Global product & technology leader

DRIVING THOUGHTFUL EXECUTION OF BOLD IDEAS

Lexy.fm

Introducing Lexy, the call-in trivia game for drivers.

My Work

I build products that transform how people connect, speak, and access information—across voice, AI, and marketplace platforms.

My Work
Fuser
Fuser

Service marketplace for EVSE projects

NextGem
NextGem

AI-driven discovery for rare sports cards

TRT
TRT

Scaling Turkey’s largest media brand

Howlak
Howlak

Smart food discovery app in Qatar

MDIF
MDIF

Product leadership training in Poland

Backhouse
Backhouse

B2B marketplace for virtual brands

Eagle Falcon
Eagle Falcon

Artisanal leather goods and accessories

Bingoal
Bingoal

Football prediction gaming in Qatar

iPlus
iPlus

Global news, from Iraq to the world

Lexy.fm
Lexy.fm

Call-in trivia game for drivers

Bloom
Bloom

Smart video app powered by sensors

Tough Choices
Tough Choices

Voice-based storytelling on smart speakers

Blackbox
Blackbox

A VR journey through war and memory

News Quiz
News Quiz

Gamifying global news through voice

Daily News Brief
Daily News Brief

Making global headlines voice-first

Voices Project
Voices Project

Voice-powered citizen media in Africa

Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera

Global media innovation in Qatar

Syndout
Syndout

Speech-enabled publishing on phones

Consulting Services

With over 15 years of global experience driving product and innovation across five continents, Derrick Fountain has led the launch of voice-driven platforms, AI marketplaces, national media systems, and venture-backed startups.

Offering fractional product leadership, executive advisory, and hands-on execution support, he helps organizations scale intelligently—whether refining workflows at global enterprises like Toro, TRT, and Al Jazeera, or accelerating growth for startups like Backhouse Brands and Fuser. Known for a pragmatic and deeply engaged style, Derrick serves as a strategic partner to founders and product teams navigating growth, complexity, and transformation.

  • For organizations with a clear product strategy but need help with execution, a Fractional Product Lead can take full ownership of the end to end product lifecycle and accelerate speed to market with new products or features.

    Service Offerings

    • Collaborate with your team for 10-20 hours weekly

    • Craft a market-entry strategy for your product

    • Co-create your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) with your team

    • Enhance your agile methodologies and team coordination

  • Ideal for those seeking strategic leadership expertise combined with thoughtful execution of complex product portfolios.

    Service Offerings

    • Provide strategic, executive direction and leadership across a portfolio of products and services

    • Engage with your product and leadership team for approximately 5-10 hours weekly

    • Establish clear objectives and key performance indicators

    • Refine your agile frameworks and technical team efficiency

    • Conduct a comprehensive analysis of your product lifecycle

    • Map out a strategic product roadmap and execution plan

  • Tailored for startups aiming to assemble complete product development teams or supplement existing in-house teams with external resources.

    Service Offerings

    • Assist in forming your engineering, design, and QA teams through trusted agency alliances

    • Facilitate connections with top-tier marketing and growth experts in the industry

  • "Derrick has a lot of insight to offer and grasped how media could work effectively in voice much earlier than most others."

    — Bret Kinsella, Editor, Voicebot.ai

  • “The attendees really loved the workshop, and are eager to put into practice what they've learned from you.”

    — Valer Kot, MDIF, Czech Republic

  • "It was a real pleasure to be at your workshop and to learn something new. It definitely helps me to understand the whole product we create."

    — Andy Samofalov, Liga.net, Ukraine

  • "I had the opportunity to listen to your presentations at Agora on Monday and Tuesday. They were impressive - huge amount of knowledge and practice put in very structured way."

    — Tomasz Bienias, Agora, Poland

  • "I've worked for Derrick on a couple of projects on enabling citizen journalism platforms in Kenya and Ghana. He is really visionary on how to expand the way news channels can get new sources of information from the field."

    — Stephane Boyera, World Wide Web Foundation

Startup Studio

Invest intellectual capital into your next startup venture. For a small slice of equity, leverage the expertise of global product & design leader to turn bold ideas into thoughtful execution. Get to market faster.

Let’s build something together.

  • Powerful ideas come from powerful insights. Running a product discovery process will determine if an idea is rooted in a problem worth solving.

  • Seeing is believing. Turning validated learnings into visual prototypes is an efficient way to test a solution with real customers.

  • Turning market tested designs into thoughtful execution is the most capital efficient way to turn vision into reality.