- Stripe
- Infisical
- Mintlify
Bring the decision you are stuck on.
Thirty minutes, no deck, no fee. If I’m not right for it, I’ll say so and point you somewhere better.
Hiring for a VP or chief seat? Email the role to darren@darrencard.com, read the CV, or download it.