Decide what to build next, like a Product Leader.
In teams that build with AI, this is for product builders: PMs, designers, tech leads and EMs.
Teams now build first and decide later, and the people who grow into leadership are the ones who can decide what gets built, kept or stopped, and back that call with evidence.
Free live lesson on 
Wed 16 Dec · 5pm Lisbon (12pm ET)
Can’t make it? Get the next date in Sónia’s newsletter.
The first course · From 17 Feb 2027
Bring one real decision. Leave with a clear call.
The method
The Altitude Method
Match your commitment to your evidence. Not too low, not too high.
Bring one real decision your team faces, built or not. In four weeks, take it to a clear call with the evidence to back it.
Four weeks, one step each
- Week 1 · Map the critical assumption. The one belief your decision depends on.
- Week 2 · Observe the real experience. Evidence from what people actually did.
- Week 3 · Make the idea testable. Design the smallest test you can ship that could prove you wrong.
- Week 4 · Expose the hidden weight, and decide. Your capstone: the call itself. Continue, change, stop or defer, with the evidence to back it.
It starts with a free live lesson on Maven, Decide what to build next, like a Product Leader, on Wednesday 16 December, 5pm Lisbon time (12pm ET).
Approach
Expert guidance. Shared learning. Real progress.
-
01
Learn
Understand the principles, methods, and reasoning behind better product decisions.
-
02
Apply
Put it to work on a real decision in your own work.
On your own work -
03
Get feedback
Develop your judgement through expert guidance, critique, and discussion.
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04
Improve
Make meaningful changes and take what you’ve learned into your next product decision.
Then again, with your next decision
Real products. Real questions. Practical learning.
The goal isn’t simply to complete a course.
It’s to develop the judgement to make better decisions independently.
Who it’s for
Product builders in teams that build with AI.
For the people who have to decide what deserves the team’s commitment:
- PMs and product designers.
- Tech leads and staff engineers.
- Engineering managers and early CTOs.
Most don’t make the final call alone.
You bring a decision to your team and back it.
From people who’ve learned with Sónia
In their words.
Thank you for the wonderful workshop on Building Faster. It was very insightful, and thank you for your feedback on my app. I love the takeaway PDF we worked on and the format of doing it together.
Really great. Thanks for breaking things down and going back to design thinking principles. So easy to digest, and your approach sparked more ideas for my work.
One of the most helpful workshops I’ve ever attended. It really helped me think differently about my business, and made me realise how much more specific I need to get about what I’m trying to achieve.
Shared with permission, from Sónia’s past talks, workshops, classes and mentoring.
Events
Where Sónia teaches this.
Upcoming
- Join the free live lesson
Decide what to build next, like a Product Leader
Free live lesson on
· 5pm Lisbon (12pm ET)
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About · Why the name
Daedalus was the wingmaker.
In the Greek myth, Daedalus built the wings. Before his son Icarus flew, he gave him one instruction: not too low, where the sea would soak the feathers, and not too high, where the sun would melt the wax.
The wings worked. Icarus fell because he ignored the judgement that came with them.
The Altitude Method turns that instruction into a working rule: match your commitment to your evidence.
- Too lowThe sea soaks the feathers
- JudgementWhere Wingmaker works
- Too highThe sun melts the wax
Why it matters now
AI hands everyone wings. Wingmaker helps you fly them with judgement.
One of the biggest challenges today isn’t the ability to build software, but creating good products, with identity and quality. That’s exactly where Sónia comes in.
About
Meet the founder.
Hi, I’m Sónia Gomes.
I’m a product strategist, product designer, and educator.
My work centres on understanding people, making sense of product uncertainty, evaluating experiences, and helping teams make better decisions about what to build and improve. I also help builders learn to make those decisions themselves.
AI has opened up product creation to more people than ever before.
I believe that’s exciting. But I also believe that knowing how to create software isn’t the same as knowing how to create something good.
I’m building Wingmaker for product builders in teams that build with AI: to help you decide what deserves your team’s commitment, on your own real decisions.
Because building is the easy part now.
— Sónia Gomes
Previously at
Start here
See the method on a real decision.
-
Step 1
Free live lesson
Wed 16 Dec · 5pm Lisbon (12pm ET) · on
In 45 minutes, Sónia walks through the Altitude Method on a real decision from a fintech product team, so you leave ready to make your team’s next call.
Learning outcomes
- Turn a fuzzy idea into a decision you can call.
- Tell real evidence from enthusiasm.
- Size your bet before your team carries it.
Can’t make it? Get the next date in Sónia’s newsletter.
-
Step 2
The four-week course
From Wed 17 Feb 2027
The method
The Altitude Method
Match your commitment to your evidence. Not too low, not too high.
- When
- Wednesdays, 17 Feb – 10 Mar 2027
- Format
- 4 live classes, 90 min each
- Time
- 5pm Lisbon · 12pm ET
- Where
- Live on
- Price
- $600 first cohort
FAQ
Common questions.
When does the first course start?
It starts with a free live lesson on Maven on Wednesday 16 December, 5pm Lisbon time (12pm ET). The four-week course follows: Wednesdays 17 Feb, 24 Feb, 3 Mar and 10 Mar 2027, 5pm Lisbon (12pm ET).
Why is the lesson free?
It’s how the course starts. In 45 minutes you see the Altitude Method used on a real product decision, and leave with something you can use. If you want to apply it to your own decision, with feedback, that’s the four-week course: Wednesdays, 17 Feb to 10 Mar 2027.
Do I need to be technical?
No. You need one real product decision that you or your team face, built or not.
How is this different from the $2–3k AI PM cohorts?
It teaches one skill, not a tool stack: deciding what deserves your team’s commitment, using the Altitude Method on a real decision from your own work. You won’t learn prompts or AI tools. You leave with a clear call and the evidence behind it. The first cohort is $600; the free live lesson is the way to see whether the method fits you first.
Will I actually build or ship anything, or just watch?
You work on your own real decision from the first week. In week 3 you design the smallest test you can ship that could prove you wrong. Your capstone in week 4 is the call itself: continue, change, stop or defer, with the evidence to back it.
Why learn a decision method instead of a tool that changes next quarter?
Tools change every few months. The judgement doesn’t: knowing what evidence you have, and matching your commitment to it. The Altitude Method works whatever your team builds with, this year or next.
Newsletter
In the Room.
Sónia’s newsletter on how product decisions really get made, and what teams miss. Each issue ends with what’s opening next, including new Wingmaker courses.
Free, on Substack. Or read past issues ↗