You've put in the work.
Now see exactly where it's taking you.
15,000+ real paths analyzed across 14 destination roles.
See exactly where you stand — and the single move that gets you there fastest.
The promotion you're waiting for probably isn't coming. The gap is smaller than you think.
The median time professionals spend in a role before realizing it isn't actually building toward the role they want. The move that could have happened earlier — didn't.
Most stalls come down to one specific thing — a credential, an experience, a skill signal. Not a broad readiness problem. The wrong diagnosis costs years.
Median salary jump at the Director-to-VP transition. Getting there 2 years sooner means $80–160K that arrives earlier. The cost of waiting isn't invisible. It's just delayed.
Three numbers that change how you think about the move.
Of VPs reached it through the same 3 waypoints.
81% of VPs in our dataset followed the same three waypoints to reach their destination. Most professionals are missing 1–2 of them without knowing it.
We show you which waypoints you're missing and how far you are from each.
The gap between the fastest route and the one most people take.
The gap between the fastest route and the one most people take. Not talent — knowing which gaps to close first, in the right order.
We rank your gaps by impact and show you the fastest path to close them.
The MBA that defines one path barely matters on another.
The difference in MBA prevalence between VP of Finance (45%) and VP of Design (9%). Wrong credential = years lost.
We tell you which credentials actually move the needle for your destination.
Two moves that didn't happen by accident.
Senior HRBP. Seven years in HR. Strong executive relationships. Managing a team of three. Consistently told she was "almost ready." Her path score: 69%.
The analysis found what the feedback never did — she'd never owned the full people function, only the business partnership layer. Not a skills gap. A scope gap.
Her fastest move: Head of People at a 380-person Series B — owning comp, recruiting, and people ops for the first time. Fourteen months later: VP of People at a company three times that size.
Senior Engineering Manager. Five years in eng leadership, running a product squad of 8. Strong technical credibility, great reviews. His path score: 74%.
The gap everyone missed: he'd led one team, one domain. VP roles at his target companies almost universally showed ownership across 2–3 distinct engineering functions simultaneously.
His fastest move: a scaling company where he ran both core infrastructure and product engineering — not just one. Nine months later: VP of Engineering.
You know you're meant for more. You just can't see the path from where you're standing.
You're three years into a role that looked like a stepping stone. You're performing well. You're getting good feedback. But you have no idea whether you're actually building toward the title you want — or just getting really good at a job that isn't taking you anywhere.
The problem isn't motivation. It's not confidence. It's that nobody has ever given you a clear pictureof exactly where you stand relative to the role you want — and what's actually standing between you and it.
Not “get more visible.” Not “find a mentor.” The specific credential, the specific experience, the specific move that's quietly holding you back. And the one route that closes it fastest.
The usual advice is well-meaning.
It is also underpowered.
The distance is smaller and more specific than you think.
The data doesn't tell you to "get more visible." It tells you the single fastest route available to you right now — based on 1,000+ real people who made your exact transition.
Next waypoint: Director of HR · Destination: VP of People
Found in 89% of paths to Director of HR. Closing this alone moves you +11 points.
Five waypoints. One is a detour.
Most people take six moves to reach VP of People. The fastest route skips one — the Head of Talent seat that looks like progress but doesn't change your scope.
Based on 1,000+ people who made your exact transition.
The one most people default to. It works — 22 months slower.
At destination vs. staying in current role three more years.
Four steps. Ninety seconds to start.
Take the 90-second analysis.
Tell us where you are now and where you want to land. We compare your background against 1,000+ real paths to that destination.
See exactly where you stand.
Your path score across four dimensions: experience, skills, credentials, timeline. Benchmarked against real VPs — not aspirational ones.
Get your single biggest gap.
Not a list of everything. The one specific move, credential, or experience that closes the most distance between you and the role.
Follow the fastest route.
A concrete sequence — the next waypoint, the move that gets you there, the signals to watch for. Reviewed monthly as you move.
Not “pep talks.”.
Specific answers about your specific move.
Should I take a Head of Talent role before VP? Does an MBA make sense for me? Is this offer worth the title change?
Every response grounded in the 1,000+ paths we've analyzed for your destination — not platitudes, not generic advice.
The coach sees your score, your gaps, your timeline. Advice adapts as you move — not the same five tips everyone gets.
Only 14%of VPs of People passed through a Head of Talent seat. The move adds ~11 months without changing your scope signal — you'd still be known as a "talent person," not a full people leader.
Based on 1,053 paths to VP of People in our dataset. The closer route: Head of People at a Series A/B with full function ownership.
Pick yours. We'll map the route.
No surveys. No self-reports. Only moves people actually made.
- Real role transitions. Verified title changes, company moves, scope increases — across the full arc of each career.
- Scope signals. Headcount managed, budget owned, P&L responsibility, function breadth — at each waypoint.
- Time in role. Exact durations, not medians of medians. The actual tempo real people moved at.
- Credentials held at transition. What they had when they made the move. Not what they had by the end.
- Self-reported career satisfaction. “I’m really happy I took that job” is not a data point. We only track what actually happened.
- Survey responses. What people say they’d do in theory tells us nothing about what actually works.
- Aspirational titles. A three-person consultancy’s “VP” is not the same signal as a 3,000-person company’s. We control for this.
- LinkedIn headlines. We read real transitions from real employment history. Not the line underneath someone’s name.
Two years. That's what the average stall costs.
The difference between the fastest route and the default one isn't usually talent. It isn't usually luck. It's a 24-month gap made of moves you didn't know to make.
At the Director-to-VP transition, that gap is worth a median +$64K per year. Over two years, the cost of waiting it outcompounds into real six-figure territory. And that's before the compounding effect on every move that comes after.
Clarity, at $19/mo, instead of a 24-month detour worth $128K.
A note from the person who couldn't see her path.
I built 1000paths because I spent a decade getting advice I couldn't act on.
"Get more visible." "Find a sponsor." "Own something bigger."All true. All useless on a Tuesday afternoon when I'm trying to decide whether to take an offer, push for a promotion, or move to a different company entirely.
What I wanted was specific: given where I am right now, what's the single move with the highest probability of getting me where I want to go — and how far is that, in months?
Nobody had that answer. Not because they were wrong. Because the data didn't exist in a usable form. So we built it — 15,000+ real trajectories, 14 destination roles, and counting.
If you've been waiting for clarity about where you stand — this is that.
Three things that change the move.
Four dimensions. One composite score. Ranked against 1,000+ real paths to your destination — not where you think you are, where you actually are.
Ask it anything — should I take this offer? Is this title change worth it? Every answer is grounded in trajectories, not platitudes. It knows your score.
VP of People. General Counsel. VP of Finance. Score yourself against all 14 destination roles and see which is closest — and which is a detour.
Start free. Go all-in for $39.
One destination. No card required.
- Path score on 4 dimensions
- Your single biggest gap — impact-ranked
- Fastest-route summary
- Destination benchmarks (1,000+ trajectories)
Cancel anytime.
- Everything in the free analysis
- Unlimited destinations — map multiple routes
- Monthly path review — your score, updated
- Waypoint checkpoints with concrete next moves
- Offer & comp checker — is this move on-path?
For professionals ready to move in the next 90 days. Cancel anytime.
- Everything in Pro
- Coach — ask anything, answered from the data
- Unlimited coach conversations
- Coach remembers your path as you move
- Priority access to new destinations
Three minutes.
Then you'll know where you stand.
Free analysis. One destination. 1,000+ real paths compared against yours in 90 seconds.