Vetted Chief Operating Officers in California

Marty Schneider

Screened

Executive Operations & GTM Leader specializing in startups across logistics, esports, and civic tech

Redwood City, CA15y exp

“Founder/CEO who built Hometown Heart from the ground up—creating SOPs and standing up hiring, GTM, finance, and investor/government relations—scaling from 6 employees and $100K debt to 350 employees and $40M in annual revenue in 3 years. Led expansion into San Francisco County, proactively managing compliance/licensing and municipal stakeholders to secure early approvals and drive major revenue growth.”

“Engineering/technology leader with experience tying roadmaps to OKRs/KPIs, scaling cross-functional engineering teams, and driving go-to-market execution for Managed IT Services revenue growth. In an early-stage company setting, personally stood up core systems (CRM, lead gen, website) and multi-cloud infrastructure (GCP/AWS) while building investor materials (pitch deck, VDR, financials), resulting in an investor LOI within 8 months. Also led an on-prem deployment architecture redesign for a network monitoring (NPM) product to improve compatibility, scalability, and security.”

“Candidate is developing a plan to consolidate paving maintenance businesses into a nationwide residential brand centered on high quality and sustainability. They bring private equity and strategic partnership experience, plus direct segment knowledge and industry relationships, with a thesis around recycling materials without sacrificing quality or cost.”

Gary Zimble

Screened

Executive COO specializing in healthcare operations, IT, and multi-site transformation

San Diego, CA32y exp

“Candidate indicated they have an active business plan and are working with an investor to raise capital, suggesting entrepreneurial experience and exposure to fundraising. The interview ended early after the candidate declined to discuss current startup details.”

“Silicon Valley operator with ~30 years of experience as a board member, advisor, VC, founder, and turnaround executive, claiming 50+ venture-backed turnarounds. Has driven outsized outcomes including a $1B Nokia spinout and a 9-figure Jaspersoft exit to TIBCO, and is known for pragmatic, people-and-financials-first operational diagnosis (including CRM forensics) and rapid team scaling via structured hiring pipelines.”

“Has prior experience working closely with venture capitalists and was instrumental in running a company started by a venture fund. Also has experience with an entertainment company and with companies going through acceleration/growth, and evaluates new ideas using flexible budgeting, financial projections, and operational due diligence.”

Spenser Mix

Screened

Executive operations leader specializing in EdTech growth and strategy

Los Angeles, CA11y exp

“Founder and COO of Thinking Nation, a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit, with a standout track record of raising nearly $4M from a private foundation over five years. Brings a mix of Pepperdine MBA training and real-world operator experience, with particular strength in mission-driven fundraising, timing-sensitive strategy, and translating abstract ideas into actionable go-to-market plans.”

“Hospitality operator who has opened and started multiple restaurant and bar concepts, with a structured approach from concept/brand story and mission creation through to operational execution. Emphasizes repeatable standards, margin discipline (inventory, portioning, labor), and coaching founders/executives to build scalable, replicable operations.”