Not All VP Roles Are Created Equal — Here’s What No One Tells You

A few years ago, I was networking hard, trying to land my second VP role.

I had the experience. I had the results. But something wasn’t clicking.

So I started reaching out to people who already had the jobs I wanted — and one conversation in particular changed everything.

It was with a former VP of Marketing at Slack.

She listened to my background and said something I’ll never forget:

“There’s more than one kind of VP. The title may be the same — but the job is completely different.”

Then she broke it down. And suddenly, things made sense.

I’d been chasing roles that didn’t match the kind of leader I actually was.

I kept getting to final rounds.

Great feedback, promising conversations — and then… nothing.

No offer. No clear reason why.

Just vague “not the right fit” responses that didn’t help me move forward.

That conversation gave me the clarity I was missing — and the language to understand what kind of VP I actually wanted to be.

And that changed everything.

The 3 Types of VP Roles

This framework completely shifted how I thought about executive roles — and why I wasn’t landing certain ones. Here’s how she explained it:

This is the first executive in the room — usually joining a startup or early-stage company.

They thrive in chaos, build from scratch, test fast, and are comfortable with zero structure.

They’re helping the company find product-market fit — not scale it.

What you’ll hear:

“We need someone who can get their hands dirty and figure this out — we don’t even know what the org should look like yet.”

This leader joins when the company has traction but needs systems.

They know how to grow from 10 to 100 — by setting up repeatable processes, hiring leaders, and driving consistency.

They build the machine that turns early success into real scale.

What you’ll hear:

“We’ve got a strong product, but it’s chaos internally. We need someone who can build the right structure and grow a team.”

This role usually exists in large companies.

They’re not in the day-to-day weeds — they’re thinking 3–5 years out.

They focus on long-term bets, big-leap innovation, aligning with stakeholders, and high-level revenue strategy.

What you’ll hear:

“We need a partner who can help us think about new revenue streams, M&A opportunities, and long-term bets.”

While the day-to-day can vary wildly, there are some universal truths about VP-level work:

You’re not in the weeds. You lead through others — through strategy, influence, and prioritization.
You own the vision. You’re expected to set direction, not wait for it.
It’s a team sport. You build coalitions, manage across functions, and create momentum through relationships.
You’ll be selling. A lot. Your ideas, your roadmap, your budget, your team. Selling up, down, and sideways is part of the job.