Charles Topping
Verified Expert in Product Management
Product Manager
Cambridge, ON, Canada
Toptal member since October 31, 2022
As founder of The Win-Loss Agency, Charles has built a reputation as a customer-centered product professional. He has led the development of dozens of product-oriented learning offerings, including the extremely popular Pragmatic Labs series for the Pragmatic Institute. Charles is also a co-author of the Open-source Product Process Framework. He embodies the concept that good products begin with good processes. Dozens of top companies around the world use his processes.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Advertising
- Business Processes
- Go-to-market Strategy
- Market Research & Analysis
- Marketing
- Messaging
- Positioning
- Win/Loss Analysis
Work Experience
Co-author
Quartz Open Framework
- Co-authored the only genuinely open product process framework.
- Developed templates for use throughout the process framework.
- Acted as an ambassador for Quartz, speaking at product conferences throughout North America.
Product Manager
Various Companies
- Acted as a product lead for the $1 million sale of electronic data interchange (EDI) connections to a leading US retailer. Followed it up with six months of customer enablement.
- Rewrote the product strategy for a French network communications firm, leading to substantial growth and acquisition 18 months later.
- Designed voice-of-the-customer programs for Fortune 40 firms.
- Brought dozens of offerings, starting from market research to MVP. Built comprehensive documentation, from strategy to board briefings to positioning and sales enablement.
Founder | Principal Analyst
The Win-Loss Agency
- Led interview-based market learning programs for hundreds of large and small companies.
- Delivered accountable, actionable market insights to all levels, from executives to individual contributors.
- Led a distributed team of researchers, analysts, account managers, and recruiters to succeed in delivering real insights from real people in the markets.
Product Consultant
Ontario Charging Network LP
- Oversaw persona and positioning exercises, crafted a promotion strategy, developed a demand generation strategy, and created a comprehensive plan.
- Led product marketing efforts for renewed offerings and the launch of a new product. Managed persona and positioning exercises, crafted a promotion strategy, developed a demand generation strategy and created a comprehensive plan.
- Collaborated with the team to successfully develop the business case for an offering pivot that aligned much better with market conditions.
- Led the development of a successful Board pitch for the re-invigorated product and go-to-market strategies.
- Built product documentation database in Notion—everything from market learnings to pricing, packaging, sales, and customer enablement.
Founding Partner and Principal Facilitator
Market-Driven Business
- Built positioning, roadmaps, customer research programs, and communication plans with leading product organizations worldwide, including Bloomberg, American Red Cross, Ekata Labs, Cengage, Carrier Heating and Air Conditioning, CSI, Humana, and more.
- Authored dozens of product-oriented workshops, including product strategy, positioning, and market research.
- Developed, sold, and facilitated the Pragmatic Institute Labs series.
Founding Partner
Product Growth Leaders
- Delivered product consulting to product teams worldwide.
- Managed various $1 million sales deals to high-value targets.
- Authored and developed learning course content across the product spectrum.
Senior Marketing Manager
One Red Bird
- Led go-to-market strategy for new product launches, including highly technical industrial B2B products.
- Developed and implemented B2B inbound programs. Collaborated with vendors to build content ranging from white papers to video content.
- Led client relationship and account management for several not-for-profit organizations.
Corporate Marketing Associate Manager
Walmart
- Marketed the grand opening of 65 stores across Canada.
- Managed vendor relationships of over $5 million.
- Coordinated the strategic marketing function for Walmart Canada nationally.
- Co-wrote, developed and obtained a sign-off for the 2015 national annual marketing plan.
- Worked as one of two in the marketing function to take on Target's entry to Canada.
Project History
EDI Custom Offering for Major Retailer
Custom packaging and pricing for a worldwide top-10 mass-market retailer. The deal closed for $1 million.
I led the product effort in closing the business, making a packaging play better than the other options. Also of note was a revamped positioning story.
Expansion Product Strategy for European Managed Services Provider
Led expanded product strategy, leveraging fresh market research.
We also addressed organizational readiness and identified gaps, including localization issues. Ultimately, only a few markets were good fits for the firm as each gained footholds.
Prototype for Integrated Vendor Portal
Led project to prototype an integrated portal for retail fresh goods vendors.
I led the product management in the effort to update it. We met with dozens of users on both retailer and vendor sides, defining their use cases and requirements. I managed efforts to validate the design, the backlog, and daily stand-ups. The prototype was delivered to the client.
Certifications
Quartz Certified Contributor
Quartz Open Framework
Certified Facilitator of LEGO SERIOUS PLAY
Association of Master Trainers
Pragmatic Institute Certified | Level Six
Pragmatic Institute
Skills
Tools
Jira, Google Analytics, HubSpot
Platforms
Google Ads, Shopify
Industry Expertise
Digital Agencies, Nonprofits
Paradigms
Kanban
Other
Business Processes, Market Research, Win/Loss Analysis, Positioning, Roadmaps, Marketing Communications (MarCom), Team Leadership, Market Research & Analysis, Executive Briefings, Product Vision, Personas, Product Management, Messaging, Intercultural Competence, Packaging, Pricing Strategy, Competitive Analysis, Competitive Strategy, Organizational Readiness, GAP Analysis, User Needs, User Requirements, Business Requirements, Status Updates, Backlog Management, Marketing, Audience Targeting, Community Growth, Direct Marketing, SEO Marketing, Focus Groups, Business to Consumer (B2C), Project Coordination, Customer Research, Vendor Management, Product Launch, Media, Paid Media, Business Planning, Discovery Workshops, Digital Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Business Cases, B2B, Business to Business (B2B), Product Marketing, Digital Marketing Strategy, Advertising, Product Planning, Product Requirements Documentation (PRD), Product Roadmaps, Account Management, Agency, Sales Enablement, Market Opportunity Analysis, Business Model Strategy, Product Canvas, Go-to-market Strategy, Product Strategy, Market Sizing, Prototyping, UX Prototyping, Digital Product Management, Conceptualization, Ideation, SaaS, Growth Strategy, X (formerly Twitter) Marketing, Website Traffic, Website Redesign, Model-based Design, Business, New Product Development, Startups, Social Media, WordPress, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), New Products, User Stories, Workshops, Hardware, Salesforce, Electric Vehicles, Notion, Product Sales, Revenue Strategy, Inbound Marketing, HubSpot CRM, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), SaaS Product Management, Stripe
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
Share your needs
Choose your talent
Start your risk-free talent trial
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring