The only rules you need for leading commercial product teams - Faith Forster (CPO, Legl)

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Jul 2, 2025

In this discussion, Faith Forster, Chief Product Officer at Legl, shares her expertise in leading product teams in the payments and compliance sector. She emphasizes prioritizing customer value over speed and explores how AI can enhance efficiency in product development. Faith discusses the importance of understanding P&L management, connecting product features with revenue, and fostering collaboration across teams. She also highlights the necessity of accountability and celebrating team successes to boost motivation, especially in startup environments.

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ANECDOTE

Gardening Leave Arctic Expedition

Faith Forster took real advantage of her gardening leave by doing a backcountry skiing expedition in the Arctic Circle.
She enjoyed the experience and found it amazing despite the lack of electricity and running water.

INSIGHT

Product Teams as Business Investment

Product teams represent a major cost line alongside sales and marketing on the P&L.
Product investment expects a return, so leaders must maximize return on that investment.

ADVICE

Share Cost Awareness Tactfully

Share approximate team cost averages with product teams to raise awareness without breaching privacy.
Develop impact models to connect delivered features with expected returns and sharpen cost-return accountability.

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In this episode of The Product Experience, Lily and Randy speak with Faith Forster about the art of aligning product work with commercial outcomes. From redefining velocity as a function of customer value to implementing impact models that quantify ROI, Faith outlines practical frameworks to help product teams think commercially without compromising user value.

She also explores the evolving role of AI in product development, the necessity of syncing planning cycles with business units, and why happy teams are the cornerstone of faster, better delivery.

Key takeaways

Velocity = Value: Product velocity isn't about coding speed—it's about reducing time to customer value to improve ROI and lower opportunity cost.
Impact Modelling: A disciplined approach to estimating commercial outcomes before development helps product teams understand and justify their work.
AI Integration: Teams are expected to primarily use AI tools within three months to boost delivery speed and build organisational capability.
Viability from Day One: Pricing and revenue potential must be considered from the outset—not after feature completion.
Cross-Functional Alignment: Successful planning requires synchronising product cycles with finance, sales, and marketing calendars.
Happy Teams, Better Results: Reducing friction between design, engineering, and product roles directly impacts delivery speed and feature quality.

Chapters
00:00 – Redefining velocity: Why speed isn’t just about code
01:05 – Faith’s journey from Dex to Legal
03:02 – Introducing the commercial value talk
04:51 – Understanding the P&L from a product lens
08:07 – Why team cost-awareness matters
10:00 – Building better impact models
12:25 – Increasing ROI through value velocity
16:37 – The AI imperative: Adoption, anxiety, and acceleration

Our Hosts
Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.

Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.