Justin Berkovi
VP Product at Hilo – Product Leadership & Strategy

Building and scaling products in complex, regulated environments and writing about what actually works.

ProductMagic is my writing and advisory platform, where I share practical thinking from over 25 years building and scaling digital products.

I’m currently VP Product at Hilo, where I lead the evolution of a regulated health platform from single-purpose measurement to a proactive, intelligence-driven health companion.

Across my career, I’ve operated at CPO and VP Product level in scale-ups and growth-stage companies, including organisations reaching over 100M monthly active users, helping leadership teams turn product-market fit into meaningful, sustainable scale.

Earlier in my career, I co-founded and led product early at Mind Candy (creators of Moshi Monsters – it’s coming back!), an experience that shaped my approach to consumer product, engagement, and long-term brand building.

Through ProductMagic, I publish weekly essays on product strategy, leadership, and decision-making, grounded in real work, not theory, and occasionally advise leadership teams navigating critical product inflection points.

Read the blog

Early-Stage? I Can Help You Too

For seed-stage startups and companies with pre-seed funding, I offer focused support through strategy workshops, advisory relationships, or project-based consulting to help teams:

Test and validate product concepts
Develop clear product narratives for investors
Design MVP and go-to-market approaches
Navigate early-stage product decisions

My Approach

I combine high-level product strategy with hands-on execution. This means building roadmaps and also getting stuck into user research, feature specification, and working directly with engineering teams to ship products that drive business results.

Beyond coordination, I work directly with engineering, design, and marketing teams. I'll run sprint planning sessions, conduct user interviews, analyse product metrics, and help teams ship features that matter. I excel at breaking down silos and creating alignment between product development and go-to-market execution.

I work alongside teams during scaling phases, not just advise from the sidelines. This includes setting up processes, mentoring product managers, conducting customer interviews, and making the tactical decisions that keep teams moving forward effectively. As a people-first leader, I aim to make the work both impactful and enjoyable — creating experiences that teams remember and want to be part of again.

What Leaders Say

“Justin is easily the best manager and coach I have worked under. He pushed me and our product to new levels with his vision, execution skills and eye for design. He makes work enjoyable and cares deeply about those he works with. I am glad to now have him as a mentor, and continue to seek his guidance regularly.”

— Sam Broadey, Senior Product Manager, Monzo

“Justin is an inspiring leader and is always pushing the boundaries on product evolution. He has clear view of the big picture and promotes a compelling vision and strategy. Individuals and teams thrive working with Justin and this brings great energy and excitement to the product development process.”

— George Brand, Head of Delivery, VIOOH

“Worked with Justin during his tenure at Healthily. He is an inspirational product visionary who thinks big and yet also elegant simplicity. Always focusing on the customers experience both current and future, Justin brings thorough leadership and drive to the process as well as the end product (s)

— Sarah Lerche, Fractional CFO Tech, Healthtech & SaaS