Vetted Chief Operating Officers

Larry Moran

Screened

Executive Business Leader specializing in operations, growth strategy, and value creation

Lexington, NC32y exp

“Operator/CIO-type leader who has supported multiple founding teams and stepped in early at a high-growth venture (4th employee) to build core operations and hiring as the company scaled rapidly (4→40 employees; ~$1M→~$8M revenue in a year). Implemented an enterprise ATS across ~600 employees to centralize candidate flow and cut talent acquisition costs, and created a standardized operational playbook (30–40 offerings) to improve delivery efficiency in a healthcare/pharma-focused agency.”

“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.”

“Candidate participated in Launch Factory's venture studio selection process, which introduced them to a formalized startup methodology, and then went on to found and recently exit their own business. They are highly motivated to keep building companies, with a clear emphasis on creating products that serve a community and validating market need through product-market fit.”

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.”

Kent Hargrave

Screened

Executive Healthcare IT Leader specializing in enterprise strategy, cybersecurity, and clinical systems

Seattle, WA32y exp

“Candidate is not interested in entrepreneurship or founding a company and prefers working for others. Has limited familiarity with the VC/accelerator landscape, with indirect exposure through colleagues who pursued VC funding.”

Rocky Vienna

Screened

Executive Technology & Operations Leader (CIO/CTO/COO) specializing in PE value creation

10y exp

“Operations transformation leader with private-equity due diligence experience who rebuilt KIO Networks’ operating model using ITIL/COBIT/ISO 27001, stood up a PMO, and standardized tooling across countries—helping shift the business from co-location to managed services/cloud and improving EBITDA from -7% to +4% in 18 months. Also serves as a board member/mentor at EvoNexus and UCSD Rady, coaching founders on ICP, GTM, pricing, and investor readiness.”