Stop trying to convince executives to adopt your priorities. Instead, identify their existing strategic initiatives—often with internal code names—and frame your solution as an accelerator for what they're already sold on doing. This dramatically reduces friction and speeds up deals.

Luckey reveals that Anduril prioritized institutional engagement over engineering in its early days, initially hiring more lawyers and lobbyists. The biggest challenge wasn't building the technology, but convincing the Department of Defense and political stakeholders to believe in a new procurement model, proving that shaping the system is a prerequisite for success.

A sales background teaches more than customer centricity. It instills resilience and the fearlessness to approach anyone in an organization to get things done, a vital skill for navigating the cross-functional demands of product management.

Enterprise leaders aren't motivated by solving small, specific problems. Founders succeed by "vision casting"—selling a future state or opportunity that gives the buyer a competitive edge ("alpha"). This excites them enough to champion a deal internally.

A major software vendor pitched a $50M deal directly to the DOE Chief of Staff, assuming top-level access was a shortcut. The pitch failed because they hadn't validated the need or built internal champions. High-level meetings are useless without foundational sales work proving a real problem exists for the organization.

When driving major organizational change, a data-driven approach from the start is crucial for overcoming emotional resistance to established ways of working. Building a strong business case based on financial and market metrics can depersonalize the discussion and align stakeholders more quickly than relying on vision alone.

In siloed government environments, pushing for change fails. The effective strategy is to involve agency leaders directly in the process. By presenting data, establishing a common goal (serving the citizen), and giving them a voice in what gets built, they transition from roadblocks to champions.

Challenging the myth of slow government procurement, the Department of Energy completed an eight-figure software deal with a brand new vendor in just five weeks. This speed was possible because the vendor presented a strong ROI and a solution to an urgent, high-level problem, proving that bureaucracy can move fast for clear priorities.

In government, digital services are often viewed as IT projects delivered by contractors. A CPO's primary challenge is instilling a culture of product thinking: focusing on customer value, business outcomes, user research, and KPIs, often starting from a point of zero.