About
I know what it looks like when a product organization is missing or isn't delivering.I've spent nearly two decades walking into those exact situations.
Across PE-backed healthcare, FinTech, and telecom — I meet every organization where it is and move it forward.
People · Process · Technology
How I think about this work
Product leadership is operating discipline, not a deliverable.
Most product consulting produces a deck. Most CPOs produce a function. The work that matters — the work that actually moves the business — is the operating cadence: the weekly reviews, the roadmap calls, the hiring decisions, the trade-off conversations with engineering and sales. None of that fits in a deliverable.
I built Suncoast PLM to do that work for companies that need it but can't yet justify a full-time hire. The model is simple: I show up, I sit in the seat, I do the job. When I exit, the function is running.
AI is built into how I work, not what I sell. I use it daily as an operator — for product diligence, market analysis, roadmap pressure-testing, documentation. The thesis is operational leverage, not a product feature.
Where I've operated
Founder & Principal
Suncoast PLM
Founded Suncoast PLM to formalize the fractional product leadership practice. Every engagement is led by the principal — no junior associates, no staffed team, no handoff. Active engagements include fractional product leadership at the nation's largest provider of urgent care.
Independent Product Advisor & Coach
Self-employed
Eleven months of independent advisory and executive coaching for growth-stage technology companies and PE-backed portfolios. Engagements spanned product strategy, organizational design, roadmap development, and executive coaching across multiple sectors. This independent practice formalized as Suncoast PLM in February 2025.
VP, Product Development
Jackson Hewitt Tax Service
Nearly nine years leading the growth of the product and technology function. Built the product operating model, team structure, hiring process, and roadmap function from the ground up — scaling the organization from four product managers to a team of twenty-five. Work spanned consumer tax filing, franchise operations, and back-office platforms. Considered for interim CIO prior to organizational restructuring.
Senior Director, Product Management
IAS, an InComm company
Nearly eight years building product and Agile practice 0→1 across the prepaid card and fintech payments platform. Progressed through several product roles to lead a fourteen-person product and Agile team. Drove SAM expansion from 35% to 95% in the mobile payment processing business and delivered $18M ARR in growth from the SaaS feature set. Launched payment and mobile retail services with national telecom partners. The formative operating reps that shaped how I lead product today.
What makes this different
One principal, every engagement
Suncoast PLM is led by Jamel Canty. There's no junior associate, no staffed team, no handoff to someone you didn't meet in the sales conversation.
Operator, not consultant
Nearly two decades running product organizations — not advising them. The frameworks I use are the ones I built and broke inside real companies.
Built for speed of decision
The work is sized to produce a decision or a shipped outcome in weeks, not a report in months.
Specific industries
Healthcare IT, fintech, tax technology, and private equity portfolio companies in the $5M–$50M ARR range. I take engagements where the pattern is recognizable; I pass on the ones where it isn't.
Contact
If any of this is the conversation you're trying to have.
Tell me what you're dealing with. The first conversation is no-obligation, and I'll tell you honestly whether Suncoast PLM is the right fit.