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/THE PERSON · DARREN CARD

I’ve shipped production AI, and I score whether it landed.

Twenty years in B2B software product, the last five with engineering too: the first product leader at four companies (QuickMobile, Allocadia, Cognota and Lexful), and the most senior at three.

Three categories shaped: LearnOps, created at Cognota; marketing performance management, briefed to Gartner, Forrester and IDC at Allocadia; and knowledge intelligence for IT teams, launched at Lexful.

I build in Claude Code most working days, since February 2026. Agents draft; I review what ships and own every call. This year that built Throughline, the R&D prototype, and this site. The paper trail records what broke along the way.

Read the CV or the point of view.

VANCOUVER, PACIFIC TIMEOPEN TO VP OF PRODUCT, CPO OR CPTO, SERIES A TO C OR US-SCALEADVISORY AND BOARD SEATS
THE RECORD, 1999 TO NOWFROM THE RECORD
LANDEDWATCH
  1. The studio · PrincipalClient and project work in progress
  2. Lexful · CPTOPaying customers in 12 months
  3. Cognota · VPRevenue 3x, key to a $5.5M Series A
  4. Elastic Path · DirectorHeld through every peak event
  5. Unbounce · DirectorFeatures measured on outcomes
  6. Allocadia · DirectorBriefed analysts to define the category
  7. QuickMobile · DirectorCustom builds became one platform
  8. Vision Critical · VPCustom work became 0‑to‑1 products
  9. Gaming, mediaProgramme, then product roles
  10. Agency, co-foundedRan it for 6½ years
200020102020NOW

Landed: each role delivered the mandate it was hired for. Watch: the studio’s work is still in progress.

/THE RECORD · 01

The record runs from an agency in 1999 to production AI in 2026.

2026 TO NOWThe studio: client and project work in progress, not named or described. Nothing is live yet, so it is too early to call.WATCH2025 TO 2026Lexful. Employee #1 and CPTO: joined on the $3M pre-seed, hired the founding team of ten, and launched in twelve months with paying customers (six to plan, raise and hire, then six to build). Agents ran under a permission model set per customer and per role, and every release was gated on evals. Lexful’s SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 controls were in place at launch while the SOC 2 observation window ran. The $7M seed followed in June 2026, after my role ended in March.LANDED
2025 TO NOWTop Down Ventures, an investor in Lexful. Entrepreneur in residence, part-time.
2021 TO 2024Cognota. VP Product & Technology: the first product and technology leader, a team of about 20, and the move from SMB to enterprise contracts, a key element of the $5.5M Series A.LANDED2019 TO 2021Elastic Path, headless commerce for enterprises. Director, product management: the platform held through iPhone launch events and Black Friday, and the roadmap moved in weeks for COVID.LANDED2018 TO 2019Unbounce, landing pages for marketers. Director, product management: features measured on satisfaction, engagement, adoption and retention.LANDED2015 TO 2018Allocadia, marketing performance management. The first product leader: built product, design and product operations from zero, and briefed Gartner, Forrester and IDC to define the category.LANDED2013 TO 2015QuickMobile, event apps. The first product leader: every customer was a custom build, and they moved onto one multi‑tenant platform.LANDED2009 TO 2013Vision Critical, research communities. VP: ran the custom software division, where two projects became products, then the core platform.LANDED
2006 TO 2008Programmes for an online gaming platform, then product for a streaming media portal.LANDED
1999 TO 2006Co-founded and ran a digital agency for 6½ years.LANDED

Landed means the work delivered what was agreed at the start: the mandate for a role, the bar for a project. Watch means it is still in progress.

If I take a full-time seat, the studio stops taking new work and hands current work over. The full CV, with figures for earlier roles, is at /cv, and on LinkedIn.

/THE ARC · 02

I went from running an agency to shipping production AI.

Six and a half years running a digital agency taught me margin, packaging, and what a client will pay for twice. Twenty years in B2B software taught me the rest.

People who reported to me now lead product at director and VP level. I stayed at Cognota three years, through the enterprise move and the Series A.

/3 TYPES OF COMPANIES · 03

Each type of company has its own page.

Software companiesA leader who has shipped production AI. Full-time or fractional.See the page →
Digital agenciesYour best work, packaged and priced as a product.See the page →
Business operationsAI takes the busywork. You keep every decision.See the page →
/KEY FACTS · 04

The facts people ask first sit in one list.

Name
Dacard. Legal name Dacard, Inc. The site is dacard.ai.
What it is
An applied AI studio, led by Darren Card. Specialists join by the project.
Founded
March 2026, after my CPTO role at Lexful.
Based in
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I work remotely with companies in Canada and the United States.
Serves
Software companies, digital agencies, and service businesses.
Services
Product and technology leadership: VP of Product, CPO or CPTO, full-time or fractional. An agency’s best work, turned into a product. AI for business operations, on Claude.
How work starts
A 30-minute call, no fee. Fractional and project work then starts with discovery. A full-time seat is a normal hire.
Before the build
A landing brief: the problem, the definition of good (the number, the bar, the date), the non-goals, the cost budget, and which steps stay fixed code rather than a model call.
How results are reported
Landed, watch or stalled, against the landing brief. The word always prints.
Pricing
Set after discovery, in writing, before anything is built. If you go ahead with the build, what you paid for discovery counts toward it. No prices are published.
Ownership
You own the product, the code, the agents and the accounts.
Track record
Twenty years in B2B software. Employee #1 and CPTO at Lexful: paying customers in 12 months on a $3M pre-seed. VP Product & Technology at Cognota: the pivot was key to a $5.5M Series A.
Open to
VP of Product, CPO or CPTO seats, Series A to C or US-scale. Fractional CPTO for AI-native teams. Advisory and board seats for AI-native software companies.
R&D
Throughline and three scoring frameworks, 88 scoring units. Research, not for sale.
Contact
Book a call on this site, or email darren@darrencard.com.

Tell me what you are trying to find out.

Thirty minutes, no deck. If I am the wrong person for it, I will say so and name someone better.

Hiring for a VP or chief seat? Email the role to darren@darrencard.com, read the CV, or download it.

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