You walk into the meeting armed with your breakthrough. You have charts showing qubit fidelity, gate error rates, and coherence times that are among the best in the world. You have a deep, passionate understanding of your quantum architecture that has consumed your life for the better part of a decade. You lay it all out for the seasoned Chief Product Officer sitting across from you—a candidate you know has a dozen other opportunities.
You wait for the look of awe. Instead, you get a polite nod and a question that cuts to the core: "This is fascinating science. Now, tell me, who is the customer and what problem are we solving in the next three years?"
For many brilliant scientist-founders, this is where the conversation stalls. They have spent years building a revolutionary "what" but have not yet mastered the language of "who" and "why" that a world-class commercial leader needs to hear.
A seasoned CPO from the world of deep tech has seen groundbreaking technology before. They've lived through hype cycles. They are not being hired to admire your science; they are being hired to transform it into a viable, market-defining product. To attract them, you must stop pitching from your side of the table and learn to pitch from theirs.
At DM & Associates, we guide our founders through this critical mindset shift. Here is the framework for crafting a pitch that truly resonates with the CPO you need.
1. Frame the "Problem," Not the "Solution"
Your pitch cannot begin with your quantum processor. It must begin with the massive, intractable problem in the outside world that your technology is uniquely positioned to solve. A seasoned CPO is motivated by conquering markets and solving customer pain.
- Instead of: "We have developed a 256-qubit processor using a novel photonic interconnect architecture..."
- Try: "The world's leading pharmaceutical companies spend over $2 billion and a decade to bring a single drug to market, largely because simulating complex molecular interactions is impossible for classical computers. This is one of the holy grails of computational chemistry, and it represents a multi-hundred-billion-dollar market failure we are positioned to solve."
2. Pitch the "Path," Not Just the "Destination"
Any credible CPO knows that fault-tolerant quantum computing is a long way off. Pitching a utopian future without acknowledging the arduous journey ahead signals naivete. They need to see that you are a pragmatic visionary with a milestone-driven plan.
- Instead of: "We will have a fault-tolerant computer in ten years."
- Try: "Our mission is full fault-tolerance. However, our 3-year commercial path focuses on leveraging our system's unique advantages in solving specific optimization problems for financial services. We have a clear roadmap to demonstrate quantum advantage on a commercially relevant problem for our first JDA partner, which will generate our first revenue and fund the next stage of our R&D."
3. Define Their Role as "Pathfinder," Not "Product Manager"
The CPO role in a quantum startup is unlike any other. They are not managing feature backlogs or A/B testing user interfaces. You are hiring an explorer, a market-seeker, a Use-Case Pathfinder. This is an intellectually thrilling proposition for the right person.
- Instead of: "We need a CPO to build our product roadmap."
- Try: "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to work alongside our scientific team to discover the first killer application for our unique quantum architecture. You will be our primary bridge to the outside world, testing hypotheses with the world's leading companies to find the intersection of our capability and their highest-value problems. You are not just building a product; you are defining a market."
4. Sell the "Partnership," Not the "Position"
Finally, a top-tier CPO is not looking for a job; they are looking for a partnership with a world-class visionary. This is the core of our "Quantum Diarchy" model. You must pitch yourself as a partner.
- Instead of: "I'm looking to hire a CPO to run the business side."
- Try: "I am one of the world's experts in this specific quantum modality. You are one of the world's experts in turning frontier technology into category-defining products. Together, we have the opportunity to build a company that will fundamentally change the world. I am looking for a partner to build this with me."
Pitching from the other side of the table shows you understand what motivates a great CPO: a massive market, a credible plan, an intellectually stimulating challenge, and a true partnership.
Attracting a world-class CPO is the first step. Effectively interviewing and closing them requires a disciplined process.
To help you translate this theory into practice, DM & Associates has developed an exclusive Quantum CPO Hiring Toolkit. This complimentary resource includes:
- A detailed Role Scorecard template, tailored for a quantum CPO.
- A list of "killer" interview questions designed to test for the unique competencies required.
- A framework for structuring a competitive, multi-year compensation package.
