Vetted Chief Operating Officers

“Entrepreneurial operator who has started three revenue-generating startups for an employer and is now ready to found independently. Built and scaled a USSD-based lottery product in Nigeria by partnering with MTN, driving 10%+ uplift in gross turnover, and has hands-on experience validating market gaps via SMS/call-center surveys and launching pilots before scaling.”

“COO at Malk Partners who led a ~75-person org and managed a 6-month sell-side diligence process while still delivering growth targets. Known for building executive alignment and accountability through clear KPIs, strong 1:1 operating rhythms (including N-2s), and board-level strategy projects, and for scaling planning processes by pushing AOP ownership to business unit leaders with templates and coaching.”

“Hospitality entrepreneur who founded and launched Hotel Lucine, a hotel resort in Galveston, TX, raising approximately $30M and opening in 2023. Led the venture end-to-end—from business model and investor pitches to entity structuring, deal docs, design/construction (including acting as primary general contractor), and ongoing operations spanning service standards, finance/capital strategy, brand, and event bookings.”

“Operator with founder/COO/CEO experience in professional services, managed services, and cloud services (Adjoined Consulting, Virtustream, Lemongrass). Known for instrumenting businesses with real-time pipeline/backlog-to-resource planning systems and for building sales organizations end-to-end, including bookings-based comp plans that drove ~40% CAGR. As VC-backed non-founder CEO, scaled Lemongrass from ~$25M to ~$100M run-rate and applied AI to de-risk SOW/costing and to improve service desk efficiency and gross margin.”

“COO who specializes in professionalizing early-stage/growth operations for sale readiness—at Cooperative Laundry led a major restructuring (40% headcount reduction), redesigned operating hours (24 to 18) to reduce labor cost and improve maintenance uptime, and implemented Lean/Six Sigma systems with KPI-driven operating cadences across multiple sites. Emphasizes cultural transformation ('no surprise' accountability) and mentoring non-ops executives to independently run data-driven operations; cites driving the business to 7x EBITDA and positioning for an acquisition in 2026.”

“Operations-focused executive and management consultant who has led operational buildouts across sectors: first CEO at a founder-led company, COO of a large nonprofit food bank, and co-founder of a 501(c)(3) that has run for over a decade serving thousands of at-risk children. Brings a structured, metrics-informed approach (process mapping, financial alignment, benchmarking, SWOT) and coaches leaders to connect vision and strategy to scalable operational execution.”

“Fractional CTO supporting early-stage teams in the UAE and Ukraine to build platforms using an "Agentic OS" approach—one focused on reducing friction across patient/provider/payor engagement and another on enforcing transparency for international rebuilding investments to reduce fraud. Also exploring an alternative-energy feedstock plantation opportunity in Armenia with multi-industry downstream revenue potential; has created project-specific investor pitch decks and is actively engaging potential investors.”

“Cross-functional operations leader who managed six departments and led a first-time international expansion from Dubai into Riyadh, including hiring a Saudi GRO to navigate registrations/licensing and local requirements. Implemented a BI dashboard and later integrated it with an ERP to give executives real-time visibility into sales, project delivery, and finance, and stood up a PMO to improve delivery and collections while reducing sales-to-delivery friction.”

“Business builder and operator with 15+ years developing new businesses inside larger companies, including joining GIPHY 5 years post-founding and helping drive value pre-acquisition. As Head of GIPHY Studios, led a major org and business-model transformation—converting a non-revenue content team into a profitable, self-sustaining creative agency embedded within the company.”

“Senior cross-functional leader with 20 years’ experience advising founders, C-suite, and elected officials; most recently served on the executive team of a New York City mayoral campaign overseeing 12+ departments, messaging alignment, and budget allocation. Brings strong operating cadence (daily check-ins/rolling agendas), data-driven prioritization, and proven discretion from nearly a decade holding Top Secret federal government clearance.”

“Operations and leadership advisor with experience scaling and globalizing large and growing businesses, including Reebok’s expansion from ~$1B to ~$3B and Student Advantage’s rapid roll-up (15 acquisitions in 18 months). Known for post-merger/ERP-driven process redesign, building customer/metric feedback loops (NPS, time-to-ship), and coaching founders/executives across industries (tech, healthcare, biopharma, B2B SaaS/sports tech).”